Sermon on the Mount Love Your Enemy (cont)

Matthew 5:43-45

You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell
you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of
your Father in heaven. (5:43-45)

Before moving on through the greatest sermon ever preached, I found it encouraging to hear of
an experience that illustrates the truth that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (love
your enemies), and then demonstrated on the cross (while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us Romans 5:8). We find it difficult to love our neighbor, yet Jesus teaches that we can
love extravagantly even loving those who hate and persecute us.

David Jeremiah tells the true story of Victoria Ruvolo, a middle aged woman from New York,
who was the victim of a senseless act of violence in November of 2004. Ryan Cushing, a 19
year old from Long Island, was riding with his friends after buying groceries with a stolen
credit card. Ryan recklessly hurled a frozen turkey from their car toward the oncoming traffic.
The twenty pound object crashed through Victorias windshield like a bowling ball with such
force that it mangled her steering wheel and struck her in the face. Victoria was in surgery for
eight hours as they reassembled her facial bones and skull with titanium plates. After weeks
of recovery, Victoria met Ryan in a court room. As Dr. Jeremiah puts it, they met face to
titanium rebuilt face. He tells of this this amazing encounter:

Stopping to speak to her on his way out of the courtroom, Mr. Cushing choked on an apology and
began to cry. For an intensely emotional few minutes, Ms. Ruvolo alternately embraced him tightly,
stroked his face and patted his back as he sobbed uncontrollably. Many of the two dozen people in
court prosecutors, court officers and reporters choked back tears. Im so sorry, Im so sorry, Mr.
Cushing said over and over again. I didnt mean it. Most of their exchange was whispered, but at one
point Ms. Ruvolos advice to him was just barely audible. Its OK, its OK, she said. I just want
you to make your life the best it can be. Grace is shockingsomething like the heavenly converse of
a traffic accident. When love is returned for evil, we cant help stopping to rubberneck. Grace is the
delivery of a jewel that nobody ordered, a burst of light in a room where everyone forgot it was dark.

Rather than the expected twenty-five years in prison for multiple felony charges, Ryan
Cushing received a six month jail term with five years of probation. This was the result of a
plea bargain insisted upon by Victoria. God gave me a second chance at life, and I passed it
on.

When we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, we are becoming like Jesus
who made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human
likeness and found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death
even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8). And Jesus spoke from the cross concerning those
who were crucifying Him: Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing
(Luke 23:34).