Sermon for 7th Sunday after Epiphany 2025

MAY the words of my mouth and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>

For many Christians, verses 27 to 38 of Luke’s gospel may be one of the most difficult passages in Scripture. It seems to express an idealism that is totally unrealistic and unattainable for us.

We live, today, in a world where we hear\read of war and violence, of the horror of terrorist attacks on the innocent, of increasing political polarisation etc etc.

Where do these words of Jesus words “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you” fit in? <PAUSE>

Well, In order to try understand what Jesus is really saying to us, we have to put aside our prejudices, assumptions, and emotions and REALLY listen to what He is saying.

In the Old Testament hatred of evildoers is presumed to be the right attitude to have.

However, in the new covenant, Jesus is extending love to the enemy and the persecutor.

The immediate, big obstacle for us is the word “love”. In English, it tends to be a very emotional word, implying both affection and intimacy. For us to “love” is often to “be in love with”, to “be emotionally attracted to”. But Jesus is not telling us to be “in love” with our enemies. He is not even telling us to like them. <PAUSE>

Let me approach this call to “love” our enemies this way. As I continue my Spanish learning experience, I can find several words meaning “love”, each with different nuances depending on the context. Here are some of the most common ones - Amor, Querer, Encanto, Cariño, Afecto, Pasión, Adoración. Knowing which word means what and what that word is meant to convey in any given situation is CRITICAL to our understanding. (No wonder I sometimes get confused in my lessons !)

So it is with the gospels. The Greek verb which the gospel uses is agapao (‘ah-gah-paw’) from which the noun agape (‘ah-gah-pay’) comes. Agape is a special kind of love. It is not the physically-expressed love of lovers nor is it the love of close friends. It is rather an attitude of positive regard towards other people by which we wish for their well-being.

Allow me to say that gain - an attitude towards other people by which we wish for their well-being.

This is, in fact, the love that God has for us.

In a sense, it is a one-sided love … a kind of love where getting something in return is NOT expected.

God reaches out in infinite love to every single person without exception. God wishes every person to experience that love; God wishes the fullest well-being of every single person. God’s love is often not returned; it is often rejected or ignored … yet, God’s love continues unabated.

Like the father in the story of the prodigal son waiting for his boy to come back. The father continued to love his son even in that son’s lowest moments of debauchery and degradation.

It was the same with the people who were nailing Jesus to the cross. Jesus prayed for them, for their being forgiven and that they might come to a realisation of just what they were doing.

In this sense, loving our “enemies” ( those who are hostile to us, those who want to harm us, fight with us etc) seems altogether reasonable. Actually, not only quite possible but - really - the only thing to do. <PAUSE>

There are two ways we can deal with “enemies”. We can set out to do more harm to them, to take revenge on them, or try to wipe them out completely. Honestly, you know as well as I do that this approach simply doesn’t work. It causes just as much (if not more) pain to us as to the people we are opposing.

OR … we can do the unexpected. We can remove our enemies completely. We can work to make them our friends, to change them … through our prayers!

You see to love as Christ loves, is to focus more on others than on ourselves.

This means turning our attention much more to the one who is hating or harming. We will begin to pray about why do they have to act in that way. What is hurting inside them that drives them to such behaviour? Already we are, through prayer, beginning to care for our “enemy” and beginning to love him\her.

And isn’t this a much better solution to the problem? To bring peace back into that person’s life, and into our life, and initiate a healing process in them and between them and us. <PAUSE>

Jesus is not at all asking us to do something “unnatural”. I do not believe that we naturally want to hate or be hated. We want to love and to be loved. We see many parts of the world where – for years – there has been a process of hatred and retaliation in a never-ending spiral of vengeance and loss of life.

The ONLY way to break this cycle is to follow Jesus’ advice.

The way of Christ is not a lose-lose or lose-win situation; it is a win-win situation where EVERYONE benefits.

As followers of Christ, we are challenged to see things in a completely different way and to behave differently, to pray differently. <PAUSE>

Forgive others as God forgives us.

It is through prayer, we are to forgive and everyone has an endless supply of prayer.

Then, and only then, through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, comes the power of agape, the power of love and … to God will be the glory.

I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu. <AMEN>