The Enemy of My Enemy is Love

Thank you. Good evening. It's great to be here with you.

Tommy warned me that some of you might be feeling a little tired after the retreat,

so he told me to keep this to 60 minutes at a maximum.

So, don't worry.

We just seem to need enemies, don't we sometimes?

Sometimes there's this ineradicable human tendency to channel our own discontent onto external objects, other people.

It's an innate drive that can bind us together, masquerading as community.

It's a primal passion that's fundamentally irrational,

but it can always find good reasons to justify its presence in the human heart.

We just gravitate towards seeing the world through this lens of enemy.

And it's a perennial tendency that's rearing its ugly head afresh today.

Keith Mines, who works at the U.S. Institute of Peace,

who has also been in the Special Forces and worked for the United Nations

in places like Afghanistan, Colombia, El Salvador, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan,

he specializes in civil wars.

And earlier this year, in a piece in The New Yorker,

he estimated that the United States faces a 60% chance of a new civil war in the next two decades.

And to substantiate this prediction,

he delineated five common factors that he's seen in other places.

They were entrenched polarization with no obvious meeting place for resolution,

increasingly divisive press coverage and information flows,

weakened institutions, notably the legislative and judicial branches,

for the abandonment of responsibility by leadership,

and five, the legitimization of both rhetorical and physical violence

as the means to solve disputes.

Mines isn't the only one sounding the alarm about hatred in our society.

A survey this August of five leading civil war historians

put the consensus odds of some new form of civil war at 35%.

And one of these historians sagely notes

why it is that our leaders seem increasingly to mirror the divisions

rather than to heal them.

He says,

the source of conflict is deeply embedded in cultural and social forces.

The source of the conflict is indeed deeply embedded.

It is hatred itself.

Yes, the real enemy facing humanity,

facing society,

facing individual persons,

is hatred.

And the enemy of that enemy is love.

And today's sermon text from Jonah chapter 3 verse 10

Jonah 3:10

to chapter 4 verse 11,

which was so beautifully read.

I would try to recruit you to read at our church,

but I won't do that.

This text is a deconstruction

of hatred,

that hatred lens.

It's an invitation to embrace God's love for our enemy.

Let's look at it together.

Let me pray first.

Father, we thank you for your grace this evening.

We thank you for your love and your mercy.

We pray that you would help us to experience that in our own lives

and to be transformed by it today.

Help us now as we turn to the scripture.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts

be acceptable in your sight.

Oh Lord, our Redeemer.

Amen.

Here's the first thing I want you to see in this passage.

It's this hatred of the enemy.

That enemy lens is ultimately a denial of the gospel.

To nurture enmity is to deny the grace of God.

To view the world through the enemy lens

is to live in the old world that has already been done away in Christ.

If anyone has the right to hate an enemy,

it is Jonah.

And it's these Ninevites that he has a right to hate.

Nineveh is the capital of Assyria,

a regional superpower,

a brutal oppressor of the Israelite people.

The prophet Nahum

dubs Nineveh in his writing,

that bloody city full of lies and corruption.

Jonah hates the Ninevites.

And if you understand ancient Israel,

it's not hard to see why.

But the text shocks us

by showing us that this hatred of Nineveh

is something more than it seems.

Look at chapter 4, verse 2.

Jonah is not only hating Nineveh,

but he's going to war with God.

He hurls God's very nature at him as an insult.

It is one of the most theologically correct prayers

in the whole Old Testament.

And it is uttered in fury.

Oh, Lord, is not this what I said

when I was yet in my country?

For I knew you are a gracious God

and merciful, slow to anger

and abounding in steadfast love

and relenting from disaster.

What is going on here?

Jonah's professed faith in a God

who wants to mercifully bless the nations

has come up against another commitment in his life.

A commitment to hating the Ninevites

for the threat they represent to him,

real or imagined.

And as these two commitments collide,

it becomes clear which one wins out.

And this is exposed as Jonah lashes out at God.

You're so soft, God.

Don't you know this grace and mercy rubbish

doesn't work in the real world?

These godless Assyrians are going to destroy our country, Lord.

We're trying to defend righteousness

and you are either with us or you're against us.

But if you know this story,

you're seeing now that Jonah's life

is an exercise in missing the point.

Jonah is himself a picture of the gospel,

albeit in a very ironic form.

It's right in front of his face,

but he can't see it.

Think about it.

In chapter 1,

Jonah runs from God

and he descends.

He goes down to Joppa.

He goes down into the hull of a ship.

He goes down, down, down

into the sea,

being tossed over,

dying to save

these newly converted sailors.

He descends.

Swallowed by a large fish,

in chapter 2,

he cries out to the Lord

in his distress

and is vomited up onto the land

three days later.

