Unlike Gibran’s The Prophet, and other lyrical works dealing with love, the Lord does not speak with his head in the clouds but rather with his feet firmly planted on an earth filled with conflict and hatred. In the holiness code of Leviticus, God says that those who consider themselves among his children are not to take revenge on one another and are not to bear any grudges. I am sure that some of us have felt vengeful in the last week. Perhaps we have even sought to hurt or discredit someone who first hurt us. The feeling of wanting to even the score is what God is speaking against. Perhaps some of us are bearing a grudge as a result of some offense we suffered at the hands of someone else. Grudges are the result of an unforgiving spirit. In the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus speaks against the emotion of hate. Rather than hurting back those who hurt us, Jesus tells us to pray for them.

Right about now we may be thinking, "But this is not the natural order of things." Correct! It is not normal to love an enemy. It is unnatural not to hit back. Grudges are natural reactions to offenses. Does God expect us to be abnormal or unnatural? He sure does. For you see, Jesus makes it clear that the ways of God are not the ways of the world ... they haven’t been since the fall of Adam and won’t be again until he returns. God calls upon us to be different, and as we invite Jesus’ powerful presence into our daily relationships, we can be different.

We believe and celebrate that Jesus was different. He was a sinless man among sinful men. While men hold on so tightly to life, he was willing to give his up. The customary behavior of crucified men was not to pray for the forgiveness of those who subjected them to crucifixion. Coming back to life again after being in the tomb for three days was definitely not the natural order of things. An infinite God becoming a finite man, this is perhaps the most unusual, if not unnatural, happening of all.

The Bible tells us that we are to love unconditionally - as we have been loved unconditionally by Jesus Christ. To love because we have first been loved. To forgive, having been forgiven ourselves. Most of our lives we have been taught to love conditionally. We have often had to earn or deserve love before we could have it. Conditions have been placed on giving and receiving love. Biblical love is simply accepting another person completely and unconditionally, as God accepted us.

Recently, when one of our Sunday school envelopes that was put in the collection was opened, there was no money in it. Nevertheless, the child who placed it in the collection plate made perhaps the most God-pleasing offering of anyone present that day. In the envelope was a small slip of paper. On it two crosses were drawn, the symbol of God’s unconditional love. These words were also written on the paper, "Please forgive me, I have nothing to give but love." To have Christian love, unconditional love, is not to have nothing but to have everything. It is also the most important thing we can give to someone else.