| |
September 11, 2005
|
Christian Love
|
Pastor Brian Shimer
|
|
"Love Your Enemies"
(A Dialogue Message with John Towne)
Luke 6:20-36
Scripture reading from Luke followed by "This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God." At which time John stands up where he is in the pew…
"What? Thanks be to God? Did you hear what you just said thanks to? That passage, Oh, I don't like it. I mean Jesus is saying that when someone hits me on the cheek I need to turn the other cheek? I don't want to do that. I can't imagine doing that? And if he takes your TV offer him your stereo too? This is absurd.
(coming up to him) B: "John? John! What are you doing?"
J: "I'm Complaining! What does it look like! What, when someone hits me I want to hit them back, not say, 'Here hit me again?" Well that part about "do unto others" well, fine, if they don't steal from me, I won't steal from them? And what about this, lend to your enemies and don't expect anything back? I don't even lend to my friends, because I cannot trust them!"
B: "Okay, let's take a step backward here for a moment. First, is this God's Word?"
J: "Certainly."
B: "If God's Word and this is our Lord saying this, do you think he had a reason for saying it."
J: "I'll give you that. "
B: "Since this is the middle of the Sermon on the Mount and the point of that message is for people to be living in a way that is different, set apart from those around them, do you suppose Jesus is speaking this passage to add to that message?
I mean if you read in verses 20 to 23 you find Jesus listing the ways a person receives God's blessing, and they all deal with being less concerned with what is happening to us here than what is promised for us either in this life or in heaven. Jesus speaks about receiving something that is greater, better than anything in the here and now. The poor receive the Kingdom; the hungry are satisfied; the weeping will laugh with joy, the persecuted great reward in heaven. In contrast in the next verses we have examples of what we can expect if our whole focus is on getting all we can get for ourselves here while ignoring the consequent future eternity.
In this context Jesus says "Love your enemies… do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who curse you and hurt you."
This is a huge contrast to living for my own selfish ends. He illustrates this with those statements about turning the other cheek, about giving more than is asked of you, about lending without expecting repayment. Those are graphic illustrations about not living for ourselves.
Isn't it possible that Jesus is teaching the same thing as Paul in Romans 12 when Paul said, "leave room for God's wrath," in other words, "Don't get even"?
So, John, in this context then, shouldn't you want to obey this?"
J: "Well, I hear the context but I don't want to be a wimp either. I mean the idea of not asking someone to pay back what I loan!"
B: "I'll give you that we like to have things what we term 'fair'. But look at verse 31 and read it aloud would you?"
J: "Do for others as you would have them do for you."
B: "So, God has directed us to act first in relationship to others in like manner to how we would have them act toward us. That does not promise that they will treat us as we have treated them, but it begins with us. And the passage is clear that we do not act towards them in response to what they have done to us. That is the reverse of what Jesus is teaching. So, to love my enemies is to show grace, compassion, kindness toward those around me, to treat them as I would want them to treat me.
What if we looked at this another way? Who were Jesus' enemies?"
J: "Well, certainly those plotting to kill him. And the crowds became his enemies by joining in against him."
B: "So, how did Jesus deal with his enemies? Did Jesus act like a limp noodle with the Pharisees when he condemned them for their hypocrisy? Or did he act weak when he chased the money changers from the temple courts?"
J: "Hardly. Jesus loved by being the truth, by speaking, by challenging their religious system. Jesus was no wimp."
B: "So what is the possibility that he is asking us to be non-wimps as well? If Jesus loved his enemies - speaking, acting, living with them and then even dying for them, for Romans 5 says he died for us while we were his enemies, then, He has given us something to live into! His is radical love. If Jesus would go to such lengths, do you think you could pray for God to make you willing to walk out these verses? Do you think you would pray for God to actually empower you to walk in them?"
J: "I can certainly do that. I can pray for the "want to" and need to pray for the empowerment. But, wait, your message title says something about a response to 9-11. What does "loving my enemies" have to do with 9-11?
B: Well, on 9-11 we were attacked by terrorist group holding to Muslim teachings, and…"
J: Wait, you are not going to connect this to the government turning the other cheek are you? So you are not just speaking of generic enemies, but Muslims like the terrorists who pulled off 9-11 originally?
