Matthew 5:38-48 How Do I Respond? - Pastor James O

hey good morning good morning and welcome to South Bay Community Church my name is James and I'm one of the pastor's here and if you haven't been with us for the last few weeks we've been in the middle of this series called live like this is teachings from the Sermon on the Mount it's considered the greatest sermon of all time and one of the reasons why it is the greatest sermon of all time is because it was given by the greatest of all time Jesus Christ and what we've been learning and what we've been unpacking is how Jesus has come to help us understand what God's law God's rules but God's standards he has for those that would follow him he's called us to a radical and different kind of living not one that is looking like the rest of the world or culture or anything like that but instead he's called us to really live like Jesus and so today we're gonna unpack a little bit more of what that looks like and there's gonna be teachings that probably many of you guys have heard before we use these phrases in our culture all the time things like turning the other cheek or going the extra mile or giving the shirt off our back but I want to show you what Christ meant when he taught these things on top of addressing the heart of the matter in regards to loving our enemies but before that I want to pray and even before I open up our time in a word of Prayer I also wanted to pray for a specific situation and family I don't know if you guys were here last week or aware of what was been going on in the news but there was a young lady who was here from from Los Angeles who was a college student in Utah her name was Mackenzie and she was here visiting her family a few weeks back she went back to school afterwards flew back home and she went missing and unfortunately we've come to find out that someone has taken her life and this was near and dear to one of the members here at our church Peggy Malfi she was a former teacher teacher of this young lady and I know that her heart's breaking I can only imagine how much her parents and her family and her friends must be hurting as well and so I thought you know as we opened up in this time of prayer why don't we just lift up that family as well okay so let's pray together God we come before you and God our hearts are wrapped for this family God we can't imagine the pain and the hurt they're experiencing God but we know that you understand what it is like to see a child die as you allow your son to die on the cross for us and so God we beg and we plead on behalf of Mackenzie's family and friends for Peggy but God you would provide them comfort that guys you will give them peace that you tell us can be beyond all understanding and that God you would appear to them in a real way in a way that is tangible in a way where they sense your great love and comfort for them and God as we move forward in this message today god I pray that you would help us God as we look at these ideas of how we are to react to all sorts of different people but especially to those whom are difficult to love to those who are our enemies and those that may seek out to harm us or wronged us God show us how we are to respond we love you we thank you and God we pray all these things in Jesus name Amen hey we've been kind of going on track with the teachings of Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 and if you look you might see that we're kind of jumping ahead because actually the next passages that we were supposed to be talking about today if we were going in order we're about marriage and we're about divorce and we're about adultery as well as oaths and you know we're skipping ahead not because we want to skip over that but instead pastor Gary really really wanted to teach on that and so he wanted to make sure he took his time and wanted to come before you guys next week presenting to you guys God's heart in these things and so we want to encourage you guys especially those that are married maybe some of you guys know someone that is married this be a perfect perfect message for them to come and hear or maybe some of you guys are struggling in your marriage or are considering divorce or know of somebody or are some is someone that is going through the process of divorce or recently I've gone through it yourself we hope that you would come back and hear God's heart about these matters and find hope and what he has to say but today what we're gonna do is we're gonna again take a look at some things that are probably familiar to us but I pray that it wouldn't be so familiar that you wouldn't you would just let it in one ear and out the other but that instead you would really allow it to convict you to challenge you and truly change you you know as I was preparing for this message I came along a study done by this author where he went out and he surveyed a bunch of college students on a college campus and the survey was about the things that they get in the word about pet piece do you guys have any pet peeves oh wow some of you guys really do have some pet peeves well I wanted to share with you the list that he had found and compiled together as he surveyed these college students let me tell you the first one was when people chew loudly or with their mouths open I know that my wife is really bothered by this and so when she bothers me I tend to chew a little bit louder another one that they shared it was excessive PDA public displays of affection many people are just thinking hey go get a room other people other people said or the top things were when this one was funny leaving the turn signal on in a turn only Lane and the author the author was really triggered by this I don't know why but he went on to write a whole paragraph about how this is the dumbest thing ever you're already in a lane designated or turn left why do you have to leave your left turn blinker on and I was like really this is so silly but maybe so many of you guys feel the same way as I see some heads nodding this one maybe you're guilty of it and maybe you've been bothering some people sitting around you especially during worship because they said one of the top pet peeves was clapping off beat another one and I've seen a lot of people bothered by this was improper grammar like they don't like it when people don't talk good right and so they just get really really triggered by that another other ones we're being told how they how to feel and what to think they don't like it when someone acts like something they're not people who are just blatantly disrespectful people who are excessively pessimist and this one this one is one