November 9, 2014 "The Second Mile" Pastor Howard-John Wesley

father God how grateful we are for the opportunity to worship you in spirit and in truth to have your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path for the privilege of God of confessing and repenting of our sins and walking in a new direction of life we need you to teach us now what you would have us do speak O Lord in such a way that those who confuse would have clarity those who are struggling will find strength someone deliberating would have some discernment no God that we will leave this place on fire as witnesses of your word and the grace that you bestow upon us freely in Jesus Christ speak through your servant as we are listening in Jesus name we do pray amen oh let you know at the beginning I'm really excited about the lesson of life that God has pressed on my heart to share with you today I don't believe it's one of those Rock the pulpit and run down the aisles kind of sermons but I do believe it's going to enhance encourage and enlighten your everyday experience I want you to journey with me today as we walk through what is really a very profound teaching of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that comes to us from the words of our Savior in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew if you have your app or your Bible if you would turn to Matthew chapter 5 that we might hear a reading from our Savior beginning in verse number 38 Matthew chapter 5 beginning in verse number 38 it is our custom to ask those who are physically able to stand with us as we reverence the reading of God's Holy Word from Matthew chapter 5 beginning in verse number 38 if you've got a good Bible that ought to be in read right there that ought to be in rent let you know Jesus is talking here the words of the Lord from the New King James Version of the Bible you've heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth but I tell you not to resist an evil person but if whoever slaps you on your right cheek turn the other to him also if anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic let them have your cloak also whoever compels you to go one mile go with him to give to him who asked you from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away look at that 41st verse again and whoever compels you to go one mile go with him two somebody say the second mile you may be seated in the presence of God I'm going to teach about the second mile Matthew chapter five six and seven give to us for the longest speeches of Jesus and his earthly ministry then we've entitled and labeled the Sermon on the Mount the Sermon on the Mount really ought to be required reading for every born-again believer if you haven't read it recently or you haven't read it at all your homework assignment at the very beginning of this sermon is to make certain that when you go home you read Matthew chapter five six and seven for any that you'll find that Jesus in this Sermon on the Mount is really teaching about the laws of righteous living he's not talking about how to become saved now talking about what you do in worship not sharing with you how you come to confess your sins but rather Jesus in Matthew five six and seven it's taking a moment to teach his followers about the road to discipleship sharing with them the expectations of what God has for us as we identify ourselves as those who have faith in and follow our Lord and our Savior Matthew five six and seven really does lay out the requirements of being a disciple of Jesus Christ it's really important that Jesus stops here in Chapter five to give us a sermon of the mount because you will find in chapters one through four that all of those who have followed Christ and really come to follow him very easily it has cost them nothing watch the road to discipleship he's walking by the Sea of Galilee sees Peter and Andrew and they dropped their nets and going to follow Jesus it's just that easy then he runs up on James and John the sons of Zebedee calls them and they leave their father's business to follow Jesus it's just that easy then over the next few chapters Jesus begins working miracles in the sight and the presence of those in Galilee he he heals the sick he raises those who are paralyzed he gives sight to the blind he casts out demons the Bible says with all of that that people are seeing this great crowd begins to follow Jesus because they're excited about this thing and this person called Jesus Christ everything is good everyone's enjoying the journey it's it's good sailing it's a good time we like the road to discipleship and up until now you could have the misperception that following Jesus is easy and so the Lord pulls this crowd aside to share with them although it's been easy thus far and although becoming saved was easy and following me was easy I want to let you know that there are some laws of righteousness some expectation of believers some being God desires of us that are not so easy to do and so Jesus pulls them aside to begin teaching and talking about the road to discipleship and you will note two things about the Sermon on the mountain the first is that in these laws of righteousness when Jesus lays out what God expects of us as we walk in faith and follow him you'll notice that the bulk of the Sermon on the Mount has nothing to do with your relationship with God but rather your relationship with other people that as Jesus lays out what the Lord expects of us the bulk of the teaching is not about some professed religion but rather about some proven relationships with other people that the first and primary expression of our faith and our followship is not how loud you shout not how many Sundays you come to church it's not how big your Bible is but the first proven expression of your faith and your followship is how you deal with and interact with other people in your daily experience that in the real sense is what Jesus says in the structure