Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 23, 2013 - 1st Week of Lent - Sat
[Deut 26:16-19 and Matt 5:43-48]You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love you neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I saw to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you......For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
It seems clear from these words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount that he intends Christian love to be something different from the usual practices of the culture! Even today, it is a big challenge to "love one's enemies!" It could be a very depressing thing to make a list of the kinds of "hatreds" that are common in our culture: racial, sexual, political, economic, etc.... The struggle to overcome these hatreds goes on, but it is a very slow process. It is driven by fear and we have a hard time accepting the guarantee in 1 John 4:18 that perfect love casts out all fear. The last line of the gospel quote today is a direct challenge to develop that "perfect" love.
Lent offers us an opportunity to come to terms with our prejudices and biases! Of whom are we afraid? At whom are we angry even though we don't even know them as persons? If we can root out these obstacles to perfect love, we will have celebrated a wonderful Lent! AMEN