Resurrected.

Sent out afresh

to Nineveh.

In chapter 3,

he preaches the most unimpressive,

unenthusiastic sermon

of all time.

Five words in Hebrew.

But sure enough,

40 days after that resurrection

from the belly of the fish

comes Pentecost.

The people repent.

God relents.

All are at peace

except Jonah.

Here he sits

deeply angry.

What we're seeing here

is the chief example

of a sinner

saved by grace

come to the knowledge of God

even though he ran away.

He had no excuse.

Jonah rejoiced.

But then he regressed.

And so now God is gently,

mercifully trying to open

Jonah's eyes

to what this grace means

for his life

and for his calling.

He's being so gracious to him.

Now you might be thinking,

Jonah obviously is

sort of a bigot.

He doesn't understand

God's grace.

But we do.

We see it in Jesus.

Not so fast.

This is the exact same progression

from the truth of God's grace

in our own lives

to the experience

that must occur

as we live it out.

See,

when the just,

righteous God

shows indescribable mercy

to this wicked prophet Jonah,

when God relents

of his fierce anger

toward Nineveh

for their evil,

and when he invites us

into his family

through the gospel,

he does so

only in light

of the self-giving,

of his own self-giving

in Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul says

that the only way

that God can be just

and the justifier

of the one

who has faith in Jesus

is through the cross.

It's amazing grace.

But what Jonah's

having to learn

and what we have to learn

in our lives

is this is not

a static possession

to be hoarded.

God's grace

is not a static possession

to be hoarded.

Christ dies for us,

yes,

but then we join him

in death

through baptism.

And our lives

are to become

an analogy

of his self-giving love.

And this means

that just as in some sense,

just as Christ died

for the ungodly,

so in some sense,

we too

must live out

self-sacrificial love

for those

who would otherwise

be our enemies.

Miroslav Volf

calls this

the social significance

of the theme

of divine self-giving.

He says,

as God does not

abandon the godless

to their evil,

but gives himself

for them

in order to receive

them into divine communion,

so also should we,

whoever our enemies

and whoever we may be.

And Jonah is standing

at this moment

of immaturity.

And God is showing him

and he's showing us

to fail,

his failure

to mature

in the gospel

as he hates others,

as he sees the world

through the enemy lens.

To see the world

merely in terms

of the good guys

and the bad guys

is to live

in the old world

that's been done away with

in Christ.

That's the first thing

we see in this text.

Here's the second thing.

To hate an enemy

is a suicidal tendency.

To view the world

through that lens

will destroy us.

The fire of anger

consumes.

It destroys our lives.

It destroys our effectiveness.

It's right to look at this text

in the macro level.

This is a text

written to Israel.

It's written to the church.

That's who Jonah represents.

But Jonah is also

an individual

and this addresses us

in our individuality.

Comes right down

to the world

where we live

sometimes in hatred

and anger.

In chapter 3, verse 9,

the king of Nineveh

prays this prayer

and commands everyone

to repent.

He says,

we'll see if God

will turn from

his fierce anger,

his burning anger.

And God does turn.

But then,

when we look at

chapter 4, verse 1,

God's anger

is not burning.

He's repented.

The people of Nineveh

have repented.

But Jonah

is burned up

with hatred.

And it's destroying him.

He says,

in chapter 4, verse 3,

Lord,

please take my life

from me.

It is better to live

than to die.

Burned up.

Verse 8,

it is better for me

to die

than to live.

And again,

in verse 9,

I am angry enough

to die.

Jonah's a warning to us

that if our hatred

is not transformed

by the gospel,

by the Lord's spirit,

that it will destroy us.

Just as a scorching,

hot wind comes

and destroys Jonah's plant

that shades him,

so too will it bring

spiritual dryness to us.

Just as the worm of anger

eats the roots

of that plant,

so will it destroy

the roots of our joy.

God asks Jonah

a question twice.

Do you do well

to be angry?

Literally,

is it good

for you to be angry?

And the answer

is obviously

no.

But Jonah

loves his anger

and it's ruining him.

Am I saying

that Jonah's anger

is really destroying

his life?

Is he really suicidal?

I don't know.

But I know

it can destroy

our lives

in a couple of ways.

On the most basic level,

Jonah's anger

and our anger

may well be causing

real harm

to ourselves.

So whether I'm

feeling that

rage

of wanting to fight

an enemy

or take them down

or get the best

or stewing

in the powerless

anger

that comes with

feeling victimized,

these things

cause real joy,

real harm.

There is no joy

in Jonah,

no shalom.

And the same

will be true of us

if we continually

view the world

through the lens

of enemy.

enemy.

The APA,

the Psychological

Association,

did a survey

last year,

a big study,

and found

significantly

increased levels

of stress

during the election.

