WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.900 I want to spend a few minutes this morning thinking together about the gospel reading 00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:17.100 that we just heard. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:29.260 Because in a world of brutal invasions abroad and political strife here at home and even 00:00:29.260 --> 00:00:36.560 profound divisions that exist within the church, if there is any section of the Bible that 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:43.079 wants to make us throw up our hands and say, this is impossible, it might be this morning's 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:47.359 passage where Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek and to love our enemies. 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:52.299 And it's not that it simply sounds impossible. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:57.200 I think perhaps worse, it may sound a little bit naive. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:05.799 It sounds like the kind of thing a person who is portrayed in movies like God's Spell 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:13.300 or The Last Temptation of Christ might say, a kind of trippy, confused Francis of Assisi 00:01:13.300 --> 00:01:18.540 figure who's wandering through fields of wildflowers offering these kind of vague platitudes that 00:01:18.540 --> 00:01:20.780 don't actually really apply to real life. 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:24.180 Here's the thing, however. 00:01:24.460 --> 00:01:32.719 We have to ask ourselves, if Jesus' teaching in this passage is ill-suited to the real world, 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:43.140 what should guide us when dealing with people who are opposed to us or who hurt us or who 00:01:43.140 --> 00:01:46.240 are in some way opposed to our well-being? 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:56.959 If we are being honest, it would seem much more reasonable to live by an eye for an eye 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:57.780 and a tooth for a tooth. 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:03.719 And in fact, it is worth pointing out that even though Jesus is going to introduce an alternative, 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:11.000 he's not actually critiquing an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth per se, because we should 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:19.080 remember that the moral code behind an eye for an eye was actually a big improvement on what preceded it. 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:27.719 Moses taught the ethic of an eye for an eye to a people who had been enslaved in Egypt 00:02:27.719 --> 00:02:33.120 where they had experienced harsh retribution for even the smallest of infractions. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:41.360 And it is reasonable to expect that having escaped Egypt for the wilderness, the children of Israel 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:44.080 just imitated their captors. 00:02:46.420 --> 00:02:51.960 And so Moses taught them a way to limit escalating violence. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:58.340 If they knock out your tooth, Moses said, you don't burn their house down, 00:02:58.340 --> 00:03:02.099 you limit yourself to that person losing their tooth. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:12.599 In other words, Moses taught what was effectively a tribal culture, the virtue of a proportional response. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:23.819 So let's pause for a moment and let's acknowledge the comparative good of an eye for an eye. 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:26.719 It actually moved human culture forward. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:39.960 However, Jesus knows that there is an inherent problem that remains because with such a code, 00:03:40.419 --> 00:03:43.500 the cycles of conflict just continue. 00:03:44.699 --> 00:03:49.079 Perhaps those cycles are more self-contained, perhaps things escalate less. 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:51.240 But what was it Gandhi said? 00:03:51.300 --> 00:03:56.140 An eye for an eye until the whole world is blind. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:05.420 I recently read about a mom with two young children who were playing in the other room while she was fixing dinner. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:06.939 One was a five-year-old little boy. 00:04:07.020 --> 00:04:08.260 The other was a nine-year-old baby. 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:10.400 And all of a sudden, the mom hears this terrible scream. 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:11.060 She runs in. 00:04:11.100 --> 00:04:12.260 She finds the five-year-old crying. 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:13.360 She says, what's going on? 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:17.080 The five-year-old says, the baby pulled my hair and it hurts. 00:04:17.660 --> 00:04:18.560 Made me mad. 00:04:20.020 --> 00:04:21.319 And the mom said, don't get mad. 00:04:21.379 --> 00:04:23.199 The baby doesn't know how much it hurts. 00:04:24.280 --> 00:04:28.379 A couple minutes later, there's a second scream and the mom runs back in the other room. 00:04:28.580 --> 00:04:29.460 What happened this time? 00:04:29.500 --> 00:04:32.060 She said, the five-year-old says, now the baby knows. 00:04:38.780 --> 00:04:42.319 We are not unlike that five-year-old. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:52.480 In an eye for an eye world, when we get hurt, we want to ensure the other person feels some hurt in return. 00:04:54.180 --> 00:04:57.220 Sometimes we let them know outwardly and we respond in kind. 00:04:57.220 --> 00:05:05.319 Sometimes we perhaps find more passive ways to let them know, such as withholding certain goods for a period of time. 00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:11.740 So Jesus' words, don't resist the one who's evil. 00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:15.120 Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 00:05:15.420 --> 00:05:19.079 In certain respects, it breaks that cycle. 