43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
MATTHEW 5:43-48
When I was in high school I started praying for others. I would pray for my enemies as well as my friends. I still do. But let me be real: I don’t like where that puts me. Let me share a few examples.
Jonah preached to Ninevah about God’s coming judgement. They repented so he was upset. I preached a sermon about this for lenten service at 19th Street Baptist a few years ago and entitled it “Mad About Grace.” We are O.K. with God being loving and patient and kind and forgiving when it’s for us and not for those who we think don’t deserve it. Do we deserve it? Of course not!!! But somehow we start thinking that we do and then when someone who we consider less than us or someone who isn’t friendly to us receives the blessing of God’s forgiveness and mercy, we become MAD ABOUT GRACE!
I like to serve others. I often like to sacrifice for others. I believe this is what Jesus is encouraging us to do in Matthew 5 in the scripture above. But it gets hard sometimes. When you are kind to others and bend over backwards not to hurt their feelings in the way you speak with them only for them to casually and callously blurt out what seems mean spirited but they justify it because they just like to “say it like it is.” I don’t like that at all.
I was sharing with someone today that it’s one thing to come to a school as a guest artist and teach your musical arrangements. You are introduced with a glowing bio. Your job is to be interesting, funny, clever, and entertaining. Someone else does behavior management. But when you are the new teacher you haven’t won respect yet and you are the police as well as the instructor. As the artist if folks aren’t paying attention or aren’t respectful you don’t have to do this. But as the teacher it’s not so simple.
But when I think about how good God has been to me. When I recognize that I needed grace…and still do. I didn’t deserve forgiveness or salvation. That’s when I’m empowered to try to love like Jesus loved and pray for those who haven’t yet decided to respect me or call me friend. In verse 46 of Matthew 5 Jesus said that it’s no great feet to be loving to those who love you. Good point! To be at the center of the universe–being perfect and the focus of worship and give that up to come serve those who haven’t yet decided to respect you or call you friend is beyond my comprehension….Yet that’s what I’m inspired to imitate.
So on Day 47 of my 50 Days I want to re-affirm my commitment to love even when I’m not loved. This doesn’t mean I don’t set boundaries. This doesn’t mean I don’t also heed the advice Jesus gave the disciples that he sent out two by two and told them if a town doesn’t receive them on their gospel journey to dust their feet of and continue on to the next location.
But it does mean I daily reflect on God’s goodness to me and show my gratitude by reflecting it onto someone else-even if they don’t love me. Won’t you join me in this humble act of grace?
