You Can’t Outlive Them All
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)

A pastor gave a passionate sermon based on Matthew 5:43-48. At the end of the sermon, he challenged the congregation, “How many of you are willing to forgive your enemies?”
Every hand was raised, save one. The pastor walked to the one holdout and asked, “Mr. Jones, why aren’t you willing to forgive your enemies?”

“Well pastor, he responded, “I am 85 years old – and I have outlived all of them!

Unfortunately, we cannot outlive all our enemies, so we are obliged to take Jesus’ words to heart. The question becomes, “Who are our enemies?” To the Jews in 1st Century Palestine, anyone who was not Jewish was considered an enemy – Samaritans, Romans, Followers of the Way, et al.

We can be like 1st Century Jews, putting anyone who disagrees with us on our enemies list. Someone offers a conflicting political opinion; we demonize them. Someone criticizes the church we attend; we question their faith. Someone lives in the wrong neighborhood or attends the wrong school; we marginalize them.

While we may be justified condemning those who seem to be enemies of God, we need to be careful not to make the bar so low that we put on our enemies list anyone who doesn’t check all the boxes when it comes to our personal beliefs.

Jesus rejected the “Us” versus “Them” culture. He had come to offer salvation to all, and “all” included those who might be considered enemies. The Greek word for enemies echthros is used eight times to describe anyone who is an adversary, an enemy, or who is hostile. The case can be made that the eight times echthros is used (Rom. 11:28; Mt. 13:28; Col. 1:21; Mt. 5:43, 44; 10:36; Lk. 6:27, 35), the hostility refers to resistance to the Gospel.

And how do you overcome resistance? With love.

Consider just how radical Jesus’ commandment to love our enemies is. The Greek word used for “love” in Matthew 5:44 is agapaō. In the New Testament, agapaō is the active love of God for His Son and His people, and the active love his people are to have for God, each other, even for their enemies.

Our challenge as Christians is to honor God by learning to love others as Jesus loves us. Do we bless those who curse us? Do we do good to those that hate us? Do we pray for those who persecute us? None of these comes naturally. But guided by the Holy Spirit, we endeavor to avoid becoming what we hate.

Jesus said, “But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful (responsive, compassionate, tender) just as your [heavenly] Father is merciful.” Luke 6:35-36 Amplified Bible (AMP)

Can we work to foster the kind of love that Jesus described? Yes, we can. It begins with realizing we cannot outlive all our enemies, but we sure can “out love” them!

Blessings,
Don & Bonnie Sennott
Authors of Your Heart is an Open book: Finding Answers in God's Word
Giving credit where credit is due: the story of the 85-year-old man was adapted from a sermon Ken Trivette posted on the internet.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons, Author: Silverje