Loving Enemies

Passage: Matthew 5:43-48; Philippians 1:12-14

Matthew’s version of the Sermon on the Mount summarizes Jesus’ most well-known and least-loved teachings. I say least-loved because the stuff Jesus tells us to do feels almost impossible. Most difficult is what Jesus tells us to do with enemies. Love ‘em. Pray for them. Seek what’s best for them and appeal to God on their behalf. Enemies are by definition people whose best interests we don’t have at heart. People whom we want God to give exactly what they deserve.

In Philippians 1, the Apostle Paul gives us a brief glimpse of Jesus’ new, love ethic in action. He writes this from a prison cell:

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

Paul’s hope, among other things, is that even those who imprison him will come to know Jesus as Savior. Paul sees the agents of his suffering and oppression – his enemies – through a lens not of anger and hatred, but mercy and grace. How is this possible?

Because Paul is well aware that this is the way his enemy treated him. Paul began his life as Saul of Tarsus – hater of Jesus and persecutor of the church. It was when Paul was in the process of hunting down Christians that Christ came to him in person and offered him redemption. Paul articulates it this way in 1 Timothy 1:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Paul prays that his enemies will experience the same mercy and salvation he experienced at the hands of Jesus. Although we often think differently, we were to Jesus what Saul of Tarsus was to Jesus: natural enemies. We were to Jesus what our enemies are to us. Jesus refused to give us what we deserve. So doing Jesus ushers us in to a new reality. One in which our greatest hope is to see our enemies redeemed by the grace and love that redeemed us. One in which God’s goal for us is the fulfillment of humanity’s oldest dream: to be reconciled to God, and to one another.

The Trouble With Shepherds

Passage: Ezekiel 34:1-16; John 10:11-18

Throughout Scripture God uses the term “sheep” to describe his people. If you know anything about sheep you recognize that this isn’t a compliment. Sheep are stupid, nearly defenseless creatures that, left to their own devices, would die horrible premature deaths. Sheep need to be shepherded – they need to be guided, protected, nurtured and corrected by someone whose perspective and insight far surpasses their own. Although sheep often make life difficult for those entrusted with their care, they will submit to the commanding presence of a shepherd.

However this vulnerability makes sheep highly susceptible to abuse. Sheep are completely at the mercy of their shepherds. If a shepherd is neglectful, sheep wander into crevasses and swamps, fall prey to predators, or exhaust their grazing land and go hungry. If a shepherd is abusive, sheep become an outlet for his anger or even his next meal. An inadequate shepherd treats the sheep as though they exist to meet his needs.

For much of their history, God’s people live under the watch of “shepherds” – prophets, priests and kings who represent God’s authority and provide much-needed direction and protection. But not all these shepherds serve their God-given role and a God-honoring way. Like sheep, God’s people are highly susceptible to abuse and neglect. God’s shepherds, as often as not, use God’s people to meet their own needs. The people’s response is always to look for a better shepherd – a more honest prophet; a more selfless priest; a more honorable king. In the end each proves to be as fallible as the last. Through his prophet Ezekiel, God condemns the bad shepherds of Israel, and confronts his people’s naïve willingness to simply give themselves to anyone in a fancy suit who tells them what they want to hear.

How is it that God’s people haven’t changed all that much? We continue to fall for preachers and leaders who shine up nicely and talk a good game. We buy into celebrity preachers and TV personalities who tell us the version of God’s Word that best fits our agendas. And then we recoil in shock and horror when they take the money and run, take up with the church secretary, or otherwise demonstrate that in the end, we were serving them instead of the other way around. They seemed so nice; they sounded so convincing; how could I have so badly misjudged them?

Through Ezekiel God promises a solution. He says,

I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.

God tells his people, “You will no longer, haphazardly, bounce from one bad shepherd to the next. I will shepherd you myself.” But how?

In his Gospel, John introduces a God who “takes on flesh and makes his dwelling among us.” Jesus – God in person – recalls Ezekiel’s promise, saying,

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 

Jesus invites us to familiarize ourselves with his voice. We benefit from the guidance of brothers and sisters gifted with wisdom and knowledge of God’s word. But we are all fellow sheep. Our only shepherd is the only good shepherd – the one who lays down his life for us. Arm yourself against self-professed shepherds who will use you for their own ends – in the form of book proceeds, donation checks, or “likes” on social media. Get to know the voice of the Good Shepherd, who gives himself unreservedly for you.