Love Your Neighbor

         “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:43-45)

          Today’s passage is an interruption to I Timothy, but it’s a timely topic. This past week, we saw the culmination of one battle in a war that has been going on for the last three years. The Democrats worked long and hard strategizing a way to defeat the president, and because of the poor execution of their plans, they lost the battle. At this point, I’m not taking sides on whether or not Mr. Trump should have been removed from office, I’m simply giving the outcome as it stands.

          At the State of the Union address, Mr. Trump said nothing about the impeachment proceedings but rubbed the Democrats noses in what he perceives (rightly or not) as his policy victories.

Mrs. Pelosi responded with impotent hatred by planning and staging the destruction of a copy of Mr. Trump’s speech. Since then, the Democrats have vowed to continue seeking to impeach Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump has taken the low road to tweak the noses of those who attacked him, and some Republicans are taking steps to make Mrs. Pelosi pay for her bad behavior with a legal trick that might not be much better than the Democrat’s articles of impeachment.

          And none of that begins to address the vitriol that is flying on social media. As with the case of Bret Kavanaugh, an accusation seems to be considered sufficient proof for some people. And I doubt there’s anyone who is guiltless in this regard. We all suffer confirmation bias. We all tend to believe the worst about those of whom we don’t approve (about whom we think the best that we can.)

          In other words, “there’s a whole lot of shaking going on” but that shaking is of fists and in anger, not dancing. And part of the problem is that we should hate. We should hate injustice, hatred, evil, sin, crime… but not people. If we are going to claim to love God, we must hate all that opposes Him.

          But Jesus says we’re to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. That’s hard to do. Even the man who was called “a man after God’s own heart” prayed “Shatter their teeth!” about some of those he saw as his enemies and God’s. He certainly didn’t wish Goliath well. On the other hand, he seems to have prayed for the benefit of enemies like Saul and Absalom with a fervor that went to his own detriment.

          Jesus did the same. He pronounced judgment on those who rejected God but prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” for those who rejected and hated Him merely as a man.

          I’m not going to say I’m good at this. I can’t say that I want good things to happen to those who hate me, or who hate what I hold dear. I remember wanting to not tell someone I didn’t like about the treat that I was taking to share in the staff room at a place I worked. God scolded me. If I was going to share, I was going to share it with everyone. I told the coworker about the treat. I’ve learned to pray the same things for my enemies as I pray for my friends. I pray the same prayers for Mr. Trump and Mrs. Pelosi as I prayed for Mr. Obama and my family and friends.

          Here’s my challenge to you for the next week. Pick an enemy, whether Mr. Trump, or Mrs. Pelosi, some group (Black Nationalists, Antifa, Planned Parenthood, or the Klan) or someone more personal, like your neighbor, your boss, or your rival. For the next week, ask God to bless that person. If you want, ask God to bless that person with love. Don’t ask for God to change you or the person in question. Just ask for a blessing. See what happens in your life as a result. I'd love to hear what God does.