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Gospel Reading for September 11, 2025 – Luke 6: 27-38
CRAZY
Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
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This day in the year 2001, such a big catastrophe happened in the US of A. The terrorist attack on 2 towers of the World Trade Center in New York City killed almost 3,000 people and it changed the whole world forever. Security measures in airports all over the world made travel complicated and tedious. Frequent flyers complained of pat-downs and the potential risk of xray body scanners. Even cutlery on the airplane was changed from steel to plastic, and so many items were not allowed in hand baggages, and so on and so forth. All these, are REACTIONS to such disaster so there may not be a repeat; so no more lives will get lost; to avoid grief and pain for loved ones left behind.
If one of those who died in NYC were a member of our family, or a person we loved, perhaps what Jesus says in our reading of today – to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us and pray for those who mistreat us will not sit well with us. There may even be people who will think and say that Jesus is CRAZY. Is he? Or is it CRAZY to be his follower? Is it CRAZY to be a Christian? To the eyes of someone who has not delved into the depths of his/her being; someone who thinks only of him/herself; someone who sees life only as eating, drinking and making merry, and not having any spiritual aspect, perhaps YES.
Christianity puts an end to all kinds of evil there are in this world, which means putting an end to, or avoiding strife, conflict and instability. It avoids endless conflicts where vengeance is the reason. It avoids suffering brought about by such conflicts. If being a Christian is CRAZY, then the meaning of CRAZY has to be changed in the dictionary!
Lord Jesus, people may label us with all sorts of derogatory words, but we still would want our lives to be full of you, and to follow you up to eternity!
