Love Your Enemies (Luke 6:27-38)
Jesus said, "Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.
Pray for the happiness of those who curse you; implore God's blessing on
those who hurt you.
"If someone slaps you on one cheek, let him slap the other too!
If someone demands your coat, give him your shirt besides. Give what
you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away
from you, don't worry about getting them back. Treat others as you
want them to treat you.
"Do you think you deserve credit for merely loving those who love you?
Even the godless do that! And if you do good only to those who do
you good -- is that so special? Even sinners do that much!
And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, what good is that?
Even the most wicked will lend to their own kind for full return!
"Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them!
And don't be concerned about the fact that they won't repay. Then
your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting
as sons of God: for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are very
wicked.
"Try to show as much compassion as your Heavenly Father does.
"Never criticize or condemn -- or it will all come back on you.
Go easy on others; then they will do the same for you. For if you
give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing
measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running
over. Whatever measure you use to give -- large or small -- will
be used to measure what is given back to you."
This is a passage that can take weeks to go through. There are
lots of room for debates and practical applications. The objective
of this lesson, however, is to focus on the difference between the world's
moral system and the value system Jesus introduced into the world.
World's legal system
- Don't do these bad things...
- If you do, you'll get these punishments
== dictating what NOT to do, with the goal of preventing people from
hurting each other excessively --> reactive, prohibitive
The Ten Commandments
- Three main parts:
* Love God & do these things
* Honor your parents & you'll be blessed
* Don't do these bad things...
== advises action/attitude toward God & family --> pro-active
== still dictating what NOT to do, but now covering actions that are
not directly harmful (e.g., do not covet your neighbor's wife) --> reactive,
prohibitive, and a bit preventive (e.g., lust leads to sin, and so don't
lust)
Jesus' New Value System
- Love God
- Love people, even your enemies
== no need to mention what NOT to do, for when you love people, you
will not harm them or sin against them mentally --> pro-active and philanthropic
Compare the Confucian Golden Rule and Jesus' Golden Rule:
Confucius: Do not do unto others what you would not want others to
do unto you -- avoiding injury --> what I call a "Do No Harm" system;
a passive system
Jesus: Treat others as you want them to treat you -- promote active
engagement to love others --> an active system
What's wrong with a "Do No Harm" value system? The world
would be a horrible place if that's all the value we aspire to, consider:
- kids dying of hunger in Africa:
"Do No Harm" system: Do nothing. You didn't
cause their famine and there's no rule saying you must feed them.
Jesus' value system: Help them.
- a stranger falls on the street and is seriously injured:
"Do No Harm" system: Do nothing. You
didn't harm him and you are not going to hurt him by kicking him.
There's no rule that says you must call the ambulance.
Jesus' value system: Check it out and
call ambulance.
In Pay It Forward, the kid came up with the idea that instead of paying back someone for good deeds done unto him, the beneficiary should pay it forward to three other persons, and when that chain reaction is continued, it can reach more and more people each time it gets passed on. Just how fast can this spread? Here's a quick calculation:
Pay foward to 3 people, everyone follows the lead:
Level No. of beneficiary Total no. of
at
that level beneficiaries
since the beginning
1:
3
3
2:
9
12
3:
27
39
4:
81
120
5:
243
363
6:
729 1,092
7:
2,187
3,279
8:
6,561
9,840
9:
19,683 29,523
10: 59,049
88,572
11: 177,147
265,719
12: 531,441
797,160
13: 1,594,323
2,391,483
14: 4,782,969
7,174,452
15: 14,348,907
21,523,359
16: 43,046,721
64,570,080
17: 129,140,163
193,710,243
18: 387,420,489
581,130,732
19: 1,162,261,467 1,743,392,199
20: 3,486,784,401 5,230,176,600
21: 10,460,353,203 15,690,529,803
Think of it this way: if all the beneficiaries are people who have never been touched by this scheme before, by level 21 you would have reached everyone on the planet twice over!
Of course, not everyone will follow. This is what happens when only two people follow the lead:
Level No. of beneficiary Total no. of
at
that level beneficiaries
since the beginning
1
3
3
2
6
9
3
12
21
4
24
45
5
48
93
6
96
189
7
192
381
8
384
765
9
768
1,533
10
1,536
3,069
11
3,072
6,141
12
6,144
12,285
13 12,288
24,573
14 24,576
49,149
15 49,152
98,301
16 98,304
196,605
17 196,608
393,213
18 393,216
786,429
19 786,432
1,572,861
20 1,572,864
3,145,725
21 3,145,728
6,291,453
Much smaller but still very significant. That's a lot of good deeds just from each person doing three good deeds. Kids will be amazed at what they can do once they see this demonstration.
Last updated: 8/6/2002