Sermon: Love Your Enemies by Rev. Jessica Johnson
Date: February 24, 2019
Key Scripture Passages: Luke 6:27-38
Date: February 24, 2019
Key Scripture Passages: Luke 6:27-38
But I saw to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Luke 6:27-28 ESV
Luke 6:27-28 ESV
Who is Your Enemy?
Love your enemies. Who are our enemies? I belong to a couple pastor groups on Facebook, and, in one of them, they have been discussing this passage about loving your enemies and debating about who our enemies are all week long as they prepare their sermons. The comments have been mostly been about Islamists or Muslims or the current presidential administration. Several made vague references about loving our neighbor. Only one person got personal and posted about being a survivor of abuse.
I found their answers about who is the enemy interesting for a couple of reasons. First, their answers were kept to groups of people they did not know personally and were mostly politically driven. Are our only enemies political ones? I think most of us would say no. Some of these groups are our enemies. Yet, enemies are not always from some other nation or some other religion.
The second reason that I found their answers interesting was that this group of pastors wanted to focus on the loving other people aspect, but again, they made these references in vague ways. It is not shocking to me that this group of pastors did not dig deeper. Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to deal with talking about enemies or neighbors that are distant and relatively unknown or refer to them as a general group than someone you know personally?
Finally, the answers did not take into account spiritual warfare or the ultimate enemy, Satan. Satan is certainly our enemy. Should we love Satan? I remember the first time that I felt pity for Satan. I was reading a book of poetry by Lucille Clifton called The Book of Light. In there, she has a series of 8 poems that portray Lucifer’s side of the conversation that he is having in his old age with God. Her portrayal starts with Lucifer asking God to sit and talk with him, “…let us rest here a time like two old brothers who watched it happen and wondered what it meant”. Lucifer bemoans his situation, “…less snake than angel, less angel than man, how come I to this serpent’s understanding?” Though he does not specifically say it, Lucifer seems a bit wistful, wishing he were back at God’s side. Reading these poems always gave me the impression of his regret for how things occurred and his desire to return to Heaven, though not wanting to admit his wrongdoing or accept responsibility for his actions that led to his Fall from Heaven.
Remember, Satan was one of God’s angels. He rebelled against God, and God cast him out of Heaven. Satan once stood at God’s side and enjoyed all of the splendors of Heaven. Yet, his pride and ego led him into rebellion against God, and he lost it all. Since then, Satan has roamed the earth in his continued rebellion. Such a comparison with Jesus. Jesus chose to give up the splendors of Heaven to come here out of love for us. His act of selfless sacrifice stands in stark contrast to Satan’s selfish act of seeking power. And Jesus was able to ascend back into Heaven.
But let’s flip it around a little. God sent and sacrificed His one and only Son Jesus in order to redeem us from our Fall and our sins. But He did not do the same for Satan. He did not send Jesus for Satan’s redemption after His fall. I could see why Satan might hate us. I cannot say that I love Satan. But I can say that I have felt pity for him.
Loving Your Enemies
Who are your enemies? Is it the co-worker trying to sabotage you at work? Is it the friend who betrayed you? Is it someone who abused or hurt you? Are you your own enemy? Is it the person who keeps you from fully living out your faith in Christ? If we sit and think about it, we all probably have more than one enemy.
Love your enemies. When Jesus said those words, He did not specify which enemies. He didn’t say it was okay to love some but hate others. And furthermore, Jesus told us how to love them as He set the example of showing love to all.
The Greek word for love here is agape. It is not eros (romantic love), storge (family love), or even philia (brotherly love or as we’d love a dear friend). We are to show our enemies agape love, which God’s divine love. It is a selfless, benevolent love. We are to see them as God would see them, love them as God would love them.
Jesus said we are to do good to those who hate us. Think about someone who hates you. When was the last time you did something good for them?
Jesus said we are to bless those who curse us. Think about someone who wants to sabotage us or make us look bad. When was the last time you were kind to them?
Jesus said we are to pray for those who abuse us. Many of have experienced bullying and some have experienced abuse. When was the last time you prayed for that bully or abuser?
