James: Hating Our Enemies

I follow an Instagram account called Language Nerds. It's quite funny. Lots of plays on different languages and things.

! It once posted a post about terms of endearment from different countries around the world translated into English.

And whilst we might use terms like darling or love or sweetheart in the UK, in France they might call each other my little flea.

In Japan the equivalent is my egg with eyes.

In Indonesia, my little elephant. In Chinese, my diving fish swooping goose.

Italy, they call each other my little microbe. And in Flemish, my little round thing.

I'm not sure how I would respond if I was called any of those.

But at least none of those are quite as bad as James' nickname.

Now James is a disciple that we are looking at today.

One of the twelve. One of the first four disciples called by Jesus.

One of two disciples called James.

James. Now we might distinguish between the two Jameses as James the greater and James the lesser.

Not to do with height or status but probably to do with worth or status but probably to do with age or height.

But back in Jesus' day, Jesus nicknamed James and his brother John as the sons of thunder.

I've often wondered why did Jesus call them the sons of thunder.

Was it because they had really bad anger issues?

Was it because they had iffy digestive systems?

Or perhaps more likely, it was to do with their passionate, zealous, impulsive natures.

As well as their sometimes stormy personalities.

And James is rarely seen independently from his brother John.

And we first encounter them whilst they're out fishing with their father Zebedee.

In Matthew 4, when Jesus invites them to come and follow him,

we read that they immediately leave behind everything.

Their boat, their father, and they go and follow Jesus.

They're compelled by the call of the Son of God.

They leave everything that they know behind in order to follow him, learn from him, and become more like him.

Throughout the gospel accounts, we learn that James is one of Jesus' inner circle.

One of his three best friends along with John and Peter.

And because of his position within the twelve, he was able to see amazing things that Jesus did.

Like turning water into wine.

Walking on water.

Feeding the multitudes.

Healing the sick.

Raising the dead.

Calming the storms.

But he also was witness to the transfiguration on Mount Tabor.

He saw him raising Jairus' daughter from the dead.

And he was part of the not-so-prayerful prayer crew in Gethsemane, the night before Jesus died.

Over three years of public ministry, James, along with the other disciples, followed Jesus as he encountered the last, the least, and the lost.

As he changed lives, challenged the status quo, and ultimately gave his life for the salvation of all people.

James got to see the incarnation of God's love in action on a daily basis.

And that would have been utterly life-changing.

But, in our first reading that Anthea read for us this morning, we hear that even in following the Prince of Peace around for three years of his public ministry,

James still had that fiery temper that got him nicknamed one of the Sons of Thunder.

And the passage tells us that Jesus knew it was nearly time for him to be crucified and go back to heaven.

And so he sent some messengers, probably James and John, ahead of him to go and scout out in the nearest Samaritan village, a place to get ready for him.

Probably some sort of lodgings for the night.

However, on arrival, the messengers find out they don't want Jesus there.

Jesus and his motley crew are not welcome because they're heading to Jerusalem.

Now, the Samaritans and the Jews had drama between them.

Because the Samaritans were this denomination of Jews where they'd intermarried with non-Jewish colonists from the north.

And they didn't believe that they should have to go to Jerusalem to worship Jesus.

They didn't believe that the prophets had been divinely inspired by God.

So they just stuck to the first five books of our Old Testament, the Torah.

So there was this judgment and animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans.

And this particular village had rejected Jesus and his disciples from staying there.

And as we read in verse 53 of our passage, the people didn't welcome him there because he was heading to Jerusalem.

I wonder how I would feel if I was planning to stay there but wasn't allowed to because of my beliefs.

A reality that is true for so many people across the world.

Perhaps some of us would feel some sort of sympathy with James who had this sense of injustice

and desire to call down fire from heaven from anyone who dared to ostracize or persecute Jesus.

But I wonder if Jesus knew that this was going to happen.

It wasn't unlike him to take a longer route around on a journey to meet people who were in need of counter with him.

So perhaps Jesus intentionally went out of his way on this route in order to try and bring some peace to a situation of hostility.

And we see that Jesus is so unfazed by the situation.

He's unfazed by the rejection.

But James and John, on the other hand, they're angry.

They ask, Lord, should we call fire down from heaven and destroy them?

Can you imagine?

For three years they've been following Jesus around.

They've seen him.

They've been listening to his teaching and learning from him.

Trying to become more like him.

They've seen him encounter Samaritans before with grace and truth and love.

They've even been told before that if a village rejects them,

then shake off the dust from your sandals and go to the next village.

What did they think Jesus was going to say?

Yeah, that would be great, thanks.

That would save me some energy from cooling fire down from heaven to destroy them.

No.

In fact, Jesus turns to them, rebukes them,

and then carries on to the next village.

