Skip to main content

One of Our Best Weapons

 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) 

          Another Battle Bible passage. This one goes with Ephesians 6:10-18. How do we wage war? Human wisdom tells us that those who aren’t on our side are the enemy, and the only way to win the war is by hating and destroying our enemies. Should we have let the Nazis terrorize Europe? We did let the Communists terrorize the Soviet Union, and they killed at least twice as many of their people as the Nazis did. The same with China. And didn’t some guy point out that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to stand by and let it?

          But Jesus isn’t suggesting that we should say that wrong is right, or evil is good. He’s telling us to separate the actor from the action, the person from the sin. He’s telling us that He wants us to be “like God” in giving general good to all.

          We would rather not be like God in this case. We want to stand in judgment on the person who has done something we proclaim unforgivable. Our judgment may even be correct. What they are doing is evil and we are determined to brand them forever with a sign that will show the world how bad they are, and how righteous we are.

          Jesus rejects that very human option. The only weapon He is approving here is prayer. I have to think of David’s “shatter their teeth” prayers in the Psalms. The focus tends to move from David’s injury to David’s enemies (or his enemies to his injury) and those to David’s God. Those are good prayers. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more