00:05:19.740 --> 00:05:25.439 It disrupts the never-ending back and forth wheel of retribution. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:36.199 However, it also raises many questions as to what it would mean to practically apply this teaching. 00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:43.860 So in order to grapple with this, I would like for us to do a little internal mental exercise. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:52.079 I'd like you to bring to mind, for just a moment, somebody who represents an enemy in your life. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:53.319 Okay? 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:58.980 Now, for some of us, somebody immediately springs to mind, right? 00:05:59.379 --> 00:06:07.180 Perhaps it's someone at work or school who is a bully or someone from the past who has hurt us in some intentional way 00:06:07.180 --> 00:06:10.560 or betrayed us or worked against our best interests. 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:17.339 For some of us, the person who comes to mind doesn't wear an official label enemy, right? 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:22.019 But it's someone in our life who we don't like very much or who bothers us in a certain way. 00:06:22.179 --> 00:06:29.679 Or maybe they've hurt us unintentionally or unknowingly in ways that we might even be embarrassed to admit. 00:06:31.779 --> 00:06:37.639 The writer Anne Lamott describes herself as a San Francisco hippie who found Jesus. 00:06:38.219 --> 00:06:43.819 And in one of her books, she wrote about one particular incident in which she tried to love her enemy. 00:06:43.819 --> 00:06:44.679 And she writes, 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:52.139 I had an enemy for a long time, the parent of one of the children in my son Sam's class. 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:57.660 She seemed so driven and unaware that it might have astounded her to learn that we were enemies. 00:06:58.280 --> 00:06:59.759 But I can tell you that it's true. 00:07:00.780 --> 00:07:06.860 I knew she was divorced and maybe lonely, but she also had mean eyes. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:14.519 In the early weeks of first grade, she looked at me and my dreadlocks like I was a Rastafarian draft dodger 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:18.120 and then over time as if I were a dazed and confused space traveler. 00:07:19.979 --> 00:07:25.899 It's true that I've had certain amounts of trouble adjusting since my son Sam started school two years ago. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:28.379 There's too much to remember, too much to do. 00:07:28.819 --> 00:07:33.919 But Sam's first grade teacher was so warm and forgiving that I just didn't trouble my pretty head about schedules, 00:07:34.099 --> 00:07:37.339 homework, spelling lists, and other sundry unpleasantries. 00:07:37.339 --> 00:07:46.459 However, there were all these other mothers who were always baking little holiday-themed treats for the class 00:07:46.459 --> 00:07:52.560 and who also seemed to read all the papers the school sent home, which I think is actually a little show-offy. 00:07:55.059 --> 00:07:57.859 Also, it gives them an unfair advantage. 00:07:57.860 --> 00:08:04.520 They knew, for instance, from the first day of school last year that Wednesdays were shorter school days, 00:08:04.759 --> 00:08:10.980 and they flaunted it, picking up their kids at just the right time, week after week. 00:08:12.340 --> 00:08:17.620 I somehow managed to make it into October without figuring out this one scheduling peccadillo. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:26.020 Finally, though, one Wednesday, I stopped by Sam's classroom and found him once again drawing with his teacher. 00:08:26.019 --> 00:08:31.019 The teacher said gently, school gets out an hour early on Wednesdays. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:35.659 Ah, I said, and smoked my own princess forehead. 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.179 Didn't you get the papers the school mailed to you this summer? 00:08:40.340 --> 00:08:43.759 Sam sat there drawing with a grim stare. 00:08:46.139 --> 00:08:49.259 Somehow, my enemy found out about this. 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:54.299 She showed up two days later all bundled up in a down jacket because it was cold 00:08:54.299 --> 00:08:56.579 and she was driving the kids on a field trip. 00:08:57.059 --> 00:09:00.740 Now, wearing a down jacket is not a crime against nature or me. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:06.279 The crime is that below the down jacket, she was wearing latex bicycle shorts. 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:12.759 She wears latex bicycle shorts nearly every day. 00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:14.199 And I will tell you why. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:15.559 Because she can. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:19.519 She weighs one pound. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:26.299 She has gone to the gym almost every day since her divorce 00:09:26.299 --> 00:09:30.699 and she does not have an ounce of fat on her live, aggressive body. 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:33.799 I completely hate that in a person. 00:09:34.079 --> 00:09:37.579 I consider it an act of aggression against the rest of us mothers 00:09:37.579 --> 00:09:40.079 who forgot to start working out after we had our kids. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:44.100 The day of the field trip, she said to me, 00:09:44.180 --> 00:09:45.620 sweet as some flight attendant, 00:09:45.900 --> 00:09:48.940 I just want you to know that if you have any other questions 00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:50.820 about how the classroom works, 00:09:51.160 --> 00:09:52.879 I'd really love to be there for you. 00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:56.860 I smiled back at her. 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:00.900 I thought such awful thoughts that I cannot even say them aloud 00:10:00.900 --> 00:10:04.600 because they would make Jesus want to drink gin straight out of a cat dish. 