Does love really conquer all?

Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

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When we see violence in the public square or in international events, or experience the breakdown of good relationships, or struggle with our own internal challenges - how do we respond?

How do you respond/how are you responding… when the news is full of headlines about escalating tensions and the ensuing loss of life in Israel & Palestine?

How do you respond… when the narratives surrounding events and realities don’t match and we can’t agree on the truth?

How do you respond… when our own failings or challenges leave us broken on the inside, longing for wholeness and peace?

What are we to do?

In the face of inter-group conflict, be it Hamas & Israel, or Ukraine & Russia, or Canadian political groups, or groups that are protesting both for and against SOGI curriculum or congregational and denominational conversations… what does our response to conflict look like? What does our response to events or realities that we may even deem EVIL look like? And does following Jesus have an impact on our posture towards these things?

Bring it down a level, when you experience a breakdown of relationship, when a friendship fades or ends, or when the connection you had with a person is over, how do you think of them, treat them, respond to them? What do you do when people irritate or accuse you? Or when someone you thought you could trust harms you, how do you respond?

When you are struggling with an internal conflict, when there is strife and a breakdown of peace in your relationship with yourself, how does your faith influence that struggle?

What does Jesus tell us? How did he teach about violence and conflict and peace-making?

As Juanita comes to read to us, will you stand and ready your ears and your hearts to hear from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew chapter 5?

Scripture Reading

Matthew 5:38–39 CEB

38 “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.39 But I say to you that you must not oppose those who want to hurt you. If people slap you on your right cheek, you must turn the left cheek to them as well.

Matthew 5:40–42 CEB

40 When they wish to haul you to court and take your shirt, let them have your coat too. 41 When they force you to go one mile, go with them two. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t refuse those who wish to borrow from you.

Matthew 5:43–45 (CEB)

43 “You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you 45 so that you will be acting as children of your Father who is in heaven.

As followers of Jesus, or at least of those who are investigating what the teachings of Jesus are, what does he have to say about the way He calls us to live? Does he address the breakdown of peace or the moments when evil seems to have the upper hand? How are we called to overcome such things?

Peace-making and peace-building are not just for global conflicts. They also are about our more local relationships, whether group relationships or interpersonal or even our relationship with ourselves.

Inner peace-making is more than just “pray this prayer, invite Jesus into your heart and VOILA - all is good. No more struggle, no more conflict, no more internal challenges.” If you were told that following Jesus would magically make everything in your internal life okay, I’m sorry. You were lied to.

Inter-personal peace-making is more than just “let’s all at least pretend to be nice and to like each other.” Again, if this is what you’ve been sold as “peace” - that idea of showing up and plastering a smile on your face so that no one has to feel bad or face consequences of the real challenges that exist between us, I’m sorry. That is peace-faking. And it’s fake all right.

Inter-group peace-making -is more than just “can’t we all get along” and if needed, we’ll just threaten a level of physical or relational/emotional violence that will keep people from taking action. This is perhaps more peace-faking or peace-keeping. But not peace-making or building. If you’ve begun to believe that being stronger and bigger and exerting more force will lead to an ultimate victory, you’ve bought into a cycle of violence and like an electrical circuit, the only thing that will stop that electricity from flowing is a breaker… what is the circuit breaker that breaks the cycle of violence?

I would also address what Jesus does NOT say. There are some commonly encountered lies in all three spheres of interaction - the inner, the inter-personal and the inter-group. So let’s let look at these three really quickly.

Three lies:

The first lie is that inner peace is a “magical” zap from Jesus. This is spiritual bypassing. And it’s not only okay. But it’s actually dangerous as it dismisses mental health and human realities of relating to ourselves in healthy ways.

The second lie is that interpersonal peace means avoiding confrontation and conflict. Deflect, pretend, sweep under the rug and if necessary deny. “Everything is fine.” This is not peace.

The third life is that inter-group peace at whatever level is simply a utopian ideal that isn’t really possible in this life. So make sure you have the necessary tools to take care of your own and to defend yourself and potentially attack the enemy if needed.

Now that we’ve looked at the lies… let’s go back to the text.

This is one of those teachings of Jesus in which he really raises the bar.

I mean have you tried loving your neighbour? (It’s really hard.)

But here, Jesus says, “yeah, not just your neighbour, you need to love your enemies as well.”

Seriously, Jesus? Is this what you want? Is this what you know would be good - not just for our neighbours, and our enemies, but for us as well?

(Can we take the sign down now? “Live and love like Jesus...” sounded nice until I realized what Jesus actually said. And did.)

In Jesus life and teaching, he both said and demonstrated the evil can only be overcome through the power of suffering love. In fact, in Jesus, we see that God demonstrating power looks like Jesus on a Roman cross. As Greg Boyd puts it, “When God flexes His omnipotent bicep, it looks like him getting crucified on the cross.”

Jesus reveals to us what God is like. And that includes laying down His life. This is what God is like. This is the length to which God’s other-oriented, self-sacrificing love will go… not for God’s friends, or even God’s neighbours, but for God’s enemies.

You’ll remember that Paul says it this way…

Divine Command: Love your neighbour.

Human Response: Who is my neighbour?

