Love your enemies

Over the weekend a dear friend asked a hard question. Noting that Jesus is quoted in Matthew 5 as saying that we are to love our neighbor, he went on to note that Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” Really?  How and why am I supposed to love my enemies? All they want is to do me harm? My friend’s question challenged me to rethink some easy assumptions.

The quote comes from the “Sermon on the Mount” and requires careful reading. Jesus begins by saying, “You have heard it said you should love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” We need to stop here and acknowledge that (1) Jesus is not quoting Jewish scripture with “hate your enemy.” (2)That phrase/command is NOT in the Tanak. Neither do the Rabbis ever teach hatred of enemies. The origin of the statement has puzzled scholars for years. Whatever the source and for whatever reason the author of Matthew included the phrase, it is important to acknowledge the significance and impact of the next statement. “But I say to you, love your enemy.”

To begin to understand what it means to love our enemies, we must wrestle with who is our neighbor and what it means to love them. It sounds easy but Jesus was sneaky! Read the parable of the “Good Samaritan” in Luke 10: 29-37. I’ll spare you the details, but the one hurt was a Jew and the one who showed mercy was the despised Samaritan [think black/white, Christian/Muslim, Fox/ABC].  Who was the neighbor? Not the privileged, smug, well off who walked by on the other side. It was the one who showed mercy. How do I love my neighbor today? By showing mercy---feeding the hungry [anybody can give a bag of food], providing medical care to the sick [getting a little harder], working for social justice in the face of homophobia and excessive, unwarranted police brutality, refusing to carry a gun to the mall, church, or school [now I’ve gone to meddling, but at least think about it]. Loving the neighbor, the one in need, isn’t always easy.

But what about loving the enemy? The ugly, dirty, vulgar, rude, angry, violent, “different”? In today’s language the enemy is the “other.” Sometimes that enemy wants to harm me, but I don’t think I’m just supposed to throw up my hands in surrender. I think loving and responding to the enemy begins with intentional love and concern for the “other,” recognizing that they are human [even ISIS, rogue cops, moneyed manipulators, fill in the blanks[  with shared dreams, desires, and needs. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with them, but it does mean that we do not demonize one another. Responsible, restrained defense—yes. Generous, aggressive, nonviolent engagement—yes.

Jesus, quoting his scripture, said to love God, neighbor, self, and added enemy. He didn’t say to pick and choose. I take his words as categorical imperatives, not suggestions if it’s convenient.