Loving
Your Enemies {A sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.}
I wanted to provide some thoughts in the wake of recent incidents, but first I wanted to provide the majority of a sermon delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. several decades ago. Some of my thoughts will follow:
A sermon delivered by Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama on
November 17, 1957.
…So I want to turn your attention to this subject:
“Loving Your Enemies.” It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic
philosophical and theological orientation—the whole idea of love, the whole
philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint
Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord
and Master: “Ye have heard that it has
been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto
you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children
of your Father which is in heaven.”
Certainly these are great words, words lifted to cosmic
proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command.
Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the
actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is
just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite
came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the
practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new
urgency. Far from being the pious
injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the
survival of our civilization. Yes, it
is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.
Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he
gave this command; he wasn’t playing. He realized that it’s hard to love your
enemies. He realized that it’s
difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you, those persons who say
evil things about you. He realized that it was painfully hard, pressingly
hard. But he wasn’t playing. And we cannot dismiss this passage as just
another example of Oriental hyperbole, just a sort of exaggeration to get over
the point. This is a basic philosophy of all that we hear coming from the lips
of our Master. Because Jesus wasn’t playing; because he was serious. We have the Christian and moral responsibility to seek to discover the
meaning of these words, and to discover how we can live out this command, and why we should live by this command.
Now first let us deal with this question, which is the
practical question: How do you go about loving your enemies? I think the first
thing is this: In order to love your
enemies, you must begin by analyzing self. And I’m sure that seems
strange to you, that I start out telling you this morning that you love your
enemies by beginning with a look at self. It seems to me that that is the first
and foremost way to come to an adequate discovery to the how of this situation.
Now, I’m aware of the fact that some people will not like you, not because of something you have
done to them, but they just won’t like you. I’m quite aware of that. Some
people aren’t going to like the way you walk; some people aren’t going to like
the way you talk. Some people aren’t going to like you because you can do your
job better than they can do theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you
because other people like you, and because you’re popular, and because you’re
well-liked, they aren’t going to like you. Some people aren’t going to like you
because your hair is a little shorter than theirs or your hair is a little
longer than theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because your skin is a
little brighter than theirs; and others aren’t going to like you because your
skin is a little darker than theirs. So that some people aren’t going to like
you. They’re going to dislike you, not because of something that you’ve done to
them, but because of various jealous reactions and other reactions that are so
prevalent in human nature.
But after looking at these things and admitting these
things, we must face the fact that an individual might dislike us because of
something that we’ve done deep down in the past, some personality attribute
that we possess, something that we’ve done deep down in the past and we’ve
forgotten about it; but it was that something that aroused the hate response
within the individual. That is why I say, begin with yourself. There might be
something within you that arouses the tragic hate response in the other
individual.
…And this is what Jesus means when he said: “How is it that
you can see the mote in your brother’s eye and not see the beam in your own
eye?” Or to put it in Moffatt’s translation: “How is it that you see the
splinter in your brother’s eye and fail to see the plank in your own eye?” And
this is one of the tragedies of human nature. So we begin to love our enemies
and love those persons that hate us whether in collective life or individual
life by looking at ourselves.
A second thing that an individual must do in seeking to love
his enemy is to discover the element of
good in his enemy, and everytime you begin to hate that person and think
of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those
good points which will over-balance the bad points.
I’ve said to you on many occasions that each of us is
something of a schizophrenic personality. We’re split up and divided against
ourselves. And there is something of a civil war going on within all of our
lives. There is a recalcitrant South of our soul revolting against the North of
our soul. And there is this continual struggle within the very structure of
every individual life…. There is something within each of us that causes
us to cry out with Apostle Paul, “I see and approve the better things of life,
but the evil things I do.”
So somehow the “isness” of our present nature is out of
harmony with the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts us. And this simply
means this: That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the
worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different
attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in
him… And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and
see deep down within him what religion calls “the image of God,” you begin to
love him in spite of. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There
is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off. Discover the element of
good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness
and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude.
Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you
to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it…. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for
all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to
the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil
systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but
you seek to defeat the system.
The Greek language, as I’ve said so often before, is very
powerful at this point…. It talks about love as eros. That’s one word for love.
Eros is a sort of, aesthetic
love…. And it’s come to us to be a sort of romantic love, though
it’s a beautiful love….
Then the Greek language talks about philia, and that’s another type of love that’s also beautiful. It is a sort of intimate affection between
personal friends. And this is the type of love that you have for those
persons that you’re friendly with, your intimate friends, or people that you
call on the telephone and you go by to have dinner with, and your roommate in
college and that type of thing. It’s a sort of reciprocal love. On this level,
you like a person because that person likes you. You love on this level,
because you are loved….
