Love your enemies...
A married couple trying to live up to a lifestyle that was, to be honest, a little bit beyond them, went to a dinner party. The conversation at the party turned to Mozart. ‘Absolutely brilliant ! Magnificent, a genius !’
The woman wanting to join in the conversation, remarked casually, ‘Ah Mozart, you’re so right about him. I love him. Only this morning I saw him getting on the number 5 bus to Chelsea.’
There was a sudden hush, and everyone looked at her. Her husband was mortified. He pulled her away and whispered, ‘We’re leaving right now. Get your coat, and let’s get out of here.’
As they drove home, he kept muttering to himself. Finally his wife turned to him, ‘You seem angry about something ?’
‘Oh really ! You noticed ! I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life ! You saw Mozart take the number 5 bus to Chelsea ? You idiot ! Don’t you know the number 5 bus doesn’t go anywhere near Chelsea ?’
I think this wonderful example of missing the point is one that as a Church we can often rather easily be guilty of. Yesterday on the news there was an article about a fight breaking out in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem between Armenian and Greek Orthodox Christians, arguing over particular territories within the building controlled by the different denominations.
On the news it was portrayed almost as a bit of a joke item, and perhaps that is what it should be, but it must lead us once again I think, to consider what is really important, and how often we miss the point when we’re considering our faith and the expression of it.
Many times I’m sure all of you have heard things like, ‘he doesn’t go to Church, but he’s a better Christian than most of those who do…’ So what is it that does, or should, mark us out as people of true faith – the sort of attractive faith that may actually make people sit up and notice something different about us ?
In the gospel reading (Luke 6:27-36) Jesus talks about loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us and praying for those who abuse us, and in this passage I think we have a challenge to live out what really should be one of the great distinguishing marks of a Christian.
As Jesus hung on the cross he looked down on many of those who had put him there and he prayed that most powerful prayer, ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do…’ In human terms Jesus was defenceless, vulnerable, even broken, but he was at his most powerful as he offered his prayers for those who hurt him.
In an interview with the BBC, Gordon Wilson, whose son Marie was killed in the Remembrance Day bombing in Enniskillen back in 1987, described his last conversation with his daughter and his feelings toward her killers. He said, "She held my hand tightly, and gripped me as hard as she could. She said, 'Daddy, I love you very much.' Those were her exact words to me, and those were the last words I ever heard her say."
To the astonishment of listeners, Wilson went on to add, "But I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life. She was a great wee lassie. She loved her profession. She was a pet. She's dead. She's in heaven and we shall meet again. I will pray for these men tonight and every night." As historian Jonathan Bardon recounts, "No words in more than twenty-five years of violence in Northern Ireland had such a powerful, emotional impact."
A man of deep Christian faith, Gordon Wilson had gone the extra mile – he had done the unexpected, he had lived out the message of Jesus to love those who hate, to offer the other cheek when attacked.
Gordon Wilson wasn’t weak, but was incredibly powerful, and that is what we all are if we live out the radical love and compassion of Jesus…
Jesus in this gospel reading this evening is marking out his followers as people who are willing to try and go the extra mile, to go beyond what is normally expected, even of decent human beings.
An English yachtsman was sailing in the Caribbean, 4000 miles from him, when the mast broke. He had been adrift for 2 days, battered by 20 foot waves, when his desperate SOS was picked up. 90 minutes later he was rescued by the Captain of a 116,000 ton cruise ship.
Only when he was pulled out of the water did the rescued sailor discover that the Captain who had responded to his call for help was actually a neighbour from his own village. He remarked later, ‘What are the chances of being rescued in the middle of nowhere by your neighbour ?’
Jesus saw neighbours in unlikely places. When an expert in Jewish law asked him to define the neighbour we are to love, Jesus drew a big circle, and he told the story of the Good Samaritan, to show that a neighbour is the friend, the stranger, or even the enemy who needs the help that we can give.