of the Sermon on the Mount it's not how loud you shout but how deeply you love others at the end of the day what matters to the Lord is not just your worship but your relationship with other people which is to suggest that you can't say you love the Lord and treat folk in your way you won't go and preach pastor you can't get up in church talk about giving honor God who's head of my life Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior and then you custom folk out at your job on Monday through Friday you you can't carry a Bible and and shout in the sanctuary and then be meeting the folk and nasty all week long because that's not a sign of faith and follow shift that the primary way we prove our walk with God it's how we treat other people no they've told you better be nice to me you better be nice to me that it's all about our relationships with others and the second thing you'll find amazing about the Sermon on the Mount is that everything Jesus asks us to do to prove we are following him it's not the easiest thing to do as a matter of fact you will continuously hear Jesus say this in the certain amount you've heard it said but I say unto you that Jesus is presenting another way of life that is not always easy or instinctive as a matter of fact discipleship my brother my sisters often times calls and commands you not to do what you want to do and to do what you wouldn't normally do go and say that again pastor that discipleship often times calls and commands you not to do what you want to do and to do what you would not normally do look look look at how Jesus talks and what he teaches and the Sermon on the Mount is he introducing he said listen listen so you know what be careful what comes out of your mouth when you're angry now that's that's counterintuitive about half the folk on your Pew many of us the minute we are mad we are justified and believing that we got the right to say whatever we want to say and will repent about it on Sunday and all to come Jesus says when when people do you wrong forgive them that's not instinctive my natural proclivity is to hold a grudge and to be bitter with you Jesus teachers says listen listen stop looking and lusting I knew it's gonna get quiet I knew right I cut there get a little bit quiet in church he's a good-looking and lusting leads to some stuff you ain't got no business doing he says watch what you say don't swear by nothing just do what you say you're gonna do let your yes be yes and your no be no if you say you're going to do it do it if you have no intention of doing it then don't tell me you're gonna do it but have some integrity to your word he says and love your enemies the watch is there's no trophy for loving folk who love you even the Pharisees do that but if you want to prove that the love of Christ rests within your heart you've got to learn to love those that hate you and pray for them that despitefully use you and bless them that would curse you and help them that will reject you and embrace them that would walk away from you that's not easy to do then the kind of succinctly summarize some of these expectations in our verse number 38 through verse number 42 Jesus really lays out four expectations of what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ four things God expects of us to do in our daily living four things that mark us and represent the faith and the fellowship we have in Jesus Christ can I teach you four things that God wants you to do this morning the very first thing watch what he says the very first thing you can still got your Bible open come and walk through Scripture with me he says you've heard it said an eye for an eye a tooth for tooth but I tell you not to resist an evil person whoever slaps you on the right cheek turn the other to him also here's the first thing Jesus says that marks you you resist revenge nice ain't this a shot but I'm helping by today cuz cuz the sermon is already preaching to you right here and right now cuz the one thing we live for and like to do is get even with foe come on can we be real for a minute take your sanctified hypocritical look off no nothin feel better than getting somebody back give them a little taste of their own medicine my facts somehow your pews got a PhD in revenge you have mastered the art of serving people back what they gave do unto others as they have done unto you you know folk got PhD in revenge and go to church they throw scripture on it the Bible says an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth yes the Bible does say that's my fact Bible says it three times in the Old Testament an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth but people who quote that as a reason and the rationale for revenge don't understand scripture when the Bible says it offer an iron tooth for tooth the Old Testament that is called the law of talion let somebody say tallien we come down street to learn ta Li oh and the law of talion the law italian was given not to commend and encourage revenge but rather Deacon Karen to limit the extent of personal revenge make sure you catch this when the Bible says an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth is not saying that if someone's done you wrong you ought to do them wrong an eye for an eye a tooth for tooth the law of tallian is meant to set a limit on how much revenge you can exact upon someone who had done you wrong it doesn't say you want to but it says if you do here's how far you can take it if someone has taken one eye from you you cannot take two eyes from them if someone has taken one tooth from you you can't take all the teeth out of their mouth that the law is meant to limit how much revenge you can seek that you can only seek as much revenge as the offence you had received one eye for one eye one tooth for one tooth the law was not meant to say that if someone takes an eye you take their eye it was meant to limit how much you would take so when Jesus says you've