Luke 6:31 sums it up:
“And as you wish that others would do to you do so to them.”
The Golden Rule: Treat others as you want to be treated. Many people know, quote, and even try to live by the Golden Rule, but they do not know it came from the Bible, that it was something Jesus taught.
Orson Scott Card wrote a book titled Ender’s Game. There was also a movie made about it. In it, the main character, Ender, is talking about defeating his enemies during a time of war. Ender says:
Love your enemies. Who are our enemies? I belong to a couple pastor groups on Facebook, and, in one of them, they have been discussing this passage about loving your enemies and debating about who our enemies are all week long as they prepare their sermons. The comments have been mostly been about Islamists or Muslims or the current presidential administration. Several made vague references about loving our neighbor. Only one person got personal and posted about being a survivor of abuse.
I found their answers about who is the enemy interesting for a couple of reasons. First, their answers were kept to groups of people they did not know personally and were mostly politically driven. Are our only enemies political ones? I think most of us would say no. Some of these groups are our enemies. Yet, enemies are not always from some other nation or some other religion.
The second reason that I found their answers interesting was that this group of pastors wanted to focus on the loving other people aspect, but again, they made these references in vague ways. It is not shocking to me that this group of pastors did not dig deeper. Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to deal with talking about enemies or neighbors that are distant and relatively unknown or refer to them as a general group than someone you know personally?
Finally, the answers did not take into account spiritual warfare or the ultimate enemy, Satan. Satan is certainly our enemy. Should we love Satan? I remember the first time that I felt pity for Satan. I was reading a book of poetry by Lucille Clifton called The Book of Light. In there, she has a series of 8 poems that portray Lucifer’s side of the conversation that he is having in his old age with God. Her portrayal starts with Lucifer asking God to sit and talk with him, “…let us rest here a time like two old brothers who watched it happen and wondered what it meant”. Lucifer bemoans his situation, “…less snake than angel, less angel than man, how come I to this serpent’s understanding?” Though he does not specifically say it, Lucifer seems a bit wistful, wishing he were back at God’s side. Reading these poems always gave me the impression of his regret for how things occurred and his desire to return to Heaven, though not wanting to admit his wrongdoing or accept responsibility for his actions that led to his Fall from Heaven.
Remember, Satan was one of God’s angels. He rebelled against God, and God cast him out of Heaven. Satan once stood at God’s side and enjoyed all of the splendors of Heaven. Yet, his pride and ego led him into rebellion against God, and he lost it all. Since then, Satan has roamed the earth in his continued rebellion. Such a comparison with Jesus. Jesus chose to give up the splendors of Heaven to come here out of love for us. His act of selfless sacrifice stands in stark contrast to Satan’s selfish act of seeking power. And Jesus was able to ascend back into Heaven.
But let’s flip it around a little. God sent and sacrificed His one and only Son Jesus in order to redeem us from our Fall and our sins. But He did not do the same for Satan. He did not send Jesus for Satan’s redemption after His fall. I could see why Satan might hate us. I cannot say that I love Satan. But I can say that I have felt pity for him.
Loving Your Enemies
Who are your enemies? Is it the co-worker trying to sabotage you at work? Is it the friend who betrayed you? Is it someone who abused or hurt you? Are you your own enemy? Is it the person who keeps you from fully living out your faith in Christ? If we sit and think about it, we all probably have more than one enemy.
Love your enemies. When Jesus said those words, He did not specify which enemies. He didn’t say it was okay to love some but hate others. And furthermore, Jesus told us how to love them as He set the example of showing love to all.
The Greek word for love here is agape. It is not eros (romantic love), storge (family love), or even philia (brotherly love or as we’d love a dear friend). We are to show our enemies agape love, which God’s divine love. It is a selfless, benevolent love. We are to see them as God would see them, love them as God would love them.
Jesus said we are to do good to those who hate us. Think about someone who hates you. When was the last time you did something good for them?
Jesus said we are to bless those who curse us. Think about someone who wants to sabotage us or make us look bad. When was the last time you were kind to them?
Jesus said we are to pray for those who abuse us. Many of have experienced bullying and some have experienced abuse. When was the last time you prayed for that bully or abuser?