The Greek language comes out with another word for love. It
is the word agape. And agape is more than eros; agape is more than philia; agape is something of the understanding,
creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks
nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call
the love of God working in the lives of men. And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love men, not
because they are likeable, but because God loves them. You look at every
man, and you love him because you know God loves him. And he might be the worst
person you’ve ever seen.
And this is what Jesus means, I
think, in this very passage when he says, “Love your enemy.” And it’s
significant that he does not say, “Like your enemy.” Like is a sentimental
something, an affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I
find it difficult to like. I don’t like what they do to me. I don’t like what
they say about me and other people. I don’t like their attitudes. I don’t like
some of the things they’re doing. I don’t like them. But Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is
understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody,
because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an
individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point
that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that
the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says, “Love your
enemy.” This is the way to do it. When
the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your enemy, you must not do
it.
Now for the few moments left, let us move from the practical
how to the theoretical why. It’s not only necessary to know how to go about
loving your enemies, but also to go down into the question of why we should
love our enemies. I think the first
reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center
of Jesus’ thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence
of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit
you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum.
[tapping on pulpit] It just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little
sense, and that’s the strong person. The
strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of
evil. And that is the tragedy of hate, that it doesn’t cut it off. It only intensifies the existence of hate and
evil in the universe. Somebody must have religion enough and morality
enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love.
…And if somebody doesn’t have
sense enough to turn on the dim and beautiful and powerful lights of love in
this world, the whole of our civilization will be plunged into the abyss of
destruction. And we will all end up destroyed because nobody had any
sense on the highway of history. Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate
begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending
spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have
sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of
evil in the universe. And you do that by love.
There’s another reason why you should love your enemies, and
that is because hate distorts the
personality of the hater…. You just begin hating somebody, and you
will begin to do irrational things. You can’t see straight when you hate. You
can’t walk straight when you hate. You can’t stand upright. Your vision is
distorted. There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart
is filled with hate…. For the person
who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the
person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person
who hates, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That’s what hate
does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate
destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater. And this is why
Jesus says hate [recording interrupted]
…meet every situation of life with
an abounding love. Never hate, because it ends up in tragic, neurotic
responses…. Hate at any point is a cancer that gnaws away at the very vital
center of your life and your existence. It is like eroding acid that eats away
the best and the objective center of your life. So Jesus says love, because
hate destroys the hater as well as the hated.
Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, “Love
your enemies.” It is this: that love
has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that
eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” Because if you hate your enemies, you have
no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies,
you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption.
You just keep loving people and keep
loving them, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who
is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that.
Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to
embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh,
they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because
they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and
sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just
keep loving them. And by the power of
your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It
is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up
and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is
destructive. So love your enemies.
I think of one of the best examples of this. We all remember
the great president of this United States, Abraham Lincoln—these United States
rather. You remember when Abraham Lincoln was running for president of the
United States, there was a man who ran all around the country talking about
Lincoln. He said a lot of bad things about Lincoln, a lot of unkind things. And
sometimes he would get to the point that he would even talk about his looks,
saying, “You don’t want a tall, lanky, ignorant man like this as the president
of the United States.” He went on and on and on and went around with that type
of attitude and wrote about it. Finally, one day Abraham Lincoln was elected
president of the United States. And if you read the great biography of Lincoln,
if you read the great works about him, you will discover that as every
president comes to the point, he came to the point of having to choose a
Cabinet. And then came the time for him to choose a Secretary of War. He looked
across the nation, and decided to choose a man by the name of Mr. Stanton. And
when Abraham Lincoln stood around his advisors and mentioned this fact, they
said to him: “Mr. Lincoln, are you a
fool? Do you know what Mr. Stanton has been saying about you? Do you know what
he has done, tried to do to you? Do you know that he has tried to defeat you on
every hand? Do you know that, Mr. Lincoln? Did you read all of those derogatory
statements that he made about you?” Abraham Lincoln stood before the advisors
around him and said: “Oh yes, I know about it; I read about it; I’ve heard him
myself. But after looking over the country, I find that he is the best man for
the job.”
Mr. Stanton did become Secretary of War, and a few months
later, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And if you go to Washington, you will
discover that one of the greatest words or statements ever made by, about
Abraham Lincoln was made about this man Stanton. And as Abraham Lincoln came to the end of his life, Stanton stood up and
said: “Now he belongs to the ages.” And he made a beautiful statement
concerning the character and the stature of this man. If Abraham Lincoln had hated Stanton, if Abraham Lincoln had answered
everything Stanton said, Abraham Lincoln would have not transformed and
redeemed Stanton. Stanton would have gone to his grave hating Lincoln, and
Lincoln would have gone to his grave hating Stanton. But through the power of
love Abraham Lincoln was able to redeem Stanton.
