Loading...Earlier this week, Debbie Hanna shared a post on Facebook that said, “If we could spread love as quickly as we spread hate and negativity, what an amazing world we would live in.”
I had seen this posted by other people, but hadn’t really given it much thought, being so wrapped up in blankets of fear, worry, curiosity, and disbelief.
It made me pause. I have a choice to surround myself with the onslaught of news and responses to the news, OR to remember this little story from Mister Fred Rogers who said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
“Look for the helpers.” Look for those who want to find ways to support one another rather than divide. Seek organizations that focus on doing the good I want to see in the world.
And I wondered, am I a helper?
If I want to follow the Golden Rule, as we heard in today’s Gospel, to “Do to others as you would have them do to you,” what do I need to change in my life?
Wow.
Last week I told the story of needing to set boundaries so that my body, soul and heart would not be harmed by abusive behaviors. And as last week’s Gospel moves directly into this week’s Gospel, I find myself wondering not if the boundaries are necessary, but wondering how my behavior is impacting others. Have I been doing to others as I would have them do to me?
Of course, my intent has been to express my fears, curiosity, and disbelief as I see people in power seeming to disregard or possibly even obliterate the dignity, the sanctity of the lives, of other human beings. The way I understand respect, justice, and dignity possibly looks different than how others understand these behaviors.
Have I been giving people who disagree with me the benefit of the doubt? Not really, even though I want to understand. Have my intentions impacted others negatively? The answer is obviously yes. And no.
This leads me to feel very convicted of being hypocritical as I read these few paragraphs in today’s Gospel, because maybe I haven’t been loving people who disagree with me very well. Perhaps because I have given my cheek and been slapped, I’m not offering too many blessings in return. I might be struggling to pray for them. And I know I’m judging and I’m having a difficult time forgiving right now.
So, I’m having this little discussion with Jesus that goes something like this: Really Jesus? Do you truly want me to accept the aggression and abuse against me or others to continue? Or are you trying to tell me something else?
And wow, this is a pretty intense list of behaviors that seem unattainable to anyone. Do you really expect all of us to be so, well, like you?
I get it, Jesus. You don’t want people to retaliate when they have been harmed. I get what you are saying in the Golden Rule, but can’t I want someone who has harmed people in marginalized contexts through words, examples, or policies to feel an ounce of that kind of pain so they can see the world differently? Because I don’t know if they will understand my way of thinking, which I think is your way of thinking, any other way.
I mean. This is a lot of everything everywhere all at once. ~BREATHE~
Let’s switch gears and set a couple things about the Gospel of Luke into historical perspective. What I mean is, let’s look at what was happening at the time it was written and how those current events may have shaped the way it was written. Let’s consider who it is written for and imagine who the author could have been.
Jane Schaberg, in a commentary on Luke,[1] reminds us that this Gospel is not an eye-witness account. No one was taking notes. There were no reporters following along to get quotes. Everything we now read comes from stories likely told by Jewish people and Jesus Followers who experienced first-hand the ministry of Jesus. But it wasn’t until years after Jesus’s resurrection, that someone began writing the story.
Schaberg says that the Gospel of Luke was written “around 85-90 C.E.” Other sources place it anywhere from as early as the year 80 to as late as the year 130 C.E. [2] Scholars are confident it was written after the year 63, when Rome conquered Jerusalem and established Roman rule over the land of Israel.[3] And certainly after the year 70, when the temple, the place where Jews would worship, celebrate, study, hold civic events and meetings, was destroyed in Jerusalem. Their whole world was turned upside down by invaders who, after years of oppressing them, were able to conquer the center of Jewish life.
Roughly 30 or 40 years had elapsed after Jesus was crucified before someone started writing down the Gospel of Luke. The years of Roman rule must have been top of mind and likely caused much consternation among the Jewish people and Jesus Followers, so the stories should reflect that discontent, deep emotion, hope for the future, and a desire for the reunification of the community.
It may be important to note that The Gospel of Mark was written somewhere between 50 and 70, a few years before Luke. It is shorter than the others, almost like the author was jotting down notes so he wouldn’t forget what happened, and was the foundation of the Jesus story used by both Matthew and Luke’s authors.
Some scholars consider that the Gospel of Luke may have been written by a woman because it has a focus on the compassion of Jesus. Whoever the author was, they are considered to be the author of Acts, too.
