Today’s Gospel is a direct follow-on to last week’s – Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount. As with Matthew, Luke seems to be using a written text of the ‘Sayings of Jesus’ as a background to what he is writing.

Last week, we saw how strongly Luke feels about the ‘poor’ in our midst, and his overwhelming conviction that the coming Kingdom of God is firstly the inheritance of the excluded, despised, persecuted, and sinners. Not only is he saying this, but he is warning us that not helping the poor will be what condemns us when the Kingdom is fully revealed. His warnings, “Woe to you who are rich… woe to you who are full now… woe to you who laugh… woe to you, when people speak well of you…”  cannot be ignored or dismissed as idealism or fantasy.

The ‘poor’ and the ‘rich’, the ‘hungry’ and the ‘full’, the ‘complacent’ and the ‘miserable’ are clearly recognisable groups, and Luke is quite certain that the actions of one group – the rich – has a direct impact of the situation of the other group – the poor. He is also quite clear, in fact he overstates it so we can be in no doubt – that any of us who are satisfied with this divide, and do nothing to alleviate it, cannot be part of God’s Kingdom.

This week, Luke continues this theme of ‘poor’ and ‘rich’, firstly outlining how we are to act if we wish to be part of God’s Kingdom. Luke addresses his words to, “…you who hear.”, and his words are stark and aimed at making us uncomfortable enough to change how we act.

Using a written ‘Sayings of Jesus’ as a source (just as Matthew does), Luke’s list of the things we must do is both practical and challenging. We might even call it is confronting and blunt to the point of seeming harsh. Luke gives us no options of ‘opt-out’ clauses buried in the small print. We must love our enemies; we must do good to those who hate us; we must bless those who curse us; we must pray for those who abuse us; we must give to everyone who begs from us.

All of this is diametrically opposed to what society tells us is the way to act. The message of Jesus IS counter-cultural, and it will make us feel awkward and uncomfortable. This discomfort is the ‘cross we pick up each day’ as followers of Jesus. Luke tells us that it cannot be avoided – that it must not be avoided. ‘Loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us, blessing those who curse us, etc. are the values of the Kingdom of God and if we cannot accept them, we can have no part in the Kingdom of God.

The message of Jesus ran directly counter to what the Jewish authorities expected the ‘Messiah’ to say and do. It annoyed and antagonised them to the extent that they killed him.

The message of Jesus ran directly counter to imperialist Rome. It confronted its values and materialism, irritating Herod, Pilate and those who represented the Empire. In the end, without a thought, they killed him.

As Jesus spoke to those who came to hear him, he knew the danger his message held for himself. He knew he was ‘poking the bear’, and he knew the power held by the ‘bear’. Yet he continued. Why? Because his message was (is) God’s message, the Kingdom he revealed was (is) God’s Kingdom, and Jesus could do nothing else but preach and live it.

Luke says to us, to “…all who hear…” that we, in our day, knowing that our message is counter-cultural and will be ridiculed must do the same. The Kingdom of God is coming – it has begun. The Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead, shouts to the world that this Kingdom cannot be stopped and is here “until the end of time”.

As I emphasised last week, all that Luke says comes with a public health warning. We promote the Kingdom of God as weak and sinful human beings. It is pride not to accept our weaknesses, and it is arrogance to think that we can ‘do everything’. We must always be gentle with ourselves and others. As Luke says so beautifully at the end of this section of his Gospel: “Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.”

Loving those who love us is relatively easy and acceptable to society. Doing good to those who do good to us is also fairly easy and is an acceptable motivation for doing good. Lending to those from whom we expect to receive is the way ‘the world works’, “quid pro quo”, “I’ll look after you if you look after me…” It makes sense to business, finance, power and profit.

But Luke says the Kingdom of God calls for something greater than this. The followers of Jesus, those who will inherit the Kingdom of God, “love their enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return…”  Those who do this will be ridiculed by society as ‘dreamers’, ‘communists’, ‘woke’. The powerful of society, the rich of society, the successful of society will dismiss it as unreal. And that is true…if… power, wealth and popularity are how we judge success.

The Christian judges success according to different values: Happiness, peace, gentleness, forgiveness, love. These are the values of the Kingdom of God  

When I come to the last small section of this Gospel I am always presented with a problem. I find myself saying, “What? No? This can’t be correct”. The problem I find is this: After all the higher-order moral and ethical statements we find in the opening two sections of the Gospel, it seems to me that Luke suddenly switches to the lowest common denominator, or the least ‘good’ reason for doing something.

