"Love Your Enemies"

(Luke 6:31-36) (19th Sunday after Pentecost)

Is there any command that our Lord Jesus has given to us that is more difficult to keep than this one: “Love your enemies?” “Now wait just a minute here, Father,” I can hear you say. “Are you telling me that I have to love someone like Osama bin Laden, or Saddam Hussein?” Well, actually, yes - that’s entirely true. Whether our enemies are persons such as terrorists who have declared their hatred for our country and threatened our lives, or are less well-known - someone at work or school who has taken a dislike to you, and tries to make your life difficult or miserable - it doesn’t matter. Our Lord has commanded us to love our enemies, and to do good to those who hate us, and to bless those who curse us, and to pray for those who abuse and persecute us.

Certainly it is easier to love those who love us, and do good to those who help and support us, and to be generous with those who will repay us for our generosity - and yet we don’t even manage to do these things on a regular basis, do we? Husbands and wives argue, children and parents disagree disagreeably, brothers and sisters squabble and fight; neighbors have disputes, bosses and employees argue, co-workers can’t always agree; and these are people we know, are often close to - and, when it comes to our families, these are people we probably love. But even then, our pride, our greed, our selfishness, our laziness, our envy - all the base, horrible things in us come out and are expressed to each other in words and deeds that wound both them, and ourselves. How, then, can we possibly even begin to love our enemies?

“With man, this is impossible; but with God, all things are possible.” We have to keep this truth in mind as we contemplate doing the impossible, keeping the commandments of our God, of striving to be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. We need to recall God’s love for us. St. John the Theologian writes, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” St. Paul writes, “But God shows His life for us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We know of our Lord’s love for us from the Cross, and His words as He was dying there: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

If we will keep in mind this great love that God has for each and every one of us, unworthy as we are, as unlovable as we make ourselves before Him (and each other) by our many and great sins, and by our wickedness, we have hope that we may find within ourselves the ability to do what we are commanded, and to love everyone, as God loves everyone. We say this at each Divine Liturgy: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” The whole Divine Liturgy is a celebration of God’s love for us, and an invitation for us to show our love for God and our love for each other. The whole Divine Liturgy works to so fill us with the love of God as we are gathered in His presence that, as we then go forth into the world, we are overflowing with this love, and show this love to the whole world. We do this by our patience with the faults of others; by our generosity to the needs of others; by forgiving them, by praying for them, by loving and caring for them, by being merciful to them. We do this by striving to love our enemies; and, when we fail to do so, we repent, and confess our faults, and ask forgiveness - even of our enemies.

I don’t know how this works itself out on the world stage. I don’t know if it is possible for a nation to act in this way. And yet I can’t help but wonder how the world might have been changed if, after the terrorist attacks of 9-11, we had responded, after remembering and honoring and burying our dead, we had coolly, calmly, set about rebuilding that which the terrorists had destroyed, not striking back by declaring a war in which force meets force; but by saying, in words and deeds, “You cannot defeat us. No matter what you do, you shall not change our way of life. We shall prevail, and you shall not stop us.” I do not know if such a thing could be done when considered at the level of a nation, of a people. But I do know this: If we take our Lord’s words seriously, and remember that we are not to fear those who can only kill the body, but not touch our souls, but rather fear Him Who has the power to cast the soul into eternal condemnation, and if we seek to be filled with the forgiving and patient love of God, we will draw closer to keeping His commandment to love our enemies. May God grant us this grace, and make us vessels of His love.