heard it say an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth but I say unto you what he's teaching us is although there is a law than limits how much revenge you could seek I'm asking you to take it to another level and not seek any revenge at all his ruler so you don't have to get even you don't have to take an eye for an eye you don't have to take a tooth for a tooth when someone has slapped you Jesus says let it go can i push this can we teach notice what Jesus says his deep here is deep he says if someone slaps you on the right cheek someone say the right cheek now I need you to look at me make sure you understand it's because in the Bible we never talk about left-handed action in the Bible everything is done with the right hand are you with me and so if I'm facing you Jamal and I want to slap you on the right cheek with the right hand the only way I can slap you on the right cheek with the right hand is to back slap you are you with me don't make me have to call you up here to prove a point it if someone is in front of you and they're going to slap you on the right cheek with the right hand the only way to do it is to back slap now in the Bible a back slap is not an injury it's an insult so what's the depth of what Jesus says he's not saying if someone injures you let it go he said something deeper if somebody insults you if somebody disrespects you if somebody calls you out of your name if somebody mistreats you let me say that's a word because sometimes the insult hurts more than the injury can I preach really because the injury will heal but the insult that stays around and you will remember the insult long after the injury here's what Jesus says if somebody insults you which would give you the natural desire to insult them back Jesus says resist revenge now now I need you to understand that Jesus is not saying that you ought to walk around life letting people abuse you then we just passive and walk around life and allow folk to just watch what he says literally this was you says if somebody slaps you that's a big if because if it's a conjunction of possibility supposing that it only happens under certain contexts which means that Jesus doesn't say just let somebody insult you what delivery says is if it happens but that means didn't Karen I can put myself in a position where when I see it coming then I can literally within my Christian right create a context that prevents the possibility of being slapped in the first place you ain't with me yet I don't have to let you slap me I have my right to put myself in a place where the slap is not a possibility especially if I see it coming so I'm well within my Christian rights not to take your phone call I'm well within my Christian rights to block your number I'm well within my Christian rights to see your invitation and say no thank you I'm well within my Christian rights to come to eight o'clock if you come to 11 I am well within my rights because there's nothing that demands I have to let you insult me but if you do I will prove my walk with the Lord by not slapping here's what Jesus says listen resist revenge let it go because whenever you seek revenge you have switched teams from faith and follow ship in Jesus to now being on the team with the evil one says resist revenge because you know God will handle it let me help you um the other day I got called into the office get card to the office at school cuz my oldest son it got into a little scuffle with another boy and you know deuce deuce is kind of big for his age matter fact when you see a school photo it looks like he was left behind a couple years and he got into it mark went with sixth grader kid a little bit older than him but but but smaller and and they were talking smack on on field and little boy push Deuce and deuce push them back but because deuce is bigger when you push the boy back the boy fell down and then start hollering and crying like you know he broke his leg or something you know just so here I'm getting called up to school and the other parents in there and they they having a fit you know and boostin hurt my son II push them back you know and what y'all doing over playground and and I'm saying wait wait wait wait wait hold on hold on what happened and teacher says well the other boy pushed deuce and Deuce pushed him back I said wait wait I don't know seventh the problem is can see I've been teaching my son a couple things and I told him you know you don't have a start a fight in school but if somebody put their hands over you put them on the ground not that that tell him who you're messing with no Wesley that's just how we get down from the south side that's how I taught my son Tim I put their hands on you you put him on the ground principal got mad and he said pastor Wesley you know they try to even put that try to put the religious thing on the pastor Wesley we have a no violent zero tolerance for violence policy at the school I said what does that mean he says any child in churches nothing's gonna get in trouble said wait a minute you mean tell me that that if he puts his hand on my son that my son came with his hands back on him they said that's exactly right he were giving as much trouble as the other boy said that net doesn't make no sense to me that wasn't how I was raised I was raised on somebody put their hands on you you put your hands on them and you put him on the ground he said that's not how we operate here at this school I said well maybe we need to go to law school cuz we took I said so what are you supposed to do he said well if we want them to know that if a child touches them rather than handling it on their own they're supposed to come and tell a teacher and let her teach her handled I said wait a minute I want him to get this right if he puts his hands on my son you don't want my son to put his hands back on him you want my son to go to the teacher and tell the teacher why should he go to the teacher and the