Sermon "Love Your Enemies" - Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany
Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany
1 Corinthians 15:21-26, 30-42
Luke 6:27-38
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
Today is the seventh Sunday after the Epiphany. We do not often have a 7th Sunday after the Epiphany. We have even less often an eighth Sunday after the Epiphany. The only reason I am concerned about this is because last Sunday, the gospel reading included the opening of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. Today’s gospel includes a second installment of the sermon. The 8th Sunday finishes up the sermon. So, I was saddened that we would not be able to enjoy the full sermon in this round of year C of the lectionary cycle.
Some of you are probably wondering why some years have more Sundays in the Epiphany season than other years. The reason for this goes back 1700 years to the Council of Nicaea. This year is the 1700th anniversary of the first Council of Nicaea. Whenever we have communion, we use the Nicene Creed. The first two articles and the first line of the third article were developed and agreed upon by the 318 Bishops that participated in the Council of Nicaea. The fullness of the third article was not completed until the Council of Constantinople in 381.
I think it is useful to know that writing the Nicene Creed was not the only thing that the bishops worked on when they met from May-August of 325. It was a full agenda and schedule that included setting a uniform date to observe Easter. The bishops agreed that Easter Day shall always fall on the Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. Consequently, Easter can be as early as March 21st as it was in the year 1818 or as late as May 10 in 2268.
The Epiphany season always begins on January 6 and then, because of the decision made in 325, the date of Easter moves around. The season of Epiphany then contracts and expands to accommodate the movement of Easter. The bottom line for me is that next Sunday we do not have the pleasure of reflecting together upon the final third of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain because we will observe the Transfiguration, not the Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany.
Returning to the Gospel of Luke then: whenever Jesus speaks or preaches, our understanding of what and why he is saying what he is saying is enhanced when we take note of who He is addressing.
We are told that there are people from different regions that have come to hear Jesus speak and to be healed by Him. The people before Him are a mix of Jews and Gentiles. These are two groups that tend to have as little to do with each other as possible. Yet, they are all before Jesus for one reason. He has what they need. If they know nothing else, they recognize that Jesus has the God endowed authority and the power to transform their lives for the better. When Jesus speaks and when he touches the sick, people of any and all stripe return to their communities as changed people. The mute speak, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, those with troubled minds, or even those possessed by demons, are set free and made right. Through His miracles and His words, Jesus is revealed to be the Christ.
Along with the Apostles, Jesus is speaking to a mixed group: male, female, children, Jews, and Gentiles. We also must remember that this whole region is occupied by the Roman army. Foreign armies everywhere become suspicious and concerned when people in the land they occupy start to assemble in larger groups. Such assemblies can be the beginnings of a rebellion, so we can safely assume that there is a centurion and soldiers somewhere close by monitoring the situation “just in case.”
In this part of Jesus’ sermon, we encounter two themes: what to do with one’s enemies; and judging others. The two go hand in hand. Judgment in this context is not the same thing as discernment. Judgment involves condemnation and some kind of punishment. Discernment is determining the truth of a situation or statement. Jesus is not concerned about discernment at this point. He is concerned about judgment and what to do with those that his listeners cast judgment upon.
No one listening to Jesus would have to wonder about a working definition of an enemy. All they need to do is look around at the crowd. Jews and Gentiles are natural enemies. Jews are God’s Chosen while Gentiles are not. Jews receive God’s blessings and Gentiles, regardless of how polite, are ritually unclean. At best a healthy distance must be maintained. At worst, it is war.
Both Jews and Gentiles that crowd around Jesus could easily look upon the Roman soldiers with hatred and consider them enemies. They enact higher taxes. They interfere in commerce. Roman soldiers are not immune to the temptation of abuse, theft, intimidation, extortion, and various other kinds of coercion. On top of that, soldiers do the bidding of corrupt leaders. They do not hesitate to kill the innocent. Remember what happened in Bethlehem a mere 30 years ago. Herod ordered all the baby boys two years and younger to be killed when the Magi failed to report back to Herod. There is no forgetting that day of horror.
