Loving the Unlovable

 "You have heard 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 they 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. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."     

                                                    Matthew 5:43-48

        In this final section of the first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus continues to do what he does best and flip the script that the people have been following for generations. "You have heard its aid to love your neighbors and hate your enemy, but I say, as a follower of me, to love all people, especially the ones who have done you wrong."(paraphrased) Now wait just a minute, teacher. You don't know what they have done to me; the pain they have put me through or the lies they have spoken about me. I can't love them; I can't even forgive them. Not after all they have done. This sounds like an impossible thing to do, but Jesus, in his infinite love and kindness, goes on to tell us that to love our own people, or being kind to those who return the favor is no better than a tax collector or a pagan. As Christians, we are to live about the standards of the world, not be subjugated to the rules set within. Think about the worst thing you have had done to you by the person you consider your most hated enemy. Now think about all that God has forgiven you for and pulled you out of. Don't you see that God loves them just as much as he loves you? Before Christ, we too were once the enemy of the Father. But through Christ, we have received forgiveness and God's Grace and Mercy never run out. Jesus ends this chapter by saying to Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect. This does not mean we receive Jesus into our hearts and therefore never sin again. What it does mean is that as we grow in our faith, we must show the world the same love God has shown to us. Not because the people around us need to see perfection, but because we might be the only Jesus they will ever meet in their lifetime.     

        God shines his light on the good and the bad, his rain on the righteous and the wicked. If a loving God can give the same love to all of creation, we as mortal beings are called to do the same. So go on, love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you and show the love of God that has been graciously given to us.

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Journey through the Sermon on the Mount