that I can truly identify with it was people choosing to Cruise in the left lane that is supposed to be the fast lane I heard some mmm some amens yeah I agree okay and it was funny though because these these things to me some of them don't bother me at all and so I went to my wife Darrin and I was like can you believe these people get so upset about such trivial things and I don't know about you guys but I've learned a big lesson in my marriage so far man why is have the ability to put you in your place and humble you if that's exactly what my wife did cuz when I brought this up she's like yeah I do know somebody that gets annoyed very easily and reacts very poorly you and house like me what are you talking about nothing ever bothers me nothing gets under my skin I'm a pastor right and she was like you know what well what happens to Pastor James when you show up on the road and I like oh you are absolutely correct see maybe some of you guys have been here where I share some of my struggles on the road before but I have an issue and it's called road rage it's probably you know has to do with a little bit of the cream blood that runs through these veins but yeah I just rehab poorly sometimes I remember even earlier this week as I was driving into work I was driving down Hawthorne and I'm making my way law-abiding citizen going the speed limit doing right by everything supposedly well at least I like to think I was and I was driving and all of a sudden as I was going there was an intersection coming up and someone started creeping up to the intersection the other way wanting to make a right into the oncoming traffic into the traffic that I was going into I look and this guy starts to creep closer and closer to the curb and I'm thinking no don't go I'm right here please like nobody's behind me just wait a second or two or do they decided you know let's go right in front of you and I was oh my goodness right and so I had to let them know they were in the wrong so i honk maybe a little longer than I should and maybe I drove a little bit closer than I was supposed to die just wanted to let them know what I thought and that Jesus loves them but maybe not act exactly that but their been often times that this has happened and I get so frustrated and I get so mad and when Darren's in the car with me when this stuff occurs Iron Man I always go what is wrong with them they're so pretty right and she just looks at me and she goes what is wrong with you and I go what do you mean they're the people that are in the wrong that was so dumb that was so selfish I'm not the offender in this case why are you getting mad at me and then that causes a whole nother fight between the two of us but that's another sermon for another time but as I was studying for this sermon I realized she was right there is something wrong with me it was my response and my reactions see I think if we're honest with ourselves I think every single one of us in here have a sense of justice and when we're wrong do we see wrong it bothers us and I believe that's a good trait to have I believe it is representative of the Spirit of God the image of him that we have been made by it but but the thing is I think sin has perverted that and twisted it and what has become the sense of righteousness and justice that we seek oftentimes when wrong happens around us or especially to us has turned more into not just making things right or being right but about getting revenge and retaliation so you can see it just an example of maybe an apology maybe somebody hurts you or wronged you and so they sincerely come to you and they apologize for their mistake or their wrongdoing how many of us have sometimes chosen not to forgive or accept their apology because we don't feel like it or because we feel like they're not being sincere enough or we think you know what no that is not good enough I want you to not just be sorry I want you to feel my hurt and my pain as well see I think his sin that makes us want to choose to not just accept an extended branch of offering in a forgiveness but wanting to seek revenge and retaliation and this is why I believe that you just wanted to address this subject here in Matthew chapter 5 and so if you guys have your Bibles would you guys meet me here at Matthew chapter 5 verses 38 that's where we're going to begin if you guys don't have your Bibles you guys could open up your program inside is an insert with all these verses and also if you want we will have the verses up here to follow along as well if you're more of a visual person but but let's take a look at how Jesus desires that we respond when we're treated wrongly or poorly or unjustly he tells us in Matthew 5 38 he begins by saying this he says you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and see what I want you guys to understand and when I want to clarify for you guys is this Jesus is again addressing a teaching that for some reason has been taken out of context see back in the days scribes and Pharisees and other religious leaders taught things from the Bible but somehow someway maybe maybe intentionally or unintentionally things have gotten twisted and changed to not really mean what God had intended by these verses or they were taken out of context and used the wrong way and this is a perfect example of it see the idea of an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth is a principle of justice it's even referred to in this Latin word called lex talionis lex talionis and what it basically means is the idea is punishment should fit the crime eye for an eye and tooth for tooth it was present since early on in civilizations it was present even in the Bible as we see it here and we'll read on later on and it was even present during Jesus's time under Roman law but see God had a but specific design for this command and so let's take a look in the Old Testament and Exodus as Moses describes his command of Lex talionis and I want to show you and share with you what the context was actually about see you next to this chapter 21 verses 23 through 25 it says this but if there is harm then you shall pay life for life eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot burn for burn wound for wound and stripe for stripe see what Jesus was giving with specific rules for loss to dole out justice not retaliation not revenge but how to deal with matters in a civil way see what God was giving to Moses and to share to his people wasn't necessarily how to deal with personal interactions and personal personal moments where people offend you but offenses that are usually taken into the matter of court see what God was