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:12.440 But eventually, it drove me to my knees and I prayed about it. 00:10:13.040 --> 00:10:17.519 I prayed because my son loves her son and my son is so kind 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:20.019 that it makes me want to be a better person. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:24.500 A person who does not hate someone just because she wears latex bicycle shorts. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:26.720 I prayed for a miracle. 00:10:26.940 --> 00:10:28.820 I wrote her name down on a slip of paper 00:10:28.820 --> 00:10:33.660 and I put it in a small box where I keep those things I'm especially praying for 00:10:33.659 --> 00:10:35.639 and I said to God, here. 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:44.659 Now, you and I may not have particular challenges 00:10:44.659 --> 00:10:50.079 with condescending people who wear latex bicycle shorts. 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:54.399 But we all have those people in our lives 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:57.240 that when we examine our hearts, 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:03.539 we struggle to will good things for. 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:09.199 These are people we find it hard to pray for even 00:11:09.199 --> 00:11:12.419 because simply to pray for someone is one profound way 00:11:12.419 --> 00:11:14.779 that we can seek another person's good. 00:11:17.459 --> 00:11:20.679 And so, when we think about that person 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:25.279 and find ourselves struggling to want good things for them, 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:29.019 we might find ourselves kind of wilting 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:33.039 under the challenge of Jesus' words in this passage. 00:11:34.419 --> 00:11:39.860 For some of us, it can almost feel like Jesus is dispensing with one law 00:11:39.860 --> 00:11:46.500 to give us a new and harder law to follow in its place. 00:11:46.500 --> 00:11:49.399 So Jesus says, it used to be an eye for an eye, 00:11:49.500 --> 00:11:53.059 but now don't even resist an evil person. 00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:59.139 The law of an eye for an eye is now being replaced by 00:11:59.139 --> 00:12:03.360 the law of non-resistance. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:06.740 No matter what this new law says, 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:08.940 if somebody does something bad to you, 00:12:09.300 --> 00:12:11.360 you are simply to take it. 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:18.899 There have been Christians who have read it in this way, 00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:24.180 and much damage has resulted as an effect. 00:12:24.179 --> 00:12:29.699 Reading these verses as a new law has been used 00:12:29.699 --> 00:12:32.299 to tell people who are in abusive relationships 00:12:32.299 --> 00:12:36.219 or victims of domestic violence to remain in that situation, 00:12:36.979 --> 00:12:40.539 or to someone who is being bullied or mistreated 00:12:40.539 --> 00:12:43.639 to not protect themselves or to not seek justice. 00:12:45.479 --> 00:12:48.019 But to interpret this passage in such a way 00:12:48.019 --> 00:12:51.819 can only result from a profound misunderstanding 00:12:51.820 --> 00:12:54.860 of the way that Jesus teaches. 00:12:55.879 --> 00:12:59.500 As modern Westerners, the way that we think about teaching 00:12:59.500 --> 00:13:02.140 is primarily focused on content. 00:13:02.680 --> 00:13:06.720 We want to transfer certain content from the teacher's mind 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:10.060 into the minds of his or her students. 00:13:11.300 --> 00:13:13.620 And in that model of teaching, you'll want to take notes 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:16.120 or even record the lectures just to make sure 00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:18.320 that you haven't missed any of that content. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:22.260 But the aim of the popular teacher in Jesus' time 00:13:22.260 --> 00:13:24.740 was not only to impart information, 00:13:24.900 --> 00:13:28.480 it was to make significant change in the lives of the hearers. 00:13:30.540 --> 00:13:34.200 In Jesus' time, religious teachers taught in a way 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:37.740 that aimed to interrupt the life flow of the hearer, 00:13:37.820 --> 00:13:40.820 to arrest their attention, to make an impression, 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:43.860 such that they would walk away thinking about this 00:13:43.860 --> 00:13:47.539 and wrestling with it, struggling with it, 00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:50.659 all without having written down a single note. 00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:56.139 Let me give you a quick example. 00:13:56.620 --> 00:13:57.200 Luke 14. 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:01.600 In Luke 14, Jesus is having Sunday dinner 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:03.279 in the house of a religious leader. 00:14:03.500 --> 00:14:06.680 And in that story, Jesus notes that the host 00:14:06.680 --> 00:14:11.200 had invited only his relatives and well-to-do neighbors. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:15.140 And he remarks, when you have people in for a meal, 00:14:15.900 --> 00:14:19.320 don't invite your relatives, friends, and wealthy neighbors 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:21.980 who will only pay you back by having you over. 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:24.340 Instead, when you have a feast, 00:14:24.660 --> 00:14:26.860 invite the poor, the lame, and the blind 00:14:26.860 --> 00:14:28.320 who cannot pay you back, 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:29.900 and you will be paid back 00:14:29.900 --> 00:14:31.860 when the just are raised from the dead. 00:14:32.500 --> 00:14:33.780 Right? You remember that story? 