That wouldn't

affect us here,

right?

A follow-up survey

this year

found that this

has remained

true

well into 2017.

And it's not

difficult to see

why.

Social scientists

and researchers

note that as our

connectivity has

increased through

things like social

media,

the 24-hour news

cycle,

the chief emotion

stoked through

these things

is by far

anger.

Anger has become

a virtue.

If you're not

outraged,

you're not

paying attention.

And the

effects on

people can

be pronounced.

An increase

in anxiety,

depression,

physical symptoms

like increased

blood pressure,

headache.

The enemy lens

drains us from

the joy of the

gospel.

It also

destroys our

effectiveness for

God's kingdom.

Jonah is this

picture of the

temptation that

faces the

Christian.

When Jonah is

in this rage

induced despair,

he goes out

and he builds

a hut for

himself outside

the city.

It's a booth

or in Hebrew

a Sukkot.

It's the kind

of booth that

the people of

Israel built

every year as

they commemorated

the Feast of

Tabernacles.

They're wandering

in the wilderness,

a day of

celebration that

God had

delivered them.

In effect,

Jonah builds

a little chapel,

a safe,

familiar shelter

from that big,

bad city.

Jonah should

be down there

taking the

Ninevites to

the next step,

seeing if they

will not only

turn in fear

of God's

punishment,

but turn in

faith to the

living God.

But instead,

he retreats

into himself

and he says,

God,

damn those

pagans.

He kicks

back on his

couch,

he watches

the evening

news,

stokes his

outrage.

The world's

going to hell

in a handbasket

after all,

isn't it?

Jonah would

say.

The fire of

anger,

it consumes

his life.

He should be

active in

mission,

but he's

sitting down,

stewing in

his anger.

Imagine if we

took all the

time that we

spend

brooding,

in anger,

viewing life

through the

enemy lens,

and we

put it into

action for

God's

kingdom.

How much

more joy

and effectiveness

would there

be?

How much

more joy

would we

have if

we weren't

constantly

bombarded

by the

latest

outrageous

story?

to hate

an enemy,

to view

the world

through that

lens,

is ultimately

a suicidal

tendency.

Here's the

last thing I

want to show

you in this

text.

Hatred of an

enemy reveals

a lack of

spiritual

imagination.

To live in

hatred is to

be blind to

what the

gospel makes

possible.

there's an

important

exercise in

imagination

going on

in the

enacted

parable of

Jonah and

the plant.

Jonah's

sitting in

his little

booth,

stewing in

his rage,

but because of

the way these

plants were,

these booths

were constructed,

it wouldn't have

really shaded him

all that well.

They're using

palm fronds

as the ceiling.

But then,

miracle of

miracles,

a plant

springs up

overnight.

Out of

nowhere,

a reminder

of God's

promise that

the Messiah

would shoot

up like a

root from

the stem of

Jesse.

Jonah seems

to understand

the significance

of this plant

because the

text says

for the first

time in the

whole story

that Jonah

is glad.

He's

exceedingly

glad,

it says in

verse 6,

but as soon

as this plant

comes up,

it awakens

hope,

God takes

it down,

and he uses

this as a

way to take

Jonah's anger

and redirect

it in an

empathetic way

with where it

needs to be,

which is on

Nineveh.

God says,

in effect,

that hope

you're rejoicing

in,

salvation,

that I have

not forgotten

you,

that is

not for

you alone,

Jonah,

but also

for your

enemies.

God ends

this book

with a

question,

should I,

should not

I pity

Nineveh,

that great

city in

which there

are more

than 120,000

persons who

do not know

their right

hand from

their left

and also

much cattle?

I think

that's supposed

to be funny,

but I'm not

sure why.

Jonah is

led to

imagine

something bigger

than himself

and his own

suffering,

real though it

may be,

and the text

is asking

its readers

to participate

and exercise

their imagination

as they are

called to

bear the

cross of

Christ in

mission with

him.

The first

readers of

the book

of Jonah

were the

people of

Judah,

the southern

kingdom.

They had

been forcibly

removed from

their land.

The Davidic

lineage,

that plant,

had seemingly

been cut off

forever,

and they were

sitting in

exile to

Assyria's

successor,

Babylon.

And these

readers would

have been

acutely aware

of what had

happened,

between the

time of

Jonah's

story,

and they're

sitting there

reading it

in Babylon.

Because even

though the

Assyrians

turned here,

a century

later,

they were

back at

their old

ways,

and they

came into

the northern

kingdom,

the ten

tribes of

Israel,

with fury,

and they

removed the

people,

scattered them

to the

wind,

and Israel

was no

more.