giving these commands see were the judges of Israel in order to help people figure out not how to get revenge with one another but how to serve justice and see what happened though was that people perverted this idea and they took it not to the courts and just applied it there but they began applying it to their life see what I want you guys to understand is Jesus came and he shared this law not to say that it was a bad law or was a law that we needed to get rid of but he said this is actually a good law for the justice system that the crime that the punishment should fit the crime but somehow someway you guys have taken that moral compass your moral compass has changed from treating each others with love and grace and now you're treating each others by this law that was intended for a different situation and different context and so his intent of clarifying this idea of Lex talionis was not to make our legal rights a basis for how we der interact and react and respond to others in our relationships when it concern a concern disputes or problems but see Jesus had a different way that he wanted us to respond and so let's take a look at the verses that follow and let's see the radical Jesus calls us to live not I for I or tooth for tooth but instead in this way he says but I say to you my disciples the people that are following me God's children I say to you do not resist the one who is evil but if anyone slaps you on the right cheek turn to him the other also and if anyone would sue you and take your tunic let him have your cloak as well and if anyone forces you to go one mile go with him two miles give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you the first thing that I want you guys to note here is Jesus says do not resist the one who is evil and what Jesus is implying is not just this general idea of evil he's not talking about Satan as well he's talking about the person or the man who wrongs you so consider that as we look at the context of the rest of the metaphors Jesus uses to teach us on how to respond so the one that is evil the one that has harm you he says this if they strike you on the cheek right to turn the other cheek but there's something very specific about what Jesus says here as well do you notice that he very specifically says the right cheek this is right Yeah right cheek and if you look at it like this most people were right-handed and so as well assume that most people would strike you with the right hand and yet if a person is standing across from you if I slap somebody what cheek am i probably gonna hit the left right and so how is it that I'm gonna hit the right cheek like this probably not right probably like this a backhanded slap and see at the time this was considered one of the most disrespectful things you could do this was a sign of sheer embarrassment and a humiliation this was insulting to the highest degree so what I believe Jesus is describing here isn't necessarily just about a physical assault but an assault on one's dignity and one thing that I really want to clear up because I know that this has been miss you misunderstood for a lot of things but what I want you guys to understand is that I don't believe Jesus is teaching us this so that we could be doormats and punching bags for people that we can invite abuse and just take it on more and more and more but what I believe Jesus is trying to into show us is that in our response to the evil one who tries to harm us that we would not retaliate with a closed fist or eye-for-an-eye or slap for slap but that instead we were turn his slap with the other cheek inviting a new start see in doing this we give up our right to get back and to save face for an invitation for a new beginning see I believe Jesus desired that and you could see it as we continue on more and more the second example that he used is in the context of being sued in a legal system and he says if someone Sue's you for your tunic don't just give them your tunic but offer him your coat and the tunic I want you to understand in our day and age it would relate to a person's shirt and the coat as what we know as a jacket or a coat or something like that and he's saying that you know legally people could sue you at that time for your shirt right if you didn't have the financial means to repay a debt or to honor somebody suing you then you can actually use your shirt as a ways of repayment you couldn't use your cloak why because the cloak was that important to the people in that day and age so much so that no one ever had a legal right to sue someone for their coat because for people their coat was more than just a garment to wear but it was something that they would use to find warmth when they slept or use as a pillow when they go to sleep but yet Jesus is saying here hey someone Sue's you don't just offer the shirt off your back give them your cloak as well and I think what Jesus is trying to imply is this maybe in this situation maybe someone is unfairly accusing you of something and they're requiring this demand a payment of repayment from you and while you may not be totally at fault maybe there is a part of you because he's saying here that you have been legally found guilty of something so you have to repay them maybe in some sort of dispute and some sort of argument maybe somebody's asking for repayment and what Jesus is saying yeah you could just give your what you're legally required to you or just enough to suffice but he's saying no go above and beyond don't just do the bare minimum it's kind of like when two kids fight and one kid hits the other one and says you know what tell your sister that you're sorry and they're like I'm sorry right they just do the bare minimum right they just say enough to get out of the punishment Jesus says that is not the attitude that I want you to have with your offender no I want you to go above and beyond why because I believe Jesus is saying hey I want you to take every action to try to bring reconciliation because if you've wronged them even if you didn't mean to even if it was by accident offer up repayment of what is required to you but also offer up more for sake for the sake of the relationship for the sake of reconciliation another example that Jesus uses crazy metaphor is to walk a mile I don't know about you but guys a mile is a long way to go right some of us man we can't even think about walking let alone running a mile or anything like that but Jesus says not just to walk a mile when someone forces you to both to walk to and I know that may be out of context we don't understand what that means so let me share with you guys what this looked like in