Rev. Tracy Ogden Johnson - Pastor
December 2007
Pastor’s Greetings
Imagine the one person who has hurt you the most in life. Imagine the pain you experienced, the heartache, the abandonment. Now hear these words of Jesus, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:27b-36 NIV).
Over the last few Wednesday nights, the adults who have gathered for Bible Study have examined and discussed and prayed over these revolutionary words of Jesus. We wondered how we can embody these words, and live them out in our own daily lives. We shared our own challenges at taking Jesus at His Word—that if He commanded us to do it, He would enable us to do it as well. Jesus has challenged us to be gracious to the inconsiderate, and to forgive those who hurt us the most.
One of my favorite authors and theologians writes,
You are to be like this because that’s what God is like. God is generous to all people, generous (in the eyes of the stingy) to a fault; he provides good things for all to enjoy, the undeserving as well as the deserving. He is astonishingly merciful (anyone who knows their own heart truly, and still goes on experiencing God’s grace and love, will agree with this); how can we, his forgiven children, be any less? Only when people discover that this is the sort of God they are dealing with will they have any chance of making this way of life their own. . . . [Jesus’] whole life was one of exuberant generosity, giving all he’d got to give to everyone who needed it. He was speaking of what he knew: the extravagant love of his Father, and the call to live a lavish human life in response. And finally, when they struck him on the cheek and ripped the coat and shirt off his back, he went on loving and forgiving, as Luke will tell us later (Luke 23:34, 43). He didn’t show love only to his friends, but to his enemies…. [Tom Wright, Luke for Everyone, p. 74-75]
November is a time of thankfulness. All around us have been reminders to offer thanks to the Lord for his gracious provision and bountiful harvest. But Christmas is a season of thanks as well. At its heart, Christmas is a celebration of the coming of our Lord, the very One who reaches out to us in radical love. John tells us, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Don’t forget that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). With his help and by his Holy Spirit, we can love others and offer grace and peace, even to our enemies!
May your Advent and Christmas season be blessed indeed!
