“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” Matthew 5:43-44
We have considered this verse in our current series on forgiveness, but how hard is to live out especially if you live in Israel? Almost a week ago the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, carried out a well-executed plan of execution throughout Israel killing hundreds, taking hostages, and wreaking havoc and fear on the nation. Israel has declared war and is taking action in Gaza to eliminate Hamas entirely. This is far from over.
The radical nature of Jesus’ ethic to love enemies is experienced in times like this. Yet history provides a certain logic to the value of this ethic. Strikes and counter-strikes have been taking place in the middle east since, well, Abraham. Clearly hating your enemy hasn’t provided a future without enemies. But loving your enemy?
Maybe that can be done indirectly. Love starts with those closest to us. As long as we don’t stop there we allow love to grow. And that makes for a good question, what are we doing to help love grow in our lives? Or, what are we doing that makes love harder to grow?
Sometimes the very hard thing of seeking to understand an enemy, pray for an enemy, even care about an enemy, can happen because we selfishly love our own. When we truly love our own family and friends, we do what’s in their best interest. We work to provide a safe and secure future for them. And if loving an enemy might bring this about, its worth exploring.
Father Elias Chacour is a Palestinian Christian pastor. He led for many years a congregation in Israel. He is a peace advocate and works to bring differing sides together in the middle east. He teaches around the world, and one time after a presentation in America, someone asked him, “Will there ever be peace in the middle east?” He replied, “There will only be peace when we learn to love our children more than we hate our enemy.”
There’s much to consider there. I hope you will. As much as the war in Israel troubles you, may it move you to pray for peace. And may your prayers help you consider your own practices and efforts to advance peace in your domain.