And I love Eugene Patterson's translation of rebuke in the message version of the Bible.

He calls it exposing our rebellion.

Jesus' rebuke wasn't about shaming James and John,

but about showing them that they weren't walking in the right way yet.

Bringing them into alignment with his own heart.

Following Jesus as their rabbi was about learning from him,

becoming like him.

Calling down fire on the enemy wasn't Jesus' way.

But shaking off the rejection was much more his style.

And I think this is probably where the great Taylor Swift got her lyrical inspiration.

When she said,

haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.

Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.

Shake it off.

I shake it off.

Woo-hoo-hoo.

It's no surprise then that the first parable that Jesus tells

after this situation is the Good Samaritan.

And you may or may not be familiar with the teaching story

where an expert in the law asked Jesus what one must do to inherit eternal life.

And Jesus says,

well, what does the law say?

The expert in the law says,

well, love the Lord your God with all your heart,

with all your mind,

with all your soul,

and with all your strength.

And love your neighbor as yourself.

But the expert continues to try and challenge Jesus

and says,

but who is my neighbor?

And Jesus launches into this parable,

this teaching story of a man,

probably a Jewish man,

who is traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho.

When he's attacked by bandits,

he strip him,

beat him,

and leave him half dead on the side of the road.

And as he lies there,

a priest comes walking by,

sees him,

and goes out of his way to walk around him.

Next comes a Levite,

who, again,

sees the man,

half dead,

on the side of the road,

sees him,

walks around him,

and walks on by.

These two people who are supposed to,

you know,

help people.

And then comes along a Samaritan,

a man whose people hate the Jews.

And this Samaritan sees the man,

has compassion for him,

and so he tends to his wounds.

He takes him to an inn,

pays for his rehabilitation on return.

When Jesus is telling this story,

he's speaking to a bunch of people

who are so set in their ways,

their rules,

and their social history,

that it might not have been surprising to them

that the priest and the Levite

walked around the guy

in order to stop themselves

from being made unclean.

But it certainly would have been surprising

that this Samaritan man cared so much

about the Jewish man.

Why?

Because the traditional teaching

had been to love your neighbour

and hate your enemy.

But Jesus was incredibly counter-cultural.

In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount,

there's a whole section that was devoted

to loving your enemy.

Jesus says,

you have heard that it was said,

love your neighbour and hate your enemies,

but I tell you,

love your enemies

and pray for those who persecute you.

That you may be children

of your Father in heaven.

He causes the sun to rise

on the evil and the good.

He sends rain on the righteous

and the unrighteous.

If you love those who love you,

what reward will you get?

Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

And if you greet only your own people,

what are you doing more than others?

Do not even pagans do that?

Be perfect, therefore,

as your heavenly Father is perfect.

In other words,

love everyone.

Even those who are difficult to love.

Even those that we disagree with.

Even those who've hurt us before.

Because loving all people

is what makes us different

from everybody else.

As Jesus said,

anybody can love people who love them.

Anyone can love their own people,

but when we can love those who hate us,

when we can love those who hurt us,

when we can love people

who make our lives miserable sometimes,

that's when we're doing things

Jesus' way.

And it's by this kind of love,

loving people no matter who

and no matter what,

that kind of love

is what Jesus tells us

will show people

that we belong to him.

Going back to the parable

of the Good Samaritan,

Jesus tells us that it's,

the good neighbor

is the one who had mercy

on the man.

Being a neighbor

isn't necessarily about

living in proximity with someone.

The point Jesus is making

is that we're all members

of the same home.

We are all each other's neighbors.

And we must love

and care for each other

despite differences of opinions,

despite beliefs,

despite each other's ways

of doing things differently

from our own.

If you're like me,

you may well be sitting there

thinking,

well it's easy

to love people

who love me,

people who treat me well,

people who make me feel good,

people who encourage me,

people who make life better.

But how are we supposed

to love those who hate us?

How are we supposed

to love our enemies

and pray for those

who persecute us?

We need an example,

don't we?

And we don't have to

look much further

for our ultimate display

of loving those

who've hurt us.

Jesus on the cross

gives us a really good example.

Because as Jesus hung

on the cross,

he looked upon the people

who mocked him

and spat on him.

People who scorned him

and beat him.

People who called

for his crucifixion

whilst they called

and demanded

for the release

of an unworthy criminal.

People who nailed

his hands to the cross.

And as Jesus hung there

on the cross,

he looked to heaven

and said,

Father, forgive them

for they do not know

what they are doing.

We don't always know

why people hurt us.

Maybe it's an intentional behavior,

but maybe it's just

how they've been taught

to behave.

Maybe they think

they're right

and they don't understand

that we see things differently.

Or maybe it's an overflow

of a heart

that's been hurt already.

An overflow

of something else

going on in their lives.

