Luke 6:20-36
Imagine for a while that you are wearing a pair of shoes that don't fit your feet. They are way too tight and your feet have painful blisters and you wish for nothing more than to remove those shoes and plunge your feet into a stream of cool water.
But for some reason you aren't allowed to even sit down, let alone take off your shoes. Even if you could take them off you would find no relief because as far as you can see, the terrain is covered with jagged rocks and you still have miles to go before you can rest.
What would you think about those shoes? If you could name those shoes, what would it be? We could all probably come up with some rather nasty things to call that pair of shoes.
Suppose I tell you that I have a very appropriate name for those shoes. And suppose I tell I am going to name them "relief" - That's right. RELIEF. That's what I'm going to feel when I finally take them off. RELIEF - A feeling I would not know if it weren't for the pain of wearing those shoes!
Well, that's a little absurd, isn't it? Or is it? I have often used that analogy as a pep talk to myself when times were particularly difficult or painful for me.
But I can't help but notice that it sounds a lot like what Jesus told his disciples in the Gospel according to Luke:
"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.""Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you - on account of the Son of Man." Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven.."
Yup. There's those shoes again. Those tight, painful, blister-making shoes!
Could it be that Jesus is saying we shouldn't complain? We should suffer in silence? I wonder how many people suffer needlessly because of just such a perception.
But, hold on. There's more. Jesus went on to say:
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep."
Well, there. That's better. All those other folks are going to get theirs too.
"Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. But I say to you that listen,"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse 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."
Yes, those shoes are going to feel REAL GOOD - someday!
There's more to the verses, but I think by now you know where I'm headed, don't you.
There is no way we're getting out of this mess alive!
Well, maybe there's a better way to look at this. And maybe today's lesson is much simpler than it seems.
I think Jesus was saying, simply:
Keep balance in your life. When we get overly immersed in any one thing, whether it be good or bad, we run the risk of becoming blind to each other, and each other's needs.
We fail, not only, to love our enemies, but we may fail also our friends and neighbors too.
"Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return."
Kick off those shoes and collect "your reward now as children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked."
Kick off those shoes! "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful".
Amen