1st Wednesday of Advent (December 3) Love your enemies

Prepare to Listen.  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 5:43-48
43You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.”  44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.  46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax-collectors do the same?  47And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?  Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
What challenged or surprised you the most in these verses?
 
Jesus concluded his teaching about his upside-down world with: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  We protest.  The standard is way too high, we say.  But there it is.  Jesus’ words, not mine or some other crazy preacher’s.
 
There are numerous demands in chapter five, demands that go against what most of us were taught and have come to expect.  However, they’re not oppressive since they’re not standards to earn God’s favor and our salvation.  On the contrary, those who live them discover true freedom, not oppressive slavery.  It is up to us to daily, perhaps even hourly, choose to live this life-changing way of Jesus that fulfills the command to be perfect, complete, whole, free.  Being perfect as God is perfect is only possible through Jesus in us, not our human effort.
 
Being perfect as God is perfect means loving our enemies, those who seek our harm, attack our country, disagree with our moral standards and beliefs.  It’s much easier to follow the scribes old saying, “love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”  The 1st, love our neighbor, is OT Law.  The 2nd, hate our enemy, isn’t.  It was added by the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus rejected their addition, demanding that we love both neighbor and enemy alike.  This is the perfection towards which he calls us, the perfection that makes us more God-like, the perfection that makes the world see how Jesus has changed everything.
 
Who classifies as your enemy?  They may not be a violent extremist out to get you, but merely an unfriendly neighbor next door.  How can you love them today?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, your demands are counter cultural.  We’re encouraged to hate our enemies, not love them.  Teach me to love them too Lord, and show others how you change everything.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Love your enemies, not just your nice neighbors.