Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Love Thy Enemies
(Matthew 5:43-48)
It’s hard to love folks who don’t love you in return. It’s even harder to love folks that dislike you. That’s possibly why Jesus saved the most difficult intensification of the law for last. It’s the toughest to swallow.
As an ideal, the phrase “love thy enemies” seems innocuous enough—as long as one’s “enemies” are in the abstract, not flesh and blood. Love, too, is a simple matter as long as one defines is as a mild sentimentality. So, as a bumper-sticker slogan, “Love thy enemies” even seems politically correct.
Trouble is, the phrase as Jesus defined it is anything but easy. Note in verse 44 that “love” takes on characteristics actions. Genuine love of one’s enemy is not a feeling. It is a set of actions that both test the lover and challenge the loved. Loving one’s enemy means blessing him, rather than cursing him. It’s not enough to stop talking down about him; you must now talk him up—positively!
And love doesn’t merely ignore his enemy either. Jesus told us to “do good to them that hate you.” In other words, if someone hates me, I must actively do good to that individual—not merely pretend he doesn’t exist. Love, then, involves strategy and execution.
Love also bows its knees on behalf of its enemy. While praying for the destruction of God’s enemies, we must pray for the redemption of our own. Love sees beyond the offense and offers prayer on the hater’s behalf. More than sentimentality, “Love thy enemy” is a call to direct action. Have you answered love’s call?
