Love YOur Enemies
What is love?
We discussed this question last night at our Explore the Bible event with Community Church. Love is essential to human flourishing. We crave love. We need love. Love compels us in music, movies, books, advertisement, dating apps. Love is essential to the human experience.
Love is so ubiquitous, we can even find images of it in latte art!
So what is love?
Last night we developed a definition around this idea: love is radically giving yourself to another without expecting anything in return.
Love is a parent waking up at 2am to comfort a child after a bad dream. Love is paying an unexpected expense for a friend or a roommate when they’re living paycheck to paycheck. Love is taking time off work to nurse a family member back to health after a major surgery. Love is radically giving yourself to another without expecting anything in return.
Most people would agree with the examples above, even finding them good and honorable. Yet according to Jesus, true love does not end with our friends and family, but also continues to our enemies!
Jesus said, “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them… Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid” (Luke 6:32 & 35).
Jesus radically extends the values of love to those against us, who persecute us, our enemies. Isn’t that dangerous? Doesn’t that enable the abuser? Also, who are my enemies that I should love today?
After our thoughtful discussion last night, I have a few ideas of what Jesus’ words might look like in our context. Loving our enemies means responding to a demanding boss not with anger or resentment, but doing our job well and asking how we can best support them as we work. It’s loving our grumpy neighbor in a moment of confrontation and asking how we peacefully resolve the issue. It’s reaching out to the friend we hurt long ago and saying, ‘I’m sorry. How can I make things right?’
Love is also using discretion and wisdom. Some abusive relationships are too dangerous to remain in and some situations like war or physical aggression should be avoided if possible. But sometimes, we face deep trauma and persecution from our enemies. Perhaps the most important question is when we face enemies who hate us, why should we love them?
Because Jesus first loved us when we were his enemies.
During Jesus’ crucifixion, with his enemies and persecutors watching him die a painful and humiliating death, he cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
The Isenheim Altarpiece: At the moments of Jesus’ greatest suffering, he loved his enemies.
In that moment, Jesus spoke not only to the people who physically crucified him, but to all of us who disobeyed, rejected, and dishonored him. Jesus died for us, so that instead of experiencing God’s punishment for our sins or our disobedience against God, we could instead experience his love because Jesus already paid the price.
When we look to Jesus who radically gave himself to us without expecting anything in return, he enables us to radically give ourselves to others without expecting anything in return. Even our enemies!
If you’d like to experience Jesus’ love in community with us, we invite you to hang out with us at our upcoming Picnic in Mauerpark or join us on 23.05. for a Biergarten chat on love!
