27-30 “To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, gift wrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
31-34 “Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.
35-36 “I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.
(Or as other versions have v. 36: “Be compassionate, even as your Father is compassionate.”)
We may not want to hear what Jesus is saying. We may not want to be caught and convicted, challenged and changed by this Word. We would rather hear a word which comforts, soothes, reassures us that we can have it our way and still be doing it God’s way. We don’t like to be disturbed by our religion; we like to be appeased.
Jesus words are a simple and profound reversal of the values we live by and a challenge to dramatically change how we look at life and how we act as those who seek, as Luther said, “to live in his kingdom and serve him with prayer, praise and thanksgiving.”
It all hinges on the word merciful..compassionate.
To be compassionate is to be the best we can be. It means a willingness to suffer with, to undergo with, to share solidarity with...those who are without, ungrateful, and even our enemies. It means we are to live so that love not judgement is at the center of our lives, directing our words and actions.
Even when we act in judgment we must do it as those who are struggling to be compassionate. Judgment must never be the last word nor is it ever the best word!
It is a sign we have failed; we have given up. Compassion does not give up!
We are to “live obsessed with
passion for compassion”.
Ellie Wiesel
Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, help me to be the best I can be…compassionate!”
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