阅读经文 

我收到一条令我震惊的电话留言信息。这是一条刻薄、愤怒、咒诅的留言，听后我的耳朵感到火辣辣的，我的心也感到伤痛。传来的语音说，我甚至下地狱也不配。

我曾被邀请主持一位我不认识的男子的丧礼。我与他的家人会面，获得了一些对我预备这个丧礼有帮助的资料。然而，我在丧礼中所说的话触怒了那人的儿子，他便致电给我和留下了那条语音讯息。在酒精的影响下，他不能控制他的舌头，他希望我知道他是多么愤怒。

我应该怎样回应呢？我一面忍受他的怒气，一面又祈求恩典和智慧。我写了一封信给他，表明我的态度是要把话说得清楚，然而我一定是说了什么触怒他的话，我建议在他方便时与他见面。

之后我再没有听到他的消息，然而我仍时常怀着忧伤沉重的心情想起他来。每当我因这件事感到不快或困扰时，我便想起耶稣在今天的经文所说的话：以爱心回应，为咒诅你们的人祝福，要为他们祷告。带着既伤痛又关爱的心，我把这件事交托在我们仁爱和慈悲的神手中；尽管仍有困扰的时刻，我感到的平安却是非常真实的。耶稣啊，感谢祢。

I received a phone message that caught me by surprise. It was a blistering, angry, cursing message that burned my ears and bruised my heart. Hell would be too good for me, the voice said.

I had been asked to conduct the funeral of a man I didn't know. In a meeting with the family, I learned things that were helpful to know as I prepared for the funeral service. But what I said in that service had angered the man's son. So he had called and left that message. With a tongue loosened by liquor, he let me know just how angry he was.

How should I respond? As I absorbed his anger, I prayed for grace and wisdom. I sent him a letter in which I acknowledged that it was my task to communicate clearly, but that I must have said something that caused him offense. I offered to meet him at his convenience.

I never heard from him again. But I thought of him often with pained heaviness. Every time I felt upset or troubled by this matter, I heard Jesus' words in our text for today: respond with love, bless those who curse you, pray for them. With hurting but loving concern, I placed this situation in the hands of our gracious and loving God. The peace I feel as a result, though not untroubled, is real. Thank you, Jesus.