Listening

Luke 6:27-38
Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain Continues
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%206%3A27-38&version=NRSVUE
  
Jesus continues the Sermon on the Plain to “you who are listening” (v.27). Remember from last week’s passage, there were different groups of people who had come to hear Jesus: a crowd of disciples and a multitude of people who came to hear him and to be healed (v.18). With a multitude of people, it would be difficult for all of them to hear him, so some scholars think Jesus is referring to the disciples as the listeners. In the previous passage, he was speaking to the disciples, and so we can assume they were the listeners.

I’m not so sure that’s a safe assumption. How many of us stop listening to a sermon when it gets a little too challenging? Why do we tune out those closest to us when they lovingly point out our faults? Recently, I took one of my children to the doctor for an annual physical. Before he was given a hearing test, the medical assistant asked, “How’s your hearing?” I was tempted to say, “Selective.” I can’t tell you how many times my children stop listening when I ask them to stop doing something really annoying like singing “Baby Shark” for the millionth time or aggravating their brother. They don’t want to stop. They enjoy it too much, so they pretend they don’t hear me. My children are also notorious for tuning me out when I ask about school, homework, or chores. But the moment I whisper something to my husband about ice cream or Christmas presents, they all of a sudden have supersonic hearing. We hear what we want to hear. We listen when it’s something we desire.

The multitude of people came to hear Jesus because they desired to listen. It could have been just to hear all the hubbub about this man called Jesus or it could have been because the people were desperate for healing. The disciples listened because they had just experienced a life-changing moment when Jesus revealed his glory and called them to follow him. They don’t exactly know what they’ve signed up for, so they are probably hanging on Jesus’ every word. They are compelled to hear what comes next.

The listeners listen, even when it’s something they don’t want to hear, like “love your enemies” (27). This teaching is contrary to Rome’s standards just like the previous teaching about blessings and woes. Jesus continues the same thread in this sermon about going against the world’s standards. In Rome, it was more like “kill your enemies,” if they posed a threat, or “crush your enemies” to show you are powerful and they are weak. “Avenge your enemies,” for sure, to show that they may have won the battle, but you have won the war. “Love your enemies” was not in their mindset, but this teaching from Jesus is so important to being a Christ follower. They will certainly encounter enemies.

These words are so full of wisdom. Life-transforming, heart-changing words that are the key to following Jesus and a fulfilling life. We can’t hold on to hate or lash out even when someone deserves it. Hate poisons our hearts, and we become more like the world, instead of more like Christ. This teaching is hard to hear when we’ve truly been hurt or what we’ve cherished most has been taken from us. So, we don’t always listen. We tune it out or have selective listening, listening to only Jesus’ easy words or the ones that benefit us. We listen to Jesus’ healing words, but, these words, truly heal us.

Loving our enemies sets us free from the hate and hurt caused by others, and the hate and hurt we have inflicted on others. Hate and revenge continues the cycle of hate, just as love continues the cycle of love. Jesus calls the listeners to live to a higher standard because love always wins. Love is the standard in God’s kingdom.
 
Reflection Questions
Do you listen to Jesus? Even when it’s something you don’t want to hear?
What challenge is Christ calling you to do? What enemy is Christ calling you to love / pray for?
How have you been someone’s enemy? What have you done or become that would make it hard for someone to love you? How can love resolve this?
How do you respond to Jesus’ call to love your enemies?
How does your community of faith follow this gospel teaching?
 
Pray:
Help us, Lord, to love our enemies. We cannot do it without your love flowing through us.

Action:   
Do a tangible act to show your love of an enemy.

*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.