Reflection:
Today we are reading the Bible with Susannah McFarlane, the Head of Publishing for Bible Society Australia. Susannah came to faith eight years ago and is still amazed at the grace of God.
This is where the rubber hits the road as a Jesus follower.
We can all sign up to love, sometimes even forgive, those we love, and those who love us (Jesus was on to that — that’s why he pointed out that even those much-maligned tax collectors could do it, in Matthew 5:46). But what about those we don’t love and who don’t love us?
Hmmm, not so much.
Yet that’s what we are called to do — all of us, not just the more saintly ones who are better at it than I am. As The Message paraphrase says ‘That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm.’
Loving, Jesus-style, is hard, it costs us — it costs us our indignation, our pride, our sense of injustice maybe. We are commanded to put it all to one side and not just endure or bear with others, but love those who are mean, bossy and hurtful to us.
Yuck.
‘As far as it is up to you be at peace with everyone.’ (Romans 12:18)
There it is again — ‘everyone.’ Gulp.
Yet that is where true reconciliation and unity happen. When we have put everyone, others, ahead of ourselves — indeed when we don’t ‘other’ people — but see all as they are, worthy of love, our love, even if and as they hate us.
We are indeed blessed to be a blessing, but we don’t have to do it by ourselves — we can ask the one who didn’t just ask us to do it, he showed us how.
Now I am wondering who I could be a bit more Jesus-like towards today ….
Prayer:
Jesus, you know us well; you know we find it hard to love those who don’t love us. Thank you that you have gone before us and shown us what it looks like to love unconditionally, even those who hate you. Help us to be like you and in so doing, make the world a little less broken, a little more joined up.
Help me to be at peace with everyone.
Amen.