IS GOD ASKING TOO MUCH?

Most of us have no quarrel with Jesus. When he says, "love one another – welcome little children – peace I leave you" – we find nothing difficult or objectionable in these sayings. Most of what Jesus has to say sounds like good moral advice or happy and reassuring thoughts. We're content to call him Lord and follow his way when that way is congenial to the way we already want to go.

However, in the time of Jesus, there were plenty of folks who would follow him around and listen to his teachings and they continued to do so until they ran up against the so called "harsh sayings" of Jesus, which were so displeasing that most of his followers turned their backs on Jesus and returned home.

When Jesus tells us to be like the lilies and don't worry so much, we think it's a lovely idea. But when Jesus says, "love your enemies – do good to those who hate you – bless those who curse you" – what are we to make of that? For some of us, these sayings are so ridiculous and impossible to take seriously that we have to presume they've lost something in the translation, right? When Jesus says "enemies," he doesn't mean the people who intend us harm, right? And when he talks about "doing good" to people who hate us, surely he implies some spiritual good, right? He surely doesn't mean being kind or thoughtful or helpful to them, right? After all, isn't the definition of an enemy as someone who is out to get you and such a person is to be avoided or defeated at all costs? So, Jesus can't mean, "love your enemies." He must mean something else, right? Well, He doesn't!

We may do the same with our forgiveness. We may or may not forgive people who have wronged us and confessed their behavior and worked to amend the damage, but not the person who never says he or she is sorry. When we qualify our responses in this way, we are practicing human justice, but we are not imitating Jesus who felt compassion for the people of Jerusalem who would shout for his crucifixion and then forgive them because their act of putting him to death was because of ignorance.

When we practice human justice, expecting an eye for an eye, loving our friends and hating our enemies, repaying people in kind for what they do, nothing is accomplished according to the reign of God. The reign of God is extended when God's will is done and something truly divine is allowed to come to life among us. Heavenly justice is so much grander than just evening out the score – it enlarges our own hearts when we have the courage to participate in it. Is that asking too much?

Fr. Al Backmann