It Pays to Love Your Enemies.

Homily for Sunday 24^th February 2019

_“The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD gave you into my hand today, and I would not put forth my hand against the LORDS anointed.” *(1 Samuel 26:23)*_

Our Gospel passage today barely needs any explanation; it is the hallmark of Jesus’ teaching; a message he proclaimed not only with words but by his very life. On the night of his arrest, Peter took out a sword and cut off the ear of the High Priest’s slave but Jesus said: “Put your sword back, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52).

Right there on the cross, having lost the election conducted by Pilate in an attempt to free him, having witnessed the shame, spitting, insult and cruelty of the soldiers, Jesus was able to summon the courage to say: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). In praying like this, Jesus really proved himself as the “Son of David” – a man who had the chance of killing his persecutor, Saul but refused.

Why is it difficult to love our enemies? How do we show love to our enemies while at the same time protecting ourselves from harm? Is there any reward for loving one’s enemies? What is the mind of God regarding our relations with persons who have sworn an oath to destroy us? These are some of the lessons we shall examine in today’s reflection.

*One: If You Cannot Love Your Enemy, You are Not a Christian.*

Jesus said: “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners.” (Luke 6:32-34).

Let me ask, who were those Jesus referred to as sinners? Those who cannot love their enemies. You may be baptized and confirmed, you may even be the Pope or something higher but if you cannot love your enemy, you are just a sinner or as St. Paul would say without love, you are “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1).

Loving our enemies is exactly what makes us Like Christ, it is our unique identity, (our PVC if you like). The question is not whether we are capable of loving our enemies, the question is how do we show love to those who hate us? This takes us to the next lesson.

*Two: The Easiest Way to Love An Enemy is to See God in Him/Her.*

One thing that kept David from striking Saul when he had the chance to do so was that David recognized that Saul was the “Lord’s Anointed.” I find this quite interesting. This was far away in Old Testament times; an era where the law was an “eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” (Exodus 21:24-25).

David had every moral justification to kill Saul because Saul himself had made several attempts on his life; even to the point of going out with a whole army as if to fight a war with David. It is quite touching that despite all the atrocities Saul committed, David was still able to recognize and respect God’s anointing in him. Am I still able to recognize God’s anointing in others?

David spared Saul not because he was afraid of Saul, not because he was happy with Saul but because he was afraid of God. David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can put forth his hand against the LORD’S anointed, and be guiltless?” (1 Samuel 26:9). The key to loving our enemies is to see something of God in them. If you ever get the chance to strike back at those who hurt you, remember that no matter how bad a person is, he or she is still a child of God.

*Three: The Benefits of Loving Your Enemies.*

You may ask: “what do I even gain by loving my enemies?” There are indeed very many things to gain; one, the ripple effect of goodness. One kind act of love done to an enemy makes the whole world a better place. By putting smiles on one person’s face, that person would, in turn, put a smile on another and the chain reaction goes on and on until it comes back to you. This is what Jesus explains in our Gospel passage as the “Golden Rule” which some others also explain as the principle of Karma.

There is simply no justification for being evil. You may be thinking your evil act is justice served (vengeance) but I tell you, that evil deed will surely COME BACK to you in another way. As we can see, Jesus was not talking about tithes and offerings when he said: “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” (Luke 6:38). Jesus wants us to give to our enemies; to be good to people even when they don’t deserve it because our goodness comes back to us.

The second benefit of loving our enemies is that it attracts God’s blessing upon us. From David’s own mouth, we hear “The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness.” (1 Sam. 26:23) In fact, when we read that passage further, Saul himself was so moved by David’s act of kindness in sparing his life and he declared: “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” (1 Samuel 26:25).

If you think that by killing your enemies, you will have peace of mind, please think again. If you think you stand to gain anything by destroying those who hate you, you lie! We gain nothing, absolutely nothing from killing others either by the sword, character defamation, exposing secrets, your refusal to help them in time of need or malice. We hurt ourselves more when we cannot forgive. Do you want to make heaven easily without being judged? Jesus says: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37).

*Four: Loving our Enemies is Not Necessarily Suicide.*

Let us go back to our first reading. Do you notice that upon getting close to Saul, David was careful enough not to wake Saul from his sleep? You see, David applied wisdom here. In as much as he did not kill Saul, he also did not put himself in harm’s way. After collecting Saul’s spear and his jar of water, David careful tiptoed away without waking anyone in the entire army. It wasn’t until David had gone to the other side (maintaining a great space between them) that he stood on a mountain and called out to Saul.

What does this teach us? There is a big difference between loving our enemies and foolishly allowing them to have their way which for me, is suicide. We are told to love those who hate us but in loving them, we are to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16). David would not kill Saul but would not let Saul kill him either.

The best treatment we can give to our enemies is to disarm them; that is, to make them change their opinions towards us; to make them turn their hate into love. It is not to return evil for evil or fire for fire. In truth, an act of kindness shown to an enemy is more effective than a fight. I will leave you with this beautiful quote from the book of Proverbs 25:21-22 which says “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for (by so doing), you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the LORD will reward you.”

*Conclusion: One Last Word.*

The elections are over. Whatever the results may be, let us not learn to love and accommodate one another. The fact that we belong to different political parties should not make us enemies. The fact that we didn’t vote for the same person should not bring quarrel or division. We all seek progress for our country, hatred serves us no good.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, teach me to love my enemies as you love me. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C. Bible Study: 1^st Samuel 26:2-23, Psalm 102, 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 and Luke 6:27-38).