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Morning Meditation
March 5, 2026
Reading - Luke 6:27–38
Jesus said, “I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
Meditation by Glenn Beamer
This passage from Luke may be one of the most misused in our contemporary culture. I’ve heard many a faithful devotee invoke verses 27-31 (i.e. the first paragraph) to encourage someone, other than themselves, to remain in what is at minimum a dysfunctional, and sometime abusive, relationship.
Verses 32-36 give us greater context and better insight into Jesus’ message. Jesus isn’t recommending we act like fools or patsies and cave in to evil. Jesus is pushing us to acknowledge people and cultures that aren’t our own and to understand the needs and goals of people outside our realm.
Emily and I lived in New Jersey when we were first married. Because Emily was in her graduate program at Seton Hall I ate many dinners, perhaps too many, at the Readington Diner on Route 22. There were 2 busboys there who were Latino, in their early 20s and always hustling about. I came to know them. They were from Mexico. They worked from 5:30AM to 3 PM for a landscaper. Then they worked dinner shift at the diner. In 2006, minimum wage was $5.25/hour and because they worked in a diner in America, they could be paid as little as $2.13/hour. Together these two young men sent $400 a week, $21,000 annually, back to their families in Mexico.
Even in 2006 when we had a President, George W Bush, who had taken it upon himself to learn Spanish, I could have decided that these two young men were Mexican intruders – coming to the bountiful USA to take from us. Alternatively, what Jesus wanted me to see was that these two young men were working incredibly hard and supporting a dozen relatives in Mexico so those relatives could have an adequate standard of living in their homeland.
Jesus wanted me to create the space in my own heart to understand how hard these two young Latino men were working to do God’s will. Take these two hard workers out of the equation and there are a dozen people living in abject poverty in Mexico or a dozen people making a desperate journey to come to a land that would become in parts hostile.
In Luke 6, Jesus commends us to empty our heads and create space in our hearts. Jesus conveys that intellectual prejudice can undermine spiritual health. Jesus isn’t recommending we tolerate abusive people, he’s giving us a roadmap to create genuinely hospitable communities. I never knew whether the bus boys at the Readington Diner were in our country legally or not. Had I known, it wouldn’t have changed the respect and compassion I felt for their endeavor to do God’s will as they understood it.
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