the history and the time of Jesus see back then Roman officials who were ruling over the Israelites at the time they had a law instituted that they could literally go up to any citizen and tell them hey I want you to help me carry my belongings I want you to travel with me and legally you had to stop whatever you are doing you had to stop wherever you were going and help this Roman official or this Roman soldier and walk with them and carry their things for them for up to a mile after mile you were no longer legally responsible to stay with them and so what Jesus is here is this he's saying hey somebody forces you requires you to walk a mile with them and even though you think it's unfair even though you think is not right he says don't just walk a mile with them going extra mile to serve them and and I think one of the reasons that Jesus is sharing this and showing this is because especially in the case of Roman officials what he wants his believers to do and to show is that while you may have legal rights for me to walk one mile with you carrying these things for you you know what you are not my king and you are not my ruler I live by another standard and I live by another king and another ruler and he is God and so I will live according to what he has called me to do so I'm not just gonna walk one mile because my God said walk - so I'm gonna walk - because it's you're not my king my father in heaven is my king and so in doing this you serve this person and I think when we serve another person when they have wronged us or hurt us or done wrong done bad to us I think there is this effect of disarming then and I think it has this great opportunity when we take the high road to de-escalate a situation and then Jesus goes on and he tells us one other way that we are to love and to serve other people and it was to give to those who beg and to lend to those who want to borrow and this probably has to deal with material things in our property and Jesus is calling us to be generous people who have our hands open right - to be people that give but I want to remind us that God has also called us to be stewards of the things that he has given us and so we as good stewards we're not to be reckless or irresponsible but also as stewards we need to remember that the things that we have are not ours to keep and as stewards we need to do as the owner pleases and what the owner pleased is that when somebody is in need and they have a report they need help that our response should be love and of compassion of generosity and that that doesn't mean that we give handouts or we enable people but we love people and our reaction should show that when you see somebody come begging or asking for lending somebody that you don't like someone that gets on your near somebody that has done you wrong what is your first reaction no heck no is your first reaction to maybe someone that is homeless and has done something wrong against you is this judgment of like criticism or hey you should just get a job is it a hard-hearted reaction or is it the reaction that God has caused us to have one of generosity see I think a beautiful picture all four of these examples is found in this young man named Josh this is Joshua and he's a motivational speaker now but in high school he experienced bullying to a great degree so much so that he had to switch schools because he just couldn't stand it anymore because of the teasing that he endured because of the names that he was called because of the way that the other kids at school were treating him and one of the reasons that the kids bullied him was because his dad had died at a young age and he missed his dad so much that he used to put a picture of his dad in his locker and just stare at at times and so kids thought that was funny kids use that as ammunition to make fun of him and to give him a hard time you know Josh didn't exactly know what to do he didn't know how to respond maybe maybe he could have gone back at them teased them made fun of them done things to harm them and hurt them but you know what Josh did something else he did much like what these for example showed see Josh he chose to do something radical he did something simple and yet profound what Josh did was this he was show up to school early or than most of the kids and there was one main entrance that most of the kids would use to go in and out of school and what he did was he decided to open the door and hold it open for each and every kid and welcomed them as they came and as they left from school he just chose to serve them not strike back at them not make fun of them not retaliate against them not hold anger but his response was to serve them and in doing so it flipped them it flipped his school upside down while initially people laughed at him and mocked him for doing this people started to realize what are we doing here's a young man who has every right to be angry and upset with us because of the way we treat him and yet he chooses instead to serve us and so he went from being bully to eventually peeing the prom king at his school and he became a light and inspiration to the rest of the school on how they should love and treat one another see I believe this is the point of why God has called us to react differently than the letter of the law of I for an eye and a tooth for tooth so how do we respond when somebody hurts us or wrongs us that's the question that I pose to you guys and according to the scripture this is the response we write this down we respond with generous grace we respond with the generous grace and I want to just remind us of what grace means and what it looks like because we throw it around so easily here at church it's a good thing it's a great thing grace is an unmerited gift basically what that means it's a gift that we don't deserve and so some of you guys are sitting in here you're hearing Jesus's words and you're like James this person slapped me this person this person took away my identity or my dignity they treated me so poorly and so wrongly they don't deserve to be treated well why should I treat him that way and will I remind you grace grace is unmerited favor is undeserved gift what Jesus is calling us to do is to be generous generous in our grace toward other people look at what Jesus even says in our response to each of these individuals that harm or hurt us he says what when they strike your cheek offer the other cheek when they sue you for your tunic offer them another cloak for restitution and resolution he says when they forced you to walk a mile offer them another mile when they beg give and give generously see it's not about revenge or