Luke 6:27-38

Canon Nigel B. Mitchell 18 February 2000

Jesus said to his disciples, “I say to you that listen, Love your
enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray
for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the
other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold
even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes
away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would
have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that
to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to
those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners
do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what
credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as
much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing
in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the
Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful,
just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be
judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you
will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A 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
6:27-38)

Around about the time that Jesus was born, the patriarch (or head
Rabbi) of Jerusalem was a great sage named Hillel. He was a very holy
and learned man, famous for his wisdom, and for the patience and respect
that he showed to great and poor alike. One day a Greek philosopher, who
considered Hillel to be an enemy both to his religion and to his
culture, made a bet with one of his friends that he could make the great
Hillel lose his temper. The way he tried to do that was to find out what
time the Patriarch had his bath each day, and then at that very time
come storming into the house claiming that he had to see Hillel because
of a great emergency. Once Hillel emerged, cold and dripping wet, he
would ask him a foolish question, like “Why do so many Babylonians have
bald heads?” or “Why do Africans have such wide feet?”. He did this day
after day, but Hillel refused to get angry. He simply said “You ask an
important question”, thought for a moment or two, and then gave the man
his answer. This happened day after day, until finally the Greek
gentleman lost his temper and cursed Hillel, saying “You made me lose my
bet that I could make you lose your temper”. Hillel replied “Better that
you should lose your bet than that I should lose my temper”. There and
then the Greek man offered to convert and adopt Judaism – but only if
Hillel could teach him the whole law whilst standing on one foot. Now
that would have stumped most people, but Hillel just thought about it
for a moment, lifted up one foot, and said “Do not do to others what is
hateful to you. That is the whole of the law – the rest is just
commentary”. The Greek chap went away in disgust. It is just possible
that Hillel was still in office, although he would have been a very old
man, when Jesus and his family visited the temple when the boy was 12
years old. Jesus had wandered off on the day that they were supposed to
go home, and his family thought that he was lost, but then they found
him sitting in the temple discussing life, the universe and everything
with the teachers of the law. And so maybe it is not a coincidence that
one of the best known teachings of Jesus – which many people know as the
‘golden rule’ – is the same as one of the best known teachings of the
patriarch Hillel; “Treat others the way you want to be treated – Do not
do to others what is hateful to you – Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you”. Both men are remembered not only for teaching the
Golden rule, but also for putting it into practise in their lives, and
many scholars think that there must have been a link; that Jesus learnt
from Hillel when he visited Jerusalem, or that the teaching of Hillel,
although it was somewhat controversial, was sufficiently widely known
that Jesus could hear of it, and come down firmly on the side of
agreeing with this teaching, and making it part of his own. One of the
most unfortunate things about the history of our religion is that within
just a couple of generations from the time of Hillel and Jesus, Jews and
Christians moved from being siblings – brothers and sisters who
worshipped the same God, but believed slightly different things about
God – to being enemies, hating each other with a hatred which has lasted
most of the past 20 centuries, and which is going to take a lot of time
and effort and goodwill to turn around in the 21st century. Even at the
time the Scriptures of the New testament were being written, a clear
anti-Jewish bias is beginning to emerge, and by the time we get to
writers of the fourth century the deterioration in relationships between
Christians and Jews can be seen in almost every document of each faith.
In medieval times there was a clear hatred between Jews and Christians,
but there was one significant difference. With just a very few
exceptions, there are no recorded incidents of violence, and few even of
discrimination, by Jews against Christians. On the other hand, it was
Christian hatred of Jews which was behind the expulsion of the Jews from
England by king Edward I in 1290, the persecutions of the Spanish
inquisition, the pogroms in Russia in the 19th century and the holocaust
in Nazi occupied Europe in the 20th century. I am not saying that we as
Christians share the blame for those things, because we clearly don’t.
What I am saying is that the rhetoric which was used to justify those
crimes against humanity was, in a large part, the rhetoric of the New
Testament and other Christian writings which have expressed hatred and
violence towards the Jews. So when we hear these words in our Gospel
reading, “Love your enemies” and “Do to others as you would have them do
to you” we are hearing a teaching which we share with our Jewish
brothers and sisters, and which is at the heart of both our religions.
Jesus, and Hillel before him, did not just teach these things to their
disciples. They lived them out every day. And that is what we must do.
Jesus spelt out what this means, and his words make a lot of sense. If
we love those who love us, if we do things for people from whom we can
expect something in return, if we are generous to our friends and harsh
towards our enemies, if we give to those who deserve it, then we are not
doing anything special, in fact we are falling far short of God’s ideal
for us and the example that we have received from great teachers like
Jesus and Hillel. It is in loving those who hate us; in giving to those
who we know cannot repay us, and would not if they could; in acts of
generosity and kindness towards our enemies, and in giving to those who
do not deserve it at all, that we come close to the perfection to which
we are called in response to God’s love for us. Jesus said to his
disciples, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless
those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” The world would be a
better place if more people put that teaching into practise. The world
would be a better place if more Christians put that teaching into
practise. Sadly, our attitude towards the Jews, which has made them into
perceived enemies, and then justified their marginalisation,
persecution, and even murder and forced conversion, has been exactly the
opposite of what Jesus taught us to do. And even if you and I, in 2001,
abhor the attitudes of the past and pledge ourselves to do everything
possible to change our ways and the ways of our fellow Christians, we
can’t really be surprised if it takes a couple of centuries before the
Jewish people begin to trust us, and see that we really do mean what we
say, and truly are making an attempt to live according to the teaching
and example of people like Jesus and Hillel. “Do not do to others what
is hateful to you” “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” “Love your
neighbour as yourself”, and remember that your neighbour is probably the
person you like least in all the world, the one whose religious opinions
offend you, and whose political opinions make you angry. Your neighbour
is probably the person who annoys you with stupid questions, or requests
for help which you are sure they don’t deserve. Your neighbour is
probably the person who needs your help when it is most inconvenient.
Your neighbour is probably the person whose life still shows the scars
of what your ancestors did to their ancestors – decades, or even
centuries ago. Your neighbour is probably your enemy, and loving them
may well be the hardest thing in the world to do. But Jesus’ challenge
to us is to love our enemies, pray for them, do good to them, perhaps
what we wish they would do for us, but expecting nothing in return. God
is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked, and that sometimes includes
us. If God can be that generous, surely we can as well. May God grant us
all the grace to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, and of Hillel his
teacher; in responding with generosity to those who come to us for help;
in giving to those we perceive as our enemies the same honour and love
and respect that we give to those we hold most dear; in treating
everyone, regardless of who and what they are, the way we want to be
treated ourselves; and in living lives which do not seek our own glory
or wealth or power, but which give glory to God, which point towards
him, and which show the light of his forgiveness and love to those with
whom we share our lives – neighbours, friends, family, and most
especially our enemies. Who are your enemies? And how will you love them
today?