69 Sermon Illustrations on Love Your Enemy

If there is anything harder to comprehend than 2006’s massacre of Amish schoolgirls in Pennsylvania, said the LOS ANGELES TIMES in an editorial, “it is the Amish community’s reaction to the tragedy. “No one would blame the Amish for feeling revulsion and rage toward Charles Roberts IV, the madman who took over the one-room Nickel Mines school and shot 10 little girls in the head, killing five. Instead, said Steven Gimbel in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, the tight-knit Amish community publicly forgave Roberts and “opened their hearts” to his family, setting up a fund for his children and inviting his widow to a funeral service for four of the victims. Amid the all-too-familiar horror of a school shooting, we saw “a glimmer of the best part of humanity.”

Why is their forgiveness so mysterious? asked religious history professor David Weaver-Zercher in the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. The Amish, after all, are a Christian sect, and Jesus Christ was unambiguous about the importance of forgiving those who trespass against you. “Bless them that curse you,” Christ said, “and pray for them which despitefully use you.” In fact, if anything needs explaining, said Bruce Kluger in USA TODAY, it’s why other communities of faith find it so hard to practice the compassion their religions preach. Islamic fundamentalists have twisted the Koran into a “global death warrant.” Lebanese Shiites and Israeli Jews spent the summer of 2006 ignoring their respective holy book’s commandments that they treat all human beings with “decency and forgiveness and love.” In the U.S., a “small but rabid band of evangelicals” is trying to turn its judgmental and divisive reading of scripture into the law of the land. As the Amish laid their little girls to rest last week with dignity and grace, these gentle people have shown the world what genuine faith really means.

Forgive me for saying so, said Cristina Odone in the London OBSERVER, but I find the Amish readiness to forgive Charles Roberts “disturbing.” What’s being praised as Christian love is actually more like bleak fatalism. The Amish solution to the problems of the world is first denial -- in the self-imposed exile of their closed communities -- and, when that proves impossible, passive resignation. It’s one thing to forgive those who have wounded you, said Jeff Jacoby in THE BOSTON GLOBE, and quite another to forgive a man who slaughtered innocent children. What Charles Roberts did was simply evil, and shrugging off such atrocities as the will of God does not make the world a better place. “Hatred is not always wrong, and forgiveness is not always deserved.”

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THE CONTEXT OF FORGIVENESS: GRACE IN AMISH COUNTRY

Breakpoint commentary by Charles Colson, October 3, 2007

With the massacre at Virginia Tech and the chilling execution-style murder of four Delaware State students, it is not surprising that many Americans have almost forgotten an equally horrifying event that took place one year ago yesterday.

A demented gunman, Charles Roberts, took a school-room full of Amish girls hostage in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. Before he killed himself, Roberts had murdered five girls in cold blood.

But as shocking as this senseless act of violence was, it was what followed that sent the real shock waves through the nation.

Within hours of the shooting, several members of the Amish community visited Mrs. Roberts and her family, to express their sorrow over her loss and to say they did not hold anything against them. Another Amish man visited the killer’s father. A Roberts family spokesperson said, “He stood there for an hour, and he held [Mr. Roberts] in his arms and said, ‘We forgive you.’”

Four days later at the killer’s burial, some 70 people in attendance were Amish. And when funds began pouring in for victims after the shooting, the Nickel Mines community established a fund for the shooter’s wife and children.

Reactions to the news of this forgiveness ran the gamut from awestruck to disgust. Detractors like Jeff Jacoby opined in the BOSTON GLOBE, “I cannot see how the world is made a better place by assuring someone who would do terrible things that he will be readily forgiven afterward.”

But what Jacoby and others missed was the broader context of the forgiveness. It was not a cheap forgiveness that denied the pain and wrong of what had happened. From amazing grief through amazing faith came amazing grace.

In a new book titled AMISH GRACE, three experts on the Amish explain, “Our actions are rarely random. We all embrace patterns of behavior and habits of mind that shape what we do in a given situation.” As the authors note, there are “habits of forgiveness” in the Amish culture, Christian habits that come into clear focus. For instance, the Amish celebrate communion only twice a year, but they go through a month-long season of preparation. During that season of preparation, the Amish take seriously the admonition that if anyone holds a grudge against his brother, he is not to partake in the communion until he has put things right. A council meeting two weeks prior to communion is a time of admonishment, then there is a season of fasting, and sometimes the communion service is even delayed for weeks if there is more widespread disharmony among the community.

There is much more we could say about the wave of forgiveness that startled the world last October. Get the book AMISH GRACE, and read about it. You can even order it from our website, BreakPoint.org.

