7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Epiphany 7), Year C

But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
—Luke 6:27-28
 
Can we finally agree that it is better to acknowledge the humanity and the potential to do good in the enemy, rather than to choose death? Will we be able to care for our enemies, who are also our neighbors?
—Amy-Jill Levine,
Short Stories by Jesus
 
The luminous black theologian James Cone was frequently asked by white Christians whether he believed in non-violence. In her book Dear White Christians, Jennifer Harvey writes he would respond with another question: “Whose violence are we talking about?”
 
Cone’s response exposed that the violence of those in the majority, of oppression in all its forms, is frequently ignored, unseen, or disregarded. But Jesus’ admonition to love enemies does nothing of the kind. It is anything but passive, complacent, or naïve. Instead it calls for an oppositional, creative response to abusive power that seeks the common good. Turning the other cheek, for example, does not imply weak acquiescence, but overthrowing evil, perhaps by the force of its own momentum. It can take different forms depending on the moment and the need.
 
Are we ready to engage for the good of all. Are we ready to be disciples in the ways Jesus imagined?
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Genesis 45:3-11, 15 † Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40 † 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 † Luke 6:27-38

About the Art: Henrietta. Kindness and Generosity, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59069 [retrieved February 10, 2025]. Original source: https://flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4463707407/.

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