Deuteronomy 26:16-19; Psalm 119:1-8; Matthew 5:43-48
Does God love the holy more than the unholy? Does God love the righteous more than the unrighteous? Deuteronomy seems to say yes, but Jesus says no. Here is one of those places anti-Semites and other “supercessionist” Christians love to point to, to contrast the God of the Hebrew Scriptures with the God of the Christian ones. But Jesus’ Abba is the God of the Jews.
We each have a place in God’s dream for the world. The Hebrews understood their place as the people of the covenant, this particular way of living in relation to the God they knew. We may still understand that today and honor those who hold that place, without making it the only right way or the best way. And among Christians, we have many ways of living in relation to God. The core is common to both religions, in all their variety: Love God, and love your neighbor.
Then Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” Ouch! This is not so common, not so universal (although many other paths have a similar command). And it is just here, where some Christians might be tempted to think their way superior to others, that we find the temptation to withhold that love. It’s tricky. In the moment of saying, “I love you,” we might find ourselves thinking, “and that makes me superior to you and your way.”
Loving my enemies means owning what I share with them - my broken, sinful humanity. It means facing my own shadow and loving it. Being “perfect” means being complete, whole: including all of me, not just the ‘good’ parts. Only that kind of perfection enables me to love those who would persecute me or others, those who would destroy creation in the name of profit or power.
God loves you, and your enemies. God desires your wholeness, and that of your enemies.
Give God a break today: love God, love yourself, love your enemies today. Just do it. Don’t ask how: Jesus has told us. Just do it. Love.
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