Considering when this Gospel was written, so much of what held the Jewish people and Jesus Followers together was destroyed with the Temple. They needed to know they wouldn’t be in this situation forever. They needed to be reminded, perhaps, that they had a Savior, a Messiah, who stood up for their humanity and was lynched for speaking up on their behalf. The Gospel of Luke reminded them, and us, that the ministry of Jesus provides security in an unsecure time. They needed hope. Let me explain.
Jennifer Glancy expresses in an essay on Luke that this is a Gospel showing the depth of Jesus’s “compassion to those who need healing, including those who are suffering from illness, disability, or social exclusion” … and it is “Jesus’s mission” to proclaim the “good news to the materially impoverished and promise that those who are hungry will be fed.”[4]
There it is. Hope. …….
This section of Luke, while it may feel like it is pointing out our emotional shortcomings, is not expecting anyone to be perfect. We will all fail. We will all fall short of these examples of living in the light of God and of walking a pure path with Jesus. We are not God.
Yet we are called to TRY to proclaim the love of God by loving everyone with no asterisks, no exceptions. When we are hurt by someone, we are to TRY to not hurt them back. When we feel beaten or abused physically or emotionally, we are to TRY to refrain from beating or abusing in return.
Ultimately, if we strive to live by what we know as the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do to you, we hope we are doing okay.
I do think, however, that there’s more to it than the Golden Rule, which (by the way) is a common expectation in nearly all the world religions.
I think, that as Jesus Followers, Jesus sets the goal a little higher. Yes, treat others as you want them to treat you. AND, in a multi-cultural world where we encounter a variety of ways of living, we also need to understand that this Golden Rule is bigger than the circle of people we know. It is lived out as social justice.
In an essay called, The Bible and Social Justice, Davina Lopez first defines social justice as referring “to the conditions of right relations—among people, creatures, and the planet—that enable the flourishing of all. Unfortunately, (she continues,) history and culture have shown that justice is most visible when it is absent.” (She explains it this way:) “…When cultural hierarchies render people and groups invisible based on their identities or affinities, sociocultural recognition is redress (she defines ‘redress’ as “setting right.” In other words, when we actually SEE and acknowledge the diversity of cultural identities and affinities, we are setting it right. She goes on:). And political justice ensures that political boundaries guarantee everyone equal participation in civic processes. When political rules deny people and groups full participation as citizens, political representation is redress (in other words, giving everyone a seat at the table is setting it right). Each of these intersecting modes of justice cannot be understood or realized without the others.”[5]
The people who had lost their center, their community, their identities when the Temple was destroyed were looking for their lives to be set right. So they looked back to what they learned from this itinerant preacher, Jesus, for guidance.
Just like we do. But, when we read the Bible in our own contexts, we may think they are cautionary tales that may seem more like fantasy than reality. Yet even a fairy tale holds a message we just might need to learn. Don’t we often look for the purpose of the story, hoping for something to cling to that gives us hope, especially in trying times?
We want to learn from Jesus’s many examples.
Jesus shows his commitment to his strict Jewish upbringing and education by teaching all those who choose to follow him what it means to be fully invested in the care and concern of all of creation. We see this in the individuals he heals, the variety of people he eats with, the people in positions of power he chastises, and all he teaches. His ministry shows us what it looks like to truly SEE others for who they are and to help us learn how to live and work together in harmony, respecting one another’s dignity and striving for justice for everyone.
It isn’t easy. It just isn’t. Our diversity of thought and experience influences our response to the world. Each of us brings our diverse selves into communities, hoping that even in our differences, we will be treated with equity, kindness, and welcome, creating an inclusive community where we are all respected.
I think that’s what Jesus is trying to express in this lesson he is offering to his disciples—and to us. I think he is hoping we can learn from one another what it means to be merciful and compassionate, so that our world can become more loving and accepting. I believe he is reminding us that even in our differences, we are, each and every one of us, abundantly loved by God, and God simply wants us to figure out what it means to get along.
Amen.
[1] Schaberg, J. (1998) ‘Luke’, in Women’s Bible Commentary Expanded Edition with Apocrypha. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, pp. 364–365.
[2] Glancy, Jennifer A. (2024) The Westminster Study Bible: NRSVUE with Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal books. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, pp.1800-1801.
[3] Rietz H., and Setzer, C. (2024) The Westminster Study Bible: NRSVUE with Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal books. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, pp.2150-52.
[4] Glancy, Jennifer A. (2024) The Westminster Study Bible: NRSVUE with Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal books. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, pp.1800-1801.
[5] Lopez, D. “The Bible and Social Justice.” (2024) The Westminster Study Bible: NRSVUE with Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal books. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, pp. 2165-67.
