Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40
Luke 6:27-38
“Don’t Fret!”
On Sundays like today, I do appreciate the way that the Revised Common Lectionary has put Scripture passages together that relate to each other in interesting ways. It’s obvious, right of the bat, that today is all about loving our enemies. It’s not the easiest topic, by any means, but the theme of the day is certainly clear.
So let’s start with the Gospel reading. Picking up where we left off last Sunday, today’s Gospel text is another section of Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Plain.” And rather than telling stories or teaching through parables as he does in other places, Jesus is simply giving instructions.
“If you want to follow my way,” he tells the people, “If you’re still listening to me and you want my advice,” Jesus says: “Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
Oh my! It never gets easier to hear those instructions from Jesus. And I think the reason for that is that it sounds like Jesus is asking us to simply accept, and live with, being mistreated by others. If someone hurts us, we should invite them to do it again. If someone takes from us, we should not try to get our stuff back, but let them take some more.
That’s not what we did a couple of weeks ago when we had a break-in at the church. We checked the video camera. We reported it to the police. We changed the locks on the front door and repaired the damaged office doors. We didn’t open everything up and say, “Come and take some more!”
And when the current U.S. Administration started threatening and then ordering tariffs on Canadian products being sold to the U.S., I didn’t hear any Christians suggesting that we should accept the situation, or maybe drop our selling prices so that Americans wouldn’t have to pay more.
This difficult text raises the question, “Are Jesus’ followers supposed to become door mats, putting up with the abuse of whoever wants to take advantage of us? It would be easy to interpret the sermon that way, and even to tell people who are poor, oppressed, abused, or discriminated against that they should accept their suffering because no one is going to do anything about it, perhaps until they get some heavenly reward.
But rather than suggesting that his followers should just accept whatever awful things happen to them, I think that Jesus is calling us to action. What’s radical about his instructions is not that he’s saying “Don’t do anything when people treat you poorly,” but that he’s saying “Do something different and unexpected.”
I really liked this one scene in the television series, “The Chosen,” which is a creative telling of the life and ministry of Jesus. The disciples are out on the road with Jesus one day, just a little way outside of Jerusalem. They’re walking along in the heat of the day, carrying all their supplies and camping gear as well… when who should they happen to meet, but a group of Roman soldiers.
Now, there was a law in those days that if you met a Roman soldier on the road, he was permitted to order you to carry his load for one mile. (Jesus makes reference to this rule in his “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew’s Gospel.)
Anyway, that’s exactly what the Roman soldiers do when they meet Jesus and the disciples on the road in the TV version of the Jesus story. They demand that Jesus and his friends carry all their stuff – their packs, their swords, their shields, and even their heavy helmets.
Some of the disciples grumble, especially because they have to leave their own belongings by the side of the road while they walk a mile carrying the soldiers’ things instead. But Jesus accepts it gladly, and picks up more than his share of the load.
When they get to the mile marker, the soldiers declare their duty done and begin to take back their things. But Jesus says, “No, we’ll go another mile with you.” The soldiers protest, knowing full well that they could get in trouble for demanding a second mile. But Jesus insists, and they continue walking together.
And along the way, they begin to talk. Some of the soldiers feel bad, and start to take a few heavy things off the disciples’ shoulders. By the end of the second mile, they’re talking and laughing, and sharing the load, and enemies are on their way to becoming friends.
In Joseph’s story, something similar happens. In this case, the relationship between Joseph and his brothers has been characterized by bad feelings, harsh words, and violent actions for many years. It started with Jacob’s favouritism and the brothers’ jealousy. It got worse when Jacob told them about his dreams and claimed that they would bow down to him one day. The brothers got angrier and angrier, and found a way to get rid of Joseph.
Because of God’s providence and plan, Joseph not only survives being sold into slavery in Egypt, but he manages to rise to a position of power and privilege. And eventually, his brothers come back into his life, looking for help and hope from the Egyptians who had predicted the famine and stored up extra food.
In the usual way of the world, the aggrieved and abused Joseph would have used his power to get revenge on his cruel and heartless brothers. After all, they told his father Jacob that Joseph was dead. They sold him into a life of hard labour, poverty, and enslavement. They deserved what was coming to them – to be treated by Joseph as they had treated him so many years before.
But Joseph chooses to break the cycle of anger, hatred, and cruelty. It’s not that he has accepted their mistreatment, but he chooses to respond in a different way, in an unexpected, kind, and generous way. And in doing so, he changes their relationship. He forgives them, and provides for their needs, and turns his enemies back into family again.
I don’t want to suggest that this kind of healing and reconciliation in relationships ever comes easily. For Joseph, even after all those years away from the brothers, even after making a good life for himself, and becoming well respected and powerful and important, it was still not easy to forgive them. It was difficult and emotional, and at the end he breaks down in tears.
And I think that there are times, too, when it’s not yet possible for us to love our enemies back into friendship. Like when we’re right in the middle of being mistreated and harmed, when we just need to get ourselves to a safe place. Or when we see great harm being perpetrated against our neighbours or against vulnerable people in our midst. We can’t just love our enemies, but we may need to speak truth to power and advocate for justice for the poor.
But even in those situations, can we love our enemies by granting them undeserved respect, by avoiding name-calling, by refraining from anger, and refusing to return evil for evil?
In the face of enemies who continue to cause harm and perpetrate evil against us or others, can we take the advice of the author of Psalm 37 who said, “Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious because of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.”
I think the next part is so important. The psalmist says, “Trust in the Lord and do good.” He doesn’t say fight back against your enemy, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Nor does he tell us to accept our terrible lot.
But he says, “Trust in the Lord and DO good.” Take action for goodness, kindness, generosity, and love. And remember that God is with you, that God loves you, and that goodness and righteousness and justice will prevail in the end.
It makes me wonder about what I might say to the man who broke into our church and took things from my office, if I happen to encounter him in the community one day.
It makes me think carefully about what I can say and what I can do in response to the threats being made against our country by the current American President, without ignoring the many vulnerable people being harmed by recent executive orders and sudden policy changes.
Hopefully, it makes us all consider the conflicts in each of our lives and relationships, and how it might be possible to do something different than retaliation or revenge… to do something different, surprising, and generous that breaks the cycle of harm.
After all, Jesus didn’t just instruct his followers to love their enemies. He showed us just how to do it by living his life fully, generously, and lovingly for others. By keeping on loving us even when we rejected, hurt, and killed him on a cross. By putting his trust in God and choosing to do good, no matter what.
Jesus did not fret because of the wicked. He refrained from anger and avoided wrath. And though he suffered and died, God raised him up to live forever. And by his death and resurrection, he drew us all back into relationship with the God who loves us.