Tuesday 19 June
Matthew 5:43-48
A guest at an ecclesiastical soirée overheard one priest say to another, ‘I can’t stand that woman. I absolutely despise her, don’t you?’ His brother priest concurred; he too hated and despised her. It became clear that the focus of their ire was the editor of a publication they clearly did not care for. The priests, for they are only human, were so caught up in the passion of their hate that they succumbed to the further sin of indiscretion. Often, on probing the ‘underbelly’ of a parish or church gathering, one can quickly encounter, through loose talk or throwaway comments, all manner of feuds, long-standing grievances and burning resentments at work. It seems the call to love our enemy may be closer to home than we at first imagine!
The problem, if it may be expressed like this, with Jesus’ teaching is that it is simply too radical, seemingly too impossible to put into practice. Or is it? It is a tall order to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, that is for sure (v. 48). Perhaps the problem isn’t so much that it’s impossible but that it hasn’t been tried that often. How often do you strive to love your enemy? And after all, who is your enemy anyway?
For the record, and it is an important point to note, nowhere in the Old Testament does it say, ‘Hate your enemy.’ It was a misinterpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures by the scribes and teachers that had injected this vein of contempt for anybody outside of the Jewish family. Love was encouraged but for their own kind – everybody else, Gentiles, Samaritans and so on, could be actively despised. There were those in the family and those outside of the family.
Jesus knocked this wrong teaching on the head over two thousand years ago but love for one’s own kin and contempt for others outside of this circle is still alive and kicking in society and sadly even in the Church. How do we love our enemy? We know in our hearts all the people we, to quote our priest at the soirée, ‘can’t stand’, but these are the very people we are called upon to pray for, love and go the extra mile for.
Lord, I want to be a child of my heavenly Father and there is no better way to witness to this than by living a life of love and loving my enemy.
1 Kings 21:17-29 • Psalm 50(51):3-6, 11, 16
Matthew 5:43-48
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