FROM THE SERVANT GENERAL
OUR THEME FOR 2020
(Part 55)
CALLED TO HOLINESS – 2
June 16, 2020
Today’s gospel: Matthew 5:43-48
Being built on Rock is the way to holiness. Holiness is God’s call to us. It is to be set apart. It is to be in the world but not of the world. It is to be different from everyone else, in a good way.
The distinguishing hallmark of a Christian is love, but “if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?” (v.46). Christians are supposed to be pleasant, friendly and welcoming, but “if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?” (v.47). In other words, everyone does that. So what sets you apart?
Jesus told people about the norm in those days. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’” (v.43). For many people even today, this sounds reasonable. But again, a Christian is one who is set apart, who is different from everyone else around. So Jesus says, “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (v.44).
Loving enemies does not make sense to many. It is more reasonable for enemies to be hated. So Jesus’ teaching is a great challenge. What can stand in the way is a misunderstanding of what love means. Love at its most fundamental level is a function of the emotions.1 You feel good about the other person. You love someone whom you feel emotionally attached to. So how can you love an enemy? But emotions are a given. Emotions just happen.2
Christian love is not about emotions (though it does not exclude emotions). It is not about having positive feelings for the other. Rather, it is about a commitment coming out of our love for God and God’s love for us. It is a decision to love. We can feel repelled by an enemy, but we decide to love him anyway. We love even an enemy so that we “may be children of (our) heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” (v.45). God loves all of His children, even those who have gone astray, the prodigal sons of the world. If God does not discriminate, how can we?
So to love our enemy is not to feel good about them, but to do good to them and to desire what is good for them. We act in ways that manifest God’s own love for them. We seek for them to ultimately find the right way. Thus we pray for them, even as they persecute us. We pray for their conversion.
Now there is another consideration. Loving an enemy does not mean allowing him to just abuse or hurt us. In fact, that might not be a manifestation of love, since the person will not be led to change for the better. One can love an enemy but still do the following:
- Correct the person. To love is not just to accept anything, even what is wrong. He needs to be told what wrong he is doing. He needs to be led to a better way.
- Seek redress or justice from authorities for harm or wrong done to us. Just punishment is helpful in getting an offender to change his ways.3 This is also in consideration of our love for others, whom the person might also hurt if he freely continues on his wrong ways.
- Avoid the person. There are persons who are just very difficult to get along with. There are those who just naturally take advantage of or abuse others. Avoiding them can be prudent, keeping us safe from the other person, but also keeping the other person away from opportunities to do what is wrong. Love does not mean allowing our enemy to continue hurting us. Now we keep our physical distance, but we should still keep the person in our heart.
So a Christian is to love even his enemy. This is about unilateral, unconditional, self-sacrificial love.4 It is the very love of God. It is the very love of Jesus manifested on the cross, as he died for all of us who were his enemies, who caused him to be crucified due to our sins. To love as such is to be like God. “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (v.48).
1 This is eros, or romantic love.
2 We have no control over our emotions. What we do have control over is our response to our emotional reactions.
3 In the prison system, this is called restorative justice.
4 This is known as agape.
