“Love Who?”

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany

February 23, 2025

Scripture with “Love your enemies.”

Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Luke 6:27-38

Children’s Message:

Did you hear today’s gospel reading? Jesus said some really important but really difficult things. What did he say? He said, “Love your _____________.” “Pray for those who _____________.” “Treat others ___________.”

Love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Now, one of the really hard things about this is that we want our enemies to follow the same rules, right? We want them to love us and pray for us and treat us the way they expect to be treated. And when they don’t, what do we do?

There’s a kid named James who played basketball in school. He went home every day, complaining to his dad that Buddy never passed the ball to him. Every practice and every game, no matter how open James was, Buddy wouldn’t pass him the ball. And that made James really mad. Buddy was being a ball hog. So, you know what James did? He stopped passing the ball to Buddy.

This went on for weeks. Buddy didn’t pass to James. James didn’t pass to Buddy. And the coach didn’t seem to care even though it was affecting the whole team. Finally, the dad told James to do something ridiculous. He told him to pass to Buddy at least six times every practice and game. It didn’t matter if someone else was open. It didn’t matter if James could make the shot. Just pass to Buddy at least six times.

What do you think happened? Buddy started passing to James, too. And soon enough, they became friends. Now, that’s not always how these things work out. But James’ dad understood something important. Treating Buddy the way James wanted Buddy to treat him was a way to change how things were going. And for the two boys, it changed a lot more than that.

Do you have people in your lives that are hard to love? What would happen if you changed how you respond to them? Maybe nothing. Maybe something amazing. But Jesus tells us that we change what we do—not because it will make them nicer but it makes us better.

Let’s pray. Dear God, you know our enemies, our bullies, our opponents, our problems. Help us show your love as we grow in our faith. Amen.

Message:

Today’s reading follows on the heels of last week’s and is part of the same sermon that Jesus gives the crowd. Last week, he talked about blessings…and woes. Blessed are the mourners and the persecuted. Blessed are the reviled and the meek. Pastor Liz gave an important reframing of what ‘blessed’ means. She said that it means God is very near. God is very near to those who are hurting and have been hurt by others. God is very near to those who the world calls ‘less than’—who are turned away, who are despised by ones in power.

It is an important message, especially as communities within various groups are reviled and turned away—those who are people of color, those with disabilities, those who are queer, those who weren’t born here. God is very near to you. You are not alone.

But then, it feels like Jesus crosses a line when he goes on to what we hear today: “Love your enemy. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who abuse you.” It feels like adding salt to a wound—like kicking a person while their down. How is someone who has been bullied, beat up, fired, and harassed supposed to love the ones who did that to them? How is a woman supposed to love her rapist? How is a family supposed to love the kids who killed their child because of the bathroom they used? How, really, are we expected to love the way Jesus loved?

So, that’s a good place to start. How did Jesus love?

He went to and welcomed the people everyone else was afraid of. He loved everyone. The sick. The sinners. The prostitutes. The Romans. The Jews. The men. The women. The tax collectors. The poor. The dying. The disabled. The different. The outcast. The Other. He didn’t turn anyone away. That doesn’t mean HE was welcome wherever he went, but that didn’t stop him from loving. Because Christ-like love isn’t a transaction.

Jesus’ love was two-fold. On the one hand, it was active in what he did. He ate with sinners and healed the broken and taught Jews and Gentiles, alike. But on the other hand, his love was active in what he DIDN’T do. He did not seek revenge. He didn’t fight back. He didn’t punish the ones who needlessly hurt him.

Jesus loved in a way that only the Christ can—fully and completely, without reserve. Is it reasonable, then, to expect us to do the same? Of course not…and then again, naturally yes.

Jesus goes on to say that loving those who love you isn’t grace. Anyone can do that. Doing good to those who help you isn’t grace. Anyone can do that. It’s nothing special. Lending to someone you can expect will repay you is nothing special. Anyone can do that.

What makes followers of Christ unique—what SHOULD make us unique—is how we love and care for and serve even the people who don’t return the favor. People whom we don’t expect to pay us back or serve us. People who actively take from us when given the chance. Because, Christ-like love is not a transaction.

It is said that St. Francis took this passage very literally. Anytime he saw someone who needed a coat, he would remove his own and give it to them. His abbot got so frustrated with having to buy him a new coat all the time that he ordered Francis to stop giving them away. So, when Francis would come upon someone who needed a coat, he would slyly say, “I can’t give you my coat, but you could take it from me.” That’s what Christ-like love can look like.

The Samaritan who stopped to care for the man left for dead—though they came from different sides of the track and were considered enemies. That’s what Christ-like love can look like. The kind of love Jesus commands is a love that embodies justice. It’s not fluffy feelings. In fact, there’s nothing ‘fluffy’ about it. It’s grit and sweat and blood to love an enemy. Sometimes it needs to be done at a safe distance. And sometimes that love will not be received or viewed as love, at all. It will be questioned. It will be spurned. They may try to ‘kill’ that love in anger and fear—just like they killed Love-incarnate by hanging him on a cross. But that’s the beauty of real love. You can break it and bury it, but that just gives it an opportunity to grow into something more.

Love—the love of Christ—isn’t transactional. “I’ll love you if I get something in return.” It isn’t an act of revenge. “I’ll show you.” It isn’t sarcastic or delivered with an eyeroll or offside comment or crossed fingers or threat or gritted teeth. But it is a practice—meaning we won’t ever get it perfect. Sometimes, we won’t be able to do it at all. That doesn’t mean we fail as Christians. It means we still have room to grow.

Because at the end of the day, the love isn’t about the enemy at all. It’s about us. It’s about God’s never-ending invitation to continue to go deeper into God’s love for us. To recognize that the love Jesus commands is the very love God has offered to God’s own creation—a creation that turned against God and became an enemy to God. And to recognize that God’s love for us isn’t dependent upon our love for others. God loves us first. And in that love, we’re given the power to respond with love.

Pastor Tobi White

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church

Lincoln, NE