For a sermon that takes place on a
plain, this sure is a mountain to climb.
Jesus is continuing his address to
the disciples but the going is getting rough, getting steep. The less hardy are
dropping like flies so Jesus refocuses His comments to “you
who hear.” Those who refuse to do so, who stop to rub their tired feet and have a snack, get left behind – not for the last time.
With each instruction, the narrow
way grows steeper and harder to climb: love your enemies, do good to those who
hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Each
exhortation takes the disciples higher until they reach a place where the air
is very thin and God is very close. It is precisely the place Jesus wants them
to be. This is the rock upon which He encourages each of us to lay our foundation and build
our house.
Here on this high ground Jesus
takes a deep breath of satisfaction and plants a flag: "as you wish that others
would do to you, do so to them."
It is a simple yet impossible rule of
conduct – it turns the disciples' world upside down and sends it spinning in a
direction they never thought (or wanted) to go.
If it sounds impossible, says
Jesus, you're on the right track. You're starting to get it. It is
impossible, but all things are possible with God (and only with God).
“Be kind to the ungrateful and the
evil,” says Jesus, “because your Father is.”
“Be kind to the ungrateful?” we
gape. “Man that stings! Son of Man that burns!”
We object because we have invested
so much time and energy, so much blood and sweat and tears into cataloging
every slight, every insult, every instance where others have failed us, abused
us, ignored us – HURT us – just so that we can hand that catalog over to God at
judgment. We want desperately to stand up on the nearest chair, wave our hands
above our head and scream with satisfaction, “If it please Your Honor, I’d like to file a rather
lengthy brief as a friend of the court!”
Overruled. Out of order. Bailiff?
“Be kind to the ungrateful and the evil,” says Jesus, “because your Father is kind to you when you are ungrateful and evil.”
“Be kind to the ungrateful and the evil,” says Jesus, “because your Father is kind to you when you are ungrateful and evil.”
Jesus reminds us that God does not
need our help. Nor does He need us to present evidence on His behalf to justify
His judgment. If anything, He warns us that we ought to be preparing our
defense now by paying close attention to all the ways we ourselves fail to
measure up. It is most definitely a time to keep our eyes on our own paper.
Give it up, says Jesus. Just as we
cannot carry material goods with us into the next life, our emotional baggage
is best left unclaimed on the carousel. We are to be new creations. And those
old clothes are so last season.