00:14:33.779 --> 00:14:37.899 So, one way of understanding 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:39.980 what Jesus is teaching here 00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:43.519 is that when you have people over for a meal, 00:14:44.139 --> 00:14:46.139 don't invite your friends 00:14:46.139 --> 00:14:47.959 or your neighbors or your relatives. 00:14:50.439 --> 00:14:52.379 Now, depending on your relatives, 00:14:52.579 --> 00:14:54.319 this might become your favorite verse in the Bible. 00:14:58.199 --> 00:15:00.100 But this would be a mistaken interpretation. 00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:03.519 We appropriately recognize that Jesus 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.159 is not forbidding us to take our mothers out 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:08.759 for brunch on Mother's Day. 00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:12.700 Or to have our aunts or uncles 00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:14.820 or our financially comfortable neighbors 00:15:14.820 --> 00:15:15.639 over for dinner. 00:15:16.540 --> 00:15:18.899 Jesus is teaching in such a way 00:15:18.899 --> 00:15:21.040 as to get at a heart issue here. 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:24.279 He is trying to address the prevailing practice 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:26.620 of neglecting those in real need 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:28.580 while we share what we have 00:15:28.580 --> 00:15:31.720 only with those who will reciprocate 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:33.259 by doing something for us. 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:38.060 And so, with our passage this morning, 00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:42.100 Jesus is not making a new law. 00:15:42.299 --> 00:15:43.259 Never resist. 00:15:43.560 --> 00:15:44.980 Always turn the other cheek. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:47.980 Never refuse anyone who asks you for something. 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:51.039 Rather, Jesus is getting at a heart issue 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:53.680 as he is throughout the Sermon on the Mount. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:56.139 He says, you worship a God 00:15:56.139 --> 00:15:58.459 who does not give people what they deserve. 00:15:59.899 --> 00:16:04.419 Who causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. 00:16:05.500 --> 00:16:09.079 You worship a God who loves his enemies. 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:15.360 And so, Jesus is saying, 00:16:15.660 --> 00:16:18.040 rather than dishing back what you have just received, 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:22.160 look for appropriate ways to be good, 00:16:22.820 --> 00:16:25.139 even to those who have not been good to you. 00:16:27.420 --> 00:16:29.480 To do this well 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:32.600 will require us 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:36.560 not to blindly follow some law, 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:39.959 but rather put the heart of Jesus' teaching 00:16:39.959 --> 00:16:41.119 into practice 00:16:41.119 --> 00:16:43.459 in intelligent and thoughtful ways. 00:16:44.939 --> 00:16:46.519 If you are in a relationship 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:48.000 with someone who mistreats you, 00:16:48.379 --> 00:16:50.739 that person's good is not being served 00:16:50.739 --> 00:16:53.559 by allowing them to continue to do that. 00:16:56.899 --> 00:16:57.819 This principle 00:16:57.819 --> 00:17:01.239 applies to international relations too, 00:17:01.359 --> 00:17:01.739 by the way, 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:02.679 but that's another sermon. 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:06.619 On the other hand, 00:17:07.379 --> 00:17:09.819 in our various personal relationships, 00:17:10.299 --> 00:17:11.759 there may be occasions 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.200 in which someone who has been opposed to you 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:17.379 needs something from you, 00:17:17.899 --> 00:17:19.919 even though they don't deserve it, 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:22.539 and it would be appropriate to give it to them. 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:26.919 And then the question will be, 00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:29.759 do we have the kind of hearts 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:31.059 who can do that? 00:17:34.379 --> 00:17:35.160 And then, 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.339 how would we develop those kinds of hearts? 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:41.879 Perhaps that's the question 00:17:41.879 --> 00:17:43.859 lurking behind this passage, 00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:46.220 and I don't want to leave this 00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:47.099 in the realm of theory, 00:17:47.259 --> 00:17:49.500 so let's just spend these final few moments 00:17:49.500 --> 00:17:52.259 thinking about how we might practically 00:17:52.259 --> 00:17:54.400 move in the direction 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.759 of loving our enemies. 00:17:56.759 --> 00:17:58.440 And in particular, 00:17:58.599 --> 00:17:59.579 there's two things 00:17:59.579 --> 00:18:00.799 that I'd like for us to consider. 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:03.359 First, 00:18:03.559 --> 00:18:04.460 it's important to notice 00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:06.700 that Jesus does not start 00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:08.279 the Sermon on the Mount 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:10.359 by telling us to love our enemies. 00:18:11.900 --> 00:18:13.140 This part of the sermon 00:18:13.140 --> 00:18:14.000 only comes 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:15.700 after he has said 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:17.759 a lot of other things already. