REDEMPTION AT ALL COSTS
Luke 6:27-38
Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Year C
Analysis by Matthew DeLoera
27“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
The sculpture Reconciliation by Vasconcellos showing two former enemies embracing each other. It was erected in 1995 in the north aisle of the ruins of St Michael’s Cathedral, Coventry. (Destroyed during fire bombs during the Coventry Blitz on 14 November 1940).
From Wikimedia Commons
“It is because of Christ’s cross that we may hear the word, ‘love your enemies.’”
DIAGNOSIS: Suffering the Costs
Step 1-Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Stamped from the Beginning
After having cured a great multitude of folks who had come “to hear him,” “to be healed of diseases”, and “to be cured of unclean spirits” (Lk 6:17-18), Jesus turns to his disciples to express what may seem a dire warning and a command in the face of evil. They will not escape the suffering that comes from being associated with the Son of Man. People will “hate you, … exclude you, revile you, and defame you” (Lk 6:22). Enemies will engage in physical assault and theft, striking you “on the cheek,” taking away your garments and “your goods” (vv. 29-30). And all of this happens seemingly without retaliation, letting the oppressors have their way… and then some.
Many of Jesus’ disciples were among the marginalized. And we find that today those who are on the margins of society on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and so forth also experience suffering at the hands of oppressors and enemies. Truth is, we all do. For every little bit of justice or equity granted, there seems to come stiffer backlash, harassment, physical assault and insults (“cheeks stricken”) along with opportunities or services denied them (“things taken away”).
Step 2-Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem): Bruised and Beaten
For those who are bruised and beaten, such a command of how to respond to such evil oppression might strike us as quite bewildering. It may even enrage, perhaps harden, or possibly even further burden the hearts of those who have been so mistreated. Anger and cynicism may not even be our first response. We may want to recede or disappear, perhaps wishing for someone to intervene for us. Don’t those with the upper hand wield it because they have no incentive to stop? By not resisting, aren’t we just encouraging them by giving them what they really wanted all along, and enabling them to escalate or to treat others likewise? Anyone who’s ever been bullied or abused knows this very well. And if not for us, then what about for our neighbors? Granted, in this kind of world we’re kidding ourselves to think our own resistance would magically transform the heart of an oppressor; but at least they might take notice, even lift their foot off our neck for a moment. Can’t we just have that? Are we just expendable? Is that all there is?
Step 3-Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem): Left for Dead
But the problem for us is deeper. In our hearts that are already far from God, we fail to listen any more to God. Still, we encounter God’s silence while oppressors and enemies seem to have their way. It’s hard to care about some vague, heavenly reward, let alone any kind of heavenly wrath. So, it also seems, we are left for dead, abandoned by God.
PROGNOSIS: Venturing in Faith
Step 4-Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution): Raised to New Life
But we are not left for dead. Death is conquered by the risen Crucified One. His redemption is quite literally at all costs, bringing us from death to life. Jesus comes to us at all costs, not just despite our judging and striking back and resisting his Word, but precisely because of it. And he neither condemns nor treats us as we have treated others, but instead and always gives us his forgiveness and grants us his peace, thus raising us with him from old death to new life.
Jesus shared in our abandonment by God, and also the stillness of God’s silence. We witness what happened to Jesus as the oppressors of the world just kept escalating their tactics. He offers no resistance as authorities arrest him, even healing one whose ear was severed by a disciple in the commotion (Lk 22:51). And when crucified, he prays for those enemies at the foot of the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34). But to those who suffer with him, like the criminal who pleads for remembrance, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Step 5-Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution): Opened by the Spirit
The gift of faith opens us to seeing the humanity of oppressors, to caring about them as we would care about anyone in human need of good works, blessings, or prayer. But what does it really mean to “love” them? Is it to feel the kind of compassion that Jesus shows in his prayer on the cross, pitying that they honestly just “do not know what they are doing?” Perhaps, and we ourselves might even be opened to this by the Spirit. Faith understands that God is determined to redeem the whole world through and through. This means nothing less than seizing the heart of every oppressor, and we know that we only get to Easter Sunday through a Good Friday.
Step 6-Final Prognosis (External Solution): Unknowing but Trusting
It is because of Christ’s cross that we may hear the word, “love your enemies” (v. 27). “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same” (v. 33). Granted, it would be miraculous for a victim to love their oppressor, but Jesus does know a thing or two about miracles.
What we may even begin to perceive is that our own seemingly non-resistance is really about not engaging in violence-for-violence – and that any sufferings we encounter are occasions for us to witness our faith for the lives of all others. We find opportunities to be creative for the sake of our oppressors and our witness to them as “little Christs” in our time and place. Forgiveness of others does not mean that such suffering at others’ hands did not happen or should just be excused. Forgiveness means that whatever suffering and oppression there is, these are not the last Word for anyone. Christ is the last Word. We cling to the hope that Jesus will forgive us in the midst of our own creative, Spirit-driven responses to the crisis we encounter, trusting Christ’s assurance that we are loved and embraced along with all of humanity and creation.
