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In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

Love is…

We too often think of love as warm feelings. Today, we are challenged to love sacrificially - and even to love our enemies! Luke 6:27.

As tensions continue on the border between Ukraine and Russia, world leaders try to work for diplomatic solutions and a way of settling the situation that provides peace and stability. 

In foreign policy, can there ever be a way of working with countries whose values are widely different from our own, and how should we respond to the tit for tat kind of diplomacy that is so common?

How should we judge others? By what they say or what they do?

In the hearing to investigate what happened when hundreds of Post Office employees were accused of stealing money because of faults in the computer system, should we hope for revenge - some kind of “pay back” - or should we hope for justice? Some observers have written angry pieces denouncing a culture where the rich and powerful seem to ‘get away with it’ whilst the poor and powerless pay a high price. 

The idea of loving our enemies also relates to public discourse and to the way in which we disagree with others. Much has been said recently about learning to disagree with grace and about the poor example we are set by some in politics who are prepared to mud-sling and to vilify people personally. 

Meanwhile in the Winter Olympics, Kamila Valieva is cleared to skate following a failed drugs test on the grounds that, if she were not allowed to skate, it would cause irreparable harm. Opinion is divided over the personal cost and the cost to sport and the language used in the situation centres on choices and pay back and whether it was the 15-year-old who took the substance herself or whether it was a mistake or even given to her by others. How easy is it to judge people and situations correctly given the limited information we may have?

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

Today’s gospel still has shock value. Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you are not actions built on warm feelings. They are the steadfast and solid acts of commitment to build peace with others and the actions of people who are prepared to pay the cost of acts of love that cross barriers and whose lives are aligned with Christ who gave all for our sake. We can get so used to being with people who think like us or who share similar outlooks. How does the gospel challenge us to work out our faith among those who disagree with us and who do not share our values?

Sometimes it is hard for us to sift out our very angry feelings on an issue and to work at what is really at stake. We may need to reexamine what we think of as justice in the light of today’s gospel. We are called to go the extra mile in forgiving, in not judging and in not asking people to ‘pay for’ what we think they have done. Sometimes what we think of as a quest for justice may actually be a search for revenge something infinitely less life affirming, although less costly.

• If the gospel offers us a challenge to sacrificial love, what does this mean for us in our unequal world?
• Does love in its true sense offer us a better way of policy making so that our welfare system better supports the poor, the sick and those with disabilities?
• Does love offer us a guide to advocating for the people forced to choose between heating and eating as the cost of living crisis bites?
• If love is not the guide at the moment, should it be?

We have been encouraged to think of the poor and the sick as ‘not like us’, as ‘other’. Those who flee their homes and take risky crossings in flimsy boats are seen as ‘problems’ or even as enemies to our way of life. In politics, people who do not share the view of the Cabinet or who have challenged the Prime Minister’s view of the truth are seen as ‘enemies’. The world of politics does not always give us a good example to follow.

How might we challenge these disturbing narratives? The Hope not Hate website offers practical approaches to building communities of hope and thoughts on how to counter narratives and respond to situations where difference turns into something darker. How can we help and support one another in living out your faith in challenging times?

How should we handle our disagreements in our communities? The gospel leaves us with nowhere to hide. We are asked directly to love our enemies in action as well as in words and not to judge. Whilst this does not mean that we will never disagree, it does mean that we should take care over how we disagree. It means that we should not use disagreement as a reason to diminish the value of another person. This is a very hard teaching to put into practice, especially when our ideas and beliefs are very close to our hearts. How can we build communities of forgiveness and peace - communities where we seek to resolve disputes and where we fight graciously without destroying each other?

Christians talk frequently about forgiving others but, in today’s gospel, it is clearly linked to actions: ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. How can we practise the lost art of the compromise - not the easy fudge but genuine peace building and costly compromise that recognises the dignity and value of the other and makes accommodation for difference? Do we all have to think the same thing in order to live together in Christian community?

In our churches, how does today’s gospel challenge us to look outwards with our message and our action, changing our views about who is in and who is out in the process? Henri Nouwen often wrote about the transformatory work of love: “That is our vocation: to convert the enemy into a guest and to create the free and fearless space where brotherhood and sisterhood can be formed and fully experienced”. How might our mission plans be created around the idea of enemies becoming friends, about changing the way we see others and about changing the narratives around belonging?

 

Questions for discussion

• Some things are hard to forgive. How can we help one another to practise forgiveness?
• Christian community inevitably involves forgiving others, building bridges and mending broken relationships. How do we begin to practise the costly actions of love through the whole church?
• What does it feel like to be forgiven by others as well as by God?
• Who is the best example you know of a person who lives out costly forgiveness? What can we learn from them?

Diane Craven is a freelance education and spirituality consultant and a Reader in the Church of England.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

How likely is that war will breakout today?

The news seems to think it could be any minute now, and any conflict between Russia and Ukraine will inevitably drag in lots of other countries. Whether we are following this story closely or not, we can all agree, it sounds serious.

Inevitably, when we talk of war, we talk of enemies. We work out who is with us and who is against us. We quickly create a ‘them and us’ situation. This is not a new phenomenon; it has always been part of human nature and, in today’s reading, Jesus says something revolutionary. He says, ‘Love your enemies.’ It was a challenge then and it is a challenge today.

It can feel impossible to know what the best course of action is when it comes to these global events. Every decision has massive consequences. But Jesus’ call to love our enemies isn’t just about giving up and letting people get away with evil deeds; he goes on to tell people to turn the other cheek and walk the extra mile. These were peaceful ways of showing that there was an alternative to aggression and getting your own back, but which highlighted the misuse of power.

On the global stage let us pray for our leaders - that they will not just focus narrowly on what is best for their country, but what is best for the world. That they will be creative in how they engage with those on opposite sides to find peaceful outcomes. And, in our lives, let us be creative in how we deal with those who annoy us and hurt us. We all have the responsibility to love our enemies.

Chris Neilands runs Play it by Ear drama company which helps people connect with the Bible and explore some of the big questions of faith through performances and workshops.

 

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