Jesus
tells us in the Gospel of Luke, "to
love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us,
and to pray for those who abuse us" (Luke 6:27-28). History has proven that this is not an easy command
to follow. It is our human nature to retaliate. To protect ourselves. It is
also a human characteristic to defend our reputations and when someone slanders
us we want to set things right. Culturally and historically retaliation has
been considered a strength.
I recall
my father telling me as a child, "if
someone hits you, hit them back and if they are bigger than you are, pick up a stick.” My father was one of eight children, he learned
to fight when he was learning to walk. His
father was an alcoholic and an abusive parent and husband. Alcohol eventually put
him in the ground at the age of 55. How we are raised affects how we raise our
own children. We can either continue the pattern or we can say no. It is
possible to change; Jesus assures us that it is possible to be a new creation.
Children do not have to suffer the sins of their parents (Jeremiah 32:17). It takes a greater strength to ignore hate then
it does to retaliate with like actions. Rob
Bell in his book writes:
"There is a weakness that is actually
strength.
And there is a strength that is actually
weakness.
Take, for example, a parent who yells at
their children and holds them accountable for all sorts of random tasks they
were supposed to have known to do, and who allows their mood to dictate the
mood of the whole house. This kind of parent dominates their family with
manipulative behavior and petty punishments that create chaos and insecurity
for those around them. This kind of parent is using their strength, but they
are actually weak. They do this because in truth, they're broken, confused and
insecure. They have no idea what they're doing, as a parent or as a person.
The same is true for managers and bosses and
teachers and anyone who uses their position of authority to coerce or manipulate
or bully others. They can get people to do what they want, but it's only
because of the position they hold. Their authority is rooted in nothing larger
or stronger or higher than their rank. And that can be taken away tomorrow.
They may appear strong, but they are actually weak.
Contrast this with people who appear weak but
are actually quite strong. It's when someone says something mean or cutting
about us and everything within us wants to one-up them with an even nastier
comment in return, thus winning the exchange, but we hold our tongue. We
"lose" the round, but what we did took tremendous strength. And it
would take even more strength to forgive them and then maybe even love them. It
would all appear quite weak to the observer, unless they understood that what
they were witnessing was actually strength in action." [Rob
Bell, Sex
God (Zondervan,
2008), 102-03].
Love
transforms both the giver and the recipient. It is the strongest force in all
creation. God is love…
©
Edward E. Judy, Original publication The Morrow Mirror, Morrow First United
Methodist Church April 6, 2014
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