a rifle response of retaliation and retribution instead Jesus sing live by the spirit of grace of generous grace rather than the legal right of the law see here's the thing guys I want you guys to hold I want you guys to understand this you know we can't control what other people do and how they'll treat us I don't think Jesus is saying to condone their evil or their or their harmful acts no but what I believe Jesus is trying to say is you control what you can control you control yourself you control your reactions you can't control them you can't control what they'll say how they worry what they do but you can control you and how do I want you to control you I want you to look and act like me see this is the way that Jesus has called us to live and call us to respond in the face of people who do these types of things to us and this is hard this is difficult and I want to show you guys some more things that Jesus reveals to us in these scriptures of how we can respond in this way it's gonna require a lot of things but two things that I really want to focus on is this will you write this down it will require trusting God and surrendering our rights see in order to respond in this way of love is going to require that we trust God and surrender our rights we've got to trust God when someone strikes us on the cheek not to take vengeance in our own hands but to leave it in his because did you guys know that revenge is supposed to be the Lord's take a look at Romans 12:19 it says beloved never avenge yourselves believe it to the wrath of God for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay says the Lord see it's not about being passive or pacifists but it's leaving retaliation and retribution in the hands of God he says it's his not ours and so when we try to take it into our own hands that says God we don't trust you to do the right thing or it says god I need to do this for myself it focuses on ourselves rather than saying God I trust you to do what is right will you trust that God is your Avenger will you trust that God can be your defender will you trust that God will rightfully act because he is a just God on your behalf or will you try to take things into your own hands see trusting God also requires that second idea of surrender and see what Jesus shows us is that we need to surrender our rights our rights for dignity our rights even legally even sometimes our freedom and even our property and you think this is hard and I get it I see it too I struggled with this message as I was actually trying to unpack it but then I remembered Jesus and I realized that that's exactly what his life was all about see Jesus turned the other cheek when he was accused and when he was taken prisoner right one of one of his disciples reacted by taking out a sword and slicing off a Roman soldiers ear right but what did Jesus say he said I'm not about that he took the ear and he put it back on the soldier and made it right so Jesus at any moment at any time could have said man these guys are being ridiculous they are mocking me they are spitting on me they are beating me and he could have easily said enough god smite them smite done right but he knew that God had a plan and he trusted in God's plan and in order for God's plan to succeed he needed a surrender his right and his dignity he also surrendered his legal right because Pontius Pilate the one that judged him the one that had the opportunity to send them to the cross or not right he said to the crowd that was crying out crucify him crucified he said to them this man I have found no wrong in him there was no legal basis for him to cute to put Jesus on that cross but still Jesus went to that cross he surrendered his legal right and he gave he gave his life in order to serve us see do you see Jesus this was his response to those that were his enemies he turned the other cheek he gave up his rights gave up his freedom and he gave so generously his own life and why why did he do this awful reconciliation see man messed up so man and God were separated so Jesus Jesus came to make a way so that man and God can be together again it was all about reconciliation and so when you're challenged and when somebody offends you hurts you wronged you will you choose to respond with reconciliation as your top priority I believe that's what Jesus would want us to do I believe that's what Jesus is teaching us here write this down as your next point our response to show that we desire reconciliation over retaliation see because in doing so we put the other people ahead of us it's not just about us and getting what we believe to be right instead we give that up to open up the chance for peace not rightful retribution or retaliation but the opportunity of reconciliation and Jesus is saying this not just for the reconciliation of us and the offender who harmed us and wronged us but the opportunity for reconciliation between that offender and God we as God's vehicles of grace can show this man who our dad is so I challenge you guys when you feel mistreated when you feel wronged when you feel hurt harmed and hate it will you trust fully surrender trust fully surrender your right for retribution for the sake of grace and reconciliation I know it's hard I know some of you guys are sitting here and you're thinking about this person or people who have treated you so poorly maybe it's a boss maybe it's a teacher maybe it's a friend or a former friend maybe maybe it's a spouse and you think I can't you don't understand they're so evil they're so mean they're unruly that they're so overwhelming and I get you I don't understand but I know God does and I believe what God wants to do is show us the way to behave like this by addressing and yet again our heart see because the heart that's where it starts the heart is the wellspring of life as the Bible says and what comes out of it is all about what goes in it and so I believe Jesus wanted to address how our heart should be filled with love and not hate and so take a look at the following verses because he says this is what we need to do especially if we're going to respond like this this is in Matthew 5:43 he says you've heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy again Jesus is clarifying a mistaken verse or mistaken idea of God's command see nowhere in the bible does it ever say hate your enemy but somehow someway the teachings have somehow twisted it and turned it to being hate love your neighbor but you also got to hate your enemy baby is just human logic in the way that we think of things right I mean consider sports and how we look at it if you are a Lakers fan you cannot be a