Sometimes I think that Jesus is just plain unreasonable.
Love your enemies, he tells us. Pray for those who persecute you. When someone slaps you, turn and offer your other cheek.
Love the IRS man? Love the guy who cuts you off on the highway and doesn’t seem to care at all but speeds on past with loud music playing? Love the lady at the bank who puts you on perma-hold with terrible musac playing and can’t seem to answer a simple question? Love the health insurance executive who refuses to cover a surgery because of a pre-existing condition? Love the bully who makes your child suffer at school?
This is so hard to do that I often don’t even mention it. When a young woman came to me years ago to tell me that her uncle raped her repeatedly I did not say that she was supposed to love him. How could I have done that? All I could do was listen and assure her that God still loved her, even when she cut herself and wanted to die. All I could do was hear her pain. And when she finally got mad at the man who hurt her so badly, I was grateful. Get Mad! I felt like saying. It’s when a victim appears depressed instead of angry that I really begin to worry. Isn’t it RIGHT and JUST to be angry at someone who hurts you?
Who is Jesus kidding? How in the WORLD can we love our enemies?
What about the President of Iran who hates everything American or the men who flew planes into skyscrapers? Or the man in the city of Kansas where I came from who routinely murdered women and men for a decade in their homes? What about them? What could it possibly mean to love them?
Jesus couldn’t have meant what he was saying. Or could he?
Just when I think that he must have been asking too much, asking what no human being could possibly do, the image of Jesus hanging on the cross comes to me and I remember his words…They came out during the height of his pain, not after years of therapy or processing. Right when he was experiencing pain beyond anything that we can imagine, he said,
Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.
When I remember these words, I begin to believe, once more, that Jesus knew exactly what he was talking about when he told us to love our enemies. And that God knows we can do it.
So what was it that Jesus had that we don’t have? (I mean, other than the fact that he was GOD!) What was he able to do on that cross that we cannot seem to do? How could he love so much and so unconditionally?
And then it came to me. It has to do with perspective. It’s all about perspective.
If you and I were to believe in the Resurrection without hesitation, if we were to really trust that there is NOTHING that can separate us from the love of God and that our souls are destined to live with Christ in a life which far exceeds this one, well, if this is the case, then everything changes.
The reason that we hate or run away or abhor or want to destroy is because we are afraid. We are afraid of what has happened to us, that it has ruined us. We are afraid that we will never be the same.
But if you knew that NO ONE could separate you from God’s love, and that even if they killed your body, that you yourself would be fine, better than fine, then everything would change. You could stop worrying about yourself. And you can begin to think of the soul of the other. You can begin to see that other person as human, even if all that appears before you is evil. You can treat that person as if there is something still buried inside that can be redeemed. Some sliver of the light of Christ just might be still dimly lit in even the worst human being. It might be there. And it is your job to honor that possibility.
Deacon Ben Clance stood before a cell for 30 minutes waiting for the gaurds to open the door this past week. They kept having other things to do, inventory, people to count. “What do you want to see HIM for?” they asked. Ben just stood waiting, because he had promised the man in solitary that he would bring him communion. He promised a murderer and he planned on keeping his promise.
I met with the new Imam at the Muslim Center here in Jacksonville. He is American but studied Islam in Saudi Arabia. We met with other religious leaders to see if there is anything, anything that we can communicate about. The Imam told me a story that I had not heard about in the news.
During the height of the riots in Egypt, on a day when the military had fired on the crowds and many had been killed or wounded, it was evening. The Muslims in the crowd heard the call from the mosque indicating that it was one of the five times a day that they were instructed to roll out their prayer mats and kneel, bowing towards Mecca and chanting the Koran. So the Muslims began to say their prayers. They put away their sticks and rocks and began to prostrate themselves towards Mecca. Some had prayer rugs and some did not. As the soldiers advanced, the Coptic Christians saw them from afar, and the Christians joined hands and formed a circle around the Muslims, using their bodies as shields against the oncoming soldiers.
They used their bodies as shields.
Do you really believe that everything will be OK? Do you trust that God has a place for you, a life for you that is everything that you have ever wanted and more? Do you believe this?
If you do, then you can love your enemies. You can begin to see them for who they are and even risk your life for them. But if you do not trust in the resurrection of our Lord, then how can you be expected to love those who mistreat you?
And let me be clear that by love, I do not mean that you should LIKE them or have WARM feelings for them. That may never happen and it is far beyond your control. What I mean is that when you are mistreated, that you do not retaliate, that you give the perpetrator kind and respectful treatment even in the face of their hatred. That you treat them with kindness, compassion, honesty. And you do this for GOD and for the very salvation of your soul.
Because in the end, you are not concerned about your car, or your taxes or even about your body. You want to come to God and God is love and that is all that motivates you. You want to see the face of God.
I woke up very early yesterday morning and saw the moon shining on my face. It was a full moon and beautiful. And I knew that it was shining on all of us, the homeless and the man who was wandering the streets drunk, the exhausted young mother and the man who beat his wife, man who stole and the murderer. That moon shone its light on all of us and in its light I was reminded that God invites all of us to the table. God wants all of us to come inside.
It is all about seeing things from God’s perspective.
From God’s perspective, we all fall short and we all deserve another chance again and again and again. From God’s perspective, life is short and it is a training ground for the life eternal. From God’s perspective, suffering is an opportunity to show forth the love and strength of Christ. And every time you love your enemies, God’s light shines through you.
So when that guy cuts you off or the lady at the bank won’t help you or when, God forbid, you get hurt or robbed or your children get hurt, remember that God’s light shines on all of us and that this is not the end of the story. This moment is by no means the last word. Remember that through the Resurrection, you have the power to pray for, to forgive, and yes, even to love those who would do evil to you.
