The Power of Love

Psalm 107:33-43; 108:1-6 (7-13) • Psalm 33
Hosea 11:1-9 • Acts 22:17-29 • Luke 6:27-38

Our gospel reading today is a challenging one. As I read through it, I found it so hard to reconcile the idea of loving an enemy and submitting to an abuser. It is easy to focus on the evils being imposed (the cursing, slapping, and stealing), and not the far greater asset in the scenario.

It’s all in the first sentence, “Love your enemies.” That is truly one of the hardest things we are asked to do. The idea of loving those we perceive as being against us seems completely illogical and certainly does not fulfill our desire for earthly “justice.”

It seems to me Jesus loved in a way that made people want to be better. He didn’t have to tell them what they were doing wrong, they were so impacted by his love that they were compelled to do what was right. It is interesting to think about someone in your life who makes you feel incredibly loved. Then think about the people who you love very deeply. Those are the people we feel we would sacrifice anything for.

Now think about applying those feelings to the person you dislike the most. Think about employing empathy, compassion, understanding, grace, patience, and even sacrifice as the outward and visible sign of God’s love. Every one of these are offered to us by God, and then God patiently waits for us to learn to extend that kind of unconditional love to each other. We are called to have faith that the love we offer will reach the other in a way that allows God to work in them. It is a practice. We fall short simply by being human. But we can find our peace in knowing that God’s love for us in our shortcomings is still complete. This can be our inspiration to continue learning to extend love to those we would otherwise be least inclined to.

Written by Dan Robinson

Dan Robinson is the Media Specialist at St Paul’s, streaming the services online.