There is no doubt that Jesus asks a lot in the opening section of the Gospel. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…” is a huge ask. Try taking it on as a Lenten challenge in a couple of weeks’ time and you will discover just how difficult it is.

In the second section of the Gospel Jesus tells us that our motivation for doing good must be greater than the motivation of those around us. Everyone can love if they know they are loved in return. Anyone can lend to a person if they know it will be returned. But we are called to be so much more than this. We must love, do good, forgive, etc. without any thought of getting anything in return. We are called to love purely because it is the correct thing to do. This level of selflessness and altruism is extraordinarily difficult. Some might wonder if it is even possible for any human person!

In this last section of the Gospel all of the lovely idealism, self-sacrifice  and highest order thinking seem to be forgotten. To the question, “Why do good to others?” we get the answer, “…so they will do good to us.” To the question, “Why should we forgive?” we get the answer, “…so we will be forgiven.” To the question, “Why should we give to others?” we get the answer, “…so we will get back the same or more from them.”

This is what we sometimes call the ‘Golden Rule’ – “Do to others what you would like them to do to you.”

I think I would, perhaps, award this a Bronze Medal, because it is a valid reason for doing good. But a Gold Medal? As Jesus says in this Gospel, “for even sinners do the same!”

The Gold Medal reason for doing good is what we find in the first two sections of the Gospel. “Love your enemies. Do good to those who abuse you…”, not so others will do the same for you, but simply because it is the correct thing to do; it is what Love does.

So, have I read this Gospel wrongly, or have I misunderstood what Luke or Jesus was saying or meaning? I concede that this is possible, but however often I return to it, I come away feeling that this last section does not fit with the exalted ideals of the first two sections of the Gospel.

How might this happen? If, over all the years of sharing memories and stories about Jesus, someone compiled a collection of ‘his sayings’ under some headings like, ‘why do good?’ or ‘what Jesus said about lending to others’, then it is quite possible that everything said in this Gospel would be grouped together.

Jesus very likely did say all these things at different times, to different groups of people, in different contexts.

When writing their Gospels Luke and Matthew had copies of these ‘sayings of Jesus’ and used them.

The writers of the Gospels never felt themselves slaves to the sources they had at their disposal. The were sharing the Good News of God’s love for us, and how God chose to reveal this by coming among us as we are.

That is the truth they share. Details may differ in places, but the truth of the “Good News about Jesus, the Messiah, Son of God” (start of Mark’s Gospel) remains the same.

For me, this last section of the Gospel is really the truth about why WE (humans) love, do good, forgive….etc.. As weak, sinful creatures it is very difficult for us to be motivated purely and completely by love. Indeed, it is almost impossible to tease out our deepest motivations for doing anything!

The problem for me arises when we say that, ‘because this is the way I think and act, therefore God thinks and acts in the same way. This is wrong! It is making God in our image and likeness rather than the other way around.

But God does not have mixed motives for anything. God IS Love…. and nothing else. God loves simply because God is God! We can never even begin to understand this concept because, for us, love is always part of bigger or wider scenarios. It is never ‘only’ love.

So, if I, as human, judge, condemn, refuse to forgive, refuse to give to others, can I say that this is also what God will do?

My answer has to be a definite ‘NO’ to that! (“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways, your ways”, declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8)

If God treats us as we treat one another, then what hope do we have? We sin – all of us; We hold on to anger and bitterness and refuse to forgive wrongs done to us – all of us; we are selfish, proud, jealous and self-centred – all of us. These are not always sinful, but sometimes they are, and we know it.

Our world, for all its extraordinary beauty, and human beings, for all of their giftedness and generosity, give all too clear evidence of our weakness and sinfulness.

But surely, the whole meaning of the Incarnation (God becoming one of us) and of Easter (Jesus’ death and resurrection) is to show us that we are always loved by God, whether we deserve it or not.

Isn’t this what Luke says in the Gospel: “…for he is kind to the ungrateful and to the evil.”

God’s love is “given to us, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over put into our lap.”

Why am I certain of this? Because that’s what Love does, and God IS love…. nothing else…. only Love.

Many thanks,

Brian.

If you have any thoughts or comments that you would like to share with me on this reflection, please send me an email: b.maher@oblates.co.uk 

Love your enemies