THAT TALL ORDER: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

HOMILY FOR THE 7^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Was it not the 19^th century politician and a former US president, Abraham Lincoln who once said: do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends? There was a man who lived near a forest with his son. Beside the forest, they had a farm wherein they grew different crops. One morning, as they were working in their farmland, the father saw the footprint of a bear, and spoke loudly to his son how unsafe their farm was and how the bear would cause them some economic loss. He then bought a gun, and went into the forest in search of the bear, but he could not succeed in hunting him down. The son advised him to just build a fence round the farm and stop wasting his time hunting an animal who is merely trying to survive. He later on agreed with his son and built the fence, but would always release some gunshots every evening to signal to the bear that he was not wanted at all. As these were happening, the son was not content to leave things like that. He wanted to tame the bear. Unknown to his father, every evening, he stole out and deposited some very tempting scraps of food outside the fence. And how happy he was that every morning , he discovered that they had all been taken, most probably he thought, by the bear.

The father was not happy when he discovered what his son was doing, and he cautioned him to stop. ‘You cannot tame him,’ he said. Should you not actually help me to destroy him rather than helping him, he added? But the son retorted: but dad, will I not in a sense help in destroying him by taming him? But the father convinced that the bear cannot be tamed replied: he is but a wild brute. But the son insisted: I know he can be vicious, but it is because he feels unsafe wherever humans are and is convinced that they always want him dead; so he has to defend himself. By acting the way we do, we help in bringing out the worst in him. ‘So I believe,’ the boy concluded, ‘that if we act nicely to him, we will see that he can also be nice to us.’ So, the boy continued to feed the bear to the moment he started showing himself as the depositor of the scraps of food. The bear started liking him, and they became friends. The bear did not eat their crops again, even when the boy wasn’t around to feed him. The father stopped living under the pressure of loss in the farmland, as he realized that his son was right after all; his son had destroyed the bear by taming him. They lived as good neighbours afterwards.

1. And here comes the fulcrum of the readings of today which hinges on that that very tall order: love your enemies. Yes, Jesus expects us to love them even at the point of realizing how vicious they are and never to retaliate even at the point when they are vulnerable in our hands. The First Reading (1 Samuel 26:2. 7-9. 12-13. 22-23) tells the story of how David spared Saul’s life, a man who was ready to kill him at sight. David got the chance to kill him at a point when he was vulnerable, but used that opportunity to prove to him that love and forgiveness conquers all. In the Gospel (Luke 6:27-38), Jesus begins with a very tough sentence to his disciples: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. And we must admit that love can be conceptually easy, but practically hard, not to think of the love of enemies. Think about how you feel when you try loving someone, as the person relentlessly offers you ‘good’ reasons not to. How do you feel when you truly love and the person in turn hurts you? I tell you what; Jesus says: keep loving. 

2. If we can learn something from the action of that boy who fed the bear, and apply it in our own lives, we shall indeed be marvelled at the tremendous effect it will have in us. It was Mahatma Gandhi who once said: ‘It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.’ True religion lies in going beyond the normal. It lies in doing that extra thing that makes us outstanding as believers. In this case, that extra thing is: love your enemies.

3. We need not be like those who hate us. Remember that story of a snake who rolled up itself round a saw in a carpentry shop. It turned and bit the saw, and by biting the saw hurt itself badly in the mouth. The snake thinking that the saw was attacking him decided to roll around the saw with all his strength as if wanting to suffocate him with his whole body. Unfortunately, the snake ended up being killed by the saw. Sometimes, when we react in anger and desire to hurt those who hurt us, we end up hurting and killing ourselves. In life, it is simply better to not allow hurtful feelings and situations to rule us, because the consequences can really be self catastrophic.

4. Sometimes, the love of enemies can be frustrating; really exasperating. However, we need not change our nature and way of life because of how the other reacts to us. The best revenge is to love. And many times, nothing pains the one who hates than receiving love from the one he/she hates. We do not also forget the story of the old man who stretched his hands to save a sinking scorpion. But as he did, the scorpion  kept on stinging him, to the extent that the grand son ridiculed his old grandfather: why do you keep on intending to save it why it is not complying and even hurting you? The old man looked round and found a small spoon, and with it saved the drowning scorpion. He then spoke to his grandson and said: it is in the nature of the scorpion to sting, but not mine. My nature is to love, care and save lives. The nature of the scorpion cannot change mine. Always stay true to your nature. Our nature is modelled after Christ, the heavenly man as said in the Second Reading (1 Cor. 15:45-49). Through Him, we now have a life giving spirited nature. Our nature is to love.

Commenting on these words of Christ, Martin Luther King Jr. has this to say: Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, ‘love your enemies.’ It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So, love your enemies. Let us help to destroy the bear by taming him. Let us destroy enmity by love. God bless you. Happy new week.