In the Sermon on the Mount which begins at the beginning of Matthew 5, Jesus turns the idea of blessing on its head and then later admonishes or invites the people to pray for enemies. This is a hard thing to do anytime, but this moment seems like the ‘ussing’ and ‘themming’ is at new levels. And then it is also constantly shifting- we may think we are an ‘us’ only to find out we are a ‘them’. Fact- we are always an us to someone and a them to someone else! So this passage always leads us. I am not going to say it is easy…but it starts with seeing myself as God’s beloved child. What did I do to ‘earn’ that title? Fully receiving the reality that it was a gift may be the beginning of seeing the belovedness in someone we do not understand or like very much or with whom we disagree. Then put it in words, ‘Lord, I don’t know how to pray for my enemies, but I know that when I release it to You, I don’t have to know…I simply have to follow Your lead. In Jesus’ name. Amen’ If you’d like to ponder Matthew 5:44 a bit more, here’s a link to multiple translations. The one that really got my attention was this one from the Amplified Bible:
‘But I say to you, love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’
-Pastor Trudy Stoffel