There is a very natural inclination for most people to be courteous and kind to everyone that we come into contact with. When we walk into a store that has a double door, we hold the door open for the person behind us who says: “Thank you!”. Then they open the second door to which we walk through and say: “Thank YOU”! When we sneeze, we often tell someone “Bless You!” and when we sneeze, the expectation is for someone else to say: “Bless YOU!” in return. Our Lord uses the example in the Gospel of lending, in which I am reminded how often I use my neighbor’s yard tools. Naturally, since he is kind to me, whenever he needs something, I never hesitate to return the favor!
There are so many real world examples of how we offer love for love…but isn’t it incredible striking that today, in what is one of the most difficult Gospels lessons to penetrate into our hearts…our Lord calls that type of love “Sinner’s Love”. “Even sinners love those who love them…”
We read that passage and we say to ourselves, “Ok, let’s take it to the next level then! Let’s show love to those who have done NOTHING to us.” We give to the poor on the streets when we pass them by. In our Church, we make blankets to help those who are suffering from cancer treatments and become cold. We volunteer our time at soup kitchens and hospitals to show love to those who have done nothing for us. In response to all of this, our Lord seems to say: “Ok, you are on the right track…but there is still a place that you need to go that is much deeper. You are called to Love your enemies…to show Love to those who wrong you”.
Oof…How is that even possible? How can I love someone who robbed and hurt my family…damaging every holy and beloved thing that I have? How can I love someone who, when I was a young child, slaughtered my father before my eyes as though he were a sheep? How can I love he who went to court, put his filthy hands on the bible, and lied so that I, who am innocent, am rotting in prison? Father, tell us to do anything…ANYTHING ELSE than to forgive and love our enemy…the one who destroyed us inside…because the wrongs cannot be forgotten, and our heart grows for revenge.”
There are so many objections that we can come up with, but our Lord, who was the creator of the human heart, knows how it works. He knows that there is one healing medicine for all of the evil in the world, and it is love. Despite your objections my children…Love your enemies…and witness the results.
I was reminded this week of a story that many of you may remember, because it is one that went completely viral around the entire planet. I know this, because the main source I found when looking it up was a website in the UK, who published the details for their readers to be inspired by…and it happened in our own back yard in Grand Rapids last year.
In a fit of anger and jealousy Vincent (just 23 years old), shot a young man named Andrew in the face…ending his life in a cold-blooded murder. Through then entire court case, he remained stone faced, and unmoved by what was happening. Even when the judge handed down the verdict that he would spend his life in prison, Vincent remained unphased by the fact that his life was over. Darkness had surrounded him from the moment he pulled that trigger, all of the way through learning his fate.
Before he was carried away in cuffs, the mother of that 17 year old boy Andrew, stunned everyone in the court room. Despite losing her baby boy over something so senseless…she looked at the face of the killer and said:
“In order to get through this process, I had to forgive you, and I forgive you from the bottom of my heart. I pray for you, because as a mother, you are a child to me…and in my heart, I have no anger or bitterness towards you. As a mom, I just want to hug you, because I know there is something that is not connected, that made you feel so angry.”
The stone-cold face of anger and contempt immediately melted from Vincent’s face, and was transformed to one of remorse and repentance. The power that was behind that mother’s love of her enemy didn’t just effect those in the stunned courtroom. It reached people through a video screen throughout the world, causing hearts to melt, tears to be shed, and warmth to enter into our souls.
What does this incredible scene prove to us? In the face of love, evil is washed away, just as our Lord knew it would be when he commanded us all to Love our enemies and to do good to those who wrong us.
An election in November will not change the world. Angry protests and rioting will never have a unifying effect. Position papers, blogs, and news articles will only harden hearts rather than soften them. The ONLY response to evil, to division, and to darkness is unconditional love of our enemies. May our Lord’s love continue to shine in our hearts, and into the hearts of those who do us wrong…Amen.