In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

It’s an interesting Gospel reading for Martin Luther King, isn’t it?  “Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. . . .  Be merciful even as your Father is merciful.” 

On the one hand, this text makes perfect sense as we remember a man who promoted non-violent opposition to oppression and injustice.  After all, Christians are called to behave as Christ, and if we react with violence and hatred to wrong-doing – even monumental wrongdoing – we are no different from those wrong-doers we oppose.  King himself used arguments like this.  And there’s real truth to this argument.  But if you think about it for a moment, there’s another way to look at this text from Luke. 

All this business about loving your enemies and turning the other check could be used to keep oppressed people in their place.  I mean, if you can convince the people you’re abusing that it’s in their best interest to accept the abuse AND forgive you, that’s a pretty neat trick isn’t it?  And, unfortunately, lessons like we heard this morning from the Gospel of Luke have been used just this way . . . to keep oppressed people from rising up.  This is the kind of argument that Malcolm X might have used in opposition to King’s position.  And, sadly, there’s truth to this argument, too.

Is there any way to reconcile these two apparently opposing points of view?  How do people stand up and claim their rights, rectify injustice, and demand that their dignity be respected, while also loving their enemies, blessing those who curse them, and praying for those who mistreat them?  It seems like quite a challenge.

Let’s take another look at the Gospel passage we heard this morning.  The verses we heard are part of the Sermon on the Plain . . . which is similar in many ways to the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew.  There are, of course, some important differences between the two sermons as well.  One of these differences is to whom the Gospels say Jesus is preaching.  Matthew says that Jesus is teaching his disciples AND the crowds who have come to hear him.  Luke, however, says that Jesus is talking ONLY to his disciples.  For some, this is a very important distinction. 

Over the centuries some scholars and commentators have argued that the way of living Jesus describes is impossible for ordinary human beings to follow; that Jesus couldn’t possibly mean that all Christians should live solely under the guidance of love and mercy.  They argue that, as Jesus is speaking only to his disciples in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus means his teaching to be for them ONLY.  You can almost hear the giant sigh of relief in their writing:  “Whew!  If Jesus is talking only to his special disciples, then this impossible standard of behavior – all this forgiving and loving – is not meant for US . . . this instruction is only for some really SPECIAL people.”  But if you look closely at the text, I don’t think this argument really holds up. 

Even if Jesus WAS speaking only to his disciples, LUKE is telling the story to his COMMUNITY.  In other words, if Jesus is teaching his disciples something meant only for them, why should the lesson be repeated for others, why should Luke bother telling the story to his community?  Because the story is for all Christians.  As Luke repeats Jesus’ sermon there’s urgency to the words.  Jesus says near the beginning that he is speaking to those who will LISTEN to him . . . and he ends the sermon by saying that anyone who LISTENS to what he has to say must then ACT on what he has said.  It’s pretty clear that what’s meant is that ANYONE who hears these words, must act on them.  The lesson IS for US.  While Jesus is teaching his disciples how they are to behave, through Luke he is also trying to shape his community’s conduct . . . the church’s conduct . . . OUR conduct.

“Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other as well.  If someone would take your coat from you, do not stop him from taking your shirt as well. Give to everyone who begs from you; if someone takes what is yours, do not try to get it back.”  REALLY?!  Are we REALLY to try to live like this?  “But people would realize that they could take my clothes and my money . . . my car . . . maybe even my house.  I’d end up with NOTHING!  God can’t really expect that of me . . . it’d be the end of EVERYTHING!”  Maybe.  Maybe if we tried to live like this it WOULD be the end of everything . . . the end of everything as we know it . . . and what would be revealed is the new creation . . . the Kingdom of God made manifest among us. 

You know, I’ve mentioned differences between Matthew and Luke, but this is something that they share as they tell about Jesus preaching this sermon.  They both understand that the behavior Jesus is urging upon us is a sign of the end times.  We Episcopalians don’t like talking much about the end of time . . . the Second Coming . . . the eschaton.  Our Evangelical brothers and sisters spend a LOT of time and energy thinking and talking about this, but most of us consider it a little . . . well, tacky . . . and unnecessary.  The world’s gonna end when it’s gonna end, and there’s not much point in thinking about it.  Right?  But what if there IS a point to thinking about it?  What if we have a role to play in bringing it about?  What if our role is to help establish the visible, real, Kingdom of God on this earth for Jesus to return to?  Well, then it IS worthwhile for us to think about end times, and consider what our role is to be now. 

I believe that our role is to live in the Kingdom of God NOW . . . to make manifest the rule of Christ NOW.  And to do this by loving.  By loving ourselves and our neighbors . . . and even our enemies.  The heart of Jesus’ – and Luke’s – message in the Sermon on the Plain is that love must dominate the life of every Christian.  The motivation of such love is the love and mercy of GOD . . . God is the creator and foundation of all existence, including Christian existence . . . and the essence of God is love, which is to be imitated.  You know if you think about it for a minute, if we COULD all manage to live as the Gospel teaches us, we wouldn’t have to worry about losing our clothes or our money, our car or our house.  ‘Cuz, the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of reciprocated love.  Even though I’d be willing to give everything I have to you, you wouldn’t take it . . . ‘cuz you’d be loving me just as much, and be just as willing to give me everything you have.  I give myself completely to you and you give yourself completely to me.  No one would lack for anything.  Everyone would have enough.  The Kingdom of God would reign on earth.

We wouldn’t have to worry about today’s Gospel text being used to oppress anyone, because we’d all be living as Christians . . . living with love for each other.  Pretty cool, huh?  Pretty scary, too.  Jesus lived this way, and we know where it got HIM!  People who didn’t believe or understand or TRUST his message nailed him to the cross.  It’d be great, wouldn’t it, if we could all agree, here at Grace, that we were truly gonna try to live as Jesus taught us . . . but, again, trust might be an issue.  We’d probably all have to agree that we’d start at the same time, so no one could take advantage of anyone else . . . it might work then, right?  One, two, three, GO!  Wouldn’t it be great if we could go to the U.N and get all the nations of the world to agree to live with love and mercy toward each other, enemies forgiving enemies?  But, of course, everyone would have to start at the same time.  One, two, three, GO!  Not very likely, is it? 

It seems, at minimum, that someone has to go first.  First, that is, in following the lead of Jesus.  Someone has to risk and dare, just as Jesus did.  And yes, in the risking and daring there may be suffering, because there are those who will mock and ridicule, imprison and beat, perhaps even kill those who are trying to live with love.  Christianity isn’t a safe religion.  It’s risky and radical.  But it’s also TRUE.  The only way to live in the Kingdom of God . . . to manifest the Kingdom of God in this world . . . to prepare the way for the Lord’s return . . . is to live with love and mercy . . . love for ourselves, for our neighbors . . . and even for our enemies.  Martin Luther King said it a little differently.  If you go to the website of the King Center in Atlanta, and you have speakers connected to your computer, the first thing you’ll hear is Dr. King preaching.  I won’t try to imitate his delivery . . . that’d be pretty impossible . . . but I would like to close with his words:

If you want to be important, wonderful!

If you want to be recognized, WONDERFUL!

If you want to be great, WONDERFUL!

But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be a servant.  That’s a new definition of greatness.  By giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.

You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.

You don’t have to know Plato and Aristotle to serve.

You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve.

You only need a heart full of grace . . . a soul generated by love . . . and you can be that servant.

Happy Martin Luther King Day.

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