Psalm 119:33-40
33Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end.
34Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.
35Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
36Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain.
37Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways.
38Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you.
39Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good.
40See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life.
The psalmist pleads with God to teach, to give, to lead, to turn, to confirm, and then promises,
in response, to observe God’s statutes, keep God’s law, delight in God’s commandments.
This is a back-and-forth covenantal relationship;
the privileges and responsibilities of both parties are not to be taken for granted.
God gives the law, humankind observes it, and God continues to give life and health,
forgiveness and salvation.
Many faithful people love the law. They meditate on God’s law and even delight in it.
But how many times have we observed situations in which somebody kept the letter of the law,
did not do anything illegal, but most everyone agreed it was not necessarily the right thing to do.
When we read the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5,
we discover how Jesus raises the covenantal relationship, based on the law, to a new level.
No longer are we able to keep the letter of the law while dismissing its spirit.
Jesus calls us to a higher standard of keeping the spirit of the law,
which so often compels us beyond the letter of the law.
Matthew 5:38-48
38“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
39But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek,
turn the other also; 40and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat,
give your cloak as well; 41and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.
42Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. 43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven;
for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous
and on the unrighteous. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?
Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers and sisters,
what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect?
None of us can be perfect. But perhaps we can, like Jesus,
seek to be perfect, not just legal, in our relationships with others.
The question is: what is our goal when it comes to our relationships?
Whether with family and loved ones, or enemies and oppressors, or evildoers and unrighteous,
what is our goal when it comes to our relationships?
Who is difficult for you to love or simply to listen to?
Do you have anyone whom you would call a personal enemy?
Sometimes we forget that when we sin against our neighbor, we sin against God.
When we break relationship or do not seek relationship with neighbor,
then we break relationship and do not seek relationship with God.
When we fail to love neighbor, we fail to love God.
What if our life’s goal was to live in loving relationship with all,
even with our enemy, even with an oppressor, even with an evildoer?
You have heard me quote before that:
God judges a person not by the distance traveled in the journey of faith,
but by the direction facing. (James Stewart)
God judges us not by the amount of perfection in our relations with others,
but by the direction we are moving in relation to them, the intentions we have toward them.
We make choices every day about how we will live in relationship to our neighbor.
Some live by the rule “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”.
Like the Hatfields and McCoys, attack follows attack, killing follows killing,
and where does the spiral of violence end?
I suppose it ends with the whole world ending up blind and toothless!
Some live by the rule of taking prevenient violent action against any who might possibly
want to do them harm, but ultimately that ends up with a broken, violent, and fearful world.
Herod’s response to the birth of Jesus was to kill all the children in Bethlehem
who were less than two years old. Is that the kind of world we want to live in?
Some live by the rule of simply avoiding any difficult person as best they can.
They build walls around their homes; they secure their neighborhoods.
They attend schools only with people of the same tribe and persuasion.
While effective for a while, the world ends up separated and paranoid.
Any transactions across the “walls” are fraught with fear and danger.
Another option, the Christian option, the option espoused by Jesus Christ,
is that we live by the rule of praying for our neighbors, including our enemies,
and doing our best to love them, to act in gracious ways toward them.
Ultimately, we are not the world’s keeper, we are the world’s brother; we are the world’s sister.
This is why an effective military tactic is to dehumanize the enemy.
If we make the enemy less than human in our minds, less than a fellow human being,
less than another child of God, then it is far easier to pull the trigger or drop the bomb.
Even when we do not feel love for someone, we can still love them.
What if we view someone who has stolen from us or who has ruined our reputation
not as an enemy to be avoided or defeated, but as a brother or sister to be loved,
to be brought into the presence of God to be redeemed?
Even when we know that someone is dangerous, we can still love them.
What if we view the inmate charged with multiple felonies
not as a mortal enemy to be destroyed, but as brother or sister to be loved and redeemed.
Jesus, beaten, whipped, with nails in his legs and wrists, cried out from the cross –
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Love is a verb, not simply a feeling.
Love is something that we do or choose not to do.
Loving someone does not necessarily mean that we allow them to harm us or kill us.
Loving someone does not mean that we allow someone to continue in evil ways.
Loving someone does mean that we will initiate, that we will take action based on our principles,
that we who follow Jesus will take the first step toward reconciliation.
