The Greatest Commandment

Deuteronomy 34:1-5
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 22:35-40; Matthew 5:43-48

Several years ago I had the privilege of hearing peace activist and theologian Rev. Susan Thistlethwaite speak about how social justice oriented people of faith can move from a defensive position to one where we can articulate our biblical and theological message of peace and social justice in the public square. I listened with interest to what she had to say but felt that the mainline church needed to “pack more punch” so to speak in order to stand up against the vitriol of the religious right. During the question/answer period I asked her if we should start using the same psychological techniques and language to grab the general public’s attention and get them to see things our way. She very emphatically said no, we should not. We cannot bring people to the same kind of peace and social justice thinking we do if we use the same fear-filled manipulative methods that our adversaries use. I was frustrated by her response but now in light of the tragic shooting in Tucson Arizona, I finally get what she was saying.

When I first heard the news that a lone gunman had shot and killed several people at Representative Gabrielle Gifford’s meet and greet at a grocery store in Tucson Arizona my mind flashed through the rhetoric of this past year’s election campaigns. I remembered all the de-humanizing talk of good and evil, all the anger toward those in opposition and all of the name calling. I remembered the imagery of hit-lists where targets were placed over key states, Arizona being one of them. I thought of how all political fury was absorbed by one unstable man who then acted out on the violence that surrounded him. Then I realized that I had to own up to my own participation in the hostile political environment. All the times where I made snide remarks about politicians whose views were different from mine. All the times where I thought those who didn’t agree with me were less intelligent than myself or less enlightened.

It seems ironic that we are celebrating the ministry and life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the greatest peace maker of our time in the middle of trying to make sense of the tragedy of Tucson. But then again who better to reflect on than the minister who brought about civil rights reform through non-violent resistance. We remember that Rev. King grew up in the segregated south where people of color couldn’t drink out of the same drinking fountains as white people did, or eat at the same restaurants, go to the same schools, or worship in the same churches. In these ways and many more, the dehumanizing of people of color was legally sanctioned. However Rev. King did not become embittered by the racism that surrounded him nor did he hate those who hated him just because of the color of his skin. Instead he met hatred with love.

In his sermon, “Loving Your Enemies” Rev. King tells his congregation that they need to take seriously Jesus’ command to love your enemies. As Rev. King puts it, “He wasn’t playing.” Rev. King continues, “He realized that it’s hard to love your enemies. He realized that it’s difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you, those persons who say evil things about you. He realized that it was painfully hard, pressingly hard. But he wasn’t playing…because he was serious. We have the Christian and moral responsibility to seek to discover the meaning of these words, and to discover how we can live out this command and why we should live by this command.” (1)

Everyone of us here in this sanctuary has been hurt by unfair discrimination of one form or another. However, we remember that whenever we encounter injustice we do have choices in how we react. We can react by retaliating in kind, “he called me stupid so I’m going to call him stupid back” or we could be passive and allow ourselves to think we are stupid just because the other guy says so. However there is a third way, the way of overcoming hatred through the redemptive power of love. Rev. King preached that this redemptive love begins first by looking within ourselves. Sure there are situations where we are treated wrongly for things that are out of our control but in each situation we are called to reflect on how we might have contributed to the other person’s reaction. Are they reacting negatively to me just because the color of my skin, my age, my gender, my orientation etc etc. or is it possible that I may have come off a bit defensive because of my own insecurity.

Next we need to realize all people have the potential for good and all people (including ourselves) have the potential to behave badly. Knowing this, if we are seeking transformation it must begin with us looking for that which is good in the other person. Rev. King puts it this way, “When we come to see this…that within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good...we take a different attitude towards individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls ‘the image of God,’ you begin to love him in spite of it. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off. Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude.” (2)

The third step to loving our enemies is remembering to never, never, never render evil for evil. That when the opportunity comes for us to defeat our adversaries in kind, that we do not bring ourselves down to their level. This was the meaning of love that Jesus was talking about when gave the command to love our enemies. Love does not mean liking the person or that person’s bad behavior. What it does mean is having a desire for the goodwill of all human kind. This goodwill seeks to defeat systems that are evil, but it does not seek to defeat other people. Rendering evil for evil only intensifies the cycle of evil.

This morning we read from Paul’s letter to the Roman Church. The young church in Rome was trying to make its way as a counter-cultural spiritual community within the Roman Empire. In claiming Jesus as their Lord and Savior instead of the Emperor, they were persecuted for not conforming to Roman rule. Paul exhorts his followers to resist this evil with non-violent resistance. This is not about being passive but rather it is about being pro-active in resisting persecution with redemptive love. “Hold fast to what is good (12:9) “Bless those who persecute you” (12:14) “Do not repay anyone evil for evil (12:17) “If it is possible, so far as depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (12:18) He even goes so far as to say ,”If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads” (12:20). Paul knew that the impact of good deeds was far more humiliating than returning evil for evil because good acts exposes evil for what it truly is.

I have a deep respect and honor for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King jr. I take what he has to say to heart because of how he dealt with the systemic evil or racism. Even though he suffered abuse and was called terrible names to his face, even though he and his family had been violently attacked by those who were threatened by his ministry, he could still stand behind a pulpit and with integrity preach about Jesus’ commandment to love our enemies. The same Jesus who suffered persecution and died for his cause.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, the tragedy of the violent shooting in Tucson is our wakeup call. The incivility of our political discourse has to stop and it begins with us as individuals. Just as Rev. King tells us, “Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. And that is the tragedy of hate, that it doesn’t cut it off. It only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject it within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love.” (3) It begins with us taking responsibility for whatever part we may have played in contributing to this hostile political environment. It begins with us always looking for that which is good in other people even those who may try to dehumanize us. And finally it begins with us refusing to defeat those who oppose us because defeat only begets more defeat.

In spite of the vitriol of racism that Rev. King faced every day of his life he was able to say these words from his pulpit, “I love you, I would rather die than hate you. And I am foolish enough to believe that through the power of this love somewhere, men of the most recalcitrant bent will be transformed. Then we will be in God’s Kingdom.” (4) May it be so. Amen!

(1) Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, “Loving Your Enemies” sermon delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Montgomery, Alabama, 17 November 1957. http://www.loveyourenemies.org/mlking.html. Accessed January 15 2011


(2) Ibid.

(3) Ibid.

(4) Ibid.