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:20.039 And if you're so inclined, 00:18:20.140 --> 00:18:20.900 go home and read 00:18:20.900 --> 00:18:22.460 the entire Sermon on the Mount 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:25.519 in Matthew chapters 5 through 7, 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:26.700 and notice 00:18:26.700 --> 00:18:28.000 how the Sermon on the Mount 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.559 is not just this hodgepodge 00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:31.139 collection of sayings, 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:32.920 it is rather a sermon 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:35.039 with a logic 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:36.220 and a strategy 00:18:36.220 --> 00:18:36.980 to it. 00:18:37.859 --> 00:18:38.539 The arguments 00:18:38.539 --> 00:18:39.559 and the situations 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:40.900 that Jesus discusses 00:18:40.900 --> 00:18:41.740 throughout the sermon 00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:42.960 are actually 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:43.940 stages 00:18:43.940 --> 00:18:46.379 in a progression 00:18:46.379 --> 00:18:48.000 towards a life 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:49.460 that is fully at home 00:18:49.460 --> 00:18:50.079 in God's kingdom. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:54.439 So we should take account 00:18:54.439 --> 00:18:55.859 of what Jesus has said 00:18:55.859 --> 00:18:57.359 prior to these words 00:18:57.359 --> 00:18:59.399 about loving our enemies, 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:00.740 which includes instructions 00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:02.319 that lay the groundwork 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:03.359 for putting this passage 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:03.960 into action. 00:19:05.619 --> 00:19:05.819 So, 00:19:06.179 --> 00:19:06.419 take, 00:19:06.619 --> 00:19:07.059 for example, 00:19:07.899 --> 00:19:08.199 anger. 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:10.819 The ability to love others 00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:11.759 who oppose us 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:12.599 presumes 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:13.759 that we are 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:15.379 aiming to put into practice 00:19:15.379 --> 00:19:16.599 Jesus' words 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:17.779 only a few 00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:18.839 verses 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:20.240 before this passage 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:21.639 about not being 00:19:21.639 --> 00:19:22.599 controlled by anger. 00:19:25.219 --> 00:19:26.619 An enemy-like 00:19:26.619 --> 00:19:27.199 relationship 00:19:27.199 --> 00:19:28.079 is sometimes, 00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:28.859 although certainly 00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:29.500 not always, 00:19:30.159 --> 00:19:31.359 preceded by anger 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:32.279 that we have 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:33.299 nursed 00:19:33.299 --> 00:19:34.259 and carried around 00:19:34.259 --> 00:19:34.699 with us. 00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:37.659 Now, 00:19:37.719 --> 00:19:37.980 understand, 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:38.779 this is not to say 00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:40.039 that anger in itself 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:40.599 always, 00:19:40.599 --> 00:19:41.139 always, 00:19:41.139 --> 00:19:41.899 is always 00:19:41.899 --> 00:19:42.539 or necessarily 00:19:42.539 --> 00:19:43.299 wrong. 00:19:43.299 --> 00:19:44.779 In its simplest form, 00:19:44.899 --> 00:19:45.960 anger is a spontaneous 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:46.720 response 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:47.859 to our wills 00:19:47.859 --> 00:19:48.839 being obstructed, 00:19:49.159 --> 00:19:49.659 to not getting 00:19:49.659 --> 00:19:50.319 what we want. 00:19:50.779 --> 00:19:51.839 Anger is a feeling 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:52.779 that seizes us, 00:19:52.819 --> 00:19:53.779 a kind of primal 00:19:53.779 --> 00:19:55.059 alert system 00:19:55.059 --> 00:19:56.279 whenever we encounter 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:57.079 resistance. 00:19:58.680 --> 00:19:59.859 The question is 00:19:59.859 --> 00:20:00.119 whether, 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:01.680 after that initial response, 00:20:01.879 --> 00:20:02.579 we have learned 00:20:02.579 --> 00:20:03.359 to bring anger 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:04.139 under the control 00:20:04.139 --> 00:20:04.940 of the Holy Spirit. 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:06.899 Have we taken note 00:20:06.899 --> 00:20:07.759 of those instances 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:08.639 where we attempted 00:20:08.639 --> 00:20:09.960 to give into 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:11.899 or to hold onto anger 00:20:11.900 --> 00:20:13.040 and have we sought 00:20:13.040 --> 00:20:13.560 to develop 00:20:13.560 --> 00:20:14.880 practical strategies 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:15.740 to overcome it? 00:20:18.740 --> 00:20:19.880 A book that I often 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:21.280 recommend to folks 00:20:21.280 --> 00:20:22.580 that I have benefited from 00:20:22.580 --> 00:20:23.780 and millions have 00:20:23.780 --> 00:20:24.440 over the centuries 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:25.400 is An Introduction 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:26.280 to the Devout Life 00:20:26.280 --> 00:20:27.380 by Francis de Sales 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:28.880 who was the Bishop 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:29.360 of Geneva 00:20:29.360 --> 00:20:30.820 in the late 1500s 00:20:30.820 --> 00:20:31.920 and a spiritual director 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:33.019 to many lay people. 