Second Sunday before Lent
“‘Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked”
Summary
“This morning’s readings explore the power of forgiveness. In Genesis 45:3-11, 15, Joseph’s brothers “could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence,”). They are filled with shame, as well they might be, having beaten him, left him for dead and allowed him to be trafficked into slavery. Yet Joseph shows only mercy and kindness, begging them not to feel bad, promising them land and livelihoods, “for it was not you who sent me here, but God.”
Joseph, however can afford to be forgiving because it has all turned out well for him. But what of those enslaved under Roman occupation, whose oppressors show no remorse and to whom Jesus preaches the power of love and forgiveness in Luke 6:27-38?
Jesus is right that it is costly to love your enemy and yet he presents this not an act of submission or weakness but a sign of strength. He offers it as a way of rejecting and subverting the power of the mighty; a way of demonstrating to those with power a different way to live.
Under Roman law, a master was permitted to strike his slave on one cheek but not on both. By asking his listeners to offer the other cheek Jesus is recommending a kind of civil disobedience which challenges the right of the master. It was lawful for a Roman citizen to force a non-citizen to carry his belongings for a mile, but no more, walking the extra mile, as Jesus urged, would compel the Roman to break his own law. In effect, Christ is saying that when our opponents go low, we need to go high. Forgiveness is not a call to put up with bad behaviour, it is a call to model a different, better way of living.
First Reading
Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me; do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there, since there are five more years of famine to come, so that you and your household and all that you have will not come to poverty.’
And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them, and after that his brothers talked with him.
GOSPEL
Luke 6:27-38
‘But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
