Have you ever loved someone? Have you ever been loved by someone? These two questions address the two greatest needs of the human race: to love and to be loved. Without love, we die . . .
“The Walking Dead” describes the life in which love is markedly absent. “Alive Forevermore” describes the life in which love has taken root and sprouted into full bloom, as conveyed by the lyrics of the song “For You Alone”:
“Take thou this rose, this little tender rose, the fairest flower in all God’s garden fair, and let it be, while yet its crimson glows, an emblem of the love I proudly bear.
Take thou this heart, the heart that loves thee well, and let it flame before thy shrine, my own; take thou my heart, for oh, your dear eyes tell, God fashioned it for you, for you alone.”
Tell about your first love . . . the love you had (have) for your spouse . . . first child . . . family . . . best friend . . . church . . . career . . . flower garden . . . favorite hobby . . . song . . . ministry . . . sport . . . holiday . . . vacation spot . . . place to eat . . . food . . . outfit . . . thing to do in the afternoon . . . anything else that comes to mind, about which, we have said or heard others say, “I just love him or her . . . this or that . . . to go here or there . . .” Point is:
Love is a much used word in English - to talk about a place, person, or thing that has become so consistent a part of our life that we want, even covet, such to be “our thing” on a regular basis; we want someone to be in our company and we in theirs as often as possible.
Don’t you just love it!? Love is by far the greatest of all emotions, feelings, thoughts, actions! So, what’s love got to do with being distinctly Christian? Everything! Then along comes Jesus, preaching the greatest sermon ever preached, and in it, He tells us to love everybody, even our enemies – Matthew 5:43-48 . . .
Did Jesus tell us to love our enemies in the same way as we do our loved ones, family and close friends? Count me among those who say “absolutely not”.
To love enemies in the same way as we love those we are in a very close relationship with would neither be possible or right. It would be wrong for me to love, in that way, anyone who would do me or my family or my friends harm!
This is where an understanding of Greek must be brought into any discussion of New Testament concepts. In the Greek, unlike English, there are shades of meaning, and therefore different words for each and every concept. In the Greek there are four different words for the English word love, and the word used by Jesus to tell us to love unconditionally was quite different from the way we love our nearest and dearest.
The Greek word used to describe one’s affection for one’s family . . . one’s romantic relationship . . . that “tie that binds” our hearts together . . . that regard we have for our friends and neighbors? These concepts in the original language are represented by words that are different from “agape” – the word Jesus used to say that we are to love everybody unconditionally, even our enemies.
It helps me to understand Christian love for our enemies by remembering the song sung by the heavenly host which appeared to the shepherds when Jesus was born: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to all people.”
Our Lord’s coming into this world was for the express purpose of bringing to the world invincible peace and good will. “Agape” means to do just that!
Agape seeks the highest good of all, no matter what “they” say about us . . . how despicably “they” treat us . . . the extent to which “they” hate us . . . the demonic strategy “they” employ to destroy Christianity.
“Agape” (seeking invincible peace and good will for all) is unconquerable!
There is no basis for making use of this text to support pacifism. or to allow law breakers, disturbers of the peace, and warmongers to go unchecked. Just as parents ought never to let their children do as they please, public servants must hold offenders accountable for harmful actions borne of ill will not goodwill.
“True love” at times must be “tough love”! Discipline in various forms is often required to protect not only society but also to protect an offender from himself or herself . . . preserve the peace.
If we really want what’s best for everybody, we have to expect everybody to behave - and if they don’t, to be punished for their misbehavior.
Yet, Christian discipline must be aimed, not at vengeance but at cure, and if not cure, improvement! First and foremost, though, as we think about this radical teaching of Jesus, please do so in context – which is to say that in this sermon Jesus gave the basis for personal relationships – within a congregation, a community, the company we keep.
It would be easy for us to pass this off as a warning against nations going to war, but that was not the intent of the Sermon. As you know, Jesus himself made a distinction between the functions of the State and of the Church.
What this radical teaching of Jesus boils down to is whether we choose to “hate” or “love” - those who dislike us . . . disagree with us . . . disappoint us . . . disregard our values . . . distance themselves from us . . . disparage us . . . detest our Christian Way of life . . . dismiss our Christian views as irrelevant . . . seek to destroy us – negative attitudes which, if unchecked, translate into actions of the kind we would expect from pagans, but certainly not from Christians.
There is nothing to be gained by acting out toward personal enemies in a destructive manner, as expressed by this little do wad ditty from an Irish humorist:
“There once were two cats from Kilkenny. Each thought there was one cat too many. They fought and they spit, they clawed and they bit, ‘til instead of two cats, there weren’t any.”
Only by the magnificence of God’s love, demonstrated by God’s Son and our Savior, can Christians rise above the mediocrity of love as the world defines love. We cannot love as He loved without His help. Only when we become like Him will the maturity of love become all-inclusive, without hatred in our hearts. Maturity of love is what it takes to love our neighbors . . . to go the second mile . . . become peacemakers and be known as children of God . . . in essence, to become Beatitude Christians.
The love that is born of Christian Maturity is what it takes to make good on our acceptance of Jesus’s challenge, to His followers, to be distinct not extinct.
When Christian Faith and the manner of demonstrating it becomes distinct to the extent that this dynamic, constructive love displaces demonic, destructive hatred, then and only then will we live in a state of “perfect peace” . . . get involved in spreading “good will” toward everyone within our circle of influence.
Worldwide, this occurs when Christians unite in efforts to spread the gospel of peace all over the world, in all the ways that are available to us . . . And to those whose objection is “it can’t be done” we just have to keep doing whatever needs to be done whenever it needs to be done for as long as it needs to be done.
Perhaps you’ve heard of the athlete that broke the world record for running a mile. To break the 4-minute-mile record was thought by the sports experts to be impossible. But, Tall, thin, lanky Roger Bannister sprang from the starting line in a burst of speed unlike any other, and he ran the mile in less than four minutes. He showed that it could be done; and since then, many others have done it – simply because someone had set the example.
So, when Jesus called His followers to a standard higher than anyone might have imagined, He had already set the example - and, knowing that we would not be able do it alone, He sent the Holy Spirit to strengthen our resolve and to supply the will power – the only way possible to love unconditionally. May we so love! Amen.
