Responding to those who hurt us

How would you feel if God treated with compassion and mercy—equal to that which he has given you—those people in your life that have not been very nice to you, or worse yet, have intentionally caused you harm?

Isn’t there just a little part of you (or more) that would feel betrayed if someone who has “persecuted” you didn’t get their just reward?  It is almost ingrained in us that justice is something accomplished through punishment, or sometimes, determined by our emotional response.

But justice in the eyes of God looks different than we might hope—unless of course it is being applied to us!

As we continue in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 5, we learn from Jesus that we are supposed to love those who work against us and pray for them as well. Does that mean that God’s form of justice is just letting everybody off the hook, a sort of universal lovefest?

Well, not exactly.  Jesus says that the sun rises on the bad and the good and rain falls on the just and the unjust.  That doesn’t give a free ride to the bad and unjust, but speaks of God’s fair treatment—judging us according to what we deserve. And whatever it is that we deserve, God’s love and compassion will accompany it.

That’s a good thing—for most of us—I hope.  But think of it this way.  You are standing at heaven’s door staring into St. Peter’s face as he looks over his list.  On his list are some great saints—like St. Teresa of Calcutta.  Do you want your life to be judged according to hers?  I don’t think so.

If St. Teresa is the standard against which we are measured, I’m getting nervous already.

Fortunately, that’s not how God’s justice works.  Like I said, God treats each of us fairly and considers what we deserve.  Most of us regular people can appreciate that God’s form of justice looks at us individually and not against the measuring stick applied to others.

As a matter of justice, then, our enemies and those who persecute us are the very people that need our love and prayers.  Naturally, that doesn’t mean we are supposed to continue to be subjected to their persecution, but with an interior spirit of love, trust that God will judge them fairly—according to his manner of justice—whatever that might look like for each individual.

Loving enemies and praying for persecutors is hard work.  It’s not simply a nice platitude. To love and pray for others comes from a place deep within us that hopes that even the lost will be saved.

And to our great surprise, we may one day discover that we are among those who are lost, in need of love and prayers, compassion and mercy.

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com
janetcassidy.blubrry.net