Under the Knife

I am working on a sermon from Matthew 5 where Jesus tells us to lover our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Sunday I preached a sermon on turning the other cheek and loving people into the kingdom with how we respond to their violence and aggression. I have been dumbfounded at the way scripture does surgery on my heart and life when I allow it to speak to me rather than trying to strain a nugget of truth out of it. God has reminded me that I have a lot of room for growth in this area of loving my enemies (and my friends)and responding to people out of the overflow of God's love for me rather than the reserve of my human capacity for love. I came across a quote from St. Augustine that challenged me so much I haven't been able to get it out of my head. "Many have learned to offer the other cheek, but do not know how to love him by whom they were struck."