Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading

1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23

In those days, Saul went down to the desert of Ziph
with three thousand picked men of Israel,
to search for David in the desert of Ziph.
So David and Abishai went among Saul’s soldiers by night
and found Saul lying asleep within the barricade,
with his spear thrust into the ground at his head
and Abner and his men sleeping around him.

Abishai whispered to David:
“God has delivered your enemy into your grasp this day.
Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear;
I will not need a second thrust!”
But David said to Abishai, “Do not harm him,
for who can lay hands on the LORD’s anointed and remain unpunished?”
So David took the spear and the water jug from their place at Saul’s head,
and they got away without anyone’s seeing or knowing or awakening.
All remained asleep,
because the LORD had put them into a deep slumber.

Going across to an opposite slope,
David stood on a remote hilltop
at a great distance from Abner, son of Ner, and the troops.
He said: “Here is the king’s spear.
Let an attendant come over to get it.
The LORD will reward each man for his justice and faithfulness.
Today, though the LORD delivered you into my grasp,
I would not harm the LORD’s anointed.”

Second reading

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

Brothers and sisters:
It is written, The first man, Adam, became a living being, 
the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
But the spiritual was not first;
rather the natural and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, earthly;
the second man, from heaven.
As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,
and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.
Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

Gospel

Luke 6:27-38

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 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.”

Sermon

Dear brothers and sisters in faith,
The Swiss writer and playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt once described Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as “the most powerful speech ... that I know ...”. He certainly didn't call it “powerful” because of its scope or rhetoric. No, this sermon is powerful because of its content: We may still regard the beatitudes we heard last Sunday as part of this sermon by Jesus as “simply beautiful”, as well as the familiar images and parables: of the salt of the earth, for example, or the lilies of the field. However, we are confronted with the true climax of this great discourse and the core of Christian existence in today's Gospel - and anyone who really engages with it must find it monstrous what Jesus is asking his followers - that is, us! - “Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you! Bless those who curse you; pray for those who revile you.”

Truly a challenging gospel! Who can hear it? Who can speak like this? The beginning is already decisive: Jesus says to his disciples and the many who had experienced him, who crowded around him, who heard him: “To you who are listening to me, I say:”
What he says in the field discourse or in the Sermon on the Mount, in the Beatitudes, in the cries of joy and woe, is the summary of what he has to say, is the consequence of what he has said and done, is also the consequence of who he is. And in this Gospel passage he says: “You who hear this today.” 
“You” - we with our lives, with our life experience are meant: we in the everydayness of our lives, our small and large environment. We in our daily activities - and everything that goes with them. 
“Every man is his own neighbor. I give to you so that you can give to me! I have to defend my skin. No one is given anything. Those who don't insist on their rights are exploited.” Violence begets counter-violence: “He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind.” - Old experiences, rules of life and wisdom. That's how we humans are. Not the others first, I am like that.

The courts can no longer defend themselves against private lawsuits. Anyone who doesn't know a good lawyer today is poor. How do some people treat others in the workplace? “Bullying” has been the buzzword for years: putting others down on a daily basis in an elegantly cool manner.  
Are we Christians better off? Are we Christians better than non-Christians? What about our everyday friendliness, humanity, kindness, goodness, selflessness and compassion? Can I even live this today, even if I am fundamentally committed to it? The banality of our everyday lives - in our small world and in the big world. 
This challenging Gospel is spoken into this situation. Jesus speaks into our lives - to us. And we are not only those who live and act according to God's standards, but also those who are enemies, not only those who strive for love, but also those who can hate and have evil thoughts, who do not bless but are envious of others. I am also always the one who judges and condemns.

Into all this confusion in our world, Jesus says: “You who are here and listening to me - I say this to you! This entrenched old behavior and action is against life, destroys you and this world as well.” The fact that Jesus has said something that is so incomprehensible and contrary to all experience, and that he is telling us this and we are listening, is first and foremost what is so gratifying and liberating. 
It is possible, even if the world and people function completely differently and therefore do not function, do not come to life - it is possible! God himself acts in this way. 
He knows about each one of us, he knows about our torn hearts and our torn world, he knows us, our deep longing to be understood, goodness, mercy and love, and he also knows the many good things that we do, he knows the commitment of many for others, it doesn't just look bad in our everyday lives and in our world.  This is what Jesus wants to tell us today with this challenging Gospel.  
The words of the field sermon that we have heard today, which largely correspond to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel, are something like a basic program of Jesus' mission.

And the apostle Paul formulates this mission in the previous reading in a very specific image: “The first man comes from the earth and is earth; the second man comes from heaven. Just as the one from earth was earthly, so are his descendants. And just as the one from heaven is heavenly, so are his descendants. Just as we were formed in the image of the earthly, so shall we be formed in the image of the heavenly.” He is letting us know: Break through your thinking and feeling and elevate yourselves above everything earthly.
You could also say that Paul is calling on people to: finally jump over your shadow! Do good to a degree that you cannot imagine. Be there where your absence makes you really lonely. Speak the truth where your denial or even silence - in the church as well as in politics - destroys lives.
There are certainly situations in everyday life where our own well-being must take priority. No one benefits in the end if we are so exhausted that we need help ourselves: not in the family, not among friends, not at work, not in active charity. Or anywhere else.  
And so we can add to the message of this Sunday's proclamation: In caring for your neighbor, do everything you can, really do it, but do it wisely.