But the question is, how are we working in our own communities to build cultures of grace? Do we teach our children to forgive? Are we actively working to restore offenders and to reach out in aid to victims? And are we overcoming the evil in the world by good, as we are commanded to?

The Amish have given us a great lesson in the way to defeat hatred and alienation. It is the Christian worldview — the only one that makes such a magnificent response to such a horrible tragedy possible.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #12911]

A Texas atheist who earlier this year fought to ban religious symbols on government property in his town is reportedly “flabbergasted” that Christians have offered to help him pay his bills. Christians in Henderson County have raised thousands of dollars to help Patrick Greene, an atheist who is at risk of going blind in one eye due to a detached retina.

Greene, a former Air Force officer and taxi driver who was forced to retire due to his eye condition, wrote a letter to members of the Henderson County Commissioner’s Court in February 2012 threatening a lawsuit if they did not move a Nativity scene from court property, the Malakoff News reported. The Nativity scene had been a source of controversy since it was erected in front of the courthouse last December, an ongoing battle between a variety of groups.

Greene eventually did file suit, but when doctors told him about his eye condition, he decided that he could no longer pursue the lawsuit and dropped the case. At that point, he had been forced to retire from his job driving a taxi and was facing mounting medical bills.

So when local Christians wrote him a check for $400 (further funds amounted to over $3,500) to help him pay his living expenses, Greene was more than surprised.

“They said they wanted to do what real Christians are supposed to do – love you – and they wanted to help,” Greene told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. He told reporters he plans to write about their gesture in a new book, tentatively titled “The Real Christians of Henderson County.”

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Malakoff News

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Another version from IllustrationExchange.com, 3/27/12

“Atheist activist Patrick Greene had plans to sue Henderson County, Texas, just a few months ago if the county did not move its nativity scene from the courthouse lawn to a private property. He eventually dropped his threats, however, after discovering he was quickly losing his vision. Not long after his decision was reported, donations began pouring in from Christians who wanted to lend the non-believer a helping hand, with no strings attached.

“‘No Christian has ever acted this way in the entire time we’ve been married,’ Greene told The Christian Post on Friday, referring to the donations from believers. ‘These are the first actual Christians we’ve ever met in our lives.’

“While his vision may be fading away, Greene says his view of at least some Christians has changed for the better.

“‘We don’t expect this kind of treatment from most Christians because most Christians don’t act this way,’ said Greene. ‘But because of the fact that Jesus said ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’...these people are acting like real Christians. Both my wife and I love them for that, because they’re actually putting their actions where their beliefs are.’”

“[Erik] Graham [pastor of a local church who is helping Greene] later added, ‘It goes back to what Jesus is saying in the Sermon on the Mount. If you do good to those who do good to you, what more is that than the rest of the world? But when the world sees that a Christian will do good to those who do evil toward them, it’s a much greater witness.’”

Go ahead. Exceed expectations. Be the first “real Christian” some unbeliever meets! Yours will be a message which speaks far louder than any publicly displayed nativity scene.

Saul the Zealot was a religious extremist, bent on killing every Christian he encountered, so he could eradicate Christianity from the earth. But then, the unbelievable happened ... . He had an encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus in Syria. Jesus asked “Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul was blinded and knew he had encountered the one true God. He dedicated his life to serve Jesus, and his name was forever changed to Paul.

It is pretty amazing to think that one of the most influential Christian leaders in history was one of the most violent religious extremists. Yet Paul encountered Christ, and then dedicated his life to serving Him and spreading the gospel message.

When we see the religious extremists of our time in the news, what is our first reaction? Is it to say how evil they are? Is it to note how evil our world is getting? Or is it to pray that these extremists come to Christ?

Paul was not the only example of a religious extremist becoming a follower of Christ. It is still happening today ... in fact it is still happening in Damascus!

A few church leaders have chosen to stay in Syria despite the enormous risks. Almost every day these leaders will open up their church to provide a meal, clothing and an opportunity to share the gospel.

One day, as these leaders were serving their fellow countrymen, a Muslim extremist came up to the church screaming threatening and fanatical religious statements. The leaders were fearful that this man would attack them, and so they decided to pray. When they finished praying, they sensed that God was telling them to invite him inside. They sat him near the door and kept an eye on him to make sure he wouldn’t do anything during the meal and sermon. The man listened to the message attentively, and at the end, dedicated his life to Christ!

If our brothers and sisters in Christ can risk their lives to share the gospel with religious extremists like this, the least we can do is pray for these people, rather than write them off as ‘evil’ and think that they are beyond hope. God has changed the hearts of zealots, leaders, movements and entire nations. He has and can do the same today!

As you pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in places like Syria, please join with us in praying for their persecutors ... that God would have an encounter with each of them, just as He did with Paul on the road to Damascus.

