Love is our mission.
 
God is Love.  God is Merciful and we were created in God’s image.  Therefore it is in our very nature to be loving and merciful.  And yet there have been times throughout my life when I haven’t been very true to my nature.
 
As a child, in my very first year of Catholic school, Larry Rodgers and I cornered Tommy Measure in the school yard.  Tommy was wearing one of those pre-tied school ties that was held on with an elastic band around the collar.  Larry and I had a grand old-time snapping Tommy’s tie until Sister Helen Edward caught us.  You would have thought I was an ax murderer.  I thought my days as a Catholic school student would end soon after they had started.  Sister Helen Edward was not a Sister of Mercy and she showed us little mercy.  I received my just punishment in school and in those days adults stuck together so I received even greater punishment from my parents when this first grader got home from detention.
 
Love is our mission.
 
This probably won’t come as a great surprise to some of you but as an adult, I am not known for my great patience.  My very kind and dear friend, Fr. David Arnoldt, has absolutely no sense of direction.  I’ve been blest with an internal GPS, but Fr. David is incapable of following GPS directions from google.  And he would tell you that I am unmerciful mean to him when he says dumb things like the great Atlantic Ocean is in that direction.  How can you patient with that?
 
Love is our mission
 
In this Gospel, Jesus says to us who are his disciples: “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”  That is a terribly difficult mandate to live out.  But I really do believe that until we start living it, we will be stuck in the never-ending cycle of violence that has plagued our world since Cain killed his brother Abel.  Jesus’ words are easy to dismiss as impossible, or to down play as ideals that no one was ever meant to achieve. That would be a mistake.  I have no doubt that Jesus intended his disciples to strive to live these commandments.
 
But having said that, I want to be clear in this shameful age when we are finally starting to deal with child abuse and “me too” sexual aggression that these words of Jesus are not addressed to the innocent and powerless children and adults who have been the victims of cruel abuse. No, these words are addressed to those who have power, those who have the power to take effective action for good or harm over a person who has wronged them. Turning the other cheek is only a meaningful instruction if it is an alternative to beating the living day lights out of someone. Jesus was directing his words to those who could strike back and destroy those who had cursed them.   
 
The point of this passage is that God's love for us is overwhelmingly generous, and we who were created in God’s image are expected to respond in kind. God treats us far better than we deserve. Every one of us has caused more than our fair share of hurt.  And yet God's response to us continues to be extravagantly generous and loving and forgiving. God continues to turn the other cheek, to give more than we ask for, and to reach out to us in love no matter how unfaithful we have been. And if you find that hard to believe, just look at the Cross. Jesus didn't owe you anything, but he accepted being tortured to death rather than compromise his message of God's overflowing love for you.
 
So, essentially what Jesus is saying here is that he wants you to learn from God's example and treat others the way God treats you. Just as God has the power to wipe you out, but chooses to love you instead, so you have the power to withhold love and hope from others, but God says “Love.”  And with all the divisiveness and incivility in the world today that is hard, hard work.
Love is our mission.  Perhaps the place to start is in our own back yard.  When I preach about the Church’s stance on issues like climate change and immigration, disagree as passionately as you want, but please don’t walk away from me in anger.  When I am tempted to be mean and unkind to the people in my life like Fr. Dave and Tommy Measure, I need to remember that God calls me to be loving and patient and kind.  There is no way that we will ever come close to living out this radical gospel, if we don’t start living it out in our own homes.  We need to stop being so critical and judgmental of each other.  We need to stop pushing each other’s buttons.  We need to stop holding grudges.  We need to be kind and forgiving, patient and loving with each other.
 
Love is our mission.  We were created in the image of our God who is all loving and all merciful.  Jesus calls us to our finest nature.  He tells us that “by their fruits, you will know them”.  We need to show others who we are by the way in which we strive to live out this Gospel of love.  And then they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.  Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.  Amen!  Amen!