Celtics fan that's just wrong I was gonna use the Clippers as an example but we know nobody likes the Clippers I'm just kidding I kind of like them but if you're a baseball fan there are the Yankees if you're a Yankees fan you definitely cannot be one of those nasty bad Red Sox fans or vice-versa Oh or maybe even political realms we've took in this approach as well depending on what side of the part what party you you identify yourself with you look at the others as enemies you can't no no way we can get along maybe we even do this sometimes with the food or drinks that we have some of you guys are like man I love coke that means I hate Pepsi somebody goes I love Pepsi I hate coke even though they taste the same and we we do this especially when it comes to religion right in our beliefs if someone doesn't have the same belief as us they must be our enemy so we must fight them we must hate them no Jesus says something different now he doesn't say we need to condone them or let them just be but he says that we don't treat them and look at them as our enemy we don't hold hate and resentment against them no he says something completely different see in verse 44 he says but I say to you my people God's children I say to you know love love your enemies and pray pray for those who persecute you and so those people those people that are your enemies because of your choosing or because of their how they treat you or because of their different religious opinions or political standings Jesus is saying no just because they're different does not mean you hate them and just love the people that look like you no instead he's saying no love them and pray for them see how do I respond to those who hate me how do you respond to those that hate you we write this down as your next one respond with love and prayer we need to love and we need to pray for our enemies see the truth is people will hate us Jesus made it very clear that people will hate us even for the things that we believe but there will be people who hate us for all sorts of different things legitimate and illegitimate it could be for the color of our skin it could be the way that we talk it could be the country we're from our ethnicity it could be all sorts of different things and Jesus says our reaction to them our hearts response to them shouldn't be hate and antagonism it shouldn't be resentment it shouldn't be shown in actions of mockery but no it should be with an attitude of love acted out in prayer geez we learned even in the Bible it tells us in Romans 12 that we are to act in a way of love toward our enemies he says man if your enemy is hungry feed them if your enemy is thirsty give them something to drink see God has called us to actively love those that may hate us those that may look different than us now hold the same beliefs as us that don't treat us the same he says love them a great example of this was when Jesus told his story about the Good Samaritan the good Samaritan real quickly what happened was Jesus share with this example it shared this example of an Israelite man walking getting mugged and being left for dead and as other Israelites came walking a priest and a Levite ooh religious people people that knew the law of loving their neighbor they came they saw this man and they left they did nothing and then Jesus uses a Samaritan to prove a point why a Samaritan because at that time Samaritans and Jews they were at odds with each other they were considered enemies of one another they did not like each other they resented one another they mistreated each other and yet Jesus uses this example to say this Israelite man this Jewish man is laying dead hurt helpless and while two neighbors who were Israelites just like him walk by he says here comes his enemy the Samaritan and what does the Samaritan do he goes and he loves him he cares for them he bandages up up he cares for his boos and he even takes him to a place where he can rest and even pays for this stay that he is having Jesus says that should be us one of the ways I really think that God wants to challenge us today is by showing love to our enemies by offering forgiveness see if we're honest with ourselves a lot of us don't offer forgiveness unless the other person seeks it right we're not gonna forgive they didn't ask for forgiveness they didn't say sorry will you choose to forgive your enemy even if they never say sorry even if they never feel bad about it because that's what love does doesn't excuse it it doesn't allow it to continue on but it says I will forgive I will let it go I will not hold it over you and let it eat me up inside anymore she and I think that's one of the reasons why Jesus is so adamant that one of the ways we show love is by forgiveness because if we don't then bitterness and resentment start to boil up inside and starts to infest us like cancer and eat us from the inside out and see Paul talks about why we are to approach our hearts and make sure they're filled with love and not even have a hint of hate because he says do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good he knows that a little bit of evil can turn itself into a whole lot and so instead of even having a smidgen of it let us let our hearts be too full for any room of hate because it's full of love and then Jesus goes on and says hey pray for your enemies pray for them now that doesn't mean pray that they get hurt pray that they you know see things your way but pray for their benefit pray for their good in a sense that God knows what's best don't pray for their defeat don't pray for their harm pray for them in the most loving way you can do is say God I offer them up to you and one of the reasons I believe God does that is yes he answers our prayers and he starts moving into people's lives but I think he also wants to work with us when we pray for them why is this so important well let me show you why Jesus goes on to explain the importance of this in verse 45 he says so that you may be sons of your father who is heaven love your enemies pray for those who persecute you why so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven for he makes his Sun Rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust because we're supposed to look like dad that's why we love our enemies we pray for those who persecute us to kind of give us a visual example of this I think I'm gonna put up a picture of pastor Greg he's currently away on sabbatical can't wait for him to return but some of you guys might not know he he has a couple children one son his name is Evan and I want to ask you guys can you tell which one of these three living beings is his son