Mercy and Blessing - A Sermon for Sunday February 23, 2025

GOSPEL: Luke 6:27-38

The holy gospel according to Luke.

Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus continues to address a crowd of his disciples. He invites his followers to shower radical love, blessing, forgiveness, generosity, and trust even on enemies and outsiders. Living in harmony with God’s intent brings the reward of overflowing blessing.

[Jesus said:] 27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
  32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

  37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you

give will be the measure you get back.”

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Nice weather we’ve been having!

After weeks of the deep freeze,

what a relief to warm up a bit,

especially for the houseless.

But the change in temperature

comes with some muck and slush.

You need some wiper fluid

for mucky journeys.

I was reminded of one such time,

I visited a member of my former congregation

in a hospital in Edmonton,

and as I walked back to my car outside,

I noticed puddles on the road

from the warming temperatures.

I looked ahead and saw a doozy of a puddle,

and with cars flying by

I moved to the side,

but sure enough,

a red Toyota turned into the puddle,

and I was blessed with a drive-by baptism.

Muddy water,

on my face,

on my jacket and shirt

and the whole right side of my pants were drenched.

I was not happy.

I turned to the vehicle,

with my arms in the air,

took a deep breath,

opened my mouth and … exhaled.

He was too far away.

It was really tempting to run after that car

and give it a wet boot in the fender.

He was my new enemy.

But then I saw brake lights.

I had a brief moment of hope, thinking

“Oh, they’re pulling over to apologize.”

Nope.

They stopped up ahead for a dry pedestrian,

and then they were gone.

The driver probably had no idea

that they had given me a drive-by baptism.

In anger I stomped to the crosswalk

and hit the pedestrian button,

really hard.

Then I noticed a woman crossing the street toward me,

looking right at me,

shaking her head.

It turns out that red Toyota driver

had made another enemy,

as this woman saw what had happened as well.

She said to me,

“People can be so stupid.

I can’t believe he did that to you.”

It might have been a moment of compassion from her,

seeing my anger and sharing in the anger,

But it felt negative,

It would have been so easy

to continue in the negativity of that moment.

It’s natural to want justice, or revenge,

to want an apology,

to want a clean set of clothes,

to complain about the enemy.

“An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”

I could have said something like “what a jerk”

or I could have questioned the integrity

of every single Toyota driver that has ever lived.

But, by God’s grace,

words came to me that ended the negativity

“Well, I guess that’s what washing machines are for.”

She looked at me funny,

and she crossed the street.

It was pretty easy for me that day

to “turn the other cheek”,

so to speak,

It was relatively easy to love the red Toyota enemy.

Part of me still thinks

they turned into that puddle intentionally,

but what can I do about it?

Nothing. Let it go, forgive them.

Move on.

That was an easy time to “Love your Enemies”

So what about loving our real enemies?

What about the enemies in our lives

that we just can’t simply ignore?

What about the people who try to put us to shame?

What about the evils we deal with

that are far beyond

an impromptu remembrance of baptism by puddle?

The answer is the same: love your enemies.

This is complicated in today’s world.

But Jesus’ world was complicated as well.

We might think these words “Love your enemies”

might make sense for simpler times,

but it was not simple times.

When Jesus preached these words,

it was a time of oppressive colonial occupation.

The Roman Empire ruled through force and shame.

Conquered people, like the Jews,

were like second-class citizens.

We live in our own wake of colonialism

and we are hearing of new threats to peoples,

citizens and Indigenous alike.

Love your enemies.

Jesus says that the law of retaliation is broken.

Eye for an eye doesn't work.

Responding to violence with violence

will not end violence.

We read this in Matthew’s version of this teaching.

Jesus offers a new law - the law of love;

overcoming evil with good,

responding to violence and humiliation

in such a way that shames the oppressor.

For example, “If someone takes your coat,

do not withhold even your shirt.”

It sounds like the Christian is to be a doormat,

and let people walk all over us,

but that’s not what Jesus is saying.

If a poor person gave up their coat

and their shirt,

they would be naked,

and standing naked with their oppressor

would put them both to shame,

it would show the level of greed

that takes without concern for the other.

Turning the other cheek is much the same.

To show dominance,

a subordinate being could be struck on the cheek

with the back of the hand.

For example,

a slave owner might strike the slave

with the back of the hand.

If you turn the other cheek,

you are saying

“you can strike me,

but now do it with the open hand”

which is the kind of strike

one would only give an equal.

Turn the other cheek means equality.

Simply put, the invitation from Jesus

is to not respond to violence with more violence,

rather with non-violent protest.

To respond with an act of real justice

that exposes evil.

