Seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time -- 7th Sunday, Year A

There is a sign in the Princeton University Store basement which cleverly suggests: "Love your enemies—it will drive them crazy."

Jesus’ ethical teaching is higher than this example because love of enemies is not a consequentialist ethic, hoping that the other person will change.

Love of enemies is rather an expression of the divine character and not on the basis of any hoped-for results. God makes his sun rise and the rain fall on both the just and unjust.

To illustrate, in the book, “What Would You Do?” John Howard Yoder includes a story that symbolizes a difference between Western and Buddhist thinking. A young American schooled in the martial arts is riding a bus one day in Japan.

He and the other passengers are suddenly threatened with a drunken, cursing, knife-wielding man who has hopped on the bus. The American trained in marital arts is ready to neutralize the man. But as he positions himself to strike, an old Japanese man pushes past him. The old man smiles warmly at the man with the knife and softly asks what is causing so much hurt in the man's life. Disarmed by the old man's compassion, the other drops his knife and begins to sob. Between his sobs he tells of how his wife has died and the loss has left him feeling unstable. As the American leaves the bus at the next stop, he sees his potential opponent gently listening to the old Japanese man who is telling him of how he has also recently lost his wife and how bad he also feels.

The Japanese man was operating out of a Buddhist perspective. The American had instantly objectified the knife wielder as an enemy who threatened his own self security. In contrast, the elderly Japanese man saw the threatening person as hurting and as a part of himself since both were mourning the loss of a loved one.

In Buddhism, the goal is to see one's self as connected to the rest of creation. The karma of wishing evil on another will only bring evil on the self.

Likewise for Christians, one important motivation to love enemies is that loving our enemies is the only way to prevent taking on the very characteristics we hate about them. You become what you hate.

And Scripture teaches that if God had not loved us while we were his enemies, we could never have become his children.

Loving means wanting good for them. You don’t have to like them or trust them.

The enemy may be:

-the person who got you into drugs

-the spouse who left you

-the coworker who lied to have you fired

-the country that will not give you sanctuary after you’ve been a contributing law-abiding citizen for decades although you are still undocumented.

Romans, Chapter 12 teaches the same thing: "Do not repay anyone evil for evil.... Beloved, never avenge yourselves.... If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink. . .. Do not overcome evil by evil [means] but overcome evil with good."

St. Paul also commands to feed a hungry enemy and to give water to a thirsty one. This teaching is echoed also in Luke 6:27-36.

Notice that when Jesus gives some examples of how to love our enemies forgiveness isn't one of them. He says do good to them, bless them, pray for them, offer the other cheek, give food and water to them, let them take from you, do not ask for restitution. But he doesn’t say "forgive.” Why not? The answer may be because the mistreatment and violence is still going on.

Consequently, you can also love your enemy while assertively standing up for personal rights, including protecting yourself and others, and expressing thoughts, feelings and beliefs in direct, honest and appropriate ways.

Part of our testimony should be: I’m grateful for my fans, friends and my enemies for they are all a part of my testimony.

Al-Anon meetings mention this line as part of the closing words: “Though you may not like all of us, you'll love us in a very special way, the same way we already love you.