In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” The world seems to operate this way much of the time. The scales of justice balance themselves. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. Tit for tat, toe to toe. If someone hurts you, hurt him back. If someone takes from you, take what is his. Round and round, over and over, the cycle keeps on going. Small children are expert at this sort of thinking. Just watch boys on a playground. If one slights another, he hits his opponent, who returns the punch, and pretty soon they are going blow-for-blow. And girls are no different, except maybe in their methods.
As adults, we are often not much different. We don't like to be slighted. We don't want to feel belittled or offended or put down or put out. We don't want to be insulted or abused or taken advantage of. We would rather put up walls of defense against those who hate us. We would rather cling tightly to what we have than risk losing something in service to our neighbor. We would rather lash out that take the lashes.
But what does that say about us? Does the world see us as those who are unfriendly, even hostile, to those around us? It is easy to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. It is easy to return evil for evil, and take an eye for an eye. It is easy to look away from the needs of the poor and needy, and keep your cloak wrapped tightly around yourself. But our Lord calls us to be better than that. We are called to look outside ourselves and our own immediate needs. We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to be perfect as our Father is perfect
This temptation does not even escape us in the Church. We experience the temptation to categorize those outside our circle as “other”, and therefore and thereby to exclude them. We enjoy our little religious club, and heaven forbid we sacrifice the status quo. And we are reluctant to reach out to those who do not fit our nice little mold of what a church-going Christian looks like. What would happen if the drunk showed up on Sunday morning after Saturday night in the bar? What would happen if the single mother with several baby-daddies appeared in the pew in front of you? Would these “outsiders” feel welcome here? These people are your neighbor. They deserve your love as much as your friends and family. These people are children of God. These people are those who need your cloak, who need you to go the first mile for them, let alone the extra.
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Sounds much easier said than done. This week, the University of California at Davis announced a policy that made discrimination against Christians official operating procedure for the campus. All other religious groups are given equal access to campus resources, but Christian groups are excluded because they violate the University's principles of community. Likewise, if a Christian student is penalized by a professor for his beliefs, the University has said it will not back the student's cause. What would it be like to be a Christian young person attending such an institution? Would your faith go underground, or would you be tempted to become pushy and in-your-face about your Christianity? Would you be tempted to sue the socks off the administrators who made that policy?
We live in a world that is increasingly not simply disinterested in and apathetic toward Christianity, but rather actively hateful and hostile toward the Gospel. The Muslim Brotherhood has been in the news media a lot recently because of their involvement with the political happenings in Egypt in the last few weeks. Are they disinterested bystanders on the outside of Christianity? Would that they were! No, rather, the Muslim Brotherhood would like nothing more than to see the Gospel flame extinguished and the influence of the Church throughout the world broken. They would like to see the idol Allah set up in place of the Lord our God and the prophet Mohammed take the place in the hearts of men which rightly belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ. And how will that happen? If not peacefully, then at the point of the sword or under the cloud of a bomb.
And we Christians are tempted to react with violence. Fight fire with fire. If someone kills your brother, kill his brother and his sister and his father and mother. If someone burns your house, burn his house and his house of worship. If someone attempts to infiltrate your country, level his country to the ground. Rome tried that with Carthage, and look where the power is now.
The foreigner within our walls seeks your help, and what do you give him? When he is hungry and asks for bread, do you give him a stone? When he is naked and cold, do you give him the boot? Is this loving your neighbor as yourself? Is this being holy as your Father in heaven is holy?
What about the angry atheist? The radical professor who rants in class and in print about the foolishness of belief in God. What do you do about him? Do you scream and yell back at him. Does his vitriol and ire earn yours in return? Or do you put the best construction on everything, bend your neck to his yoke, and turn the cheek when his words and grades sting you to your core?
Simply put – no. You want to spit back in the face of those who ridicule you. You want to blow the hell of out of those Muslims and their god-forsaken heathenish religion. You want to pack up the gays and lesbians and atheists and whoever else opposes the Gospel and ship them to the outer rings of Saturn. The last thing you want to do is love your neighbor as yourself. But that is what you must do. The scandal of the cross is not just that God loves everyone and wants everyone to get along, but that you must actually love your neighbor as yourself. The Law demands that you put someone else and his needs on equal footing with you and your own. The Law demands that you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. But the old sinful man inside keeps you from doing what you ought, even when you know you should.
But take heart. There is one who has loved the enemy, who has given His all in service to the neighbor. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior has given His cloak, given His shirt, gone the extra mile, turned the other cheek. The only-begotten Son of God allowed Himself to be stripped of the form of divinity and took on the form of a servant of man. In the foolishness of God, His only Son became sin for us sinners, that we might through His death receive the wisdom and life and holiness of God. Jesus fulfilled the very last letter of the Law for us, that we might no longer live under the condemnation of the Law. As the silent sheep brought before the slaughterer, Jesus bared Himself to the punishment and wrath due upon our sins and took all that came, not only from the enemies of God, but from God our Father Himself. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That is loving your neighbor as yourself. That is loving your enemy.
Your sins are forgiven. Your unloving attitude is atoned for. Your misgivings about the “others” has been addressed. The same spiritual food which this day nourishes your body and soul is offered for the good of those who persecute you. The Body and Blood of the Lord are here present and distributed not to the righteous, but to sinners like you and me. The perfect love of Jesus is here poured down your throat and into your heart and mind as you receive His gracious gifts and go forth to share your bounty with those who have not. This heavenly food is offered here to you to strengthen and preserve you in the one true faith unto life everlasting. This holy meal is given to you to bind you together with all the faithful whose life is hidden in Christ. This Blessed Sacrament is fed to you this day, and as often as you eat of it, that you may be fortified to go and love your neighbor as Christ has loved you, to love those who hate you, and to pray for those who persecute you.
So go now in peace and serve the Lord. Serve the Lord by serving those who impose themselves upon you. Serve the Lord by serving those who want to take all you have and more. Serve the Lord by loving the unlovable and praying for those who work against you. Serve the Lord with joy and gladness, basking in His love for you.
Lord Jesus Christ, we humbly pray:
O keep us steadfast till that day
When each will be Your welcomed guest
In heaven's high and holy feast.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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