Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker during World War II.
Because of her faith in Jesus, when the Nazis began rounding up Jewish families in her town, she built a secret room into her house and hid people so they would not be captured.
She did this for two years before the Nazis discovered what she was doing and sent Corrie and her family to a concentration camp where her father and sister died.
After the war, Corrie started a rehabilitation center for concentration camp survivors and began writing and speaking around the world about her experiences and about forgiveness. Quite a bold topic for someone with her story.
In 1947 Corrie ten Boom was speaking in a church in Munich when she saw one of the former guards at her camp in the audience. The moment she saw him coming up to the front to speak with her, Corrie’s mind flashed back to horrific images from the camp.
After her talk - about forgiveness - The man came up introduced himself to Corrie and acknowledged that he had been a guard at the camp. Here’s how she described what happened next:
“‘But since that time,’ he went on, ‘I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein, …’ his hand came out, ... ‘will you forgive me?’… Betsie had died in that place — could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.” -Corrie ten Boom
SERIES RECAP
Welcome back to “(Un)divided,” our 5-week series about Jesus’ incredibly provocative teaching for us to love our enemies.
We’ll come back to Corrie ten Boom’s story a bit later and see how this moment ended, but for now I just want us to acknowledge the fact that this whole idea of loving our enemies does not come easy for anyone.
Corrie ten Boom traveled the world teaching about forgiveness and yet when she was face to face with a former guard, an enemy if ever there was one, even she froze. Can you blame her?
All of us are wired to love our friends and hate our enemies. This is the default setting for humanity. Jesus is asking us to do something extraordinary.
But as we’ve seen in this series so far, it’s extraordinary, but it’s not impossible.
Loving our enemies is the kind of thing we can learn how to do. We can train our minds and hearts and even our bodies to respond with love and compassion like Jesus.
Why put in all that work? Because this type of radical love is exactly what will change our broken, hate-filled, divisive world.
Loving our enemies - as a church, as individuals - is the way to not only bring us more joy and peace, but to demonstrate to our friends and neighbors that there is another way to live. Loving our enemies can heal our world.
A quick recap. In week one, we explored what the concept of enemy love looks like to Jesus and why he thinks it’s so important.
He presents scenarios (like getting slapped on the cheek) where we don’t respond to our enemies by fighting back, but we also don’t just lie there like doormats. We practice a third way. We offer the other cheek. It’s what I call redemptive non-retribution.
Last week (week 2), we began to answer the question “how?” How do we do this, practically?
We saw that just like being able to run a marathon, learning how to love our enemies takes practice. If we want to be different from the default, we have to build our muscles of trust and our stamina of compassion when the pressure is off, so we can behave like Jesus when the pressure is on.
That answered the question “how” from a pretty high level. Today, we’re going to try and get very practical.
We’re going to look again at Luke 6:27-42.
While you’re turning there, I want share two quick things:
WHO IS YOUR ENEMY
Alright. Are you ready to get down to business?
If we’re going to move from theory to practice when it comes to loving our enemies, it will be very helpful for you to have a specific enemy in mind.
A person or group of people that fits this description:
Enemy - anyone standing in the way of your joy, flourishing, and wellbeing.
Who in your life fits that description?
Again, this doesn’t have to be someone you’re at war with. It could be someone spreading rumors about you. It could be “those people” online with terrible political views. It could be a family member who drives you crazy.
If they are, in some way, standing in the way of your joy, flourishing, and wellbeing, for the purposes of this message, they are your enemy.
DO THE UNEXPECTED
So get them in your mind and keep them there as we read just a bit more about what Jesus has to say.
Luke 6:35-36
Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
So, “love your enemies” “Do good to them.” This is kind of just a recap of what Jesus has been saying so far. Again, in week 1 we explored in detail what he meant in his 1st century context by turning the other cheek or giving someone your shirt.
But this idea of lending to your enemy without expecting to be repaid is kind of a new one. So let’s talk about it.
In the ancient world, people didn’t have banks. Most of their wealth existed in stuff - harvested crops or livestock or tools. Maybe sometimes a few luxury items like incense or jewelry. But they didn’t have savings or retirement accounts and most lived on razor thin margins.
If someone back then needed a loan, it wasn’t because they were starting a new business or buying a car. It’s because the stuff they had wasn’t enough to make ends meet. They were out of food. They needed a loan to make it through to the next harvest.
In other words, seeking a loan was a matter of survival.
Which is why it would have been very tempting for people to take advantage of you when you’re in such desperate straits.
“Sure, here’s a loan to see you through. I’m only going to charge you… 40% interest. If you can’t pay me back, no problem… I’ll just take your farm.”
Preying on the weak with predatory loans was normal in the ancient world. But not in Israel.
You see, the law of Moses made it very clear that this was not how things would be done among the people of God. Here’s one example:
Exodus 22:25-26
If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would.
No interest at all. In Israel, at least, loans were for helping people, not taking advantage of them.
So that was the normal expectation for people in Jesus’ audience. Don’t charge interest on someone in need.
But let’s come back to what Jesus is saying. Because, as always, Jesus is taking principles from the Old Testament law and blowing them up to the nth degree.
Think about it. If your enemy needs a loan - if they are in desperate circumstances like that - it would be very tempting for you to use that to either
A) hold back and watch them suffer or B) give them a loan and gloat now that they’re in your debt. “Who’s on top now, loser?”
But yet again Jesus comes in with a third way. He says we should “lend to them without expecting to be repaid.” In other words, we treat it like a gift.
This is wild. We live in a world where we are expected to go scorched earth on our enemies. Where we celebrate their downfall. If we can trip them up further, we’re supposed to.