When I think about

some of the times

that I've been most hurt

by people,

it's the not knowing

why they hurt me

that hurts the most.

But someone once gave me

some really good advice.

You see,

we can't help

but feel compassion

for the people

that we pray for.

So we must pray

for our enemies.

Because when we pray

for people

who've hurt us,

when we pray

for our enemies

or whatever we want

to call them,

there begins to be

this connection

between us

and that person.

And by the power

of the Holy Spirit,

we can't help

but love them.

It doesn't diminish

the situation.

It doesn't make

it all go away

just like that.

But it does help us

to move towards

love,

forgiveness,

mercy.

And I suppose

that's what Jesus

knew when he looked

to the Father

and asked him

to forgive everybody

present at his crucifixion.

Those who,

by the way,

represent each

and every one

of us here.

People who

have rebelled

against God,

who've hurt him,

whose sin

Jesus bared

or on that cross.

And when he told

the disciple

who asked him

how many times

he should forgive

the person

who hurt him,

he responded

not seven,

but 77 times.

Meaning that we have

to keep forgiving,

forgiving,

forgiving,

forgiving until

it doesn't hurt

anymore.

It's not about

letting people

walk all over us

nor is it about

pretending that

stuff doesn't hurt

because stuff

does hurt.

But as disciples

of Jesus

we have an opportunity

to respond

differently,

to be

counter-cultural,

to choose

to repay

hatred and

opposition

with love

and kindness.

forgiveness.

We have the chance

to demonstrate

God's grace

to people

who very may

well have

not encountered

it before.

We have

the chance

to forgive

and befriend

people who

others might

have rejected,

cancelled,

completely given

up on.

James didn't

quite have

a grip

on this

when he

asked Jesus

if he wanted

to cool down

fire from heaven

to destroy

the Samaritan

village.

But Jesus

rebuked him,

exposed his

rebellion

and persevered

with Jesus'

with James'

discipleship.

And by the time

that we encounter

James in Acts 12,

James was ready

to die for Jesus.

There's an early

church historian

called Eusebius

who said,

the man who led

James to the

judgment seat

for trial,

when he saw

him bearing

testimony,

was moved

and confessed

that he himself

was also a

Christian.

They were both

therefore led

away together

and on the way

he begged

James to

forgive him.

And James,

after considering

a little,

said,

peace be with

thee,

and kissed

him.

And thus,

they were both

beheaded at

the same time.

James had

once been

nicknamed

one of the

sons of thunder

for his

zealous,

slightly stormy

disposition.

He made

mistakes.

He wanted

to destroy

the ones

who rejected

Jesus.

He was

rebuked

by Jesus.

Like all

of us

have probably

been at

some point

and will

be because

God's good

discipline is

good.

But he

kept going.

He kept

following Jesus'

example,

following his

teaching.

And by the

time he was

killed,

11 years

after Jesus,

he led

the man,

the very

man who

was involved

in killing

him,

to faith

as well.

love.

So,

James,

loving our

enemy.

It's not

easy,

is it?

We all

know that.

We know

it's not

easy,

but it is

our calling.

It's what

Jesus asks

of us.

And I

don't know

what the

situations

are in

your lives

right now.

Whether you

have your

own personal

enemy,

someone who's

making your

life really

tough,

someone who's

hurt you,

someone you're

finding it

hard to

forgive,

perhaps.

Or maybe

like James,

there's a

situation that

makes you

feel a sense

of injustice

and anger,

politics,

war,

persecution,

perhaps.

Whatever it

is,

Jesus has

given us

the greatest

gift of

all,

a life

transforming,

spirit

moving

gift.

And that's

prayer.

He gives

us what

C.S.

Lewis called

the dignity

of causality,

the ability

to be involved

in the unfolding

of his plans

in our actions,

in our prayers.

And so I

guess we're

left with the

question today.

Are we ready

to get on our

knees and be

joyful in hope,

patient in

affliction,

faithful in

prayer?

Are we ready

to love our

enemies and pray

for those who

persecute us?

Are we

ready to

choose the

Jesus way,

no matter

what the

cost?

Let's pray.

Father God,

all of us

here will

have our

own sense

of an

enemy,

someone who's

hurt us,

disappointed us,

let us down,

something going

on our lives

that is

stealing our

joy,

making life

tough.

But you,

Jesus,

are the

ultimate

example

of what it

means to

forgive,

to love

our neighbour

and to love

our enemies.

show us

what it

looks like,

what it

means to

love our

enemy,

how to

forgive that

person and

to keep

on forgiving

until it

doesn't hurt

anymore.

Help us

to choose

your way,

Jesus,

because your

way is so

much better

than ours.

And in

your way,

Jesus,

there is

freedom,

there is

release.

Thank you,

Jesus.

Amen.