Selection of the sermons of Father Ezekiel Oko
Freedom to love despite enmity
Today's readings deal with a difficult topic: "Love of enemies". As I read today's gospel, I always wonder if Jesus is asking his disciples to always accept injustice, violence, and wickedness. On the contrary, when I look at the entire teaching of Jesus and his exemplary life, I see that Jesus commands his disciples to actively fight against violence and injustice. He was and is himself an exemplary fighter against them; he is also the advocate for the oppressed and for all who suffer injustice and violence. In this context, therefore, it would be a wrong conclusion to think that Jesus requires resignation to violence, injustice and wickedness.
But what does Jesus mean by the commandment to love your enemies? We know that when we fight violence with violence, violence increases. When we fight wrong with wrong, we make the situation worse. So it is with all kinds of enmity and malice. Jesus commands love in response to enmity. Loving one's enemies according to Jesus' meaning is therefore not just acceptance of injustice and suffering, but active resistance against them. Love is the right armor against enmity. It blunts the tyrant's sword by frustrating his expectation of equal resistance and opening up a different perspective on human interaction.
In the first reading we heard about the example of David. When King Saul was looking for David to kill, David suddenly got his chance to take revenge on Saul. He found Saul and his men sleeping in the middle of the camp. "Today God has given your enemy into your hand," his companion told him. But David refused to kill Saul. Instead he said, "Don't kill him! For who has ever lifted up his hand against the Lord's anointed and gone unpunished?" (1 Sam 26:7-9)
Dear sisters and brothers, David's answer reveals an important logic of love. Love understands that there is more to the hostile person than their hostile behavior reveals. David saw in Saul not only the enemy, but also the Lord's anointed. In replying, he told Saul, "You can walk a better way than hostility and violence. Your life is worth much more than devoting it to enmity!” In doing so, he was able to help Saul see that as the Lord's anointed he had an additional responsibility, which was to protect life. This is how love can help the enemy find a better identity.
In addition, Jesus teaches us a fundamental element of our freedom as Christians with his command to love our enemies. My freedom as a Christian consists in being able to shape my life out of love; to pass on the love that I am allowed to experience from God to others. When Jesus says to me: "I do not judge you, go, but sin no more!", then his forgiveness and love is also a gift that I can pass on.
Dear sisters and brothers, we are freed to love. When our actions come from that belief, we cannot simply respond to the other's behavior toward us, but respond to it out of our own deeper belief. The neighbor, colleague, etc., who is hostile towards me can be made to think by a loving counter-action. Maybe that can make him reconsider. If not, that's not bad. Because my answer is already a sign of my freedom. I can behave differently than him because I have a different belief. And I act out of that belief.
Overview