Pray for your enemies

"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.”  - Jesus

 

It’s happened again.  The list of tragedies grows long: Oklahoma City, 9/11, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, Aurora, Newtown (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg).  We now add Boston to that list.  Innocent people suffer.  Children die, in this case 8 year old Martin Richard.

In the face of the tragedy Facebook exploded with prayers for those involved: the victims, the families of the victims, the first responders, the doctors tending to the wounded, the police, the investigators.  So many people to wrap in prayer in these difficult days!  People need the support of the God who walks with them.

Who is praying for those who planted the bombs?

Jesus said, “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.”  Yes, pray for those who persecute you.  Pray for those who feel the need to put bombs on a marathon route.  Pray for those willing to kill.  View them as human beings created by God in the image of God.  Pray for an end to their hate.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would flood over them and ‘renew a right spirit within them.’ 

Not easy, is it?  At this point we have no specific individuals to blame, but that doesn’t stop us from lashing out at the unknown perpetrator(s), demanding vengeance.  Anyone who would kill people in such a wanton way must be evil in human form and deserves to be treated as such.  Death would be too kind.  It sounds a lot like the old ‘Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth’ concept.   People who cause suffering deserve to suffer.  Hit me and I hit you…kill me and someone will kill you.  Retribution is the key.  It feels like the best way to proceed…but Jesus utterly rejected ‘an eye for an eye,’ replacing it with compassion and love.  “Pray for those who persecute you.”  Jesus wasn’t kidding.  The Jesus who died on a cross for you and your sins…died on the cross for ‘them’ and ‘their’ sins.  No action, no matter how heinous, has the power to sever the love that God has for God’s people. 

Soon after the event in Boston, President Obama took to the airwaves with this promise, “Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, will feel the full weight of justice.”  Any civil society requires that those who commit acts like these must face consequences for what they have done.  The weight of the US government is behind efforts to swiftly identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.  A world that cannot protect people from murder devolves into chaos…just ask the people of Syria!  A stable society demands action when evil deeds are committed.  God works through those laboring to ensure that those who did this never have the opportunity to do it again.

It’s time to pray.  Pray for the victims, the families of the victims, the first responders, the doctors tending to the wounded, the police, the investigators.  As the search for answers continues, consider Jesus’ words.  “Pray for those who persecute you.”  It’s not “Pray that those who hurt you will get what they have coming to them.”  Pray FOR them as fellow sinners in need of God’s mercy.