Luke 6:27-38
In the previous lection (Luke 6.17-26), I wrote a little bit about what I have come to call Kingdom Economy. There I spent some time explaining how different the economy of the Kingdom of God looks from the economies of this world. This lection draws the reality of that contrast into sharp relief.
We live in a world in which people seem to be obsessed and relentless about what is seen as their rights, their prerogative, and their due. In a world where we know what to do to enemies, we destroy them, Jesus invites us to love them. In a world where we know what to do with the haters, we label them and silence them, Jesus’ invitation to us is to love them. We don’t have a tendency to bless those who curse us. We say, “That ain’t right!” and belittle and silence them, or we simply ignore and cancel them. None of this is the way of Jesus Christ.
In the first larger section of this lection (vv. 27-36), the attention really is pulled toward three actions of those who follow Christ: the act of loving, the act of doing good to another, and the act of being generous. When it comes to loving, the invitation of Christ is to include our enemies as part of the group that makes up the recipients of our love. It is so much easier, as Luke states, to love those who love us back. To paraphrase Luke’s interrogative response, what’s the point in that? There is no challenge, no discipline, involved in directing one’s love toward one who appropriately reciprocates. But loving an enemy is a different matter entirely.
Who are the true rivals and enemies in the world today? Is it seen in the current conflict going on in the Middle East? Is it seen in the current political climate of the Unites States of American and other countries around the globe? Is it seen even within the church over those who would affirm members of the LGBTQIA+ community and those who would not? Perhaps allowing time and space to consider who one’s own enemies are is imperative to properly preach, ponder, and learn from Jesus’ words here.
The second act considered is the act of doing good to another or blessing another (as mentioned in v. 28). Here again, the uselessness of such action toward one who would do the same to you is revealed in v. 33. There is no credit and no merit for such a reciprocal act. But to do so to the person who hates you and mistreats you is the kind of response that Jesus invites us toward. So many times, the world cannot comprehend or match such gracious response, for it makes no sense. And the inference is to DO good, to initiate something kind, generous, right, or good toward the person who has a disdain toward the other. If I’m honest, what I have likely nurtured and developed in my own self-righteous piety is a holy ignoring of other. If someone doesn’t like me or hates me, I can push that out of my mind and with no malice or ill-intent simply ignore her/him. Jesus’ call is so much more: do good. This is the way of Christ and the Kingdom of God.
The final act is to be generous. In a discussion group I observe online, I saw a social media post just this morning covering the parsing of differences between the words ‘give’ and ‘lend,’ and how the expectation of repayment certainly becomes a point of contention. We are many centuries and at least a couple of languages away from the original meaning and context here. And while cultural and linguistic interpretations will give us incredible help in understanding what was meant and why certain words were used, the clear directive of this passage remains: generosity. A gift given with an expectation of repayment ceases to be a gift. A heart of generosity is at the core of the ability to give/lend in this way. How are we seeking to be generous to the world in which we live and that surrounds us? This remains a particularly difficult question for those who are struggling to make ends meet and for those caught in the ridiculous pursuit of comparison to their favorite neighbor, influencer, or friend.
Verse 35 is the summative invitation for the first section: “Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.”
The final two verses explore new ground in the Sermon on the Plain, with the thread tying the whole passage together being what Christ invites us toward as we participate in the Kingdom of God. Neale immediately points out that the ethic described in this passage “is directed also to those beyond the community”1. Here again, as with previous calls, we are directed to not judge and to not condemn. Likewise, we are called to forgive and to give. This is the invitation for those who have chosen to follow Christ, and our call is do so is intended to be directed toward all of humanity. There is implied in this brief passage a tone of reciprocity, that God will symmetrically respond in kind not only to our grace but also to our judgementalism.
It is our call, then, to step into the Kingdom of God even today by responding in these ways as described in Jesus’ sermon on the plain. May our lives reflect the grace and generosity of Christ in all aspects of our lives. Amen.
1Neale, David A. 2011. Luke 1-9. New Beacon Bible Commentary, edited by Roger Hahn, George Lyons, and Alex Varughese. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 157.