Love Your Enemies
Sundays in Ordinary Time C • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 3 viewsAn invitation to ask ourselves whether we have incorporated sufficiently the love of enemies Christ asks for?
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Listen Up!
Listen Up!
New American Bible: Revised Edition Chapter 6
“But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,s 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.t 29 To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.u 32 For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
When we hear or read this passage, I think we focus on the individual commands, especially of the second half
“Give, without holding back, without expecting return.”
Today, I want to focus on the first part of this instruction:
Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you.
bless those who curse you
turn the other cheek to those who beat you.
The Hardest and Most distinctively Christian.
The Hardest and Most distinctively Christian.
New American Bible: Revised Edition Chapter 13
the greatest of these is love.
the greatest - maybe; the hardest - surely.
If we obey every command in this teaching
but neglect the first
we miss the motivating force.
If we obey all but without love
we certainly do good
but miss the heart of Jesus’ teaching;
&
the question arises
“Have I been Christian at all?”
I know that I struggle more with my attitudes than I do with my generosity. What about you?
Ask yourself:
Is love also the hardest part of Christ’s message for me?
Do I need to change my attitude?
Do I need to be more loving?
None of this
None of this
Is meant to be an accusation.
These are questions I ask myself.
I hope that asking them is also helpful to you.