Are you willing to listen to Jesus?

Reading Luke 6:27 - 49 today I'm blown away by the approach Jesus asks his disciples to take with those who hate and persecute them. Now let's make it personal. How do I treat those who hate or dislike me?

Are you willing to listen to Jesus? Before you jump in and say a hearty yes, there's a strong set of commands that come on the heels of this question by Jesus that just blow me out of the water. Let's look at what Jesus says to his disciples and followers in Luke 6:27 - 36:

"But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give what you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back. Do for others as you would like them to do for you. "Do you think you deserve credit merely for loving those who love you? Even the sinners do that! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, is that so wonderful? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, what good is that? Even sinners will lend to their own kind for a full return. "Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

Wow! If I did absolutely nothing this next year but work on these 10 verses, I'd still have a large uphill climb in my spiritual walk. Living in America, boy is it tough to follow Jesus' commands here, isn't it? Certainly His commands in this passage go against the very grain of anyone's natural tendencies, but, in America, we live in a culture that celebrates getting in other peoples faces and tell them what we think when we've been wronged. We look up to people that don't let others take advantage of them.

We never lend money to those we think are not going to repay us -- that'd be idiotic, right? Certainly we'd never lend money to our enemies! When's the last time you or I prayed for the happiness of those who curse us? Maybe we don't have too many folks cursing us individually, but when's the last time we prayed for the (gulp..) happiness of someone who doesn't like me? Or someone who has been rude or mean to me? What about doing good to those who are using me? What do we do if someone breaks into our car and takes our iPhone? Jesus says we should file a lawsuit, uh, whoops, I mean, Jesus actually says we should not try to get it back. (Sniff, sniff...)

Okay, I'm not preaching at anyone here but myself. I clearly miss the mark on this passage. So, we can say, well, Jesus doesn't really mean what He said here, right? Maybe this is all to be taken in some spiritual sense only? However you wish to interpret it (and I'm often way too literal, I must confess), Jesus does raise the ante on figuring out this passage. He closes Luke 6 with this thought in verses 46 - 49:

"So why do you call me 'Lord,' when you won't obey me? I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then obeys me. It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who listens and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will crumble into a heap of ruins."

Now where is my iPhone?