B: "First, I think it is important that we separate out what Jesus is speaking about here. This passage is not speaking of the response of nations to attack or to the responsibility of a nation to protect its people. Other passages deal with that question."
J: "So, we are not talking about the magistrate's role but the individual's role."
B: "Correct. Our question here is not how our nation deals with terrorism, nor whether we have dealt with it properly. But how can we as individuals in a nation obey this passage of scripture as we work with, live in neighborhoods with people who are Muslim by culture or religious profession and could be enemies or whom we suspect to be enemies?
As we work with this question, that is one key thing to remember. Just because a person is by "dress" or "nationality" Arab and therefore could be of the Muslim faith, they could easily be secular Muslims. They could be those who attend no Mosque, read no Koran, say no prayers, but simply consider themselves Muslim as some Americans consider themselves Christian because perhaps they believe in God.
Our suspicions may well be unfounded. Others who are Muslim by faithful commitment may not be of the stripe of the terrorist. However, that is not to deny that the basic tenet of the Muslim faith is warfare. Haven't you seen that in reading the Koran?
J: "Yes. I've read some in the Koran and its focus is upon a holy Jihad, a holy war against all unbelievers, anyone who is not of the Muslim faith. This Jihad is a holy struggle against the infidel. A Saudi Arabian high school textbook puts it this way: "It is compulsory for the Muslims to be loyal to each other and to consider the infidels their enemy." (www.crossroad.to/articles2/Islam.htm, ubp)
B: "That is supported by what we know is taught to young Muslims in schools in Israel. When I was in Israel, a Christian Palestinian told how, as a young Muslim, he was taught to hate the Israeli and the American. Also, we have learned from the recent events in England that similar teaching happens in the Mosques by the Imams.
One reporter in England infiltrated some of the meetings led by Omar Brooks and heard a passionate plea for suicide bombers. Mr Brooks said, "As a Muslim of course I am a terrorist," and encouraged his hearers to make bombs and "instill terror into the hearts of the Kuffar," (non-Muslims). (worldmag.com, 8/20/05, p. 14, ubp).
All this is to say we are not dealing with a "peaceful" religion as some are saying. So, we do not know what a neighbor or coworker believes. We do not know if he or she is Muslim just by culture, or is devoutly following the Muslim faith. If our neighbors or our coworkers have children being sent to Muslim schools, we do not know what they are being taught.
Because of all this, we have many suspicions that are part of our lives as we are neighbors. The question in light of today's passage is how do we act?"
J: "But I cannot control the thoughts I have about a person, can I?"
B: "No, and Jesus is not asking us to control our thoughts, but to be in check of our behavior. Because I have suspicions, does not mean I have to act upon them. Because some Muslims took it upon themselves to declare war against us on 9/11 does not mean my neighbor was party to that nor agreed with it.
This passage says to act in love toward those who are "enemies" without definition of what it means to have an enemy. Some of our enemies may one day be our friends, and there is certainly the possibility of this when we act toward them in a way that we want them to act toward us.
So, toward my Muslim neighbor, I show grace, compassion and kindness. If I find myself in the supermarket with a person wearing a turbin or other Middle Eastern attire, I could welcome them to the states and ask how long they have lived here. I could offer them my place in line. I could just show them the respect due another person for whom Christ died.
J: "And if that neighbor is having evening meetings in their home, and I hear shouting about killing the Americans, I could report them."
B: "Certainly. And that would not be an unloving thing to do. That brings up one other possibility. In loving others, we could be killed. We could be martyred because of our known Christian faith. We could end up being persecuted. But, the choice is not for us to not love for fear of that happening, the choice is to love all the more and to rejoice.
You know John, I have often wondered about what it is like for the Muslim person moving into one of our neighborhoods if surrounded by fear and animosity. What if instead they were welcomed, embraced, loved like a long lost relative? What if they found in us the hospitality that is an inherent part of their own culture? What if we trusted them, because as individuals they have shown us no reason not to, and rose to the level of the trust we showed them? I believe that this is what Jesus is speaking of in this passage.
Now, does that settle your question so that I can get on with the message today?
Good…
|
|
|