To distinguish ourselves as Jesus’ people, we need to show kindness even to those who wish us harm – it is only then that we will reflect the heart of the One who, while we were still sinners, paid the ultimate price to come to our rescue. AMEN
The woman wanting to join in the conversation, remarked casually, ‘Ah Mozart, you’re so right about him. I love him. Only this morning I saw him getting on the number 5 bus to Chelsea.’
There was a sudden hush, and everyone looked at her. Her husband was mortified. He pulled her away and whispered, ‘We’re leaving right now. Get your coat, and let’s get out of here.’
As they drove home, he kept muttering to himself. Finally his wife turned to him, ‘You seem angry about something ?’
‘Oh really ! You noticed ! I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life ! You saw Mozart take the number 5 bus to Chelsea ? You idiot ! Don’t you know the number 5 bus doesn’t go anywhere near Chelsea ?’
I think this wonderful example of missing the point is one that as a Church we can often rather easily be guilty of. Yesterday on the news there was an article about a fight breaking out in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem between Armenian and Greek Orthodox Christians, arguing over particular territories within the building controlled by the different denominations.
On the news it was portrayed almost as a bit of a joke item, and perhaps that is what it should be, but it must lead us once again I think, to consider what is really important, and how often we miss the point when we’re considering our faith and the expression of it.
Many times I’m sure all of you have heard things like, ‘he doesn’t go to Church, but he’s a better Christian than most of those who do…’ So what is it that does, or should, mark us out as people of true faith – the sort of attractive faith that may actually make people sit up and notice something different about us ?
In the gospel reading (Luke 6:27-36) Jesus talks about loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us and praying for those who abuse us, and in this passage I think we have a challenge to live out what really should be one of the great distinguishing marks of a Christian.
As Jesus hung on the cross he looked down on many of those who had put him there and he prayed that most powerful prayer, ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do…’ In human terms Jesus was defenceless, vulnerable, even broken, but he was at his most powerful as he offered his prayers for those who hurt him.
In an interview with the BBC, Gordon Wilson, whose son Marie was killed in the Remembrance Day bombing in Enniskillen back in 1987, described his last conversation with his daughter and his feelings toward her killers. He said, "She held my hand tightly, and gripped me as hard as she could. She said, 'Daddy, I love you very much.' Those were her exact words to me, and those were the last words I ever heard her say."
To the astonishment of listeners, Wilson went on to add, "But I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life. She was a great wee lassie. She loved her profession. She was a pet. She's dead. She's in heaven and we shall meet again. I will pray for these men tonight and every night." As historian Jonathan Bardon recounts, "No words in more than twenty-five years of violence in Northern Ireland had such a powerful, emotional impact."
A man of deep Christian faith, Gordon Wilson had gone the extra mile – he had done the unexpected, he had lived out the message of Jesus to love those who hate, to offer the other cheek when attacked.
Gordon Wilson wasn’t weak, but was incredibly powerful, and that is what we all are if we live out the radical love and compassion of Jesus…
Jesus in this gospel reading this evening is marking out his followers as people who are willing to try and go the extra mile, to go beyond what is normally expected, even of decent human beings.
An English yachtsman was sailing in the Caribbean, 4000 miles from him, when the mast broke. He had been adrift for 2 days, battered by 20 foot waves, when his desperate SOS was picked up. 90 minutes later he was rescued by the Captain of a 116,000 ton cruise ship.
Only when he was pulled out of the water did the rescued sailor discover that the Captain who had responded to his call for help was actually a neighbour from his own village. He remarked later, ‘What are the chances of being rescued in the middle of nowhere by your neighbour ?’
Jesus saw neighbours in unlikely places. When an expert in Jewish law asked him to define the neighbour we are to love, Jesus drew a big circle, and he told the story of the Good Samaritan, to show that a neighbour is the friend, the stranger, or even the enemy who needs the help that we can give.
To distinguish ourselves as Jesus’ people, we need to show kindness even to those who wish us harm – it is only then that we will reflect the heart of the One who, while we were still sinners, paid the ultimate price to come to our rescue. AMEN
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