And the

first readers

sitting in

exile themselves,

tempted to

despair of

all hope,

are faced

with the

question of

what if

Jonah had

loved that

city and

its people?

Would

Israel have

lasted?

And as they

ponder the

question,

their imaginations

would have been

provoked in

new ways.

They would

have thought of

what the

prophet Jeremiah

said as

God took

them into

exile.

He said,

seek the

welfare of

the city

where I

have sent

you into

exile and

pray to

the Lord

on its

behalf,

for in

its welfare

you will

find your

welfare.

Reading

Jonah in

light of

their current

situation,

they would

have been

provoked to

imagine the

possibility that

if they

embraced the

exile,

if they

embraced

this cross,

God would

visit them

with a

resurrection

that seemed

impossible.

They were

led to

imagine that

perhaps God

had not

abandoned

them,

but that

God was

going to

use their

suffering at

the hands

of an

enemy to

bring the

fulfillment of

the promise to

bless the

nations that

he made so

long ago in

Abraham,

their two

Abraham,

Isaac,

and Jacob.

How does

this relate to

the church?

The Polish

poet,

Czesław

Milosz,

writes,

Imagination

can fashion

the world

into a

homeland as

well as

into a

prison or

a place

of battle.

It is

the invisibles

that determine

how you will

view the

world,

whether as

a homeland

or as

a prison.

nobody lives

in the

objective

world,

only in

a world

filtered

through the

imagination.

And in

a world

that seems

to increasingly

thrive

on hatred,

that seems

to form

in us

this enemy

lens

through which

we view

things,

what we

need as

the people

of God

is for

a new

imagination,

what we

need is

to pray

our minds

and our

hearts

into the

gospel story

of the

God who

loves his

enemies

and in

loving them

turns them

into his

friends.

Christian

prayer is

nothing less

than entering

into the

imagination

of reconciliation.

salvation.

And I

think the

best hope

for us

in our

times is

for a

church

alive with

that

imagination.

If we're

hating our

enemy,

if we're

viewing the

world through

that lens,

we do so

from a

lack

of spiritual

imagination.

imagination.

We are

blind to

the

possibilities

that the

gospel

gives us.

Well,

here we

are.

Through

Jonah,

we get a

kind of

reductio ad

absurdum

of hatred

of our

enemies.

More

positively,

we're

invited into

a deeper

understanding

of grace

in our

own lives.

And we

are not

invited to

a renewal

of spiritual

imagination.

If this

all seems

too

hopelessly

big

picture,

I apologize.

I want to

leave you

with a

very tangible

step that

you can

take,

that you

must take,

if you

are to

be part

of entering

into this

imagination.

You

must pursue

reconciliation

with your

brothers and

sisters.

I'm only

33,

but I've

been deeply

involved in

quite a

few churches.

I've

worked at

three of

them,

different

countries,

different

denominations,

different sizes,

different worship

styles,

and what has

been consistent

at all of

them,

what held

them back

from getting

to mission

to the

world,

was that the

enemy lens

had affected

them on the

inside.

grudges

were

nursed,

conflict

was never

dealt with

in a

healthy

manner,

gossip

was

spread.

Jesus

said,

the world

will know

that you

are my

disciples

by the

love you

have for

one another.

And I've

seen that

look really

good,

and I've

also seen

it continually

threaten

God's

people in

the church

and their

mission.

See,

the real

enemy we

face is

hatred,

it's

unforgiveness,

it's living

outside of

the gospel,

it's living

in the old

world.

And the

church is to

be a

vanguard of

self-giving

love.

If we

can't love

one another

as God's

people,

our brothers

and sisters,

whether they're

in this

room or

other brothers

and sisters,

how are we

going to

love our

enemies?

The enemy

of our

enemy is

love.

It is

the divine

love of

God's

self-giving

in Christ.

In just

a few

moments,

we're going

to pray

the Lord's

prayer.

We're going

to say,

forgive us

our trespasses

as we

forgive those

who trespass

against us.

And we're

going to

partake with

Jesus at

the table,

declaring that

we partake

of one

loaf and

one cup.

And as

we prepare

our hearts

for this,

Dan's

going to

come play

a song.

And I want

you to reflect

on whom

you've made

into an

enemy and

ask the

Lord to

show you

how to

seek genuine

reconciliation in

your life.

Let me pray.

Father, we

thank you for

your grace.

We thank you

that though

we, like

Paul, are

the chiefest

of sinners,

that you

have loved

us with

an everlasting

love, that

though like

Jonah who

fled into

the far

country and

that son

who went

and lived

with the

pigs, that

even though we

ran away, you

ran after us.

Help us

now to

take that

more deeply

into our

heart, to be

transformed by

it, and

that it would

work itself

out in

your church, in

this place.

We ask this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.