Loving your enemies – Luke 6:27-42

Jesus’ instruction to His disciples on dealing with those
against them, and even those with them who slip and fall, provides us with a
wonderful example of applying God’s love in our everyday walk.

The passage covers a lot of ground and can be broken into
three parts: dealing with those blatantly opposing us; dealing with those in
whom we share in some mutual way; and the consequence of our choice.

As a timeless God who is no respecter of persons (Act 10:34),
the word Jesus spoke will apply to us today just as it did to the original
listeners.  In the case of this
Scripture, it is easy to see Christ speaking directly to us, too.

On turning the other cheek.

Why would Jesus ask, no, command us, to treat people kindly
when they so openly abuse us?  As God’s
servants, He seeks to use us to convey and advance the Kingdom.  This is they reason He has provided us with
every tool necessary to address the world in a winning way.

At first glance, the persons described here deserve anything
we might level against them as an enemy. 
However, in seeing ourselves as the perpetrator against Christ, who God
wants us to follow in deed and action, we in turn get a vivid picture of Him
dealing with us despite our best efforts to treat Him as the enemy.  God’s character dictates He keeps coming back
with open arms regardless of our transgressions against Him time and time
again.

Remember, He was giving instruction to His disciples
on how to deal with others – and as disciples, He sought to have each be
‘perfectly trained (to) be like his teacher’ (v. 40).  No matter how we cross Him, He will turn the
other cheek and offer His tunic – exactly as He expects us to apply it in our
live in the same way.

On loving those who love us.

At first, God appears to be contradicting what we would
expect of Him throughout Scripture.  But
consider the context of the passages – again, as disciples we are invited to
the front lines of the Kingdom, where the warm loving embrace of God is behind
us and the frontier of the world is before us.

If we are in our right place to do the work of advancing the
Kingdom, we will be exercising Jesus’ command to act in love and turn the other
cheek.  However, if we find ourselves
only dealing with those we love and who love us, we can’t expect credit because
we are within our own friendly territory, not facing the challenges of the
frontier.  Dealing only with those whom
from which we expect a reciprocal deed is not facing the challenge.  Jesus expects us to throw ourselves into the thick
of it all, especially where we have no reason to expect a like kind return.

God’s movement in my life, and my subsequent growth, is
seldom in my ‘comfort zone’.  Since God
seeks to transform us, He ventures into the wilderness of our person, sets up
camp, and continues to wait in reassuring love for us to turn to Him.  And when we do embrace Him, where He stood
waiting where He had no Earthly reason to expect a return on His investment of
Divine Love, our Christian life takes one step further and there is no longer
frontier there but another advancement of His Kingdom (Matt 6:10).  And guess what happens next – He pulls up
camp and moves still farther out into the frontier again in selfless, loving
service to us!  That’s God’s best, God’s
love, His faith and trust in us, always faithfully hoping we will accept His
invitation to move further ahead into His waiting arms.  ‘Therefore be merciful, just as your Father
also is merciful.’ (v. 36)

On the consequences of
accepting the call of discipleship

Verse 38 promises an overflowing return from God as your
reward, still another example of His increase resultant of our faithful heed to
His command.  Our stores are in Heaven,
and God delights in rewarding His children. 
Following Christ’s example, an example put to us of perfectly obeying
the Father’s will, pleases God and brings His blessings ‘pressed down, shaken
together, and running over.’ (v. 38a)

Applying this in our lives

A friend of mine, vacationing in San Francisco walked with
his family through the Warf.  Among the
attractions many panhandlers tool the tourists for handouts as they pass
by.  His young daughter approached one
such man, who, quite wretched and foul smelling, snarled “Get the hell out of
the way, you’re standing in my light!!”  Nearly
moved to confront this man, he instead steered them across the street to see a
vendor.  As an artist sketched their
characitures, his daughter asked for a dollar so she might give it to not just
any panhandler, but to her father’s dismay the very one that dealt with her so
badly.  Anyone but him he demanded!  But, promising to repay, she reasoned
successfully that it was hers to spend, and this was the only man she would
give it to -–and she did just that.

Through the actions of a child, inexperienced to the world
and as a result unjaded, we get a glimpse of real love in action.  And action is the key.  The love God commands of us is not a warm
feeling, but an action of love, an action of service.

That mean, wretched beggar is any one of us in the sight of
God, as we all fall short of His Glory (Rom 3:23).  In an innocent approach, he answered with a
smart slap to her cheek, and she responded by turning the other to him.  Who of us has not turned Jesus away in a
stinging choice of something else above Him? 
And who of us has ever found Jesus to be anything less than ready and
willingly there when we repent and turn to Him?

She might have gone to any other beggar there.  Of the hundreds among the mean one, she could
have easily found a grateful soul who would have returned her effort in much
gratitude.  Yet instead, she pushed the
envelope and attempted to further the Kingdom into the uncertain and hostile
frontier.

She only gave him a dollar, yet she gave much more than
that.  She shared God’s love with someone
she had every reason to expect nothing in return from, perhaps even another
dose of abuse.  To the jaded world
foolishness; to our Lord a good job of discipleship.  A job well done, a job to be expected of a
Christian.