Could You Love Osama?: Sermon Luke 6:27-36

Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

Some of you looked at the title of this week’s sermon with some curiosity or perhaps some apprehension. The title of this week’s sermon is Could You Love Osama?, and no it was not a typo. There is no doubt that Osama Bind Laden is public enemy number one. He is the mastermind of the horrible attacks of September 11^th and many other terrorist attacks around the world. He is number one on the FBI most wanted list, and his name and likeness has become engrained in our conscious. I chose this title because Osama Bin Laden is a name that stirs hatred in the hearts of many people. This question points deep within the heart of the Christian life. Jesus calls his followers to love their enemies. It is one thing to speak of this in the abstract, but it is another to put a name and a face to that commandment. Then the commandment ceases to be “love your enemy” and it becomes “love Osama Bin Laden.”

Is this kind of love attainable? Are we as human beings strong enough to love a mortal enemy? Are we able to love someone who does us such harm? Could we love someone who murders a loved one, or a child? These questions are extremely difficult to examine. Love your enemy is closely related to the second of the love commandments love your neighbor because some of our neighbors are inevitably our enemies. John Wesley called the perfect love of God and neighbor Christian perfection which comes at the end of sanctification and he also said that no one, not even himself had attained perfection in this life. Even though it is probably not attainable does it mean that we should not even try? No, Jesus did not give teachings lightly and Jesus would not challenge us if he did not want us to work toward this goal.

If we are to work toward this goal we must understand the difference between love and hate. Because our choice to either love or hate comes with consequences that we must understand. Why do we hate? This question was a topic for a forum at Vanderbilt Divinity School a few weeks ago, and as I looked at the flyer the answer to the question came into mind. It is easier to hate than it is to love. People hate because it is much easier to find fault with a person than it is to accept them despite their faults. People hate one another because of who people are and what people do. People hate others because they ARE of a different race, ethnic group, culture, nation, political ideology. People hate because others ARE something that they are not and that causes tensions and even fear and fear leads to hatred. People hate others because of what they do. People hate those who commit crimes against them, either to their person or to their property. People hate others because they cheat the system and they receive things they do not deserve. It is easy to hate someone because they look or act differently. Love on the other hand requires something more from us, but more on that later.

Hate does not solve problems it only creates more problems. Imagine hate raging out of control like the wildfires in southern California. The firefighters would not pour gasoline on those fires in order to put them out. So we cannot hope to combat hatred with hatred. Hate only breeds more hate. I think about a boy who had an abusive father. His father would drink and physically and verbally abuse him and his mother. The boy grew to hate his father with passion. As the boy grew older he clung to his mother, whom he deeply loved, and the relationship grew stronger. His mother died suddenly and the boy, who had grown into a man, could not force a tear to fall. He was living on his own away from this family, but he still had a searing hatred for his father. Until one day his father died. At the funeral the man could not hold back his tears and those who looked at him could not believe what they were seeing. The man did not cry at the loss of his father, but because he had lost of the object of his hate. He no longer had the focus of hate that had controlled his whole life. This is the danger of hatred.

Hate only destroys it can never create. Hate destroys nations through war. Think of how many conflicts have taken place because of the hatred of one to another. Hate destroys relationships because of jealousy, anger, and violence. Hate destroys communities through fear and mistrust. However, hate is more than something done to another. Hate also deforms the hater. Hate changes people for the worse. It causes bitterness and resentment. It causes people to hold grudges and poison their souls with unforgiveness. So many times it is the person who hates and not the object of the hatred that receives the most damage. We must remember that hatred will eat us alive like a virus and it can spread to those around us like a virus as well. No wonder Jesus warns us against taking this road towards destruction. Jesus knew what people who hate are capable of because he became a victim of fear and hatred. This is why Jesus urges us toward the way of love which is according to Paul the “more excellent way.”

The kind of love that Jesus talks about is the love the Greeks called agape. I have talked about this often and so I will not go into details, but agape is the kind of love that God has for us and the kind that God wants us to have for one another.

When Jesus told the people to turn the other cheek, many took it as a sign of passivism or even weakness. However, it takes far more courage to love someone, especially someone who does you harm than it does to hate them back. The kind of love that Jesus is talking about is revolutionary in nature and it is very active. People in Jesus’ time had never heard of such a love. Love your enemy, give more to those who steal from you. This kind of love was unheard of in those days and even today that kind of love is rarely seen. This kind of love cannot come from human means. Our minds cannot even conceive of it. It comes from God. God blesses us with this kind of love and shows us a more excellent way of life.

This kind of love is also redemptive. It can change lives. Remember a couple of years ago there was a shooting in an Atlanta courthouse and a prisoner, who had killed many people, escaped. The prisoner broke into the apartment of a young woman who was getting ready for work. He threatened her and in all likelihood was going to kill her, but instead of hating the man she showed him kindness and love. She did what most of us would think is impossible. She loved the man who was going to be her murderer. The love she showed that man created redemption within him and he later turned himself in with no more bloodshed. Love can redeem any person, even someone as evil as Osama Bin Laden.

Love is sacrificial. It requires something from us. We have to give of ourselves in order to love someone. We have to accept the faults of others in order to love them. We give of ourselves to those we love. Jesus shows us the ultimate example of sacrificial love when we willingly gave himself to be crucified. Jesus gave his very life so that those he loved could have life with him in eternity. Love’s reward is not always immediate. Those you show your love to might not return that love to you. In fact your love might be return with hatred. Return hate with love is not immediately satisfying. I’m not going to lie, it feels good to hit someone back or tell someone off when they do it to you first. It feels good when the bad guy gets blown up at the end of the movie. We have to remember, however, that that feeling is only temporary and the long term effects are far worse than the immediate satisfaction. Our final reward might not come for awhile, but it lasts eternally. Love will last forever and when we dwell with God we will dwell in love. Our reward for living one another in this world is to dwell in God’s love forever.

So this brings us back to the original question, can we love Bin Laden? Let me makes some things clear. Loving our enemies does not mean that we do not hold them accountable for the harm they have done to the innocent. It does not mean that they should not be punished for their crimes. It does mean that we do not sink down to their level by destroying them as they destroyed us. If we show love to our enemies perhaps we can see redemption for them as well. Wouldn’t that be the greatest show of God’s redemptive power if Osama Bin Laden understood his wrongdoings and submitted to the love of God? With love there is always a chance for redemption and change. We are called to love our enemies and it is not easy and we might not make it to that level of love, but it does not mean we should not try.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.