Helping them when they’re facing hardship? Offering mercy when they’re in dire straits? It’s wild. Why in the world would we do that?
Well, because to Jesus this is exactly the kind of action that can break the tit-for-tat cycle of abuse in our world. Giving your enemy a gift when they’re facing hard times is a shocking and unexpected move.
It totally upends ordinary expectations. And it changes the very nature of your relationship. How can your enemy stay your enemy if you’re treating them like a friend? So here is our first practical principle…
How to love your enemy:
1) Shock them with unexpected mercy.
Do something so startlingly generous that it changes the nature of your relationship.
Let’s get specific. You’ve got someone in your mind, right? An enemy of one kind or another.
What is the ordinary, default response you feel when you see them going through a hard time? Or failing at something? Or looking like a fool? You celebrate! It feels good.
The Germans even have a specific word for that feeling: schadenfreude - satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.
That is the default. But what if you were to choose another path? What would it look like to shock your enemy with unexpected mercy when they’re struggling?
What would it mean for you to offer them a gift when they least deserve it? A gift of time… A gift of kindness… A gift of money…
It doesn’t get much more practical than this. If you want to break the cycle of hate, perhaps its’ time to “lend without expecting to be repaid…”
How to love your enemy:
1) Shock them with unexpected mercy.
REMEMBER YOUR BROKENNESS
Ok, let’s keep moving. Jesus continues.
Luke 6:35
Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.
As we’ve said, in this “sermon on the plain” Jesus is redefining normal. He’s describing what it looks like to be a part of God’s kingdom.
Or, as he says here, to be “children of the Most High.” This is the new default. We are supposed to act with kindness like our Father.
Why? Because he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. It’s who he is. It’s what he does.
“I get it, right? God offers grace to those ungrateful, sinful people over there. Those bad people who are… Oh, wait. Oh, you’re talking about me. I’m unthankful. I’m wicked.”
Of course. How often have I squandered the grace that has been offered to me time and time again? How often have I chosen to sin even when I know God has set me free of its power?
How often have I been unthankful and wicked toward my Creator? And yet he’s been kind and loving and gracious to me.
So what if, when my enemy is acting unthankful and wicked… what if I started acting towards them the way my Father acts towards me?
We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. And yet he’s the God of second chances. If I am his child, maybe it’s time I started offering second chances too.
So, here’s your second practical action step when you’re encountering an enemy.
How to love your enemy:
1) Shock them with unexpected mercy.
2) Remember the grace you’ve received.
In other words, before you jump too quickly to judging and hating your enemies - those who have wronged you, those who are stealing your joy - do some self-reflection and remember your own brokenness. How far you’ve come, and how audacious God’s grace has been for you.
When you are humbled by the compassion God has shown to you, you can begin to extend that same compassion to others.
When you live in the light of grace, it becomes far easier to be gracious.
SEE WITH FRESH EYES
The final thing Jesus says in verse 36 to summarize this whole teaching is this:
Luke 6:36
You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
In the verse just before, we were invited to see ourselves with fresh eyes as recipients of God’s grace. To take off our holier-than-thou lenses and view our own brokenness with humility.
Well, now, I think Jesus is asking us to do the same thing towards our enemies. To change how we see them. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
Alright. Get your enemy in your mind. Let me ask you this: When God looks at that person, who does he see?
Well, he sees a broken human being, made in his image. He sees a beloved child who is lost. Traumatized from a broken world and making really poor choices.
In his compassion, his heart breaks for what they’ve become. For the damage they’re doing to others. To you.
When the Father looks at your enemy, he sees a frightened child doing their best to survive in a chaotic universe. A child he sent his own son to save.
That’s the compassion of the Father. And it’s the compassion you are invited to share by starting to see your enemy the way He does.
So there’s practical tip #3.
How to love your enemy:
1) Shock them with unexpected mercy.
2) Remember the grace you’ve received.
3) See them with fresh eyes.
Because when the Father’s compassion towards your enemy is welling up in you - when your heart breaks for their brokenness - loving them like a wayward brother or a sister doesn’t seem so impossible after all.
God’s heart breaks for your enemy. Does yours?
ASK FOR HELP
So if you want to love your enemy, because you trust Jesus that it could actually heal this world, then shock them with unexpected mercy. Remember the grace you’ve received. And see them with fresh eyes.
Those are some pretty practical steps, but I think there is one more we can add to the list.
Because as we’ve said many times in this series already, loving our enemies is a very unnatural thing for us. It does not come easy. It’s not the default. Which is why I think it is so important to regularly:
How to love your enemy:
1) Shock them with unexpected mercy.
2) Remember the grace you’ve received.
3) See them with fresh eyes.
4) Ask God for help.
You don’t have to do this alone. The Spirit of Christ is available to guide you. To shape your heart and your mind and your actions if you let him.
There are so many times when it comes to loving our enemies that I hear people say, “I don’t even know where to start.”
Well, listen to the advice of the Apostle James:
James 1:5
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.
Ask God for help. This is exactly what Corrie ten Boom did as she was face to face with her former concentration camp guard. When he was holding out his hand and asking for forgiveness. She writes,
“I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion — I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand, I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”
And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.
“I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!"
For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then.” -Corrie ten Boom
“You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.”
Yes, I recognize that her story is an extraordinary one. But it is proof that this type of self-giving love is possible and that God will help us do it.
How to love your enemy:
1) Shock them with unexpected mercy.
2) Remember the grace you’ve received.
3) See them with fresh eyes.
4) Ask God for help.
If we do those things, we can become the kinds of people who love our enemies like Jesus and in so doing show our broken world the transformative power of his kingdom.
Even now… even in an election year… we can be a source of healing and love and life as the grace of our relentlessly merciful God flows through us.