Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
Genesis 45:3-11, 15
I Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
Luke 6:27-38
CW: Conversations about abuse.
Many psychology researchers have found that people who are abusive have often themselves been the victims of abuse. We call this a cycle of abuse. People who abuse others learn the patterns of abuse from those who have abused them and the same behaviors are perpetuated generation after generation. In many ways, the same is true with our world and the cycle of violence and hate that is so widely embraced. We learn pretty quickly that common wisdom tells us that nothing is quite so satisfying as witnessing an enemy get theirs. We are quick to label without any sense of nuance “good guys” and “bad guys” when we talk about our enemies in war or even in politics. Grace and mercy are much less preferable than winning and destroying our enemies.
Jesus, however, offers us a different way forward. Jesus offers us a better way forward. We do not have to continue the endless cycle of violence and hate. Jesus teaches us a different way that can end the cycle of abuse that has become so ingrained in us all.
I want to be clear though, following the way of Christ’s mercy is not a command that we allow ourselves to be repeatedly abused and taken advantage of. Instead, we lead with mercy and offer the opportunity for repentance. Just a couple weeks ago we heard the story of Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth in which his abusive neighbors try to throw him off a cliff in response to his inclusion of those they hate. Notice that Jesus doesn’t allow himself to be thrown off of a hilltop cliff. He doesn’t turn the other cheek in a way that many have harmfully preached about this text. Instead, Jesus gets out of that bad situation so that he might continue to do God’s work. I want to say unequivocally, if you are in an abusive relationship with a partner, a friend, or a family member, God wants to be safe and free to live the life of service to the world that God intends for you to live. God does not want you to stay in that abusive relationship.
Jesus is teaching, however, that our hate and our grudges should not perpetuate forever. When we have an opportunity to extend mercy and blessing, even to an enemy, we should take that opportunity to do so.
Desmond Tutu wrote a wonderful book on Forgiveness with his daughter, Mpho, appropriately entitled, “The Book of Forgiveness.” I highly recommend it and maybe we will use it for book study at St. John’s sometime soon. In this book, he writes, “Without forgiveness, we remain tethered to the person who harmed us. We are bound with chains of bitterness, tied together, trapped. Until we can forgive the person who harmed us, that person will hold the keys to our happiness; that person will be our jailor. When we forgive, we take back control of our own fate and our feelings. We become our own liberators.”
Forgiveness frees us from our enemies, but it also frees the world from its own imprisonment to hate. Archbishop Tutu was a leading force in the fight against apartheid in South Africa in which the white minority of this nation was permitted greater freedoms, voting rights, and wealth opportunities than the Black majority of South Africa. Tutu himself was 63 years old when he finally had the opportunity to vote for the first time. During this time, the police and military would regularly beat and kill Black South Africans.
One day during apartheid, soldiers and police with guns and bayonets drawn entered the sanctuary in which Tutu was preaching. This short pastor in a high pitched voice then directed his proclamation at the armed men, “You have already lost! Let us say to you nicely: You have already lost! We are inviting you to come and join the winning side! Your cause is unjust. You are defending what is fundamentally indefensible, because it is evil. It is evil without question. It is immoral. It is immoral without question. It is unchristian. Therefore, you will bite the dust! And you will bite the dust comprehensively.”
In the story of Joseph, his jealous older brothers had planned on murdering him, but settled for selling him into slavery. At the end of the story, Joseph has risen to a place of power and honor and through a bit of scheming Joseph frames his brothers of robbing him. He once again gives his older brothers the opportunity to sell out their youngest brother to preserve their own skin, this time it is his brother Benjamin who could be sacrificed into slavery and save their skin. But this time, the brothers act selflessly. The oldest brother, Judah, offers to become Joseph’s slave in place of Benjamin. In short, Joseph’s brothers have repented of their past evils and chose to live more honorably. If Joseph had taken revenge on his brothers at this moment, the cycle of hate and violence would have continued. Joseph chose to break the cycle of violence and forgive his brothers.
Extending forgiveness and blessing to even those who are our enemies is ultimately an invitation for all people to join the winning side- God’s side. This is the side of justice, mercy, peace, and joy. We Christians are not to join in the endless cycle of retributive violence and hate. We, like Joseph and Jesus, are called to pursue peace and justice, and to extend an invitation to our enemies and even enemies of the gospel to join the winning side. We are not to practice the ways of vengeance and violence like the world may have taught us. We are called to be merciful as our God is merciful.
And how merciful God is! Look at the life and ministry of Jesus. We are called into the mercy of Christ who healed a centurion’s servant right after this sermon we heard today, even though the centurion was a leader in the army that enforced the oppression of Jesus’ people. We are called into the mercy of Christ who chastised his closest followers when they wanted to call fire to rain down upon an inhospitable Samaritan village. We are called into the mercy of Christ who never gave up on Peter even after he had denied him three times after Jesus’ arrest. We are called into the mercy of Christ who even from the cross prayed for the soldiers who nailed him there, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
This world is full of bad role models who prioritize vengeance and the never ending cycle of violence. But we have a much greater role model to follow. Our role model is Christ who saved us while we were yet sinners and who chose death and resurrection rather than ever abandon us. May God’s mercy fill you with hope and transform our world into the Kingdom of God. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, may we be merciful as God is merciful.
Consecrated Chicken Soup 