As a child growing up in the ‘60s I watched my fair share of afternoon shows on our four channel black and white TV. One of them was “Dragnet” featuring Sergeant Joe Friday who would solve complex crimes every week in just 30 minutes (minus commercial breaks). His now famous line, “Just the facts, Ma’am” embodied his no-nonsense approach to crime fighting. Upon arriving at a murder, surveying the scene and delivering his “facts” line, the super sleuth, like all good detectives, would then inevitably ask, “Did he have any enemies?”
How about you? Do you have any enemies? You probably don’t have anyone devising a plan to slip you some arsenic or some other devious designs for your demise, but you may have one or two you would say aren’t your “favorite people in the world”. (And you may fall into the same category for them!) Most of us can think of someone who, for whatever reason, we just don’t get along with. Maybe they’ve hurt you or you’ve hurt them.
Whatever the case, just thinking about people like this makes the blood pressure rise and the heart beat a little faster. Our natural tendency is either “fight or flight” in a situation that is emotionally or physically threatening. If we’re not outright aggressive and/or antagonistic to them, we will at least go to great lengths to avoid them!
If you’ve been attending Valley Church for the last couple of weeks, you have heard it said, “Love your neighbor”. Not only is it the second greatest commandment, it’s our theme for this season of ministry leading up to Easter. We’re learning what it means to “Love Like Jesus Loved.” And what we’ve learned about Jesus so far is that his love goes far beyond our “natural tendency” to love those who are “neighborly” – friends, family, and others who are well within our comfort zone.
In fact, in Matt. 5:43,44 Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “Hate” is a strong word, but most people would certainly condone “fight or flight” reactions to those in the category of “enemy”. But Jesus said, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”
This Sunday we’ll see how Jesus lived this out in the flesh. Just three chapters after he preached about loving enemies, Jesus loves a Roman soldier – hated by most Jewish people as the cruel, aggressive, and egregious foreign occupiers of the Promised Land. (Matt. 8:5-13) If tax collectors like Zacchaeus were public enemy #1, then Roman soldiers were probably next on the list!
How is it possible to love your enemy? It goes far beyond “the facts” and into “faith” and finally on to “grace”. It’s the same kind of grace we receive in Christ, “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” Romans 5:10.
See you Sunday!
Kurt