We also live in a time when we are keenly aware of the presence of enemies within and without. Criminals are amongst us that intend to harm. We have no shortage of opinions about decisions that are being made in our country right now. And, there is no shortage of opinions about who is making these decisions. There is a lot of strong emotion and outright animosity behind these opinions. We are a divided nation, and folks are all too quickly looking upon the other as an enemy.
Jesus announces to us that there is a far better way, a saner and more productive way to address the enemies among us. Love your enemies. Agapate is the Greek word for love that Jesus uses. Agape. In other words, love the enemy as a dear friend, as a dear brother and sister, the one who is your enemy.
Right after his command to love our enemies, Jesus tells us to not judge and to not condemn. Judgment and condemnation put distance between us and the ones we are judging and condemning. I pass judgment on you because I am not you, I am not like you, I disapprove of you, I am better than you.
These instructions from Jesus chafe against our old Adam. The old Adam wants justice in the form of vengeance. The old Adam wants to hurt the ones who hurt us. The old Adam wants punishment that is meted out that goes beyond the pain our enemies have caused us.
In his call to discipleship Jesus calls us to forgo that which comes naturally, that which makes sense, that which feels right, that which brings momentary satisfaction. Jesus calls us to forgo all of that and respond with love.
I suspect many of us have a hard time buying into this sermon of Jesus. Until we realize that everything that Jesus says, he is already doing and will continue to do from the cross. The old Adam lives in stark contrast to God’s expectations. The old Adam’s desires and natural inclinations are not what God designed humans for. The old Adam is corrupted by sin, stalked by the fear of death, and is influenced by the devil. Yet, despite this, here is Jesus, God incarnate, living, walking, and ministering to the enemies of God. Jesus brings his gift of healing, peace, and life to those who do not deserve it. Not a single person he heals deserves this gift of God. These are all enemies of God by their very nature as corrupted human beings. Yet, despite this, here is God, once again walking among his people, providing help and the gift of life. By His very presence and ministry, He is showing us that God has every intention of forgiving his enemies. In his death on his cross, Jesus dies for his enemies, so that all who receive Him with faith, can be called friends of God and know God’s love and embrace. Jesus receives the condemnation that we deserve, so that we are free from the judgment of the Father.
The only way for us to do as Jesus says in the Sermon on the Plain is to move forward with God’s gift of love and forgiveness that is first conferred upon us. What Jesus calls us to do is not something the old Adam can or wants to do. But, the New Adam, now that is another matter altogether. The new Adam is alive because of faith in Christ. Through Christ’s gifts and the working of the Holy Spirit, the urge of the old Adam can be put aside and disciplined, and we can choose to look upon enemies as friends and as people for whom Jesus also was crucified and risen.
A few years ago, I read a few books that translated into English the stories and sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. These are people who went out to live in the wilderness as a form of discipleship after the legalization of Christianity and the Council of Nicaea in the fourth century. One of the many things that these men and women learned is that no matter how remote they are or how devoted their group was, sin is ever present. From the fourth century, this story comes down to us:
When a certain brother had sinned, a council was called to judge the matter to which Abba Moses was invited, but he refused to go to it. Then the priest sent someone to say to him, ‘Come, for everyone is waiting for you.’ So he got up and went. He took a leaking jug, filled it with water and carried it with him. The others came out to meet him and said to him, ‘What is this, Father?’ The old man said to them, ‘My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the errors of another.’ When they heard that they said no more to the brother but forgave him. Sayings of the Desert Fathers
This story does not take away the difficulty of Jesus’ teaching, but it does remind us that Christ comes to transform bodies, souls, and minds. In and through Christ Jesus who was crucified and risen for us, it is possible to love the enemy, put away the judgment and condemnation they deserve, and to pass along Christ’s forgiveness to yet another who does not deserve it either.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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