Author: Revd Stephen Buckman

Today’s reading continues on from yesterday’s message of generosity of wealth and spirit.  Today Jesus’ teaching moves on to the key Christian message of love.  Again Jesus is flying in the face of traditional Jewish teaching.  By quoting once again from the Old Testament Jesus is reminding us of the limitations of the ancient ways.  It was commonly known that we should not only love ourselves, but that we should also love our neighbours.  Of course, this teaching contains an element of ‘being able to please ourselves’.  We choose the neighbourhood in which we live; we can choose those whom we would class as our neighbours.  This is not good enough for Jesus.  Jesus goes on to subvert the self-interest contained in the old law by urging us not only to love our neighbours, but also to love our enemies, even those who would persecute us.

We often hear it said that the sun shines on the righteous, Jesus takes us one step further than that.  Jesus reminds us that the sun does not only shine on the righteous, it also shines on the unrighteous.  The wonders of God’s creation are for all, and not just for those with whom we feel some affinity.  

Jesus’ message is simple: God loves us all.

We are all made in God’s image, and we are all called to love as God loves.  We do not have the right to decide that some are more righteous than others, on whom the sun may or may not shine, who is more deserving of love.

Today’s point of reflection is both simple and challenging.

Think not of those we should love out of duty or mutual affinity.  Rather, think of those we should love but do not.  Think of those whose way of life or whose manner repels us.  God loves them just as much as he loves us.  God calls us to love them too.  How open are we to God’s call to love even our enemies?

This week’s readings in our services of Daily Prayer are all taken from Jesus’ great Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus’ teaching begins with The Beatitudes and goes on to consider many different aspects of the Christian life, including how we should prioritise our relationship with God over the temptations of worldly wealth and success.

Today’s reading contains a difficult message for many of us, just as it was a difficult message for Jesus’ first century Jewish audience.  In the Jewish scriptures, that we know as the Old Testament, there was an ancient tradition of justice being represented by the gaining of vengeance.  Indeed, this reading begins with Jesus quoting from three key books in the Old Testament: Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Of course, the concept of vengeance is contrary to all the teachings of Jesus.  Jesus guides us away from this primeval model of justice.  But, where he leads us, is still seen by many as the path of weakness and submission.  Not only does he urge us to set aside the old ways, he goes on to urge a level of generosity that is counter-cultural to many of us. 

For Jesus, the notion of Charity begins at home is synonymous with meanness – meanness with our worldly wealth, and meanness of spirit.  We have all avoided the beggar, making many excuses to justify our unwillingness to help those poorer than ourselves.  Unfortunately, many church committees have been similarly mean of spirit when it comes to considering our duty to support those who live in unimaginable poverty.

So, today, in our short reading from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is challenging us to set aside those old ways and take up the challenge of living the true Christian life.

Where does that leave you and me?

That is the question for us to reflect upon today.