00:20:33.540 --> 00:20:33.880 And the book 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:34.519 is a collection 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:35.060 of letters 00:20:35.060 --> 00:20:35.840 he wrote 00:20:35.840 --> 00:20:37.300 to one of his directees. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:39.480 One of his letters 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:41.460 on controlling anger 00:20:41.460 --> 00:20:43.480 is just as relevant today 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:44.059 as it was 00:20:44.059 --> 00:20:44.579 when he wrote it 00:20:44.579 --> 00:20:45.480 400 years ago. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:47.420 He writes, 00:20:48.100 --> 00:20:48.640 it is better 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:49.519 to attempt 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:50.559 to find ways 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:52.120 to live without anger 00:20:52.120 --> 00:20:53.240 than to pretend 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:54.200 to make a moderate 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:55.460 discrete use of it. 00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:57.579 When we find ourselves 00:20:57.579 --> 00:20:59.160 surprised into anger 00:20:59.160 --> 00:20:59.799 through our own 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:00.500 imperfections 00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:01.059 and frailty, 00:21:01.259 --> 00:21:01.700 it is better 00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:02.860 to drive it away quickly 00:21:02.860 --> 00:21:03.740 than to start 00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:04.779 a conversation with it. 00:21:06.299 --> 00:21:07.299 Later, he writes, 00:21:07.460 --> 00:21:08.079 when your mind 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:08.759 is tranquil 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:09.920 and without any cause 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:10.480 for anger, 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:12.099 build up a stock 00:21:12.099 --> 00:21:12.860 of meekness 00:21:12.860 --> 00:21:13.579 and mildness. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:14.940 Speak all your words 00:21:14.940 --> 00:21:15.920 and do all your actions 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:17.099 whether little or great 00:21:17.099 --> 00:21:18.180 in the mildest way 00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:18.740 that you can. 00:21:23.259 --> 00:21:24.620 There's an enormous amount 00:21:24.620 --> 00:21:25.140 of spiritual 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:25.920 and psychological 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:26.839 insight here. 00:21:28.180 --> 00:21:29.059 Each of us will, 00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:29.480 of course, 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:30.740 discover other strategies 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:31.640 for dealing with anger 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:32.680 in ways that are appropriate, 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:34.240 but we will find 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:35.099 that as we become 00:21:35.099 --> 00:21:36.740 more habitually free 00:21:36.740 --> 00:21:37.259 of anger, 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:38.759 there is more room 00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:39.319 in our hearts 00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:39.799 to love. 00:21:42.680 --> 00:21:43.640 The second point 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:44.480 I want us to consider 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:45.420 about loving our enemies 00:21:45.420 --> 00:21:46.839 is the challenge 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:48.079 of praying for them. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:50.920 Because to pray for them 00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:51.640 is not something 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:53.240 we do only after 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:54.319 we have figured out 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:55.299 how to love them, 00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:57.599 but prayer is in fact 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.339 a means by which 00:21:59.339 --> 00:22:00.859 we move towards love. 00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:02.740 Prayer is the context 00:22:02.740 --> 00:22:04.059 in which God can work 00:22:04.059 --> 00:22:04.740 in our hearts 00:22:04.740 --> 00:22:06.259 and begin to do things 00:22:06.259 --> 00:22:06.839 in us 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:09.559 that we are deeply aware 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:11.160 we cannot do 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:11.859 for ourselves, 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:13.279 even if it takes 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:13.839 a long time. 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:17.880 Recently, 00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:18.460 I was listening 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:18.980 to a lecture 00:22:18.980 --> 00:22:20.460 by Father Nicanor 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:21.099 Austriaco, 00:22:21.299 --> 00:22:22.740 a wonderful Dominican 00:22:22.740 --> 00:22:24.480 priest who also teaches 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:25.380 at Providence College, 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:26.859 and in this lecture, 00:22:26.940 --> 00:22:27.380 he was talking 00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:28.339 to students at Harvard 00:22:28.339 --> 00:22:29.940 about how they might 00:22:29.940 --> 00:22:31.099 experience the good life. 00:22:31.099 --> 00:22:32.939 And he was talking 00:22:32.939 --> 00:22:34.279 about how the good life 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:35.219 is one in which 00:22:35.219 --> 00:22:36.399 we are increasingly 00:22:36.399 --> 00:22:38.279 free to love others, 00:22:38.439 --> 00:22:39.219 even those who 00:22:39.219 --> 00:22:40.199 are hard to love. 