Jan Edmiston was our preacher at the presbytery meeting last weekend.
Jan is the current co-moderator of the PCUSA general assembly.
She asked a very important question: what is it that we might love more than we love Jesus?
Is there anything in our lives that we might be tempted to love more than Jesus?
If we are to love Jesus, then we have to love neighbor.
If we are to love Jesus, we have to love enemy.
If we are to love Jesus, we have to love those who persecute us,
as well as those who seek our destruction.
The question is: How do we do this? This is much easier said than done.
How do we love an enemy? How do we love someone who seeks our destruction?
This does not mean that we hand terrorists the controls to our airplanes
so that they can fly them into our buildings.
This does not mean that we let just anyone into our schools or our country
without thought for what potential damage they might do.
This does not mean that we do not protect our nation with a strong military.
But it does mean that we consider what direction we are facing.
Jesus commands us to face, and to move, in the direction of seeking the good for all,
of seeking peace and reconciliation with all,
of seeking ways to organize our government and our foreign policy
so that the long-term benefit of all, not just some, is considered.
If this seems idealistic or improbable or totally outrageous, it is because it is!
It was outrageous when Jesus first said it; it has been outrageous throughout history.
It is outrageous today!
Nevertheless, this is what Jesus commands us to do, and for good reason.
If we want peace on earth, it must begin with you and me.
Peace in our homes, our communities, and our world must begin with the direction
that you and I are facing, the direction we are moving,
when it comes to neighbor and even enemy.
Merriam Webster defines tribalism as the “exaltation of the tribe above other groups”,
“strong in-group loyalty”.
For much of human history, we have been quick to label and dismiss –
that person is a “fill in the blank”; therefore, I will avoid them,
or I will enter into a conflict with them, or I will simply dismiss them outright.
The Old Testament, including the psalms, contains many tribal texts,
texts meant to protect the Hebrew people from their neighbors.
But Jesus came to teach a still more excellent way.
Jesus did tell his disciples that there would be times when they would have to shake the dust
from their sandals upon leaving a household.
But remember that first he sent them to that household, to that particular village,
in order to make an effort to reach out, to initiate, to build a relationship.
Consider which person or group of people you currently have difficulty with.
Who is difficult for you to love or simply to listen to?
Do you have anyone whom you would call a personal enemy?
Remember the Capulets and the Montagues of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”?
Remember the Jets and the Sharks of “West Side Story”?
They thought they were so different until they realized how much they had in common.
Consider the country kids and urban hip-hoppers and the LBGTQ crowd
who cross paths everyday on college campuses…
Jesus totally changed the game. “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” he taught.
His words no longer allow us to sit back and wait for the other, or sit back and do no harm.
Jesus commands us to initiate, to cross the barrier, take the first step.
Ours is a cross shaped faith.
The vertical extends to a relationship with God, the horizontal to relationship with neighbor.
There is no such thing as a Christian who loves God but does not seek to love neighbor.
1 John 4:18 proclaims: “There is no fear in love. Instead, perfect love drives fear away.
Fear has to do with being punished. The one who fears does not have perfect love.”
“We (are able to) love because (God) loved us first.
Anyone who says he loves God but in fact hates his brother or sister is a liar;
for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen,
cannot love God whom they have not seen.
“Here is the command God has given us:
those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” 1 John 4:19-21
Sometimes the most prickly persons are the ones who most need a hug.
Sometimes the most hurtful person, whether by their words or deeds,
is the one who is suffering the most inside.
What is God’s way? God’s path? God’s precepts that will lead to life?
“You’ve heard it said love your neighbor and hate your enemy,
but I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
“You’ve heard it said do not resist an evil doer,
but I say if anyone strikes you on the right cheek turn the other also.
If anyone wants to take your coat, give your cloak as well.
If you want forces you to go one mile, go the second mile also.”
From Psalm 99 for today: teach me your way, and I will observe it.
Give me understanding so that I may keep your law.
Lead me in the path of your commandments and I will delight in it.
Turn my heart to your decrees, turn my eyes from vanities,
confirm to me your promises, turn away from the disgrace I dread.
I long for your precepts and your righteousness…(for they) give me life.
Amen.
Rev. Dr. Todd Speed
Decatur Presbyterian Church
Decatur, Georgia
February 19, 2017
