What’s in your Purse? (Luke 6:27-38)

 An elephant was enjoying a leisurely dip in a jungle pool when a rat came up to the pool and insisted that the elephant get out. “I won’t,” said the elephant. “But I insist you get out this minute,” said the rat. “Why?” asked the elephant. “I shall tell you only after you are out of the pool.” The elephant refused, but his curiosity got the best of him. So he lumbered out of the water and stood in front of the rat, “Now, then, why did you want me to get out of the pool?” Said the rat, “To check if you were wearing my swimming trunks.”   

An elephant will sooner fit into the trunks of a rat than God will fit into our notions of God. God is so much more than what believers typically believe about God. How much more? Well, in this text we get a glimpse of the more-ness of God, especially as this applies to God’s love and grace. God’s love far exceeds human notions of love.  

 Jesus says according to Luke,

 But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 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. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But 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 is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful. 

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. 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 (Luke 6:27-38). 

There is no greater description anywhere of the gospel of Jesus and the way of the kingdom of God, which Jesus himself embodied. The central piece of instruction is introduced in the first sentence, “I say to you that listen, Love your enemies.” Examples follow: When someone slaps you, stand tall and turn the other cheek, give your shirt to the one who takes your coat, give to everyone who begs, if someone takes your goods don’t ask for them back – radical, crazy stuff don’t you think? Anyone operating out of one’s ego, one’s little self, might cringe at these expressions of love. Luke caps these off with a reference to the golden rule, which, to be honest, doesn’t quite seem to fit. Maybe this is how the teaching came down to Luke in his tradition, or maybe he thought for some reason this would be a good place to include it – Who knows? What Jesus is actually calling for, however, exceeds the ethics of the golden rule. Instead of, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” it’s more like, “Do good to others, even if they never do good to you.”  

Now the question any listener might naturally ask is, “Why?” Why, in heaven’s name, would or should we do this? Jesus’ answer is simple (simple in theory, not in practice), “Because God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked, and we therefore, are to be merciful, as our heavenly Father is merciful.” This is how we are called to live as “children of the Most High.” When we reflect the character of God, when we act in mercy and grace, we bring the love of the Most High into the earthly, messy, complicated, and fractured relationships of our daily lives. If we just love those who love us, if we are only good to those who are good to us, that doesn’t really say anything about the kind of love that God has for the world does it? Where’s the grace in that? Our calling as children of God is to make God’s unconditional and inclusive love known, and the only way to make God’s unconditional and inclusive love known is by loving unconditionally and inclusively like God.   

Jesus says that if we love like God our “reward will be great.” This “great reward” is not some monetary prize or special privilege or some heavenly honor or recognition, it is the person we become. That’s the reward. Grace is God’s operating principle, not merit. The reward for loving like God is that we become a person like God. When we become who we were designed and destined to be, namely, daughters and sons of God who love like God, there is no greater reward than the experience of reaching our human potential. There is no greater sense of meaning and fulfillment, and no greater experience of joy and peace available to human beings. Anything else is a counterfeit, a false impersonation of what true life is. 

So, Jesus instructs us to love our enemies, seek the good of all people and do good to all people because this is how God loves, and we are called as God’s children to love like God. Now, it might be good to pause here and chew on another question. Why, however, would God love like this? Why would God want to be kind and merciful to the ungrateful and the wicked? The answer is not explicit in the text, but it is implicit. God is simply being God. The writer of 1 John says, “whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love” (see 1 John 4:7-8).” The reason God loves the ungrateful and the wicked is because God cannot do otherwise. The essence of God is love. God must be true to who God is, so even the hater, oppressor, and victimizer is loved by God. 

In addition, every single one of us has Divine DNA. Every human being is indwelt by God. Of course, many people are completely unaware of their Divine origin and the Divine indwelling. They do not realize that the image of God is stamped into their human constitution. They do not know who they are or to whom they belong. Nevertheless, whether one is aware or not, the Divine Spirit is within every human being. As Paul said in the book of Acts to the philosophers in Athens, “the God who made the world and everything in it . . . gives to all mortals life and breath and all things . . . For in him we live and move and have our being.” Therefore we are all “God’s offspring” (see Acts 17:22-29). 

When human beings hate, destroy, kill, abuse, and victimize it grieves God. God suffers both the victim and the victimizer. God suffers both the oppressed and the oppressor. For we are all one people in God. When we harm and hurt one another we are, in a sense, turning God against God. If God hated any human being, God would be hating a part of God’s self, because every human being has a part of God within. On the flip side of that reality is this: Because the Divine Nature is part of our human makeup, because God lives within, we all have the potential to love like God.  Jesus is not asking us to do the impossible. Given human history, it may seem improbable, but it is not impossible. This is where God is leading humankind. This is our ultimate destiny. 

The story is told of the mullah Nazruddin who became prime minister to the king. Once, while he wandered through the palace, he saw the royal falcon, the powerful symbol of the kingdom. But what Nazruddin thought was, “This is a very unusual pigeon.” So he got out a pair of scissors and trimmed the claws, the wings, and the beak of the royal falcon. Then he said, “Now you look like a decent pigeon. Clearly, your keeper had been neglecting you.” 

Here’s what many of us do. We take the royal falcon – the good news of Jesus, the gospel of the inclusive love of God – and we get out our scissors and we snip and cut and trim and shape it into a royal pigeon – a creed, a doctoral statement, a rigid belief system, five fundamentals of the faith, worship rituals and sacred rites, etc., and we make it about being right or correct or holy or saved or whatever it is that we think puts us in favor with God. Usually whatever we make it into, whatever we make it about doesn’t interfere too much with our prejudices, or pride, or greed and self-interest. It is generally something that makes us feel special and chosen and privileged because, you know after all, we have the truth. And like poor old Nazruddin we are, in actuality, unaware and blind to the gospel of Jesus and the way of God’s kingdom, which is the way of inclusive love.  

Jesus says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.” Now clearly, when Jesus says do not judge he is not talking about all forms of judgment. There are numerous instances where Jesus exercised prophetic judgment with regard to the religious leaders of Judaism (see Luke 11:37-44) and sometimes the people in general. Jesus refused to be silent in the face of falsehood, deception, greed, and oppressive religious laws and actions that excluded, condemned, and dehumanized others. The kind of judgment Jesus is talking about is clarified in what Jesus says next, “Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.” Jesus is not forbidding any form of judgment, but rather condemnation in particular. This is an example of Hebrew poetic speech, where the second statement defines, explains, or clarifies the first. The kind of judgment Jesus is talking about is the kind that condemns, diminishes, and dehumanizes others. Jesus never condemned the Pharisees or any of the Jewish gatekeepers, even though he spoke harsh words of judgment against them. In fact, there are three instances in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus sits at table with Pharisees. Jesus’ table fellowship where all were welcome functioned as a sign of God’s kingdom demonstrating the grace and welcome of God. Jesus didn’t reject or exclude them; they were welcome at the table. But Jesus judged their actions and their leadership. Let’s be clear, inclusive love passionately stands up for and speaks out for what is just and good and fair and right, but inclusive love does not condemn or reject or dehumanize anyone.   

Rather, inclusive love forgives and gives. Jesus says, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.” God’s inclusive love is expressed through our forgiveness in particular and through our generosity in general. It gives and gives and gives. It is like, “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, overflowing in one’s lap.” Jesus says, “The measure you give will be the measure you get back.” This is not reward and punishment. This is not give in order to get. This is not a system of meritocracy. This is simply how love works. Love always begets more love. Love ignites and fuels more love. It spreads and multiplies and overflows sending out blessings everywhere love goes. 

