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The Practice of Love (Part2/2): “Love Your Enemies”
Romans 12:17-21, Matthew 5:38-48
Mari Ikeda
Today I’m going to talk about what it means to practice love by reading the Romans chapter 12, continuing from last time. While last time we heard about loving each other in church, we’ll learn today what it means to love our enemies. I’d like to briefly read the Romans first, but will more focus on Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Mark afterwards. Let’s read from Romans 12:17-21.
A. Flawed reasoning in Old Testament teachings （Romans 12:17-21）
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
“Love your enemies” is the important teaching that characterizes the Christian faith both today and the time this letter was written. However, what Paul says here sounds like, basically, “Show humanity to your enemy and save them from trouble. Don’t get revenge, but wait for the divine justice to be brought.” If that were Paul’s intention, he misunderstood Jesus’ teaching of “Love your enemies” as just a prohibition of action of revenge only to justify the desire for a revenge.
Why did Paul say things misleadingly here? The answer lies, in my opinion, in his relatively forced quotations from the Old Testament. In the OT, we can find almost no passage that teaches Jesus’ “Love your enemies” teaching. That’s why here Paul quotes from several parts of the OT (Deuteronomy32:35, Psalm94:1, Proverb25:21-22, 2Kings 6:22, 2Chronicles 28:8) and edited them to match his point, but ended up to mislead his readers.
Only in the teaching of Jesus Himself can we find the reasoning for the word, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, and if it is possible, live at peace with everyone.” So, now I’d like to read carefully the word of Jesus. Let’s read the Gospel of Mark chapter 5, v.38-42 first.
B. Jesus’ teaching #1: “Do not resist an evil person” （Matthew 5:38-42）
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
1. This doesn’t mean we should ignore acts of evil
I wonder how the people of Ukraine hear these words of Jesus under the current invasion of their country by Russia. Is Jesus telling them not to resist Putin but give up and obey him? I don’t think so.
Human society is so filled with human evils and injustice both in international situations and domestic issues that it seems almost impossible to practice Jesus’ teaching of “Do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” If we try to do it, we may only permit human evils and increase the number of people who are abused and suffer unreasonably.
It is important for us to remember that Jesus Himself did not overlooked the evils and injustice in the Jewish society in His time. He criticized hypocrisy of the religious leaders called the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, and he was always on the side of the weak and sinners who were excluded by them. Such actions of Jesus became the very reason why those leaders in power felt threatened and decided to hang Him on the cross.
Therefore, we have to understand that Jesus did not mean that we can ignore human acts of evil when He said, “Don’t resist an evil person.” Instead, in following Jesus’ example, we need not to hesitate to accuse what is wrong as wrong and to stand together with those in weak positions. Also, when we ourselves are abused or exploited by others, we should know we all have the right to protest them. Indeed, the notion of human rights itself is the product of the Christian ethics that teaches us that every person is a beloved child of God.
Now then, what does Jesus mean here? To understand His true intention, we should recall the greatest act of love that Jesus did.
2. Letting go of our dignity
Jesus never resisted, even when He was arrested, beaten, and insulted for an unjust reason. He neither blamed nor cursed anyone, even after He was hanged on the cross. He did not wish God may punish those who made Him suffer, either. And He just died on the cross. He rose again after three days, not to take his revenge on humanity, but to show He had forgiven people’s sins.
Jesus taught us through this event of the Cross that love is not an emotion in which we “like” someone, but it is an action to sacrifice our good for the good of another. It means to let go of the rights to keep our property and honor, and even the right to protect our dignity, that we are taken for granted. In other words, it means to allow our self-esteem to be hurt, accept our freedom of action to be taken away, and to become completely vulnerable to others.
It is natural for us to be frightened and angry to let go of the rights to protect our own dignity and allow others to exploit and abuse us. However, there are times when we need to renounce the rights to protect ourselves and to accept to be hurt by others, if we want to practice and spread God’s love in the world where human acts of evil are flooding.
3. Letting go rather than being robbed
There is no single answer to in what situations we need to do so. It’s up to each of us’ judgment in each place where each of us is.
Nonetheless, there is one thing we should always remember in whatever situation. That is to remember we are all God’s children who are worthy to Him and that we all have the right to protect ourselves. There are many people among those who are being abused by others who don’t know or start to doubt their rights and worth. If you yourself are in such situation, what you need utmost is to understand that you have the worth and right to protect yourself. You have absolutely no need to remain robbed of them. I encourage you to take them back as soon as possible.
Having said that, we still have the choice to let go of the right to protect ourselves by our own will, and to become vulnerable and get hurt by others, however wrongs others do to us. I think the following word of Jesus gives us a hint of what specific situation it might be. So, let’s move on to v.43-48 now.
C. Jesus’ teaching #2: “Love your enemies” （Matthew 5:43-48）
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
1. Recognize our own prejudices
To the Jews in Jesus’ time, “neighbor” meant their fellow Jews, while “enemy” meant all people of other ethnic groups, namely the gentiles. There was no question for them to help each other only among the Jews while they hated the gentiles.
We share the same tendency, by which we are eager to help each other among the fellow Christians while we keep distance from our non-Christian friends. Perhaps we also hang out well among only the Japanese, while we exclude the foreigners. Where there is a group of friends, there are people out of that group. But the definition of “friends” inevitably changes over time by being influenced by time and culture, and also it is sometimes deliberately changed by people for their own convenience.
During WWII, Japan was an enemy for people of many countries, while Japanese people saw many nations as their enemies. Russia, although a good neighbor for many countries until a few month ago, now became an enemy of the world. In such a way, our definition of “enemy” is unstable and uncertain, and is always at someone’s disposal both at national level and personal level.
I think practicing Jesus’ teaching to love our enemies starts with us doubting if the person we have been regarding as our enemy is really an enemy. Just as the Jews had no question about treating the gentiles as their enemy, which was wrong, we may be blind to the prejudice we have inside. There is no point in discriminating neighbors from enemies, as Jesus taught against it in the parable of the good Samaritan. What Jesus desires for us is that we become a neighbor for all people. If we feel reluctant to become someone’s neighbor, there might be lying our prejudice.
2. Forgive those who cause us suffering
However, among those whom we regard as our enemies are people who cause us to suffer. To love them and become their neighbor is not easy. But here we see some linkage with what we heard earlier today, to give up the right to protect our dignity and become vulnerable in front of our enemies. To love and become a neighbor of someone who makes us suffer means that we make a decision to forgive that person, even if the pain caused by him or her is still with us, even if that person himself or herself does not even know he or she did wrong to us. It is our voluntary choice to leave a part of us wounded.
3. God’s love is poured out equally on the evil and the good
Jesus expresses in a short sentence to explain why He requires us to go through such a pain. In v.45, He says, “[The Father] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
We feel it is unreasonable and unfair that people who make us suffer seem happy and many other people seem to be having daily lives without worries while we are still in pain. But that is the reality of this world. God’s love is so indiscriminate to the point which we feel it is unfair. In God’s eyes there is not so much difference between the evil and the good, the righteous and the unrighteous, to our disappointment. For all of us are equally sinful, and at the same time equally worthy of His love before God.
If we find it difficult to forgive someone, it is because we subconsciously think we are right and that person is wrong. Certainly there is a case the other party indeed wronged to us, but we should remember that we are not so different before God. It may be a disgraceful thought, but it is simply a fact that we have to accept.
So after I spent two times to talk about “the practice of love” from last time, what I found in the end is that the biggest obstacle to inhibit me from practicing love is myself. While Jesus’ love is a complete sacrifice of Himself with no fear of being hurt and no desire for any return, I’m afraid of being hurt, I get angry if someone hurts me, I want something in return if I give my love to someone. Yet, it is a relief and the Good News that Jesus still loves such a person as me. Are you receiving such a big love of Jesus?
(Prayer) Dear God, we ask you to make our poor love grow big. Help us not focus on protecting our own honor but choose to convey Your love to people around us by the way we live. Let us forgive those who cause us to suffer, and understand that we are all sinners in front of You. Give us strength to carry others’ burden together. Help us find the way to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible. Our Lord Jesus, we pray in Your name. Amen.
Summary
Love is not an emotion in which we “like” someone, but a commitment to sacrifice our good for the good of another. At times, this means letting go of our right to defend our dignity and making ourselves vulnerable in the presence of those who have wronged us. In our vulnerability, we come face to face with our own subconscious prejudices. It is frightening to let go of our right to defend ourselves, but before God, we are all sinners and when we realize how sinful we are, and at the same time, how loved we are, God’s love will begin to transform us.
For Discussion
1. Please share an example of when God did not overlook human evil and injustice.
2. Please share an example of when Jesus relinquished the right to defend his dignity.