Continuing the series of posts on difficult to understand or difficult to accept things in the Bible, I come to one where the question is difficult to understand!
Loving those who hurt you!
In the great pantheon on time, why is our life on earth so short?
I'll have a guess at what the intention was behind this, and if I got it wrong, perhaps whoever wrote this in the first place will comment and correct me.
There are two things on the mind of this mystery correspondent. Firstly Jesus' insistence on loving our enemies. The second point I'm choosing to answer in a way that will (I hope) throw light on the first.
Jesus quite often said revolutionary and uncomfortable things. He said that the last will be first, and we've steadfastly ignored him ever since. Ever been in a supermarket queue where the checkout girl has got up and ushered the person at the very back to come past everyone else and be served first?
Didn't think so.
His command to love your enemies is a bit like that. It's a bit of a contradiction in terms, isn't it? I mean, by definition, your enemies are the ones you don't love, so if you loved them you wouldn't have ... ah - I think perhaps I'm beginning to understand.
Jesus also took issue with "an eye for an eye," didn't he? His point there was that this Old Testament law which limited revenge didn't go far enough. It still allowed you to take proportionate retribution. But what if you didn't fight back at all? Ever?
What would that look like? Remarkably like getting crucified, actually.
Jesus had come to soak up all the violence in the world like a sponge, and to give none of it back. He was the place where it all stopped. And if we are going to be his followers, we have to do the same. Violence stops here. Hatred stops here. It just stops.
If only.
But the trouble is, we think, life's too short to let the b*******ds get away with it. And that's where we're wrong.
Here's the moment when I explain the title of today's post - a sparrow in a hall. It comes from an ancient Saxon saying about life - it's like a sparrow flying through a feasting hall, and then back out into the night. Just for a moment it flits in from the cold and the dark, and passes through the warm, brightly lit room full of chatter and joy, and then, back out into the darkness again.
So eat drink and be merry! Make the most of your moments in the sun. That's what this seems to be saying. YOLO, as people say these days.
But they're wrong. People who follow Jesus have started a new life that begins now and goes on for ever. It's not over in a flash, quite the opposite. The best is yet to be. And in the light of the wonderful, bright, warm celebrations that eternity will bring, the pains and injustices of this life take on a new, diminished perspective.
What if the sparrow, after flying through the hall, was going to enter an even brighter, better room?
If we use "hall" in its modern sense, then it's just the anteroom, the place where you hang up your coat and slip off your outdoor shoes, before being welcomed in to the real party that's going on inside.
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