Sermon by Felicity Thompson, Seminarian, 7/7/2024
Good morning! Happy Independence weekend! How has everyone’s weekend been so far? The weather has been reasonably good. We have more comfortable temperatures today. Are you all looking forward to brisket, baked beans and some scrumptious potato salad? You’re all looking at me like, if you would hurry up with your sermon - get on with it!
Let freedom ring! Those three words came to mind on Thursday, July 4. That is what we want for ourselves, our family members, our friends. What is freedom? Freedom allows us to make our own decisions and choices. Freedom gives us the right to be free from discrimination. It is important for a happy and fulfilled life. With freedom, we can be who we want to be without undue external influence or pressure.
The last couple of weeks have been filled with unsettling news for many and welcome news for many others about things we cannot change immediately.
Today’s gospel reading, Jesus’ teaching, part of the Sermon on the Mount gets our attention. Jesus says, “You have heard, love your neighbor and hate your enemy,” According to my apocrypha, that command is not found in the Jewish scriptures. Jesus turns that upside down with the radical command for us to “love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us”.
Love our enemies? That sounds terrifying, difficult and might even sound unfair. There are people in our lives, who have treated us badly, abused us, or they’ve hurt people we love. How do we deal with that? Which is why what Jesus said is so challenging. He said, “Love your enemies.” Of course, Jesus takes it a step further - love, not just people you don’t like - love your enemies. Jesus also says, “pray for those who persecute you.”
These are anxiety provoking times for all. For those who have practiced walking with skeptics, being with skeptics, eating with skeptics, worshiping with skeptics, know that in the end, everything will be okay.
Those who have walked with skeptics know that with God, all will end well. Those who have walked with people who challenge their beliefs to the end of the earth…Know that, with God, there will be victory!
Let’s look at our gospel reading again. This is not a suggestion from Jesus, it is a command. Thinking about it, this command is absolutely necessary for the survival of our communities. Love is one of the solutions for the problems we have in the world today. It is important that we revisit these arresting words from time to time. And even more fitting to do so today, on the weekend of this country’s Independence.
What kind of love is Jesus talking about? I believe, in this instance, He is talking about “brotherly love”, “sisterly love”, also known as agape love. Agape is an ancient Greek word for charity and is used to describe the love shared between God and humans, and the love humans share with God.
This is a type of love that can be described as the highest form of love. Agape is frequently used in the New Testament and often translated as unconditional love. It is different from other types of love in the Bible. Others such as philia - that refers to (affectionate love), friendship, and eros which refers to (romantic love) passionate love.
Agape is more than how one feels, this is an unconditional, sacrificial love, making it a choice to seek the well-being of others, even when it is difficult without expectation of them returning that love to you. It is showing goodwill to a fellow human being. It involves commitment and faithfulness, and I will add this - it is a love so different that the person described as having agape love is seen to show strong character and of a high standing moral nature.
This command, to love our enemies, reflects God’s nature. Love is a powerful, transformative force that can heal, strengthen, and inspire individuals and communities. It keeps us from doing some dastardly things. Its impact extends far beyond personal relationships, influencing social structures and promoting positive change. Whether through personal growth, strengthened relationships, or social activism, the transformative power of love is important for a more compassionate and just world.
We are asked to “love” not just “like”. There is a difference. Martin Luther King gave a sermon on this gospel reading, very close to where we are right now on March 7, 1961, to the Detroit Council of Churches. Dr. King noted, love is a display of strength. This was during a troubled time in Detroit’s history.
He said, “Jesus challenges us to love”. Even though Martin Luther King’s movement focused on non-violence and the principle of love, he stated this. “We love men, not because we like them, not because their attitudes and ways appeal to us, but we love them because God loves them. Here we rise to the position of loving the person who does the evil deed while hating the deed that the person does.”
This passage challenges believers to embody a higher standard of love and compassion, one that reflects the nature of God in our interactions with others. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.” What does this mean? This suggests that all individuals and communities are linked together and what affects one part of society will affect the whole.
When COVID-19 affected one community, no one was immune. It spread to other communities like wildfire till we learned to isolate when contagious, wear masks in crowds and vaccinate to prevent serious illness. We were asked to love each other, to protect each other by wearing masks when the going got tough. That call to love was not academic or impractical.
Rev. Jim Wallis was here a few months ago. He reminded us that “when we see a civic promotion of fear, hate, and violence, we need a civic faith of love, healing, and hope to defeat it. And that must involve all of us — religious or not.” Remember this, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Let’s work together, raise our voices, outside the walls of St. David’s, for peace for all, love for all, justice for all and freedom for everyone. Martin Luther King said, “The church”, yes, the church, “must be reminded that it is not the master of the state, nor the servant of the state; but the conscience of the state.” We are here to challenge systems that oppress others. We are here to be advocates for justice.
You recall there was an assault on humanity! June 17, 2015, at 9:05PM, creating immediate victims of a terrible crime! The killing of nine people who were having Bible Study at Mother Emmanuel AME, nine years ago, in Charleston, South Carolina. The families of the victims showed agape love when they instantly forgave the 21-year-old white supremacist, assailant. His miseducation percolated online and ended in a massacre. In many ways the church’s story is America’s story.
Authors who told this story stated, “Emmanuel is the oldest AME church in the Deep South, fighting for freedom and civil rights but also fighting for grace and understanding - fighting to transcend bigotry, fraud, hatred, racism, poverty, and misery”. This they do with love.
The same God who created the sun that rises on the evil and the good, is the same God that sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
In our gospel reading for today, Jesus reminds his audience that loving those who love you is not going out of your way since the tax collectors, who were looked at negatively in that society, do the same. Acknowledging only those whom we are comfortable with does not set us apart from others. It makes us feel good. We are followers of Christ, that is not going far enough.
Celebrating this country’s independence reminds us to not ignore injustices happening to others, even if they are geographically or culturally distant. Instead, we should continue to recognize that such injustices are a collective problem requiring a collective response. Remember our love for Haiti. Remember our love for the Holy Land. Remember our love for Palestine. The list goes on …
Remember our love for our families, friends and neighbors. Remember our love for this community, for ourselves…All of us!
The challenge is to work towards continually forgiving those who hurt us and walking towards a complete and unconditional love for all. We are asked to embody a higher standard of love and compassion, reflecting Jesus’ behavior and interactions with others. We are called to be perfect; as close to being perfect as our heavenly Father.
How do we go about loving our “enemies”? Love might look like forgiveness of others and ourselves. Love might look like standing with your “enemy” on a cause both of you agree with. Love might look like not giving up on them, even if you completely disagree with a decision that they make or a lifestyle that they lead. Love might look like just being in the same space, you don’t even have to talk, you can just be together. And much of the time, that’s enough. God will give us the courage to forgive. God will give us the courage to love no matter who it is or what we have to deal with.
When we pray for people we do not agree with, we begin to learn really and truly to love them. When we approach God on their behalf, we enter into a space of love and take them there with us. Claim the promise of God’s power that we know works in us and through us. This reminds me of St. Paul’s words in a letter to the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” You see, love allows everyone to create an opportunity to come together.
Jesus’ command to love those we perceive to be our enemies is actually a tool to discern and leads to our own salvation. To love our enemies, those we do not agree with is a lot more than not wishing evil on them. It means making a conscious effort, being intentional about a path to mercy for their sake and our own. When we let our love take the lead, in Jesus name, God gets the glory as we build His Kingdom here as it is in Heaven.
The price and power of forgiveness is a way of revealing God’s mercy in the midst of what could be tremendous pain. Finding common ground and binding unity can only be achieved through love!
Amen