Beyond Forgiveness and Love of Enemies, to Create a Family of God
Jeremiah 34:4-6, 8-10; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53
Hate and hatred send shock waves down the spine, but that is good because they make us sweat out our salvation – the role of enmity in salvation. After all, a lot of people spend time and money at the gymnasium just to sweat and burn up calories. Our enemies keep us on our toes, and we do our best to be, at least, one-step ahead of them. If there is division and enmity among us, as the gospel reading suggests, there must be a solution provided by today’s gospel: beyond the forgiveness and love of our enemies which the Bible prescribes, our enemies are our ladders and stairs to heaven; they offer us the opportunity to be with and like God, who forgives, loves and wants everybody to live with him forever in heaven.
The message of today’s gospel, about division and enmity, teaches us two lessons: 1) “family” goes beyond husband, wife and children. 2) “Family” is every other human being besides those with whom we have blood ties. Our gospel employs the word “household” (Luke 12:52) NOT family. In first century Palestine, slaves and strangers also constituted membership of “households”. If emphasizes is laid upon marital situations of “households” (son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law), it is because 1) the slaves and the strangers had no say in a household, but were at the mercy of their human lords; and 2) because Jesus wants to create “family” out of every household. However, the very silence of the slaves tells us the attitude to adopt, when we stand before our enemies – silence. “Silence” commends itself as a solution because divisions are never solved by further divisions, but by sacrifice – that was what Jesus did.
In Jesus’ time, “baptism” created a family out of households. Through the power of Baptism, Onesimus, a former slave, became the brother of his master, Philemon: “For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord” (Philemon 15-16). Imagine what happens at baptism, the recipient CANNOT baptize himself/herself; he/she is totally at the mercy and judgment of the other. This vulnerability is the “silence” which imposes itself, when one faces one’s enemies. In the words of Jesus, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished” (12:49-50).
The “fire” of division is only ignited when there is no family ties – families don’t tear each other apart; they nurture, defend and protect each other. Division creeps into households because the bond of baptism is missing, and that is the message of today – “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished” (Luke 12:50). The “anguish” of Jesus continues in every context where there is division and strive. The power of baptism should create family ties and unity. To attempt to get rid of one enemies is unchristian because they too have their place in the scheme of things – they differentiate between God’s children and those of the evil one. Like temptation, our enemies purify us and bring out the best, the godly that is in us.
Our first reading provides us with the motive for keeping silent in the face of our enemies – there is something good in every person, if we care to see it. The enemies of Jeremiah dumped him in a muddy well, others came to remove him from the same well so that he may not die therein. Indeed, the evil person is capable of doing good, on a good day – which our silence and sacrifice bring about. In fact, our second reading shows that that was Jesus’ example: “while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of [our] faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:3).
No one has the excuse either to have an enemy or encourage enmity. Every Christian is a building block of unity. Like every block in a building, which includes foundation stones, we must carry one another without complaining about the weight of the other. At this juncture, the the letter to Hebrews is on target, in the following words, “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood” (Hebrews 12:4). Yes, martyrs were ready to shed their blood in imitation of Christ to create a family of God, where tribes, races and genders find a home. The cross of unity must be borne by every authentic Christian. Division will continue to exist, to the degree to which we participate in evil and refuse the silence of sacrifice and non-violence.
Jeremiah teaches us the lot of the righteous – persecution. We shouldn’t be surprised when they take place. In fact, we should be weary, if they don’t take place. However, the models provided by Jeremiah and Jesus should guard our Christian attitude to hate and hatred. The challenge remains that we should not lose focus: “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1). Here and now, let us go beyond forgiveness and love of our enemies, by creating a family of God, where there is brotherhood and sisterhood in Christ.
Assignment for the Week:
Seek out an enemy and make peace this week.