Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say,
love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give, and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”
Pray for your enemies, turn the other cheek, give to anyone that asks from you, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. These are the economics of heaven. They are clear and easy to understand, but they are completely alien to our human ears. This is because they are totally the opposite of everything thatwe are used to in this world. But just because were are not used to it does not mean that they are not correct. In fact, if we think hard about it, we understand that when you hate those that hate you, and curse those that curse you, it only creates division, it causes people and families to close ranks, and isolate from each other. This Isolation leads to even more division, and resentment, and fear and that cycle will quickly devolve and spiral out of control.
That is why what Jesus said was so profound, and we know it to be true because we have experienced it in our own lives. When you do what Jesus commands, when you pray, forgive and start to return evil with love…, it causes walls to come down, it heals hard feelings, and it unifies people and communities. Seems like a simple thing, but why is it so hard? Because we do not like being hurt, we do not like the pain of separation and loss, and we do not like the thought that someone has hurt us and has not apologized. We end up thinking toourselves… “Im not going to say anything to that person until they say they are sorry”, while at the same moment the other person is saying the same thing about you. This is division, and that division will never be healed until one party sucks up their pride, and apologizes.
To be the one that apologizes first is hard, it takes humility. But doing so often leads to an immediate, “I’m sorry too,” and within like 2 seconds. Things are immediately much better. This is what God means when He says “forgive and you will be forgiven.” We need to develop a reflex of saying “Im sorry” not for things that did not cause harm, but if you did anything that causes another pain, you need to be the first person to apologize, no matter what, it does not matter if you think you are right or not, because no one cares. Just make it better, heal and unify the situation, and get on with your life.
Further, we should try to head these things off, before they even get started. Before things escalate out of control, or even after the fight has started, we need to remember to stop in our tracks, and pray together. Ask the Holy Spirit to enter into the moment, and mention something that you love about the person with whom you are having a disagreement, and pray together for God’s help in reconciling the moment. This is hard, but it will break the hold of anger and resentment that the evil one is putting on your hearts at the moment, and it will bring reconcilliation faster and more fully than anything else in this world.
Humility and loving kindness are ultimately the point of this entire passage. Jesus says that “For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” This simply means that we need to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. God wants us to treat others as we treat ourselves, by simply loving our neighbor as ourselves. Loving yourself though, is not narcisism, the greeks called it “Philautia” and this is defined as recognizing the good that is in you, but more importantly recongizing that it is the image of God that is inside you that is the source of that good and loving it completely. And then ulimately recognizing that same image of God inside each and everyone of His beloved children. And when you recognize that, loving that same image inside them that is inside of you.
Jesus told us to love God completely, and to love one another, as we love ourselves. That love is the same love, it is not greater or lesser, it is only more or less recieved, by you, into your heart and soul. You cannot love one without loving the other, and you cannot do one unless you have first done the other. But the choice is ultimately yours. This is our call to make that choice…, it is not easy, but it is required if we want to achieve our greatest happiness in this world, and for all eternity in Heaven with our Lord.