Maybe that’s some of what happens

when we love our enemies.

Be it red Toyota drivers,

or enemies we have to deal with every day,

or enemies in political power,

or whatever kind of enemies we live with.

Responding to hate with hate will not end hate,

it will only compound it.

Responding to violence with more violence

will only further perpetuate violence.

Love for our enemies might change them,

it might not.

But I guarantee you that when,

by God’s grace,

you love an enemy,

God will use it to change you.

When you pray for your enemies,

your prayer will probably not change that person.

But prayer changes you.

When we talk loving enemies,

if you’re like me,

my mind goes to those who have hurt me:

those who said the hurtful thing

or did the hurtful thing to me,

But what about when I’m the red Toyota driver?

when I am the enemy who hurt the other?

Or what about when we find ourselves in the back seat

in the red Toyota,

and the driver doesn’t see the puddles up ahead?

It is not just Christians who struggle to love enemies,

the church does too.

The church has made of itself an enemy:

by blessing colonial conquest

and eradication of peoples,

by treating women, children,

non-heterosexual folk,

single people,

as lesser than,

the church has made enemies

with its judgments,

its condemning.

Christians have splashed pedestrians

with unwanted muddy waters,

leaving victims on the side of the road

We cannot ignore our church’s past.

Be merciful, as your Heavenly Father is merciful,

Jesus says.

What it really means to be the church today,

is what it meant to be in covenant with God

in millennia past:

we are blessed to be a blessing.

God’s work is blessing all creation

so the church finds its purpose,

we find our purpose,

in blessing.

So what does it mean to bless?

When Jesus talks about blessing

in the sermon on the mount -

Jesus is describing reality - God’s reality,

and it is backwards.

It seems those who suffer are blessed.

The Greek word for blessed is Makarios.

It can be translated as happy or lucky,

but those words miss the point.

You are not happy or lucky when you suffer,

but God’s blessing is yours.

Sometimes this is hard to believe,

in those darkest moments,

in the deepest valleys,

But God’s presence is most prominent in our suffering.

Grief is real,

suffering is real,

and it hurts.

God’s love and favour is yours

amidst real and genuine suffering.

To grasp what blessing means,

we ought to remember

what blessing does NOT mean:

blessing is not transactional.

God does not reward your faith

with a nice car and jacuzzi tub.

Nor is blessing a reward for good behaviour.

God doesn’t give us a shiny sticker

when we do what God requires of us

When we do justice,

love kindness,

and walk humbly with God,

God doesn’t give us a lollipop.

Our service,

our good work in God’s name

is its own reward.

God’s children receive God’s blessing

regardless of our successes or failures.

The people who live on a dollar a day

are no more nor less blessed

than you and me.

So what then is a blessing?

Fundamentally, blessing pronounces God’s favour -

Blessing is about God’s work.

Blessing announces you are

God’s beloved.

Fundamentally,

being blessed is to receive God’s grace.

When we receive the blessing

at the close of our worship service,

and at the close of Holy Communion,

it is as a way of sending us out for God’s purposes:

for God’s mission:

to be a blessing to others,

to be a blessing for all creation.

to pronounce God’s favour on all creation.

Matthew’s gospel tells us that

we find that God’s blessings are perfected,

completed, in Jesus.

Blessing and mercy go hand in hand.

In this time of church decline and rapid change,

we can’t ignore our past

and we can’t ignore our present.

Many people are finding the church to be a cold place.

Like snowbirds who escape Calgary’s cold,

people will move to where it feels warmer.

I hope that the Church is warming up,

that we are creating a community of belonging,

where everyone is valued and appreciated,

I hope that the Church is

recognizing those who have been hurt by the church,

and that we strive to reconcile,

or at the very least to love.

I hope that the cold snow of condemnation and judgment

is melting in the heat of the Light of the world

but change in temperatures means puddles,

mud, muck, slush.

You need a little washer fluid

to help you see clearly through the muck.

Remember your baptism,

and the cleansing waters.

Remember that you are claimed, cherished, and loved

Remember that even our enemies are loved by God,

are made in the image of God,

and worthy of love.

Remember that we are called into justice and peace

and that means love, mercy, blessing

in word and deed.

Let us pray,

It is hard to be a Christian. It is hard to know how to move forward, as the church, as individuals. We have heard your Gospel, Jesus, you are the Light of the World and we are lost without you and you guidance. Help us to love, especially the people we find hard to love. Help us to identify the enemies, the evils that threaten, and give us grace to turn the other cheek - to move forward as equals, to give without expecting back, just as you give to us. May we live the mercy you have shown us. May we bless others and bless creation as you have blessed us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.