January 6

January 6, 2013

 

In the 1999 science fiction movie, The Matrix, the real world has been taken over by computers that keep humans in bondage by creating a false reality in their minds. The computers electronically feed a virtual reality into their brains. The humans think they are free, but they are actually entombed in pods where their bodies are used as an energy source. A few of the humans have escaped their pods and are battling the machines. But unlike the computer-induced dreamland (called the Matrix), the real world is full of struggle, trials, and combat at every turn. The hero of the movie, Neo, has to choose what kingdom he wants to live in, the false, enslaving kingdom or the real, free kingdom.

 

The parallels to the Bible are ominously striking. Jesus came to offer us an alternate kingdom. His offer, if accepted, inaugurates the ethics of that kingdom into our hearts right now.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus communicates the ethics of his kingdom (Matthew 5-7). Some have said these chapters are rhetorical excess or only for the future age.  But the more I study them; I realize that here lies the very heart of Jesus' message. If we fail to understand His ethical kingdom teaching, we fail to understand Him at all. These words are the foundation of His kingdom and the center of His revolution.

 

Matthew 5:43-45   "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

There is no difficulty in understanding exactly what is being taught. Jesus clearly told us that as his followers we must be committed to a heart overflowing with love, in every situation. We respond with love even to those who oppose us and would consider us as enemies. This is a radical and dramatic transversal of everything that is taught in our culture.  

In my lifetime the greatest champion of this principle was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His non-violent strategy of bringing social change was a modern day example of loving your enemy.  Some blacks abandoned Dr. King over the issue of non-violence and drifted towards black power rhetoric. After you've been hit on the head with a policeman's nightstick for the twelfth time and received yet another jolt from a jailer's cattle prod, you begin to question the effectiveness of love. But Dr. King never wavered. He said,

 

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

So what kingdom will you choose?  I urge you to join the real, eternal kingdom of Jesus. Love and pray for your enemies. Be transformed from anger to love.