Evan it's pretty easy right the chicken no I'm just kidding it it's the middle one right not only because he's a real-life human being in a child but I don't know if you guys noticed it or not but he looks like a mini Greg or he looks a lot like his dad and I think this is the reality of it you and I as believers we should look like our dad not the rest of the world see loving your enemy is a marker of being your daddy's child being God's child see he goes on further and he talks about the importance of this because if we look like our Father in heaven when we love our enemies it gives a picture to the world of who our God is but but when we give false representation of God because we hate our enemies because we go eye for an eye and tooth for tooth in our reactions then we sully the name of our dad see when we react with anger and retaliation when we hate our enemies when we allow hate to infest us and come out of us through snarky comments do mean gestures through attitudes of hate and hurt when we allow ourselves even somewhere like a basketball court or a sporting event get the of us to allow us to start yelling and screaming and getting bad at someone because they wronged us they followed us whatever it might be because we're losing when we do that man think about it what does that tell the rest of the world what our dad looks like people are probably thinking that's why I don't like God because look at his children look at how they act man is that what God must be like that's why it's so important how we respond and how we act because we are supposed to represent our dad do we look like him or wait do we look like everyone else see Matthew 5:40 64 7 cheese continues on with this thought he says for if you love those who love you what reward do you have do not even the tax collectors do the same and if you greet only your brothers what more are you doing than others do not even the Gentiles do the same Jesus is saying you look like your father in heaven or do you look like the rest of the world you look like the rest of the world when you only love those who love you you're no better you're no different than even gang members King members love those that are in their King but they hate those that are their enemies this is an extreme example but even Hitler a man that committed unbelievable acts of hate a murder of genocide he loved those that look like him and he hated those that didn't Jesus saying are we poor looking like that or do we look more like our Father in Heaven because see our Father in heaven he loves his enemies how do I know that we're living proof of that we were once his enemies the Bible tells us in Romans 5 while we're still sinners while we were still his enemies Jesus died for us so who do we look more like the rest of the world or our dad to love our enemies is to say that we look like our dad it's not easily done though and so Jesus ends with how to aim towards this and move in this direction says in Matthew 5:48 you therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect he's saying aim to be like your dad if you don't get anything else don't look at just the loss to fulfill make your aim and make your mark to be like your father in heaven see that's part of the lessons that I learned and I just want to kind of unpack them for you one last time and this passage is here what I see is loving your enemies does a lot of things but I want to focus on these three first is this loving our enemies distinguishes it distinguishes your identity from everyone else it makes you stand out why because you are different you don't love like everyone else loves you love like your dad in heaven you don't act like everyone else you turn the other cheek you go the extra mile you give the shirt off your back you give so generously why because you look like your father you don't worry act with anger and hate and spitefulness you don't let your temper get the best of you why because you look like dad and speaking of dad number two of loving your enemy it directs your aim to be like your dad Jesus says let this be your goal let this be your measurement of success aim to be like dad and then finally the lesson that God really compels and put on my heart was this we love our enemies it develops it develops an opportunity for enemies to become friends for enemies to turn into our neighbors no great example of this was found by the owner of chick-fil-a his name is Dan Cathy and they saw this amazing chicken so good I'm getting hungry right now so I'm trying to try to wrap this up real quick but see Dan Cathy is a self-professed Christian he believes in God and the things in the Bible and so when asked on his stance of marriage he shared believe that it was between a man and a woman and this was in the midst of that great controversy of same-sex marriage and so that LGBT community they were up in arms over his remarks they saw it as a symbol of hate and so there were protests that were made all over the nation protests and boycotts of chick-fil-a some people even took it to these extents this was actually here at a local chick-fil-a in Torrance where somebody painted this it says it tastes like hate and so you could only imagine the harm it was doing to the reputation of chick-fil-a how much money that they were losing and this was causing people to be divided and starting to fight people would come to chick-fil-a is not for chicken but to fight one another and argue with each other and yell and scream at one another and while that was all going on Dan Cathy decided to take a different approach see he didn't fight back he didn't get nasty instead what he decided to do was reach out not in public for everyone else to see but in private he reached out to a man named Shane Windham Eyre Shane Windham Eyre is one of the leading activists of the LGBTQ community and a gay man himself and Shane shares about when he was first approached by Dan he was really skeptical he was like what is this man up to he was like is this man just trying to swing me over and trying to make me stop these protests no he said instead this is what happened and I'll share you share with you the words of Shane himself he said Dan Kathy offered me no apology for his genuine beliefs about marriage nor did I offer him any apology about mine but you know what he never asked me to end the boycotts instead he asked me about who I was he tried to understand me ask questions about my family wanted to get to know what made me - and what I learned he says this he we both began to see that we didn't have to agree with our enemy in order to be able to love them think about it Christianity does