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:42.819 Towards the end 00:22:42.819 --> 00:22:43.339 of his talk, 00:22:43.399 --> 00:22:44.059 he told the Harvard 00:22:44.059 --> 00:22:45.699 students about a confession 00:22:45.699 --> 00:22:46.759 he had recently heard 00:22:46.759 --> 00:22:47.439 from a young woman. 00:22:48.459 --> 00:22:49.240 He didn't know 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:50.240 who the young woman was. 00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:50.939 All he heard 00:22:50.939 --> 00:22:51.679 was her voice 00:22:51.679 --> 00:22:53.079 coming from the other 00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:54.039 side of the screen 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:55.179 in the confessional booth. 00:22:56.740 --> 00:22:57.539 She had come to him 00:22:57.539 --> 00:22:58.639 because that morning 00:22:58.639 --> 00:22:59.099 in church, 00:22:59.439 --> 00:22:59.939 she had heard 00:22:59.939 --> 00:23:00.500 the passage 00:23:00.500 --> 00:23:01.160 that we just heard 00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:01.660 this morning, 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:03.480 read about how 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:04.220 to treat your enemies. 00:23:06.779 --> 00:23:08.599 She told Father Austriaco 00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:10.259 that she was having 00:23:10.259 --> 00:23:11.339 trouble forgiving 00:23:11.339 --> 00:23:12.180 one of her enemies, 00:23:12.299 --> 00:23:12.839 and he asked her, 00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:13.579 who is this enemy? 00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:15.339 And she said, 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:16.200 it was a family member 00:23:16.200 --> 00:23:17.500 who did bad things 00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:18.500 to me for many years. 00:23:19.819 --> 00:23:20.420 She said, 00:23:20.460 --> 00:23:21.400 is there something 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:22.160 wrong with me 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:23.240 that I can't forgive him? 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:25.619 And the priest said, 00:23:25.700 --> 00:23:26.740 absolutely not. 00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:29.279 It is entirely natural 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:30.680 for you to be wounded 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:31.359 and angry 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:32.440 and want to lash out. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:34.039 He said, 00:23:34.099 --> 00:23:34.779 Jesus calls you 00:23:34.779 --> 00:23:35.619 to forgive your enemy, 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:36.619 but he's not demanding 00:23:36.619 --> 00:23:37.279 that you do it 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:38.200 this instant. 00:23:39.660 --> 00:23:40.819 It takes time 00:23:40.819 --> 00:23:42.019 to get there. 00:23:44.859 --> 00:23:45.519 So he said 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:46.259 to this young woman, 00:23:46.940 --> 00:23:48.119 here's what I want you 00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:48.420 to do. 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:50.119 For the next 00:23:50.119 --> 00:23:52.299 10 years, 00:23:52.299 --> 00:23:54.379 I want you to pray 00:23:54.379 --> 00:23:57.799 just for family members 00:23:57.799 --> 00:23:59.619 who do bad things 00:23:59.619 --> 00:24:01.259 to other family members. 00:24:02.879 --> 00:24:03.460 And then, 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:04.319 he said, 00:24:04.659 --> 00:24:06.359 for the next 10 years 00:24:06.359 --> 00:24:07.339 after that, 00:24:07.379 --> 00:24:08.079 I want you to pray 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:09.079 for family members 00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:10.279 who do the things 00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:11.139 that were done to you. 00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:13.519 And then, 00:24:13.879 --> 00:24:14.440 he said, 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:15.899 after those 20 years, 00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:17.039 you might begin 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:18.639 to pray specifically 00:24:18.639 --> 00:24:20.099 for the family member 00:24:20.099 --> 00:24:21.240 who treated you this way. 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:24.400 the priest 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:25.519 said that the young woman 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:26.599 was encouraged by this 00:24:26.599 --> 00:24:27.359 and it gave her 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:28.059 a sense of hope. 00:24:29.380 --> 00:24:30.039 But then, 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:31.380 right before she could leave, 00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:32.059 the priest said, 00:24:32.120 --> 00:24:32.380 hold on, 00:24:32.460 --> 00:24:34.099 there's one more thing 00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:34.839 you can do as well. 00:24:36.019 --> 00:24:36.620 He said, 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:37.759 you can also pray 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:39.440 and ask Jesus 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:40.160 for the grace 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:41.960 to forgive this family member 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:42.480 right now. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:45.960 And if that grace 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:46.440 is given, 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:46.880 he said, 00:24:47.220 --> 00:24:48.200 you will find it 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:48.720 in your heart 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:49.420 to forgive him. 00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:52.360 And the young woman 00:24:52.360 --> 00:24:52.620 said, 00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:52.880 really? 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:53.779 And the priest 00:24:53.779 --> 00:24:54.420 said, 00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:54.759 yes. 00:24:55.259 --> 00:24:55.720 He said, 00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:56.320 it doesn't mean 00:24:56.320 --> 00:24:57.740 it will happen 00:24:57.740 --> 00:24:58.820 right this instant, 00:24:59.220 --> 00:24:59.940 but he said, 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:00.640 it does mean 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:01.840 that it is possible 00:25:01.840 --> 00:25:02.779 for God 00:25:02.779 --> 00:25:03.700 to do 00:25:03.700 --> 00:25:04.580 supernatural 00:25:04.580 --> 00:25:05.840 things 00:25:05.840 --> 00:25:06.820 in our lives. 00:25:07.360 --> 00:25:08.600 And that includes 00:25:08.600 --> 00:25:09.500 enabling us 00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:10.480 to love 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:11.500 in ways 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:12.640 that go beyond 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:13.360 our own 00:25:13.360 --> 00:25:14.740 human capacity. 00:25:14.740 --> 00:25:18.700 what Jesus 00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:19.579 teaches us 00:25:19.579 --> 00:25:20.900 in this morning's 00:25:20.900 --> 00:25:21.480 passage 00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:23.200 is not 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:24.019 a new 00:25:24.019 --> 00:25:24.980 law 00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:26.660 that aims 00:25:26.660 --> 00:25:28.039 to weigh us 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:28.380 down 00:25:28.380 --> 00:25:29.339 by our inability 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:30.140 to fulfill it. 00:25:31.420 --> 00:25:32.039 Rather, 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:34.000 Jesus offers us 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:35.279 an invitation 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:37.279 into the very 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:37.839 heart 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:38.799 of God's 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:40.279 own life 00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:41.880 with a freedom 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:42.720 to love 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:44.039 given to us 00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:44.579 by grace. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:50.460 Today is the 00:25:50.460 --> 00:25:51.659 fourth Sunday 00:25:51.659 --> 00:25:52.259 of Easter, 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:53.259 a season 00:25:53.259 --> 00:25:53.759 in the church 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:54.139 calendar 00:25:54.139 --> 00:25:54.579 in which we 00:25:54.579 --> 00:25:55.159 continue to 00:25:55.159 --> 00:25:55.659 celebrate the 00:25:55.659 --> 00:25:56.059 resurrection 00:25:56.059 --> 00:25:56.519 of Jesus 00:25:56.519 --> 00:25:57.180 from the dead. 00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:00.039 But let's 00:26:00.039 --> 00:26:00.879 remember that 00:26:00.879 --> 00:26:01.579 Jesus' 00:26:01.879 --> 00:26:02.519 resurrection 00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:04.779 came after 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:05.779 a journey. 00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:08.639 It came 00:26:08.639 --> 00:26:09.440 after Jesus' 00:26:09.740 --> 00:26:10.319 own 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:11.440 long 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:12.339 journey 00:26:12.339 --> 00:26:13.299 to Jerusalem 00:26:13.299 --> 00:26:14.339 where he 00:26:14.339 --> 00:26:14.779 ultimately 00:26:14.779 --> 00:26:15.519 died on a 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:16.160 cross for his 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:16.819 enemies and 00:26:16.819 --> 00:26:17.559 forgave those 00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:18.579 who mistreated 00:26:18.579 --> 00:26:19.399 him and 00:26:19.399 --> 00:26:19.899 hated him. 00:26:19.900 --> 00:26:21.900 God's 00:26:21.900 --> 00:26:22.900 love. 00:26:24.380 --> 00:26:25.700 We also 00:26:25.700 --> 00:26:26.500 can experience 00:26:26.500 --> 00:26:27.040 resurrection 00:26:27.040 --> 00:26:27.640 in our own 00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:27.980 lives. 00:26:29.380 --> 00:26:30.519 It is 00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:31.280 possible 00:26:31.280 --> 00:26:32.360 for us 00:26:32.360 --> 00:26:33.100 to experience 00:26:33.100 --> 00:26:33.780 a deeper 00:26:33.780 --> 00:26:34.440 capacity 00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:35.300 to forgive 00:26:35.300 --> 00:26:36.220 and a 00:26:36.220 --> 00:26:36.820 wider 00:26:36.820 --> 00:26:37.980 freedom 00:26:37.980 --> 00:26:39.000 to love. 00:26:39.940 --> 00:26:41.000 But it 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:41.620 requires 00:26:41.620 --> 00:26:42.200 that we 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:43.240 go on a 00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:43.660 journey 00:26:43.660 --> 00:26:44.580 to get 00:26:44.580 --> 00:26:44.860 there. 00:26:46.220 --> 00:26:46.580 And the 00:26:46.580 --> 00:26:47.200 question we 00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:48.320 each have to 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:49.220 ask is, 00:26:50.059 --> 00:26:50.879 what is the 00:26:50.879 --> 00:26:52.139 journey that 00:26:52.139 --> 00:26:53.159 Jesus is 00:26:53.159 --> 00:26:54.659 inviting me 00:26:54.659 --> 00:26:55.639 to go on?