A sermon on Matthew 5:43-48, preached on Sunday, July 14, after the attempted assassination on President Trump:

“Love Anyway, Love Because”

There’s an old story of a preacher who was finishing an impassioned sermon on today’s passage (Matthew 5:43-48), “Love your enemies.”

He looked out at the congregation and asked, “Will you go out into the world and love your enemies?”

Roused by the Holy Spirit, every hand in the congregation went up except for one. She was an elderly woman in the front row.

The pastor paused and looked at her. “Why can’t you love your enemies?” he asked.

She shrugged, “Pastor, I can honestly say I have no enemies.”

The pastor didn’t buy it. “Remind me again how old you are?” he asked.

“Pastor,” she replied, “you know I’m 96.”

He nodded. “Yes! 96 years old and no enemies? That’s impossible. How could you have lived that long without having any enemies?”  [Read more…]