Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 20 February 2011 by the Rev. Hans Lutz. The scripture readings that day were Leviticus 19:1–2, 9–18 and Matthew 5:38–48
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1. 
   
   Possibly no admonition of Jesus is more difficult to accept and to follow than the command not to resist evil and to love our enemy. It defies common practice.
   I feel particularly challenged because during my whole work in Hong Kong I have been encouraging people to stand up and defend their rights, be it as workers or as residents in deprived communities.
   Here Jesus teaches, “Do not resist one who is evil.” “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
   
   


2. 
   
   It has been pointed out that the principle of non-resistance is common sense where an individual or a community is in a position of weakness and on the defensive. For example the Christians in Indonesia live as a minority among a Muslim majority. They have experienced over and over again that their churches were burned by militant Muslims. They have not resisted because that would only worsen their situation.
   
   


3. 
   
   However, Jesus did not intend his teaching as a guideline for special circumstances only. He gave it to each one of us who are his disciples.
   We have examples of Christians who have lived the command of Christ. I would like to remind you of Martin Luther King who led the non-violent struggle of the American blacks for civil rights. He insisted that this struggle needed disciplined toughness and tenderness born of love. Martin Luther King is one shining example living out the teaching of Jesus.
   A second example which is of immediate concern comes from a traveler to Egypt. He paid a visit to a Coptic monastery in upper Egypt, where the Holy Family is supposed to have rested on their flight from king Herod. Six months before the visit of this traveler two monks had been shot in front of the monastery by Islamist militants. One of the monks recalled: “Fr. Benjamin had come out to talk to a layman who wanted to get married here. Fr. Agabios had followed him to tell him that the Abbot had asked him to lead prayers the next day, The gunmen were waiting in a car in the shadows when they opened fire. The laymen was shot too, as was a thirteen year old boy. He just happened to be passing at the wrong moment… We monks don’t search for martyrdom. But we welcome it when it comes… We lost two good fathers in the attack. But we trust in God.”
   At this time we must remember the church in Egypt as it faces an uncertain future.
   
   


4. 
   
   Jesus asks us not only not to resist but to love our enemies. He asks us not only not to hit back when we receive a blow or not to take revenge but to take positive steps and pray for those who persecute us.
   One of our missionaries in Indonesia was made a prisoner by the Japanese in 1944. He was guarded like an enemy. The missionary was able to brake though the hostility when he asked one of the guards about his family. By this simple move he was able to establish a relationship from person to person. Such is the approach of God’s children.
   We are asked to love because God loves all. He makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Mt. 5,45). God sees us much closer together than we like. His grace goes out to all human beings.
   
   


5. 
   
   Jesus has the authority to demand that we should not resist evil and love out enemies because he himself lived this command in his passion on the cross. The fate of Jesus Christ is the foundation of his command. On the cross he himself fulfilled it.
   We have said that the teaching of Jesus defies common practice. In his teaching Jesus moves beyond the Old Testament to a new ethic. In this he shows that he is the Christ. No ordinary Jew would have had the authority to put his own teaching over against the Old Testament in the way he did: “You have heard that it was said …” and he continues “But I say to you …” Only the Messiah has the authority to speak this way.
   
   


6. 
   
   Jesus calls us to follow him. “You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Perfection is not of this world. As a commandment these words are beyond our capability. But these words are not just a commandment, but also a promise. Jesus calls us to a new life. God’s grace can make us advance on this path. By God’s grace traces of God’s kingdom appear in our lives and light up this world. Like they appeared in the lives of Martin Luther King and the Coptic monk in upper Egypt. They also can take shape in our lives.