Jesus’ Command: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Human Response: Who is my enemy?

Immediate thoughts might include, “Oh, this guy!” or “Her” or some famous villain or political figure who you dislike, or a boss or person you work or study with.

Or, you might think, “I don’t think I have any enemies.”

Inner enemies? - addiction, trauma and its effects, mental health struggles or even diagnosed mental illness, difficult experiences, lack, loss, failure

Inner enemies come in all shapes and sizes

Interpersonal enemies?

Former friends. Someone you’ve fallen out with. Someone who has hurt you.

Or “Not-your-friends” - those people who are in your life, but who you would really prefer to keep outside of your life. Those not-your-friends who you would really like to keep as not-your-friends.

Or ??

Inter-group enemies?

As Canadians?

Maybe terrorists, or a nation or group we witness inciting violence or conflict

We don’t have a long list of national enemies. Maybe a few frenemies…?

But mercifully, we have been short on agressors and oppressors. Actually, we’ve managed to cover the oppressing in house for the most part.

But we are part of other groups… so what about those? Perhaps you have been part of inter-group conflict politically, or ideologically, or even religiously

If you’ve ever been on a city council or school board or strata council… or maybe a church board or committee, or participated in denominational conversations…

It’s not hard to encounter people who differ from us on something and as groups, we move into viewing one another as enemies.

Having enemies is real. But also disheartening.

When harm is involved. Choosing not to respond to harm with more harm is difficult. Responding with kindness and an insistence on seeing the humanity of the other is even harder. But it’s also the call.

When facing an inner enemy or a lack of inner peace, it requires seeing ourselves as image bearers of our Maker.

Holding to a posture of kindness, even when our instinct might be shame or reproach or anger.

When facing another person with whom we have conflict, it requires seeing the other as an image bearer of our Maker.

Though we may have massive differences, though they may have inflicted harm even, Jesus calls us not to respond with retribution or revenge, but by turning the other cheek…To give more than is being asked. To go the extra mile

All three of these images show Jesus creative, non-violent response that invites us to the dignity we have as image bearers… Corey Farr describes it this way:

“Imagine you’re a low class slave in the ancient Roman world. You are powerless. You are marginalized. Your life is not your own. To try to run away would be a death sentence.

Then, one day, like so many other days, your master backhands you. He expects you to cower and whimper and slink off back to your duties. Maybe he expects you to get on your knees and beg forgiveness. But instead, you look him in the eyes and turn your head to put your left cheek forward. You’ve already insulted him by failing to break down, so he has the right (in his mind) to slap you again.

But he can’t slap you with his left hand, because that is unclean for both of you. And he can’t backhand, because your right cheek is away from him. To strike again, his only option is to slap you with the palm of his hand. And this was not the way to slap a slave. This was reserved for equals. If he chooses to slap you again, he is forced to upgrade your status. He has to bump you up to a higher class citizen in order to get his revenge.

This “victory” may seem small, but it isn’t. You have asserted your humanity and reminded the master you are not an object to be owned and controlled.”

Maybe? consider the third one… of “going the extra mile” … first mile was the Roman soldier’s perogative. To insist that someone carry their pack. This would be inconvenient, to say the least. Demeaning. Exhausting. And demoralizing. But to choose to carry the pack a second mild is resistance. I’m no longer doing this because you have the “right” to ask me to, but because I have agency and am choosing this for myself. The first mile I was your slave - I had not choice. But this second mile, I’m choosing to help you, as an equal. You are not my enemy. The system may be. But I’m going to choose service beyond servitude. What you asked of me is unjust, but that’s the system. I’m going to give more. To remind you of my humanity. And me of yours.

https://www.redletterchristians.org/on-turning-the-other-cheek-and-how-it-doesnt-mean-what-you-think-it-means/

https://www.coreyfarr.com/post/on-going-the-extra-mile-and-how-it-doesn-t-mean-what-you-think-it-means

When this moves into the inter-group level, hanging on to the humanity and dignity of the other group is of the utmost importance.

If I can convince myself that the “other” is a somehow less than my group, I can do a lot of damage without even realizing it.

If I can convince myself that the “other” is not only less than my group, but actually less than human, well history is unfortunately full of examples of what happens when we view another group of people as sub-human. And what ends up happening is nothing short of evil.

MEC: principles we considered for Intergroup Peace included Respect, Honesty, and the importance (and necessity!) of Confrontation done prayerfully and wisely.

Now is not the moment where I challenge us to take on one more of these levels to really focus on this week - and just try harder to squeeze out a little more peace. Just put in some extra effort to overcome evil with good.

No, this is the moment where I remind you, where I remind US that we cannot do this on our own.

We need Jesus.

And this is what Jesus shows us.

space to invite Jesus to guide you in your next step towards Inner Peace?

space to invite Jesus to guide you in your next step towards Inter-personal Peace? - is there someone that you are holding onto as your enemy?

space to invite Jesus to guide you in your next step towards inter-group and international peace… where do you long for peace that would be more than an absence of conflict, but an actual wholeness and right-relatedness, justice for all, and the needs of the vulnerable no longer kept on the margins.

Trans. to Spoken & Sung Prayer… Invite Eric & Gordon to come and explain what is going to happen.