Some survivors from the march on Bataan were herded into a troop transport bound for Japan, then jammed into small, filthy holds, unable even to lie down.

A Japanese naval lieutenant, moved with sympathy, secretly kicked ajar the closed hatch cover to admit fresh air. He told the imprisoned men that he was a Christian, converted through some American missionaries.

Later an American torpedo ripped into the transport. The enemy crew battened down the hatch cover and swarmed into lifeboats. The Americans thought they were goners. Suddenly the hatch opened to reveal the face of the young Japanese lieutenant. The next moment a spray of bullets sent the Japanese crumbling to the deck. There he died, while some Americans escaped.

Martin Fick almost died twice while living in Zimbabwe nearly a decade ago. Miraculously, he survived and learned firsthand about the power of grace and forgiveness.

Victims of the political strife that ravaged Zimbabwe in the 1990s, Fick and many other white farmers were beaten and forced off their land. Fick, a husband and father of three, almost lost his life after two severe beatings that culminated with his attackers trying to throw him down a well. Despite the attacks, he felt God leading him to stay on his property.

After police investigated the attacks, Fick had the opportunity to press charges against one of his assailants. But he felt the Lord urging him not to follow through with the charges.

“This was a very difficult thing to do,” he recalled. “But I knew that was what God was telling me to do, and I had to do it.”

Then came the most difficult challenge. Fick felt God leading him to confront the man who nearly took his life and offer him forgiveness. At first Fick resisted.

“God, if I go back to this man he will kill me,” Fick prayed. “I have a wife and a family. I will orphan my children. God, is that what You want?”

Still, Fick knew what he had to do and drove to where the man and a large group had gathered. Again, the man threatened to kill Fick. That’s when Fick told him he forgave him.

“He kept saying, ‘Tonight, you’re a dead man,’” Fick said. “I told him that he could be going to jail, but I refused to press charges and have forgiven him because that’s what God wanted me to do.”

Speechless, the man dropped to his knees, remaining on the ground as Fick drove off.

In 2002, Fick moved his family to South Africa to start a new life. Since then he has started an ostrich farm and a ministry among the poor that has received help from International Mission Board missionary Bob Morris.

Fick doesn’t know what happened to the man who nearly killed him. He hopes his testimony encourages others to be obedient to God.

“We are accountable before God,” he said.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #15003 and the second on "Living Dangerously" was a duplicate of HolwickID #7500]

Martin Fick almost died twice while living in Zimbabwe nearly a decade ago. Miraculously, he survived and learned firsthand about the power of grace and forgiveness.

Victims of the political strife that ravaged Zimbabwe in the 1990s, Fick and many other white farmers were beaten and forced off their land. Fick, a husband and father of three, almost lost his life after two severe beatings that culminated with his attackers trying to throw him down a well. Despite the attacks, he felt God leading him to stay on his property.

After police investigated the attacks, Fick had the opportunity to press charges against one of his assailants. But he felt the Lord urging him not to follow through with the charges.

“This was a very difficult thing to do,” he recalled. “But I knew that was what God was telling me to do, and I had to do it.”

Then came the most difficult challenge. Fick felt God leading him to confront the man who nearly took his life and offer him forgiveness. At first Fick resisted.

“God, if I go back to this man he will kill me,” Fick prayed. “I have a wife and a family. I will orphan my children. God, is that what You want?”

Still, Fick knew what he had to do and drove to where the man and a large group had gathered. Again, the man threatened to kill Fick. That’s when Fick told him he forgave him.

“He kept saying, ‘Tonight, you’re a dead man,’” Fick said. “I told him that he could be going to jail, but I refused to press charges and have forgiven him because that’s what God wanted me to do.”

Speechless, the man dropped to his knees, remaining on the ground as Fick drove off.

In 2002, Fick moved his family to South Africa to start a new life. Since then he has started an ostrich farm and a ministry among the poor that has received help from International Mission Board missionary Bob Morris.

Fick doesn’t know what happened to the man who nearly killed him. He hopes his testimony encourages others to be obedient to God.