not give us permission dishonor or disregard those whom we perceive as our enemies he went on to say he says by getting to know me dan Kathy expanded his world without abandoning his and I did mine as well in fact he admitted he said he was sorry he spent so much time being angry at Dan and deeply distrustful of man he didn't know a man that he just considered an enemy and then shortly after that Shane came out in a Huffington Post article saying I have to share something with everyone I'm coming out and I'm letting people know that me and Dan we've become friends see both men put their reputations on the line when they chose to sit side by side together at a chick-fil-a bowl a few years back and hoping to show the world that enemies can become friends now I want you to see and know that you know what neither one backed down from their beliefs but what they did instead was they chose to not let their not let their differences get in the way of loving caring and knowing one another this is exactly like I said before what God did for us we were his enemies we did things to harm him to wronged him and how did he choose to respond by loving us and by loving us some of us have chosen to accept His grace and His mercy and what has happened we have gone from once being enemies to now being called Friends of Jesus and Friends of God that's what can happen when we love our enemies what I want to end with is one last story a real-life example of somebody who let this play out in their life who looked to Jesus and looked at God and saw what he had done for her I said I need to do the same she experienced great hurt and tragedy great offense and everyone could have understood if she chose to respond like the rest of the world but instead she chose to look like her dad and look at the way it impacted her life and the world around her watch this video we end tonight with one of the most potent powers on earth it can change lives in an instant everyone has it it's the power to forgive watch it now in action in Steve Hartman's assignment America in a small apartment building in North Minneapolis a 59 year old teacher's aide sings praise to God for no seemingly apparent reason indeed if anyone was to have issues with the Lord it would be Mary Johnson all you've done for me you never had a chance in February 1993 Mary's son Lorraine Ian Byrd was shot to death during an argument at a party he was 20 and Mary's only child my son was gone the killer was a 16 year old kid named O'Shea Israel I wanted justice he was an animal he deserved to be caged and he was tried as an adult and sentenced to 25 and a half years O'Shea served 17 before being recently released he now lives back in the old neighborhood close to Mary this close he lives next door next door how a convicted murderer ended up living a door jamb away from his victim's mother is a story not a horrible misfortune as you might expect but of remarkable mercy a few years ago Mary asked if she could meet O'Shea here at Minnesota's Stillwater state prison as a devout Christian she felt compelled to see if there was some way if somehow she could forgive her son's killer what'd she say to you I believe the first thing she said was look you don't know me I don't know you let's just start with right now then I was befuddled myself O'Shea says they met regularly after that when he got out she introduced him to her landlord who with Mary's blessing invited O'Shea to move into the building today they don't just live close they are closed clearly mary was able to forgive unforgiveness is like cancer it will eat you from the inside out it's not about that other person me forgiving him does not diminish what he's done yes he murdered my son but the forgiveness is for me it's for me for O'Shea it hasn't been that easy I haven't totally forgiven myself yet I'm learning how to forgive myself and I'm still growing towards you know trying to forgive myself and what it is I done to that end O'Shea is now busy proving himself to himself he works at a recycling plant by day and goes to college by night he says he's determined to pay back Mary's clemency by contributing to society in fact he's already working on it singing the praises of God and forgiveness at prisons churches to large audiences everywhere forgiveness is a powerful thing which explains why Mary can sing her praise of thanks to her audience of one Steve Hartman CBS News Minneapolis oh you've done what a powerful real-life example of someone turning the other cheek to provide a new opportunity to start afresh and to start new she was able to offer generous grace and react so differently from the rest of the world even though everybody would have been okay or understood if she did it she was able to love her enemy and have him literally turned into her neighbor I pray that you would hear these words they wouldn't just be words that are familiar to you to the point where you just let them come in and let them go out you don't you wanted that you don't struggle with them but instead I pray and I hope if there's an enemy out there that you're still holding a grudge with there's someone out there who has hurt you and offended you pray that today God's words will compel you to react with generous grace and with love and prayer and I know it's so hard to do it's impossible to do on our own but because of God's example if we're his children you can do it he's shown us the way but he's also empowered us with this Holy Spirit so let's be people who look like our dad let's pray God we come before you and I lift up each and every person here today that has heard these words and God I pray that you would compel their hearts that God you convict their spirits and that God they would choose to respond to hurt and to pain a person who harms them people that are their enemies God not like the rest of the world not with an eye for an eye but God rather they would choose to respond with generous grace and with love and prayer because God that is exactly what you did for us thank you Jesus for being our model of what it looks like to surrender your rights of dignity [Music] Toofer ender you're right legally and then to even surrender your life generously to serve us and to save us help us to be more like you dad so God we look to you and we look to Jesus to look more like you probably sings in Jesus name Amen

Channel: sbcclive

Views: 674

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: South Bay Community Church, South Bay, Torrance, SBCCLive, southbaycc, church message, church sermon

Id: wkBa9CYMV40

Length: 61min 4sec (3664 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 30 2019