LOVE’S REDEMPTIVE POWER

Reflections on the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9,12-13,22-23, 1 Corinthians 15:45-49, Luke 6:27-38

Martin Luther King, Jr., in his sermon ‘Loving Your Enemies’ on 17th November 1957, preached that history, unfortunately, leaves some people oppressed and some people oppressors and that there are three main ways that we deal with this situation:

1. We respond to the oppressors with physical violence and hatred. The problem with this approach, according to King is that violence creates more social problems than it solves. Succumbing to the temptation of hatred will only lead unborn generations to become “recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness” and “our chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos”.

2. We give in to the violence of the oppressor. King describes this response as characteristic of those who prefer the slavery of Egypt to the challenges of the journey to the promised land. “And so they resign themselves to the fate of oppression; they somehow acquiesce to this thing”. However, this is also not the right way since it becomes a way of cooperating with evil and thus fails in the moral obligation to resist the evil of violence.

3. For King, however, the most appropriate way is ‘the principle of love’ inspired by today’s gospel. He said, “There's power in love. Don't underestimate it. Don't even over-sentimentalize it. There's power, power in love”. This power of love is intimately related to its redemptive potential.

Jesus invites us to love our enemies because “if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption”. When we discover this redemptive power of love, we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way. Jesus discovered that”. He concludes, “There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies”.

The invitation to love our enemies, turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, give a good measure, and pray for our persecutors, is essentially an invitation to experience this redemptive power of love. This power goes against the reflex of ‘retaliation’, which calls us to return good for good and evil for evil. Love transforms and redeems the oppressor and the oppressed alike. Letting go of the reflex to retaliate or venge our oppressors helps us embrace the redemptive logic of love. It opens us to a new way of being and a different manner of relating.

The call to love our enemies is not about giving in to the cycle of violence. It is about opening oneself to the logic of mutual dialogue, engagement, conversion, and reaching out. This is not always ‘easy’ or ‘practical’. Of course, it may not work, but the positive step taken opens the way to fraternity. It takes time and patience. The path is not simplistic or merely idealistic. True reconciliation is not a mental or ideological construct, it's an experience to be lived.

The story of Saul and David (first reading) is a witness to the redemptive power of love. They have a lot in common. Both Saul and David were from humble beginnings but exalted to kingship. Samuel anointed them with oil and God’s power rested upon them. However, their relationship is marked with obstacles:

1. Manipulation: Saul loves David and even makes him his son-in-law. However, he ends up trying to manipulate and ensnare him.

2. Jealousy: When people started singing: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7), Saul fell victim to his insecurities and jealousy and ultimately attempted to kill David on more than one occasion (1 Samuel 18:10-11).

3. Revenge: Jonathan succeeds to keep David from Saul’s suspicions and rivalry for some time. But, when Saul becomes obsessed with getting his revenge, David has to flee.

Interestingly though, David has his chance for revenge on two separate occasions (1 Samuel 24 and 26) but lets him go saying, “Though the LORD delivered you into my grasp, I would not harm the LORD’s anointed”. David recognises that the jealous and vengeful Saul is still an anointed person. Despite his failings, he is not beyond the redemptive power of God’s love. Can we look beyond the reflex of vengeance and violence to discover this redemptive power of love?