Getting Closer to Forgiveness - Part 1

Like any self respecting liberal couple, my husband and I enjoy watching the Rachel Maddow Show while we eat dinner. Although not so good for our digestion, it is a chance to get riled up by the shenanigans of the political class. And since it is the Divine Miss M. who's giving the commentary, the shenanigans are usually those of our political enemies. I'll let you figure out which party I mean.

Now, I know this isn't the most edifying thing for a Christian Minister to do. ginning up the machine of my malice wasn't on the checklist of my ordination exam. But ignoring the fact that I have enemies seems self-delusory at the least, and downright dangerous in most cases. But then Jesus gets all up in my business.

The summary of Jesus’ moral teaching --- and he didn’t spend a whole lot of time teaching morality, BTW --- begins with a command: “Love your enemies”. And the only normal human reaction to that kind of teaching has to be “Damn!” I’d much rather hate my enemies. It’s a more rational way. It’s economically clear. And it just feels better than loving your enemies. But Jesus said it, damn it.

Like a lot of his moral teaching, it isn’t an original saying. You can find similar teaching in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek philosophical world in which Jesus’ message hit. But it is a commandment of Jesus to his disciples, not a suggestion and not an invitation. Despite the plain counter intuitiveness of the commandment, followers of Jesus have to. As any political season will show you, loving your enemies isn’t what works. It differs considerably from the typical cultural expectation of revenge, harm and hatred.

But wait, there’s more. Not content to leave well enough alone, Jesus follows up with three elaborations on the commandment to love. Like a crème brulee that would be enough on its own, Jesus tops the commandment with whipped cream, AND chocolate sauce, AND a raspberry coulis: he says, “Do good to those who hate you…bless those who curse you… pray for those who abuse you.” In the words of the immortal Anna Russell, "I'm not making this up you know."

Freaking Luke 6:27. If you’ve ever wondered what the Gospel’s definition of “love” is you’ll get as close as you can in that passage. And, if you want to know WHY it’s so hard to love, you will run into the answer here. It’s not the ones that you’d naturally love that Jesus commands his people to love. Just to repeat --- the crown of Jesus’ moral teaching tells his followers to love enemies. And to eliminate any chance of blurring this into a meaningless fluffy thing, he insists that love is to do good, to bless, and to pray for --- wait for it --- your enemies.

This blows my mind. The fact that Jesus isn’t teaching us how to have better relationships with our partners or spouses or children, the fact that he isn’t teaching about healthy family relationships or ethical business relationships, the fact that he only talks about love of enemies is breathtaking. There’s not another chapter in Luke where Jesus instructs his disciples to love. It’s only here. And it’s only about loving enemies.

Damn.