Flourishing Life

Read Luke 6:27-36.

 

Jesus, it seems to me, is a very difficult person to follow. Indeed, follow is what he asks of us. He doesn't say, "Hey, check me out, see what I'm doing, listen to what I'm saying, but pretty much forget about it when you go about your daily lives." Jesus didn't tell his disciples, "After you've encountered me, go ahead and live the same way you've always been living." Jesus didn't tell them after his Resurrection, "Hey folks, I'm going to go back up to heaven and wait until you die, and then because of my sacrifice, you've got your ticket in. Just go on living, business as usual, until then."

No, Jesus challenged them and he challenges us. I wonder if sometimes we don't read his words with a bit of a jadedness. We've heard this stuff before, we'll hear it again. We don't really live it. Are we expected to live it? Did he really mean some of this crazy stuff like "Love your enemies"? Seriously? Really?

I mean, come on, now! Love my enemies? You mean the ones I hate? You mean the people who've hurt me? You mean the people that if I only had the chance and no one else was looking I'd really make pay for all the pain they've caused me? You mean those enemies? Really?

Jesus is tough. He's radical. Some would say, crazy.