principal said because the teacher has authority over all the students and your son ain't got to handle it if he knows how to go to somebody who's got authority over the one who put his hands on them in the first place can I preach from the life of Jesus the Lord says you ain't got to put your hands on nobody you don't have to put your mouth on nobody you don't have to get even with anybody take it to the one who has authority over every creature on the face of this earth and trust that God can handle them so somebody say resist revenge says you only have to put your hands on them trust God to handle that said so if a man slaps you let it go then the second thing watch this he says and if a man sues you and wants to take your tunic let him have your cloak also the second thing Jesus says identifies is nothing that we resist revenge but number two we have a selfless spirit somebody say selfless spirit now Michelle a lot of people may not understand what Jesus teaches here because we don't wear tunics and cloaks let me see if I can extricate the tunic was the undergarment that a man would wear similar to the robe I have on the cloak was the outer garment that went on top of the tunic are you with me the tunic is the undergarment the cloak is the outer according to Jewish law you could sue me and take my tunic but the law prohibited you taking my cloak because if you take my tunic and my cloak then I'm searched I am bear and so the laws of Israel said you could take a man's tunic in court but you had to leave his cloak so he could cover himself now Jesus was not advocating that we walk around bare what he literally saying is this that if somebody is so desperate that they need your tunic they probably need your cloak and although it's your legal right to hold on to your cloak sometimes you ought to give away your own rights because it's in the best interest of someone else that you learn to be selfless that you don't live life only thinking about what's in your best interests but you identify yourself as having faith in God and follow ship in Jesus Christ by the fact that you can relinquish your rights in order to give someone what's in their best interest trusting that God will provide for you Paul picks that up the best in the New Testament repeatedly you'll find Paul advocating that we care for others more than ourselves Paul says in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 3 let us learn to esteem others more than ourselves not looking just to the things of our self but looking to the concerns of other people he says in Romans chapter 12 verse 10 we have to learn to honor others more than ourselves Jesus is advocating listen you've got to live your life in such a way that you know how to take care of others that you know how to look after the interests of others that I'm gonna give to you in Twitter form here here's the lesson I live by in life and I found out it's the hardest thing to press on people but I want you to get it right you can never go wrong making somebody feel big who pastor you you can't shout cuz you're trying to write that down you can never go wrong making somebody feel special you can never go wrong making somebody feel important you can never go wrong stopping and giving somebody your undivided attention in conversation because even though they may not live at the level of life you live at you will make them feel important enough to look them either eye and talk to them as a human being that's why you ought to stop and talk to the janitor your job that's why you got to talk to that homeless brother on the street that's why your honor that mailroom sister that brings a milk by the office every day she may not have the biggest job but you can't go wrong making people feel important let me tell you tell you a little story um you know I went to Duke University or Duke University Duke University's private school North Carolina arguably the greatest school on face the earth and and and you had no Duke Duke was Marcy it was very expensive Duke was very expensive and so you had you had two classes of folk at Duke you had the well-to-do and then you had the rest of us you had the the cats that came with a lot of money from wealthy families and then you had us who are on scholarship grants federal loan and what was called work-study you had those who who showed up with 3-series BMWs freshman year and those of us that were begging for a bicycle to make it from class to class there were two categories of folk who went to Duke University the wealthy and the rest of us now you know that when I became a member cap pops on attorneys my fact was 23 years ago today at 11:37 p.m. then I crossed the burning sands cap down south tourney incorporated amen happy Anniversary to me 23 years bless his name 23 years ago day game MCAT bounce a fraternity and when I became member Kappa we started a new program at Duke called food service workers appreciation day food service workers appreciation day we decided as a chapter that we wanted to honor those sisters and brothers that worked in the cafeteria because we looked at them and they look like us and so we decided for no reason all we were just going to be a blessing to the food service workers and so we petitioned the school to give them the day off and we volunteered to work in the cafeteria that whole day serving all the meals we prepared a special dinner for them we had a step show for them we had a party for them and raised money and all the proceeds from the party we gave as a gift to the food service workers on food service workers appreciation day we did everything we could to make those who served us feel big now there were some of our counterparts who were wealthier who looked at what we were doing and it did not make sense to them why are you serving in the cafeteria why are you giving them gifts why are you having a step show for them it didn't make sense to them and then on the outskirts I'll be honest with you it didn't make sense to us but we found out that you can't go wrong making people feel important because when the semester came to an end and your food points were kind of low we would go to the cafeteria and whenever they saw ka Sai they said baby just go and sit down and eat they let us slide with free food and we found out when you so into the lives of others and make them feel important and make them feel big it always comes back to you you can't go wrong make another folk feel big so jesus said if they need your tuna give me your cloak also be selfless concern yourself with the welfare of others let me drop down he says resist revenge have a selfless spirit but then at the bottom let's watch what he says and if somebody asks of you give and he wants to borrow don't turn away resist revenge have a selfless spirit but watch the third thing Jesus says give generously give to those who are in need here's the tweet if you have the fiscal ability you have the Christian responsibility to give if you have the fiscal ability you have the Christian responsibility to give to those who are in need now let me tell you how the devil blocks this from us because we see people in need and we try to play social worker and psychologist and have a discernment of whether they're worthy or not you're so prophetic you know what they're gonna do I'm giving them them and they just go out to get drugs they ought to pull themselves up like I did that they don't deserve it they got themselves in this mess they ought to stay there so we excuse ourselves from where Jesus says that if we have the ability we have the responsibility to give maybe maybe it's that homeless brother when you pull up at the red light comes to your window and you act like you on the phone and turn your head it's that sister standing outside the job you see her every day and you won't stop to buy her a meal what is your excuse for not giving can I battle with you a little bit and don't tell me it's because you tithe because you give on Sunday you're not obligated to give to the one who asks of you if you have the ability you have the responsibility to give I shared this at the 11 o'clock service but I went on last week but I want you all to understand something about giving how many people ever heard of the Dead Sea over in Israel dancing but no Dead Sea do you know why it's called the Dead Sea because the concentration of salt and the water is so high that no plant life no marine life can survive in the Dead Sea nothing lives in the Dead Sea because it's even a higher salt concentration than the ocean nothing lives in the Dead Sea now here's the amazing thing let me tell you where the water from the Dead Sea comes from the water from the Dead Sea or originates from the snowcaps of Mount Hermon and when the snowcaps of Mount Hermon melt they run down and formed what is called the sea of galilee now you know the sea of galilee because that's where Peter Andrew James and John were fishermen when Jesus called them there is life in the Sea of Galilee the Sea of Galilee receives water from the snow-capped mountains of Mount Hermon and then it releases that water into the Jordan River you know the Jordan River us where John was baptizing folk when Jesus came and the Jordan River has life in it this plants in the Jordan River the Jordan River then deposits its water into the Dead Sea which now has no life so here's a question you have to ask if snow-capped mountains give fresh giving water to the Sea of Galilee where there is life that feeds into the Jordan River where there is life how does life-giving water from Mount Hermon the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River wind up as dead water in the dance see how is it that life can come from Sea of Galilee through the Jordan River and turn into dead water in the dance see it's easy because this Jordan the Dead Sea has an inlet but it has no outlet which means once it has received the water the Sun evaporates it and the concentration of salt is intensified because the Dead Sea knows how to receive but it doesn't know how to release the Dead Sea knows how to get but it doesn't know how to give the Dead Sea knows how to ask but it doesn't know how to be a blessing to somebody else the Dead Sea knows how to beg for what it wants but it doesn't know how to give to something someone else wants and whenever you can give and not get and receive and not release what God gave his life will turn to death in your hands because you know how to get but you don't know how to give you've got to know how to release what you have received otherwise it dies in your hands resists revenge have a selfless spirit give generously but here's where I want it to land it's on that third thing that Jesus says if a man compels you to go one mile go to somebody say the second mile here's what Jesus says resist revenge have a selfless spirit give generously but then here is the fourth thing that identifies you is having faith in God and followership in Jesus Christ you exemplify excellence you go the Second Mile somebody say the Second Mile now to understand what Jesus is teaching here you have to go back to the days in which Jesus taught and those who heard him would have understood this because it was a custom in the day that the Romans who had taken over from the Persians had adopted a policy that allowed for any Roman soldier or government official to call on a citizen and require them to carry their load for them for at least one mile if you were standing in a crowd the Roman soldier could pull you out and make you carry his burden for one mile and you were obligated to do it as a matter of fact you've seen that happen somewhere else in the New Testament at the death of Jesus come on Bible study Jesus is stumbling with the cross and the Roman soldiers compel the Sun bobert is Simon to carry the cross of Jesus because you could obligate somebody for one mile one mile was what you were forced to do one mile is what was demanded of you one mile was what was compelled of you one mile is what you had to do and Jesus had the audacity to say but you go to can we talk about that second mile real quick that Second Mile means that I make a deliberate decision to go above and beyond what is demanded of me that I live my life in such a way that I never just skate by at the bare minimum that I never just do the little bit but that I've made a decision to live my life always looking to exceed what the requirement is to exceed what the demand is to exceed what is written on my job description to go above what people have asked to me to do that one of the ways that marks me as a child of God is that I have an excellent spirit in me that says that all I have to do is not all I'm going to do because good enough is never good enough and just getting by is not getting by that if God would be glorified in my life I've got to learn to go beyond what is required and requested of me you've got to go the second mile let me teach right here there are two types of folk in church two types of folk in life two types of folk in the world you ready one milers and two people who do just enough to get by and those who are to go exceedingly above and beyond those who accept mediocrity and those who live in excellence those who say that a c-minus is passing and those that say anything other than that a is not acceptable those who are content just doing the bare minimum and those who want to go well above and beyond and take it to the next level are you a one mile er or two Bible says Isaiah chapter six that Daniel distinguished himself because he had a second mile mentality he had a spirit of excellence in him that distinguished him from the rest of the crowd when you go the second mile you pull yourself out of ordinary you pull yourself out of mediocrity you distinguish yourself from everybody else knowing your job because you got Second Mile mentality can I give you a tweak real quick people who go the Second Mile are never the first to be laid off don't say that again pastor people who go the Second Mile are never the first to be laid off you want some job security go to Second Mile you want to be first on the list for the promotion go the Second Mile you want your name to float to the top go to the Second Mile go above and beyond what is required and requested and distinguish yourself with your second mile mentality it requires that make a deliberate decision to go above and beyond but the second thing the second model requires watch this is that I have an adjusted attitude oh god here comes some good teaching because Jesus says the first smile is forced on you the second mile is volunteering the first smile is what is demanded of you from the outside the second mile you'll only do that if you got something on the inside that says I want to do more people who go the second mile Cathy typically have a better attitude they come to it with a different spirit they approach it with a saying that I've got to do more than what is requested that I'm going to exceed what is asked to me that then I don't know how to do less then I don't know how to do just enough I don't know how to do just get by that there's something inside of me that says I've got to go above and beyond that I have a better attitude because excellence my friend is not about performance it's about attitude let me tell you what hinders and messes up so many people you know they go to work and everything they put their hands on they do it with a bad attitude show up every Monday with no joy in your face passive-aggressive behavior every time somebody I should do something you mumbling underneath your breath showing up to work ten minutes late every day if you know you're gonna be late you can't have a second mile mentality there's gotta be something in you that says I'm gonna do better and when you go the second mile here's how you know jogye you walk in the second mile when you start surprising people around you imagine if you would a Roman soldier pulling you out of the crowd as a Jew to walk one mile with him and after that one mile he expects you to throw the weight down and after one mile you just keep on going that you know you're operating in the second mile when you're surprising people they expected less than you gave them more than they expected bare minimum you gave them excellence they expect that you would leave right at five o'clock you stayed till five fifteen because the job wasn't done yet can I have an adjusted attitude got make a deliberate decision go above and beyond the third thing I want to tell you about going the second mile you've got to have the courage to be criticised hear me here's a tweet people who live in excellence are always criticized by those in mediocrity people who walk in excellence are always criticized by people who live in mediocrity can you imagine a Jew walking one mile with the Roman soldier and after one mile they decide to walk - when they put the load down if I know people the way I know people there was somebody that said know why you do that why you go above and beyond you messing it up for all of us that's what the enemy does when you want to walk in excellence he surrounds you with people that are upset by your excellent spirit because excellence exposes mediocrity your second mile exposes their one mile and they criticize you because they're not willing to go the second mile that you win so they make your daughter feel like she's a nerd for getting the a that make you feel like you're a brown-noser cuz you work hard at your job say things like you think you're better than everybody else cuz you show up on time and stay late people who live in mediocrity are irritated by folk who walk in excellence and they always try to get you to doubt whether that second mile was worth it or not why you do that you didn't get anything from it why you do that there's no reward in that and understand second mile mentality says here is deep that my second mile creates an invitation for my next opportunity that whenever I go the second mile it creates an invitation for my next opportunity to be blessed and if I only go one mile I wouldn't receive the invitation for the opportunity to be blessed can I have some deep Bible say with you minute you still got your Bibles open I need you to see something this is this this isn't for everybody but if you catch it you'll be blessed by it notice the progression of the scenarios that Jesus puts forth he says if you've been slapped if you're being sued if you're compelled to walk one mile and walk to when someone asks of you give again we'll make sure you see this if you've been slapped and insulted if you're being sued if someone can tell you to do something and you go above and beyond when someone asks you can give I need to see this and you see this scenario one I've been slapped I've been wronged scenario two I'm being sued that's unfair scenario three I'm being compelled and yet I go above and beyond and scenario 4 I wind up in a place where someone asks I have enough to give them okay kakie your muskovitz card yup tension eight times you almost see almost smart you almost smart you almost got this that if I've been done wrong if I'm being treated unfairly if I go above and beyond what I've been asked to do the end result is that I wind up in a situation where I have enough to be a blessing to somebody else because when I go the second mile and win I go above and beyond and when I press into excellence the end result is that I wind up being so blessed that I can now bless other folk because my excellence has given an invitation for the next opportunity for me to rise in life okay okay I'm done I'm done I'm done let me see if I explain I'll give you a testimony back in 2007 2007 I was interviewing to be pastor the Alpha Street Baptist Church we're in a process there i Peter Senate retired that God was leading the church search committee had been formed and I was a Kennedy and I need let you know now that we're a few years removed that we had some ups and downs in that process it didn't always go smoothly as we'd anticipated there were times they didn't like me and I didn't like them and we had kind of fallen out with each other a little bit and it was the fall of the year and the fall of the year I had hadn't heard from search committee in in several weeks they hadn't hadn't called me for another round interviews last interview we had went bad and they didn't call me back so I'm figuring this ain't going to happen I'll like them they'll like me I'm not going to be passed out Street Baptist Church one Saturday I had a real rough meeting at church with some deacons and what was then called the Standing Committee and I was fed up I was frustrated and tired and I didn't like them they didn't like me it was a rough week I hadn't heard from y'all had rough meeting with my deacons and Standing Committee and I'ma be honest I woke up on Sunday morning and I went to church and I was mad and I'm human I was mad I'm looking at deacons and standing committee members that I don't like named like me I ain't heard from y'all and I'm mad and make matters worse I guess I didn't get the memo that it was vacation time and members weren't going to be in church that day so attendance was low so I walked into church now I'm really mad cuz I didn't prepare to preach ain't nobody show up I'm looking at deacons and standing committee members that I don't like kneel like me I ain't heard from y'all and I man I'm sitting on my chair and something said you know what you ain't got a preach are today the Lord understands you know how we throw that on the end of stuff the Lord knows my heart so you know I'm mad I said you know alright I getting up here and preaching alright losing my voice and sweating out my clothes today you know they ain't come to church I'm just gonna get up and tell them Jesus rose and let's get out of here he don't need to know need to believe at a point you know I'm anybody at church looking at some deacons and standing commitments I don't like they don't like me I ain't heard from y'all what's the point and going above and beyond I'm just gonna get up and do a little something god is good let praise His name push pulpit let's sit down and something said to me go to the second mile don't bring less than your best God gives you the opportunity give it all you got so I stood up tendance was low looking at Dickens and staring the committee members I don't like Neal like me ain't heard from y'all and I preached anyway preached as hard as I could preach preach as best as the Lord allowed me preached until I felt like God said well done and when I sat down in that chair and gathered myself I looked around saw Pat Wallace Joe nickens Deacon Jim bender in the back rosette Graham sitting over the overflow the search committee had snuck up the church to sit in and see me on that Sunday as they were trying to figure out whether I was the one God was calling to Alfred Street or not and and I realized them that if I had only gone one mile if I had shortchanged that opportunity for God that the next door would never have opened in my life you've always got to go second mile somebody say the Second Mile because you never know when you're interviewing for your next opportunity here's where I close don't let the devil convince you that some situation is only worthy of one mile go the second mile exemplify excellence give generously have a selfless spirit and resist revenge that's how we identify ourselves as disciples of Jesus Christ you

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

Views: 62,178

Rating: 4.7647057 out of 5

Keywords: ASBC, John Wesley (Founding Figure), Second, Religion (TV Genre), Life, Real Life, Arnold

Id: qqkv7Ne8sOk

Length: 51min 46sec (3106 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 12 2014