“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and send rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48
Today we examine another “radical” command of Jesus that calls people to do something almost unthinkable: to love one’s enemies and to pray for those who are persecuting you. Not only are we supposed to not hurt those who hurt us, as we discussed in the last reflection. We are to go many steps beyond indifference and tolerance. We are to love these people. We are to pray for the ones who make our lives harder.
I heard priest recently who was offering a presentation on forgiveness. He was talking about the mercy of God and how we have to expand our sense of mercy. He used an extreme example, given by a modern-day saint who had lived through the holocaust. The saint, who was a priest in life, was asked if he got to heaven and saw the Adolf Hitler was there, would he be upset. The priest answered “If I got to heaven and saw Hitler there, I would get on my knees and wipe the dust off his boots. I would be so happy that I was in heaven.” I know that this is an extreme example, but this is actually kind of the radical thought that Jesus has in teaching us about loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. The number one goal in life is to attain salvation in the Kingdom of God. This is the thing we should most desire for ourselves. If we are supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves, then we are also to hope for our neighbor’s salvation, and to pray for our neighbor to find salvation, regardless of who our neighbor is and regardless of what he or she has done. To expand our sense of mercy to this degree puts us in a good place to receive the abundant mercy from God. To love our enemies frees us from our own sense of hate, sadness and anger. God is love, and God is perfect love. To be in God’s Kingdom will allow us to experience perfect love for eternity. Loving our enemies helps us to perfect our concept of love.
Jesus reminds us that God causes the sun to rise and the rain to fall on both the good and the evil. He doesn’t show partiality in providing the basics. Just like He blesses both the good and the evil with life, with breath, with help, with talent and with opportunity. And for all there is accountability. If we only love those who love us, that is self-serving. And it is easy. To love those who do not love us, to love the one who seems unlovely or unlovable, this is the true intention of God-like love. God loves us, even when we do things that are unlovely, even when sin makes us appear or feel unlovable.
In I John 4:16-21, we read:
So we know and believe that love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so are we in this world. There is no far in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If anyone says “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God Whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also.
God is love, and love is God. We cannot abide in God’s love if we are filled with hate and judgment. This is why Jesus sets a Godly standard for us. Our love is also not a requirement for God’s love but is supposed to be a natural response. Hence the verse We love because He first loved us. (I John 4:19)
Finally, Jesus calls us to the highest standard—to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) This is a standard to be strived for, even though it is unattainable. We might wonder why Christ would set this kind of standard, and the answer is that He is not going to call us to be average or mediocre. He is going to call us to His standard of love which is perfection. This also helps to keep us humble and hungry. There is always something left for us to do, a deeper layer of love to find, a deeper level of faith and forgiveness to be desired.
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God, protect me from those who rise up against me, deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. For lo, they lie wait for my life; fierce men band themselves against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Rouse thyself, come to my help, and see! Thou, Lord God of hosts, art God of Israel. Awake to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. There they are, bellowing with their mouths, and snarling with their lips—for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?” But Thou, O Lord, dost laugh at them; Thou dost hold all the nations in derision. O my Strength, I will sing praises to Thee; for Thou, O God, art my fortress. My God in His steadfast love will meet me; my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies. Slay them not, lest my people forget; make them totter by Thy power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield! For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies which they utter, consume them in wrath, consume them till they are no more, that men may know that god rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth. Each evening they come back howling like dogs and prowling about the city. They roam about for food, and growl if they do not get their fill. But I will sing of Thy might; I will sing aloud of Thy steadfast love in the morning. For Thou hast been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my Strength, I will sing praises to Thee, for Thou, O God, art my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love. Psalm 59
Point to ponder: Is there someone who has wronged you, who you are very angry with, that you can pray for today?
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