“We are accountable before God,” he said.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #15003 and the second on "Living Dangerously" was a duplicate of HolwickID #7500]

One of the great scandals of Christianity is the radical challenge it poses to conventional morality. In the tradition of Kierkegaard and Dostoyevsky, French intellectual Emmanuel Carrère in his book "The Kingdom" emphasizes the punishing sacrifice of self that Jesus’ teaching enjoins. Classical and Jewish thinking had promoted the Golden Rule — Hillel said it was the essence of the Torah — but had never said, “Love your enemies.” And not only love your enemies but also Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. This overriding command cannot be a worldly imperative; it is impossible. It is the shocking inversion of health that Nietzsche railed against, and perhaps the “hatred of humanity” with which, Tacitus says, Christian were charged. Everything natural and human is turned upside down. With only slight exaggeration, Carrère summarizes this outrageous benevolence:

Love your enemies, take joy in being unhappy, prefer being small to being big, poor to rich, sick to healthy. And whereas the Torah posits the elementary, evident, and verifiable truth that it’s not good for men to be alone, Jesus said: Don’t desire women, don’t take a wife, if you have one, keep her so as not to harm her, but it would be better if you didn’t have one.[*] Don’t have children either. Let them come to you, take inspiration from their innocence, but don’t have any. Love children in general, not in particular, not like men have loved their children since time began: more than those of others, because they’re their own. And even — no, above all — don’t love yourselves. It is human to want one’s own good: don’t.

You can feel both the attraction and the recoil in Carrère’s stridency. He fears what he deeply admires; he is repelled by an ideal he cannot quite dislodge.

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* Holwick: This attitude is more reflective of what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7:29-40 than anything Jesus says.

The shock-rocker and self-proclaimed priest of the church of Satan, Marilyn Manson, was scheduled for a concert in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1999. This brought about a great uproar from the community because some had linked Manson’s music to the Columbine High School massacre which had happened only a week before. Law enforcement prepared for an ugly scene.

Then a group of pastors, youth pastors and other believers got together and organized prayer and praise services before and during the concert. Through the power of worship, these Christians decided to bless, not curse the concert-goers. They passed out over 100 pizzas and 1,200 soft drinks in the parking lot. They paid for the parking for many. Many Manson fans had a bewildered look as they took all this in.

The results? News reports said Manson went into an absolute rage when he saw a large smiley face put on his Nazi/antichrist pulpit stage prop -- placed there by one of his own crew members. He destroyed the set and stormed off the stage very early in the show, vowing never to return. The fans chanted his name but he didn’t come back. He never got to rip up a Bible like he does in many of his concerts. Instead, at least three people came to faith in Christ.

Over the weekend, a truck bomb in a Shiite market in Baghdad killed at least 130 people. While it was horrible, it was only one of four such attacks against Iraqi Shiites in the past three weeks.

I support the president’s plan to send in more troops to stabilize Iraq, but it’s going to take more than troops to end the cycle of outrage and retaliation. It’s going to require a radical shift in the worldview of many Muslims.

Thomas Friedman of the NEW YORK TIMES agrees. In a recent column, he expressed dismay at the “deafening silence with which ... mass murders” like the one in Baghdad “are received in the Muslim world.”

He writes that the “only hope left for Iraq,” if there is one, lies not so much in a counter-insurgency strategy, but in a “a Muslim counter-nihilism strategy” — a shift in worldview that “delegitimizes the mass murder of Muslims by Muslims.” In a culture where the outrages in Iraq “[evoke] about as much reaction ... as the weather report,” Friedman writes, “decent politics” [is] impossible.

Friedman wondered where the Islamic Martin Luther King was. Where was the man who could lead the “shift away from the focus on power and glory” and toward an emphasis on “responsibility as a community for [its] own situation”?

By way of showing the gravity of the situation, Friedman quoted the Syrian poet Ali Ahmad Said. According to Said, compared with the rest of the world, “we Arabs are in a phase of extinction,” which results, he says, from the lack of a “creative capacity” necessary to “change [one’s] world” — precisely what Christianity provides, and Islam does not.

While reading Friedman’s column, I couldn’t help but think of another part of the world where the demise of an oppressive regime was supposed to have led to bloodshed and chaos: South Africa. South African blacks endured dreadful humiliation and brutality at the hands of the white minority.

Yet, not only was the transition from minority to majority rule relatively peaceful, there was no mass settling of scores either. Instead, South Africa created a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” where, in exchange for confessing their offenses, people would receive amnesty — not only amnesty but also, in many cases, actual forgiveness from their victims.

Not coincidentally, the commission was headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Like the Civil Rights movement led by King, the commission spoke to both perpetrators and victims, the oppressors and the oppressed in a moral language shaped by their common Christian heritage. This is why appeals for reconciliation and forgiveness succeeded in South Africa.

Now, it’s true that Islam speaks of forgiveness, just as it’s true that many Christians have not lived up to Christian teaching on the subject. But forgiveness and reconciliation are absolutely essential and central to the Gospel in a way that they are not in Islam. There is no Koranic equivalent to “turn the other cheek” and “love your enemies.”

And without this Gospel understanding, any response besides “an eye for an eye” comes off as weakness. What is hampering the Islamic world and creating bloodshed is the lack of the Christian concept of forgiving and loving one’s enemies.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.