That’s it. There is
a power in love that our world has not discovered yet…. For they
believe in hitting for hitting; they believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth; they believe in hating for hating; but Jesus comes to us and says,
“This isn’t the way.”
…Because of the power and influence of the personality of
this Christ, he was able to split history into a.d. and b.c. Because of his
power, he was able to shake the hinges from the gates of the Roman Empire. And all
around the world this morning, we can hear the glad echo of heaven ring:
Jesus shall reign wherever sun,
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom spreads from shore to shore,
Till moon shall wane and wax no more.
We can hear another chorus singing: “All hail the power of
Jesus name!”
We can hear another chorus singing: “Hallelujah, hallelujah!
He’s King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah, hallelujah!”
We can hear another choir singing:
In Christ there is no East or West.
In Him no North or South,
But one great Fellowship of Love
Throughout the whole wide world.
This is the only way.
…So this morning, as I look into your eyes, and into the
eyes of all of my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world, I say to you, “I love you. I would rather die
than hate you.” And I’m foolish enough to believe that through the power of
this love somewhere, men of the most recalcitrant bent will be transformed.
And then we will be in God’s kingdom. We will be able to matriculate into the
university of eternal life because we had the power to love our enemies, to
bless those persons that cursed us, to even decide to be good to those persons
who hated us, and we even prayed for those persons who despitefully used us.
Oh God, help us in our lives and
in all of our attitudes, to work out this controlling force of love, this
controlling power that can solve every problem that we confront in all areas. Oh, we
talk about politics; we talk about the problems facing our atomic civilization.
Grant that all men will come together and discover that as we solve the crisis
and solve these problems—the international problems, the problems of atomic
energy, the problems of nuclear energy, and yes, even the race problem—let us join together in a great fellowship of
love and bow down at the feet of Jesus. Give us this strong
determination. In the name and spirit of this Christ, we pray. Amen.
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Source: Martin Luther King Jr., “Loving Your Enemies”
(speech, Montgomery, AL, November 1957), The Martin Luther King Jr.
Research and Education Institute,
mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_loving_your_enemies/.
My heart aches over the tragedies of
the past few days, and the recognition that these are part of larger contextual
issues that span generations. It is too
easy to look at each incident that occurs, and feel our own fear and anger
increase. Yet this is not the path that Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. followed; he confronted evil and anger in a way that is
not easy to do. He dared us to love all
those we came into contact with, with an agape
love. This is a love that seeks the
best for those we come in contact with, with no expectation of anything in
return. This was a love that he tried to
demonstrate to all, including those who could be called his enemies. He has given us that dare, and I feel that
today is a day that we must take up that challenge; I must take up that
challenge. I must ensure that I make
decisions that meet hate with love, that meet animosity with care. This is not a call to meet someone else's
demands, but a willingness to love them from the place that they come from.
There are some comments that I have
been pondering over the weekend from John Stonestreet, with the Colson Center
for Christian Worldview, in a Breakpoint
radio broadcast that will be delivered tomorrow, July 11, 2016 entitled
"The Gospel in the Aftermath of Dallas, Baton Rouge, and Falcon
Heights. Where To from Here?" (Where To from Here?). The transcript has several poignant points,
but what stood out to me is its statement that we are not okay; the events we
have recently seen are a revelation of the unrest that is present in
society. They comment that our society
is weak in its middle - the social glue that holds us together. What is that social glue? Human relationships. These can't be mandated from on high; the
federal government cannot create a new program to develop them. We must live in community.
I was also intrigued by their
reference to a speech by Alexander Solzhenitsyn entitled "A World Split Apart"
where he stated that the smooth surface film of our society is thin, with only
illusions of stability and health. I
have only briefly read the speech, but I know the man. Solzhenitsyn lived through the Gulags of
Russia as a political prisoner, treated as less than human. He saw a society where individuals were
turned against each other by their government, and the social fabric that bound
people to each other was torn apart. He
saw how easy it is for any society to do so.
This reinforces the problem with national solutions, which coldly turn
people against each other in an effort to force us to get along and treat each
other better. Somehow, we must learn to
do this at an individual level. Within his 1978 speech, living in exile here in
the west, is the following quote: "there is an
atmosphere of moral mediocrity, paralyzing man's noblest impulses. And it will
be simply impossible to stand through the trials of this threatening century
with only the support of a legalistic structure." Again, we have lost our social glue, we have
lost our morals. I have gone on
extensively, hence I need to finish.
Yet, I encourage all of you to give Solzhenitsyn's speech a careful
read, and considerable thought. It was a
critique from 40 years ago of our western society, but is still relevant today,
and to this past week's incidents. I may
return to it with further thoughts at a later time. For now, will sum this post up with an
encouragement for all of us to demonstrate the "agape" love mentioned
by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his 1957 speech.
