You have heard it said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven…You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-44, 48, RSV).
We are seeing in Ukraine, the Middle East and so many other places around the globe what happens when people (or nations) hate each other. Long-standing resentments and grudges ripen into insurmountable division. Objectification of “the other” becomes justification for all sorts of evil: from slander and exclusion to physical violence, murder, rape, and wholesale destruction, as we’re now painfully witnessing.
Those who (very rightly in many cases) have experienced injustice decide to take things into their own hands, meting out retribution for wrongs inadequately addressed. These situations can become horrendous, tragic and tangled beyond much hope of any human resolution. The Enemy loves to fuel these resentments and divisions, for he knows what this eventually leads to, and he rejoices.
Jesus shows us a different way: to love our enemies and pray for them. Love means “to desire the good of the other”. So when I pray for others, I’m actually loving them, even if I don’t like them at all and abhor what they’re doing. Relying on God himself to be the one who brings justice to an unjust situation takes much faith and trust. Yet only He can judge without self interest; I certainly can’t.
Indeed, I can and should speak up against injustice; yes, I can and should act in whatever ways are appropriate to the situation. But even before I speak up or act, I need to pray. I need to rid my heart of any malice. Jesus himself modeled this on the Cross, when he mercifully prayed for the very ones who were torturing and executing him, “Father, forgive them…” This is what it means to be, “perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. I must draw my power to fulfill Jesus’s command from his very own Spirit who dwells within me, for I have no hope of doing it by myself.
So what can I do right now, not simply in my own personal circumstances, but also about what’s going on in the wider world?
I can examine myself. Am I really praying – devoting real time to intercession – or am I just bemoaning the situation, critiquing things? Sometimes that becomes a substitute for actually doing something. Am I willing to do more: to sacrifice by fasting on occasion, joining in solidarity with those who are suffering, even those I would consider enemies? Am I picking up my own cross and following my Lord, uniting my little sacrifices with Jesus’s? These are things I must continue to ask myself and honestly answer.
One further note: the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has called for a day of prayer and fasting on October 17th for peac
Lessons From Love School 