DO THEY HATE YOU ENOUGH?

DO THEY HATE YOU ENOUGH?

“I have decided to stick with love.  Hate is too great a burden to bear.”  Martin Luther King, Jr.

“It is a curious subject of observation and inquiry, whether hatred and love be not the same thing at bottom. Each, in its utmost development, supposes a high degree of intimacy and heart-knowledge; each renders one individual dependent for the food of his affections and spiritual life upon another; each leaves the passionate lover, or the no less passionate hater, forlorn and desolate by the withdrawal of his object.”  Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

The most hated words ever spoken were…”Lazarus, come out.”  Jesus spoke these words knowing they would drive the Sanhedrin to plot His death.  These words of love, healing, grace and resurrection; of such comfort and mercy were the very words that would send men over the edge in hatred for Him.  Why is this?  How is this possible?

It happens often enough to ask the question, “Why, in demonstrating acts of love are Christians hated?”  Jesus raised a dead man.  Four days Lazarus had been in that grave and when Jesus told the men to move the stone Martha yells out “by this time there will be a stench!”  The man was dead.  Jesus brought him back to life.  Jesus brought him back from the bliss of heaven into the sinfulness of this world in a grand demonstration of love and mercy and all the Sanhedrin could think to do was to redouble their efforts to kill Him.

It is a very tough predicament for the believer: the love of Christ compels us to act in ways that will cause those who are in darkness to hate us.  Paul says that some of the marks of a true Christian are: feeding your enemy when he is hungry, giving your enemy something to drink when he is thirsty.  What is the purpose of these actions of love?  For some non-believers it will be a physical act of Christ-like love that the Lord will use to open their eyes to the saving grace of Christ.  For others it will be like hot coals heaped upon their heads that will lead to anger, hatred or possibly shame. 

This miracle of Jesus, which could not be denied, results in greater hatred of Him by those whose expectations He was not meeting.  Their hearts were not softened by His mercy, they were hardened. 

How about this for a thought – If you have never been screamed at, threatened, spit upon or kick, maybe it’s because you haven’t acted enough like Christ? 

That is a frightening thought.  Is it true?