First United Methodist Church
February 23rd, 2025
Rev. Lauren Hall
Fill My Cup with Grace and Compassion
In our scripture today, Jesus challenges the crowd with a shocking phrase: “Love your enemies.” He doesn’t just tell them to tolerate them. He wants them to love them! I can just imagine how the people around him that day must have looked at one another in amazement, shaking their heads at the absurdity of this command.
Think about it. Religious leaders are supposed to tell you how to follow the rules – what to eat, what to wear, when to worship, who to worship, how to behave, etc. Religion tells us what is right and what is wrong and then offers acceptable punishments, right?
For example, if someone is caught stealing your cow, you can cut off their hand. If a married person looks at someone else, you can cut out their eye. If a person commits murder, you get to kill him. These were the rules. And these rules, although they were a little brutal, made sense.
But then Jesus shows up and tells them to love their enemies. Imagine their concerns. Which enemy? If I love that enemy, I’ll lose my standing in the community. How much love? Can I just smile at them, or do I actually have to invite them to dinner?
If we use our imagination, we can begin to see all the people who were there that day listening to Jesus. There were parents and grandparents, farmers and laborers, teachers and business owners and possibly some soldiers and maybe some fishermen. Their responses were probably similar to the responses that we might have when we hear this kind of teaching. Who? What? How? When? Why?
Jesus says love one another. He doesn’t care if we agree with the statement our co-worker just put on Facebook. He doesn’t care if someone just cut in front of you and caused you to spill your coffee. He is talking about the kingdom of God, where love is the rule, not an eye for an eye.
Part of the challenge of this teaching is that we are overwhelmed by competing values. Everything that Jesus is asking us to do is risky. If I turn my other cheek after being struck, how badly will I be wounded? Will my wound threaten those who depend on me? Will I lose my position in society because I am shamed? If I give my coat away, how can I pass it on to my child who may be cold? In fact, Jesus asks us to give without expectation of any reward in return. How does this work? Will the people I care about be vulnerable because of my sacrifice?
And that takes us back to Jesus’ original statement, “But I say to you that listen.” Are we willing to hear? Sometimes we are so comfortable with what we’ve always known and done that we are unable to hear what Jesus is saying.
The fact is, Jesus is asking us to “be compassionate just as God is compassionate.” There are rules, but there is also mercy. As the people of God, we have the responsibility to convince the world of the reality of the gospel. If we don’t, we leave the world unconvinced.
It occurred to me as I was reading this passage how easy it would be to simply dismiss Jesus’ message. And there are many ways to do that.
We might dismiss it by assuming Jesus is setting us up for failure with an impossible command. We can’t achieve it; therefore we need a savior.
Or we might dismiss it as being naïve. Jesus doesn’t know how the world works in 2025.
And sometimes we dismiss it by assuming we are already following it, but being less than perfect, so when we fall short, which is all the time, we pray for mercy and forgiveness and pledge to do better tomorrow.
Each of these ways of dismissing Jesus’ words – whether done consciously or unconsciously – are similar in that they hear Jesus’ instructions on the plain as a set of commands or rules. Commands and rules are things that we either try to follow, such as not killing one another, or wearing clothes in public places; or we try to resist, such as traveling the speed that we think is safe, even though we may be breaking the law.
But what if these aren’t commands at all, but are instead a promise? The promise, essentially, is that life doesn’t have to be unfair, uncompromising and unjust. That there is another option. An alternative world where we can treat others the way we want to be treated. That there is enough, more than enough – love, attention, food, worth, honor, time – to go around. What if Jesus isn’t offering a set of simple rules by which to get by or get ahead in this world but instead is inviting us into a whole other world? A world that is not about measuring and counting and weighing and competing and judging and paying back and hating and all the rest. This other world is about love.
Love for those who have loved you. Love for those who haven’t. Love even for those who have hated you. It’s a love that gets expressed in all kinds of creative ways, but often comes through by caring – extending care and compassion and help and comfort to those in need – and forgiveness – not paying back or getting revenge, but instead releasing one’s claim on another and opening up a future where a relationship of love is still possible.
When you imagine that Jesus is offering an invitation rather than simply giving a new set of rules, everything he says sounds a little different: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.
Everything sounds different because, well, in the Kingdom of God everything is different. We have an opportunity to give our children a gift – to live in a world in which the way of love – the gospel – is at the heart of everything we do. And we can do that if we act the way children of God act, with love and compassion at the center.
You know, we read scripture sometimes as a promise to ourselves, rather than as a promise for others. But the fact is that when we commit our lives to Christ, we accept the invitation to love others in the same way that Christ loved us.
When we pray the Lord’s prayer, this is what we are asking for – to establish God’s Kingdom on earth, so that what we experience here is just as it is in heaven. That God’s will is the rule or the promise – hospitality, grace, justice and compassion – available for all people, even if they wear a different style of clothing or speak a different language than we do.
Jesus calls us to examine some of our deeply held values and ask ourselves the question: Is this value consistent with Jesus’ promise of the KOG?
If the answer is no, then maybe it’s time to rethink that one. Jesus didn’t preach this sermon so that we would remain the same.
And so, as we consider these clay jars one more time, remember that they represent each one of us. Jesus transformed water into wine. Jesus gave some ordinary fishermen purpose and mission. Jesus offered vision and courage to people who had no hope. Jesus offered healing and mercy to whomever reached out to him. And Jesus offers an invitation to all who would hear him. As you go about your daily tasks this week, may your stone jars be full of “good stuff,” and may each one of us be blessed to become an instrument of change. What is Christ calling you to do to expand love and grace into the world? Let us pray:
Lord, today, you have confronted us with hard truths. It is difficult to let go of deep rooted understandings, and it is not easy to make ourselves believe that the meek will inherit the earth when they are being crushed by the unjust systems stacked against them. Help us to trust in you and delight in your mercy, not only for ourselves, but also for others. We long to see the day when all people will treat one another as they wish to be treated. Help us to live into that day, Lord, even when it is difficult. Encourage us to take risks so that your love might shine like the sun through our lives, into our ministries, and out into the world. Make love and compassion become a part of who we are in our journey toward peace. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Invitation to Discipleship
As you go out into the community this week, may the peace of Christ accompany you everywhere you go. Go beyond the Golden Rule and forgive first, love first, and give first. Measure out a good amount of grace,
for you and others, and prepare for a merciful life. Go in peace.
