Sermon: February 23, 2025
Reading: Luke 6:27-38
Imagine Jesus standing on a street corner in the United States, preaching the beatitudes and following it up by saying, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
How do you think people today would react to Jesus and his message? What if Jesus explained how it would benefit them and how good it would be for them and the world if they lived this way? Do you think it would change people’s minds about His message?
Jesus simply did and spoke about what he knew: the extravagant love of God our Father and the loving response we are to have to God and to other human beings regardless of race, religion, political following, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, or whatever pronoun someone may identify as. No matter what, no matter if they are friend, foe, or stranger, we are to demonstrate the same love and mercy that God shows to us.
As Luke tells us later in his gospel, when Jesus was spat on and struck, when his clothes were ripped from his back, and he was brutally beaten, even when they pounded in the nails for his crucifixion, he continued to love, forgive, and show mercy not only to friends but to who thought they were his enemies. Jesus embodied and demonstrated the extravagant love of God he spoke about.
The gospel is the good news, but it isn’t always easy news to follow especially when we hear Jesus break down the Golden Rule as he does in today’s gospel.
Following Jesus’ teaching that we are to do to others as you would have them do to you requires us to dig deep, facing things within ourselves and the world we may not want or like. Jesus tells us that the person we like the least is not only to be forgiven, but, like friends, is to be loved, blessed, and prayed for and not made into a scapegoat because of fears and insecurities. All of humanity is to be treated with respect and dignity that is deserving of a child of God.
We do this not because there’s some reward in the end but because Jesus tells us that showing others compassion and doing to others as we would have them do to us is beneficial to us and the world. And just as importantly, we do this because God first showed us love and mercy.