Luke 6:31 sums it up:
“And as you wish that others would do to you do so to them.”
The Golden Rule: Treat others as you want to be treated. Many people know, quote, and even try to live by the Golden Rule, but they do not know it came from the Bible, that it was something Jesus taught.
Orson Scott Card wrote a book titled Ender’s Game. There was also a movie made about it. In it, the main character, Ender, is talking about defeating his enemies during a time of war. Ender says:
“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it is impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves.”
Now, he is talking about that in order to defeat them you have to really know them. Yet, there is something to what he says that is akin to what Jesus says about loving your enemies. If you take the time to understand them, truly get to know them, you could end up loving them.
Transformational Love
Now the Bible talks a lot about what love is and what love is not. Loving your enemies does NOT mean that we should do what they say or follow them. We should NOT do what pleases them or adopt their interests. It also does NOT mean that we even have to be friends. This also does NOT mean that we simply accept people’s bad behavior or acts of evil to us.
What it DOES mean is that we show them unconditional love. In Luke 6, Jesus lists 7 aspects of this unconditional/agape love. I have already mentioned a couple. They are:
Doing these things do not garner extra favor with God. We aren’t expected to do them to earn our salvation. We aren’t talking about a legal duty or works-based faith. Jesus is teaching the disciples in this passage. Jesus is speaking to those who are believers, who already follow Him. Jesus is teaching them (and us) how to live life together under Him in the kingdom of God. He is giving insight into what it means to love each other, friend and foe alike.
We also must realize that our enemies are made in the image of God and that God loves them as much as He does us. God came for all people, and, through God, our enemies can be transformed through Christ’s grace.
Do you believe people can change? It sounds like a simple question, but it is not so simple to answer. Through God, I believe they can. I have to, because the hope of restoration that only God can bring lies in the fact that transformation is possible. And as an imperfect human, I need transformation just as much as my enemy. Being transformed and loving our enemies are not things we can do on our own. Only with God are we able to do them. As Christians, we must believe that through God’s grace, Jesus’s teaching and sacrifice, and the work of the Holy Spirit that change is possible, not just for us but our enemies as well.
Do you believe people can change? If so, then pray for them.
Suggested Further Study:
Transformational Love
Now the Bible talks a lot about what love is and what love is not. Loving your enemies does NOT mean that we should do what they say or follow them. We should NOT do what pleases them or adopt their interests. It also does NOT mean that we even have to be friends. This also does NOT mean that we simply accept people’s bad behavior or acts of evil to us.
What it DOES mean is that we show them unconditional love. In Luke 6, Jesus lists 7 aspects of this unconditional/agape love. I have already mentioned a couple. They are:
- Love them.
- Do good to those who hate us.
- Bless those who curse us.
- Pray for those who abuse or hurt us.
- Do not retaliate.
- Give freely, without expecting a reward.
- Treat others as we want to be treated.
Doing these things do not garner extra favor with God. We aren’t expected to do them to earn our salvation. We aren’t talking about a legal duty or works-based faith. Jesus is teaching the disciples in this passage. Jesus is speaking to those who are believers, who already follow Him. Jesus is teaching them (and us) how to live life together under Him in the kingdom of God. He is giving insight into what it means to love each other, friend and foe alike.
We also must realize that our enemies are made in the image of God and that God loves them as much as He does us. God came for all people, and, through God, our enemies can be transformed through Christ’s grace.
Do you believe people can change? It sounds like a simple question, but it is not so simple to answer. Through God, I believe they can. I have to, because the hope of restoration that only God can bring lies in the fact that transformation is possible. And as an imperfect human, I need transformation just as much as my enemy. Being transformed and loving our enemies are not things we can do on our own. Only with God are we able to do them. As Christians, we must believe that through God’s grace, Jesus’s teaching and sacrifice, and the work of the Holy Spirit that change is possible, not just for us but our enemies as well.
Do you believe people can change? If so, then pray for them.
Suggested Further Study:
- Job 1
- Matthew 5
- Luke 6
- Romans 3
- Romans 12
- 2 Timothy 3
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