“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Mat 5:43-45 KJV) Also read Luke 6:27-28.
America is experiencing great emotional strain these days. Yesterday, the horrors of Ft. Hood shocked our nation. We are so confident in our military might and discipline that we never imagined such a catastrophe could ever happen. The news hounds, talking heads, and arm chair pundits will be discussing this tragedy for a long time. They will do their best to out-guess one another in identifying the essential elements of what actually occurred. And in the final analysis, they will only create a huge outrage among the American populace.
I must admit that my initial reaction was one of anger and judgment. I was the prosecutor, the jury, and the judge. Those who did this dastardly deed would not have received any mercy from me. King David may have felt that way when he wrote Psalm 41:9. Yet, that is not the response Jesus taught to his disciples. Our Lord’s response is a radically different one. Read again his instructions in today’s passage. Love enemies . . . pronounce a blessing in response to curses . . . do good in response to hatred . . . prayer in response to spite and contempt and persecution.
Why is this the correct response? It shows that we are “the children of the heavenly Father” who offers his mercy and grace to all . . . both just and unjust. In Matthew 10:8, Jesus instructed his disciples to “freely give” because they had “freely received.” Although this principle was given to them relative to performing miracles, it will also apply in regards to mercy and grace. Jesus also said, “blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt. 5:7 KJV).
As true disciples of Christ, we must freely issue mercy to the unmerciful and offer God’s grace to the ungracious. Such is the radical transformation of those who are Christ’s disciples. Don’t you know that it is not about being an American but being Christ’s disciple? Yes, we may have “heard it said” differently, but “in these last days, God has spoken unto us by his Son” (Heb. 1:1-2).
Dear Father, thank you for speaking to us through your son, Jesus Christ. Empower us to be transformed in our thinking, our attitudes, and our responses. Bless and comfort the families of those soldiers who have died in service to this great nation. Send both your “sun and rain” on the unjust in the Ft. Hood event. And be merciful to their families. This I pray in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. AMEN
Be encouraged today as a child of the Heavenly Father