The truth of Love your Enemies

Text: Luke 6:27-38

Sermon:
Before we start the sermon today, I want to clarify; this is another scripture that churches
are going to teach differently depending on their philosophy and ideology. Some
churches/pastor will turn this scripture into ways to show that Christians in America are
hated and persecuted. The truth is: American Christians are not hated for their faith.
American Christians are not being persecuted for their faith. If they are being hated or
persecuted, it is because the American Christians are hating and abusing those they are
called to love.

Before we dig into the scripture, let us put the scripture into perspective: The Jews
despised the Romans because they oppressed God’s people, but Jesus told the people to
love these enemies. These difficult teachings turned many away from him. Jesus wasn’t
talking about having affection for enemies; he was talking about choosing a conscious
attitude towards the enemy.

When a person insults us (strikes you on the one cheek) we want to give them back what
they gave to us, plus more. Jesus said we should patiently bear such insults and offences
and not resist an evil person who insults us this way. Instead, we trust God to defend us.

In the original text, “enemy” is explained, “an adjective which pertains to manifesting
hostility or being at enmity with another, where enmity is a deep-seated animosity or
hatred which may be open or concealed or a "deep-rooted hatred," It is further explained,
“Echthros is one who has the extreme negative attitude that is the opposite of love and
friendship.”

When looking at this definition, we can see that “enemies” comes from hostility from one
party to overtaken or oppressed another party. This is usually done to maintain power and
influence in government. Some examples of this are racism, sexism, taking away the
rights of those that need love and acceptance. We have seen this throughout US history,
and I believe we are seeing more of it now.

Jesus also asks us to be merciful, which means, “which describes one who is concerned
about another unfortunate state or misery," one who has pity, one who is compassionate
being moved or motivated by sympathy.”

Jesus calls us to be merciful to those that mistreat us. According to the definition
provided, mercy provides sympathy and compassion to those that hate us with their
hostility and hateful acts. This is another aspect of US’s history through Civil Rights Acts
and minority groups that sought for equal rights.

We can have compassion for them, pray for them, and try to understand them. Jesus tells
us to follow his enemies. Grant your enemies the same respect and rights you desire for
yourself.

The love Jesus told us to have for our enemies was not a warm, fuzzy feeling deep in the
heart. If we wait for that, we may never love them. The love for our enemies is a love that
does something for them, quite apart from how we might feel about them.

While there aren't direct scientific studies explicitly titled "showing love to enemies,"
research in psychology, sociology, and neuroscience indicates that practicing compassion
and kindness towards perceived enemies can have positive impacts on mental health,
reducing stress, and fostering greater social cohesion, even if the "enemy" doesn't
reciprocate the gesture.

Conclusion: Let us be people who loves everyone to our best ability.