We Do Not Have Hate in Our Hearts

A sermon on human justice and divine mercy

I preached this sermon as a part of my parish’s Lenten sermon series on forgiveness, specifically in response to the topic of forgiving one’s enemies.

The Forgiveness of God is Announced in Jerusalem (Isaiah LIV, 6 10), Marc Chagall

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also, and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give your coat as well, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unr…