If you thought last Sunday’s Gospel was challenging, today’s Gospel from Luke 6:27-38 is a jawbreaker. The words we heard today are not the kind we would love to hear every day. When told about someone else, they sound too good to be true. For example, someone would wonder whether David was out of his mind when Saul’s life was handed to him on a platter but determined not to hurt him – the same man who took a battalion of his loyal soldiers to go in search of David in order to eliminate him. What about Jesus, who at the point of His excruciating agony prayed for the ones who nailed Him on the cross? Years ago it was all over the news that the Amish's forgave the man who murdered several of their kids at school. And in the very recent past we heard that members of a Black Church in South Carolina forgave the man who under the pretext of going for a Bible Class gained access into their Church, shot and killed their pastor and several members. These sound too good and heroic, but you may be thinking: “They’re not the kind of things I’m prepared to do yet.”
It makes sense to love good people, but not bad people who have done us harm. Doesn’t justice demand that? Jesus insists that we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. That’s a radical. One preacher framed this question for the reflection of every person who associates with the name Christian: “Suppose Christianity were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” If the charge against you in court is that you’re a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Ruling out circumstantial evidence, like attending Mass or registering in a parish—a form of social stratification— would there be found hardcore evidence to convict you of being a Christian?
Christianity used to be fashionable and equated with being a nice person. Modern society no longer sees it so. In fact, we’re already being suspected and surveilled for being “orthodox Catholics”—which some in our government find as disqualifying factor for public office. Yet, the suspicion that “the dogma lives deeply in you” may not even be adequate. Jesus lets it all out—“If you love those who love you or do good to those who are good to you or lend or give to those from whom you expect to receive, how is that special?” He says that even sinners do the same. If we claim we’re basically good people, just so is about every person. Doesn’t everyone claim to be nice? If we claim we give a little to the poor, that’s not unusual, so did Robinhood. Jesus tells us that Christianity or Catholicism must mean something more and something different –“Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do not seek revenge, be merciful, stop judging, stop condemning, give, forgive etc.” These are the new levels we must reach. Those are the evidence with which to convict you.
Do these qualities and attitudes form your core belief as a Christian? Remember, that Christians of old were not the same as everyone else. Living like everyone else is not necessarily a good thing. We shouldn’t go with the flow simply because society doesn’t approve the kind of radical love for which Christians are known. Even should they consider the Christian way crazy, absurd or some naïve pie-in-the-sky idea, what should matter to us is that love demands that we live that way. It is the way of Jesus. Radical love includes one’s enemies; radical generosity means giving without counting the cost or expecting a return; radical forgiveness means that we forgive what others may consider unforgivable; radical mercy includes having mercy on those who do not deserve it; and radical tolerance calls us to pull down all barriers—of race, religion, ethnicity, language, and social class. To be convicted as Christian, we must start leaving forensic evidence all over the place: fingerprints of love, generosity, mercy, forgiveness, tenderness, and compassion toward all.
Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo