THE HARD ROAD



Matthew 5:14-16, 43-48
2 Corinthians 4:4-6

 Years ago, Tom and I camped at Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario.  At the entrance of a trail we were planning to hike, was the sign, "Please be prepared for a very steep climb."  Believe me, it was a very steep climb, a very challenging trail and far from easy.  

 We are living in a world when we, as Christians, are confronted with events which challenge us and what we believe.  These are dark times when the easy road is so tempting to take, but is it the road Christ asks us to take?

A young man once asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"  No one asked Jesus who their enemy was.  We can figure that out on our own.  The enemy are those who inspire hate and turn people against one another, who use personal attacks and scare tactics, and in the extreme as we saw in the bombing in Parish and the mass killing in San Bernadino. Our human response to such atrocities is fear, hatred, and retaliation.

And Jesus said, "Love your enemy."  It's easy to love those who love us, who are kind and compassionate to us.  It is hard to love someone who tears us down, who attacks who we are and what we believe.  It is hard to love when we see innocent people harmed, when those we love have to put their lives on the line.

Yet that is just what Jesus asks us to do, to take the hard road when it's so much easier to be angry, to return malice with malice, hate with hate.  Jesus calls us to a higher ethical and moral standard, to love as God loves, to be merciful and compassionate as God is merciful and compassionate ... because this world needs the light.

The darkness of evil thrives on anger, fear, hatred and division.  The only way that evil can be defeated is by self-less love and acts of compassion and kindness, not with more anger and hate.  Darkness is overcome by light.

Jesus is that light.  "In him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."  John 1:4-5

As Christians, we have been given that life, the light of Christ, to shine out like a beacon, a city on the hill, to show the world a different way of living, another way, be it a harder way, to be in relationship with those we call our enemies.

Ephesians 4:26, says to be angry and do not sin.  I have come to understand that as being angry for the right reason and then doing the right thing.  What does the right thing look like?

First of all, Jesus tell us in Matthew 5:44 to pray for our enemies.  That's pray for our enemies and not against them.  Whether we want to think about this, God loves our enemies as much as He loves us.  He offers the gift of the same grace we have received through Christ.  As we grieve for the victims and their families, we should remember, that out of His compassion, God grieves for those persons we name as enemies.  Their actions are condemning them to damnation, which goes against God's perfect will that none perish.  As we pray for God's care and protection from our enemies, let us also pray for God's transformational love to turn them away from evil and turn to God.

If we pray against something, let's pray against the forces of evil that encourage and allow violence, hatred and division to exist.

Secondly, we can choose to not participate in or support the hate and the divisiveness that is tearing our country apart.  We can choose not to feed fear and hatred because ...

  • Fear only begets more fear.
  • Hatred only begets more hatred.
  • Violence only begets more violence.
  • Divisiveness only begets more division.
  • Oppression only begets more oppression.

We can choose to advocate for respect, unity and compassion.  We can choose to take the hard road and be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

These are dark times we are living in.  Our hearts and our prayers go out to those who have been hurt and have lost loved ones in the acts of terrorism that have happened in Paris, San Bernadino and elsewhere.  We are challenged by our faith not to respond in fear-driven, reactionary acts, but rather in love.

We dwell in the light of Christ, the light that overcomes all darkness.  Will we walk in that light?  How will we let that light shine and allow it to guide us on a harder road, a higher path?

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