Reading Between the Lines
.
Luke 6:35-37 RSV
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven...
Matthew 6:14 NASB
For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
These passages have some pretty tough instructions for us. Love your enemies? Be merciful, even as God is merciful? Don’t judge others? Well of course we’ve heard all of these our whole lives. Not too often have I personally witnessed them in everyday life of the people around me. For that matter, I don’t live up to them on any regular basis to be honest. And that’s the point. We never will!
These passages are not intended to remind us how far we are from Christ’s perfection. They’re not about how we win eternal life either. They’re not even about how we earn God’s grace. In order to glean the true message behind these words, we need to “read between the lines,” rearrange the sentence structure, and add a few words.
In the Luke passage, verse 35 might be read this way: Because God loves you in spite of your ill will toward your enemies and even though you keep an accounting of everything you lend/give to others, and are selfish and stingy with your time, your talent, and your money. . . God loves you! That’s why we love our enemies and lend freely to all in need: In gratitude for God’s abundant, all-inclusive, gracious love!
We show mercy to others because of God’s great mercy toward us. We don’t judge others, because we are all sinners, born in sin, and saved only because of the Cross. The verse from Matthew can be read: Since your heavenly Father forgives you for your sins—past, present and future— forgive others. In other words, show them the same mercy God shows you. Give them the benefit of the doubt—because God overlooks your sins.
This is not intended to be a lecture about how inherently bad we are. It’s not my desire to make everyone feel bad about themselves. I don’t want anyone to feel hopeless. The whole point is there
is hope!
God is hope! Christ gave us direct and irrevocable access to that hope in God. How can we respond in any other way than to strive for the perfection of Christ? Knowing we will never achieve it until we are perfected in heaven, we still must strive for it. It is in the striving that we are made pure and perfect. The result of our striving is a side benefit, really.
My prayer today is that you will strive for the perfection of Christ. And that you thank God for the unspeakably wonderful gift of His Son.
Mary
