Readings for today: 1 Samuel 25-27, Psalms 17, 73
This past week I read these challenging words again from the Sermon on the Mount. “Love your enemies!” Jesus says. “Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who persecute you.” (Luke 6:27-28) Frankly, I think it sounds crazy. Mixed up. Naive. Until I read about David. I watch him spare Saul’s life over and over again. I watch him refuse to lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed. I watch him restrain his anger. His desire for revenge. David had every right to strike Saul down when he caught him in the cave. He had every right to pin Saul to the ground with his own spear when he infiltrated the camp. But over and over again, David refused. Why is that?
I believe David understood on some level what Jesus would later teach. God’s great desire is for everyone to be saved and come to a knowledge of His truth. (1 Tim. 2:4) This includes a man like Saul. Evil. Paranoid. Drunk with power. This includes a man like Nabal. Proud. Arrogant. Hard-hearted. This includes a man like David who will succumb later in life to the temptation to use his power for his own purposes. It includes a man like Doug Resler who wrestles everyday with pride and ego and selfishness. You see, the reality that David saw is the same reality Jesus taught which is that we are all enemies and yet God in His infinite mercy loved us. We are all sinners and yet God in His infinite grace embraced us. While we were yet broken. While we were weak and wounded. While we were dead in our sin. God came to us. God loved us. God did good to us. And we should do the same for others including even those who may be seeking our harm.
Some ask if such an approach runs the risk of further traumatizing victims of abuse. It’s a very important question. My response is that love is not passive. It doesn’t make one a doormat. I do not believe Jesus is teaching women to stay with men who beat them. I do not believe Jesus is teaching us to seek out situations where we would suffer. I do not believe Jesus is teaching us to simply bow our heads before injustice. David didn’t stay in Saul’s palace! David left. He escaped. He found his way to safety. And then he resisted. Fiercely. Faithfully. With the hope that his persecutor would eventually see the light. I love how Martin Luther King Jr. once put it, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” King pursued a path of non-violent resistance always with the hope that white racists would become his brothers. This was his dream. And I believe deep down it was David’s dream for Saul as well.
How do you respond when attacked? How do you respond when people curse you? Do you respond in kind? Do you lash out in anger? Do you try to get even? What about those who’ve suffered abuse or trauma or been victims of injustice? These are very real experiences that cannot be diminished or dismissed. They impact so many in our culture today especially those in minority groups. Over the last few years, many of these groups have taken to the streets to plead their cause. They have created movements through social media to press their case. While we may agree or disagree with their political aims, is it not heartbreaking to see so many in our culture victimized by fear? Suffering at the hands of the principalities and powers in our society? Rather than condemn, can we not courageously enter into those dark places alongside them and meet them with the love of Christ?
Readings for tomorrow: Psalms 35, 54, 63, 18