In our own personal lives the more we practice forgiveness and generosity, the more we grow in our capacity to forgive and give, and the more we do it, the easier it gets and the more natural it becomes. What at first may seem hard, over time becomes more natural, free flowing, and easier to do. 

Bertrand Russell was a well-known British philosopher and atheist who was raised a Christian. One time he was asked about this Christian notion of loving one’s enemies. He responded by saying, “There is nothing to be said against it except that it is too difficult for most of us to practice sincerely.” I suspect that the majority of Christians today feel the same way. What would it take for us to get to the place where loving our enemies would be so natural and such a part of who we are that it would cease to be difficult? What would have to happen in your life and mine for us to arrive at such a place? 

A well-known spiritual Teacher, beloved by some, hated by others, was walking down the road with his disciples. Some people threw stones at him and cursed him. The disciples asked him, “Master, why do you bless those who curse you?” The Teacher replied, “I can only give what I have in my purse.” What’s in our purse? 

When the inclusive love of God fills our soul, when it permeates the heart and mind and will, it’s not hard to fight back the urge to curse the one who curses or hate the one who hates, because the urge to curse and hate will have undergone a spiritual death. It will have been crucified with Christ. Unfortunately, some or our purses are filled full with curses. Wouldn’t it be great if God’s inclusive love filled our purse to the point that there wasn’t room for anything else? Then it would be easy to draw out patience, kindness, forgiveness, forbearance, tolerance, mercy, gentleness, humility, peace, joy and the like. It would be no trouble at all. 

Several years ago I participated in a conference at Georgetown College called, “Re-imagining Faith for America and the World.” One of the keynote speakers was Dr. Stephanie Paulsell, a professor at Harvard Divinity School. She told us about being mentored by an Episcopal priest named Bernie at the University Church where she attended graduate school. She assisted him at the altar on Sundays as they celebrated the Eucharist. He allowed her to apprentice herself to him. She followed him in and out of dorm rooms, soup kitchens, chaplain’s meetings, always watching and learning. On Sundays, she assisted him in the celebration of the Eucharist. After a few weeks, when she seemed to get the hang of things, he asked her to take her turn as the celebrant. She thanked Bernie for the invitation, but said, ‘I don’t know if I should lead this ritual, because I don’t really know what it means.’” “Oh,” Bernie said. “We don’t do this because we know what it means. We do it in order to find out what it means.” 

Dr. Paulsell said to us at the conference, “I learned a lot of things in graduate school, but nothing more important or transformative than this: that faith is not a linear movement from right thinking to right action. Bernie taught me that we don’t have to wait until we have everything figured out before we join one another around the table, or the altar. He taught me that it is possible to act our way—pray our way, sing our way--into new ways of thinking.” Sounds to me like she is saying, “It’s possible to fake it until we make it.” But she is also saying that doing it, practicing it is what enables us to make it.  

How often have we tried to love our enemies? Probably not enough. Will it be hard? Certainly, when we first attempt to do so. But maybe we can pray and act and sing our way into a new way of loving? So that loving others, even those who don’t love us, becomes our first and natural response. 

Maybe if we remain faithful to the way of Jesus taking it one day at a time, perhaps the day will come when we discover that it’s not hard anymore. Can you imagine what it would be like to have our human soul and spirit so saturated by divine love – a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, as Jesus says – that it becomes easy to love those who hate and curse us. 

Do you think it’s hard for an accomplished pianist like Sara to play a gospel hymn on the piano? At one time it was. At one time it was real difficult. I suspect those many years ago when she was learning keys and notes and who knows, maybe got a little discouraged, she had to imagine what she would be able to do one day. Can you imagine reaching a place where you no longer have to fight back the urge to return hate with hate, blow for blow, curse for curse? Can you imagine a time where all you can do is bless those who curse you, do good to those who hurt you, and pray for those who condemn you? Wouldn’t it be great to reach a place where the inclusive love of God is the only thing in our purse?