1 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:05,930 Good morning. Good morning. 2 00:00:08,050 --> 00:00:10,860 For those who don't know me, my name is Justin. 3 00:00:10,870 --> 00:00:13,220 I'm on the pastors here for rights. 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:18,220 And for those who are new, we have been working through the 5 00:00:18,230 --> 00:00:22,540 book of Luke, the Gospel of Luke. 6 00:00:22,580 --> 00:00:26,500 We've been doing it slowly and deliberately, allowing us to get 7 00:00:26,510 --> 00:00:30,420 the broader sense of all that's happening in this entire book, 8 00:00:30,430 --> 00:00:35,080 but also looking at a very micro level at each passage and what 9 00:00:35,090 --> 00:00:38,310 God is saying through each of these sections. 10 00:00:39,510 --> 00:00:43,120 Now, if you participated in our community Bible study this past 11 00:00:43,230 --> 00:00:48,330 week, we had a pretty intense passage to go through. 12 00:00:48,550 --> 00:00:51,180 You would have had you would have had a chance to process the 13 00:00:51,190 --> 00:00:54,600 complexities of a passage like this. 14 00:00:54,650 --> 00:00:58,160 It's simple, but it's also very difficult. 15 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:04,970 It's easy to understand, but it's perhaps perhaps the hardest 16 00:01:05,019 --> 00:01:10,050 passage in the entirety of Scripture to actually live out. 17 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,070 And we get to talk about that today. 18 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,060 So I'm excited. I'm going to pray and then we're 19 00:01:15,070 --> 00:01:16,670 going to read the passage together. 20 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:24,280 So, gracious God, as we turn to Your Word for us, may the Spirit 21 00:01:24,290 --> 00:01:26,170 of God rest upon us in this place. 22 00:01:27,140 --> 00:01:32,900 Help us to be steadfast in our hearing, in our speaking, in our 23 00:01:32,910 --> 00:01:37,450 believing, and in our living. Amen. 24 00:01:38,710 --> 00:01:43,380 So Luke chapter 6 starting at verse 27. 25 00:01:45,170 --> 00:01:52,600 But to those who are listening I say love your enemies, do good 26 00:01:52,670 --> 00:01:57,320 to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray 27 00:01:57,330 --> 00:02:00,920 for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one 28 00:02:00,930 --> 00:02:05,440 cheek, turn to them the other. Also if someone takes your coat, 29 00:02:05,490 --> 00:02:08,680 do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 00:02:08,930 --> 00:02:12,140 Give to everyone who asks you and if anyone takes what belongs 31 00:02:12,150 --> 00:02:17,180 to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have 32 00:02:17,190 --> 00:02:20,990 them do to you. If you love those who love you, 33 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:25,430 what credit is that to you? Even sinners love who love them. 34 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,570 And if you do good to those who do good to, who are good to you, 35 00:02:28,580 --> 00:02:34,260 what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 36 00:02:34,590 --> 00:02:39,060 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what 37 00:02:39,070 --> 00:02:44,240 credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, 38 00:02:44,570 --> 00:02:49,370 expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good 39 00:02:49,380 --> 00:02:52,530 to them, and lend to them without expecting to get 40 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:56,170 anything back. Then your reward will be great, 41 00:02:56,180 --> 00:03:00,510 and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to 42 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:05,930 the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful just as your Father 43 00:03:05,940 --> 00:03:09,570 is merciful. Friends, this is the word of the 44 00:03:09,580 --> 00:03:11,800 Lord. Thanks be to God. 45 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,650 So like I said, this is simple to understand. 46 00:03:16,660 --> 00:03:20,820 There are lots of passages where Jesus speaks and it's a little 47 00:03:20,830 --> 00:03:24,400 bit opaque, a little hard to understand. 48 00:03:24,870 --> 00:03:29,290 Not this one. We should all walk away with a 49 00:03:29,300 --> 00:03:33,810 pretty clear understanding of what Jesus intends for us. 50 00:03:34,180 --> 00:03:38,270 But if the history of my life, of your life, and the history of 51 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:44,080 Christianity more broadly is true, is any indication, the 52 00:03:44,150 --> 00:03:49,530 simple command given here is the most difficult to actually do. 53 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:53,210 And he writes, says it this way. He says there are two 54 00:03:53,220 --> 00:03:57,330 particularly astonishing things about these instructions. 55 00:03:57,380 --> 00:04:00,690 First, their simplicity. As we've said, they are obvious, 56 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:05,130 clear, direct, and memorable. Second, there's scarcity. 57 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,450 How many people do you know who really live like this? 58 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,370 How many communities do you know where these guidelines are, the 59 00:04:13,380 --> 00:04:16,149 rules of life? What's gone wrong? 60 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,730 Has God changed or have we forgotten who he really is? 61 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:28,760 That stung when I first read that and still does so well. 62 00:04:28,770 --> 00:04:31,630 There are some questions from some important questions that we 63 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,550 raised at our community Bible study about this passage. 64 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,310 Curiosity is about some of the particulars, all that kind of 65 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:39,070 thing. The most important thing that we 66 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:42,830 can do with this text is ask how? 67 00:04:43,140 --> 00:04:47,190 How do we actually live this out? 68 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,310 So as we do that, we are going to walk through the text to make 69 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,110 sure we have a good understanding of those 70 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,040 particulars because there are some parts that require a little 71 00:04:57,050 --> 00:05:00,290 bit of context for a fuller understanding. 72 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,210 So the first section here, it contains a lot of action. 73 00:05:05,220 --> 00:05:13,170 So if you notice, love your enemies, do good to those who 74 00:05:13,180 --> 00:05:20,060 hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat 75 00:05:20,070 --> 00:05:22,030 you. If someone slaps you on one 76 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:30,770 cheek, turn to them the other. If someone takes your coats, do. 77 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:32,230 I can't really circle that whole thing. 78 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,580 Do not withhold your shirt from them. 79 00:05:36,940 --> 00:05:42,530 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs 80 00:05:42,540 --> 00:05:49,990 to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have 81 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:51,210 them do to you. Like it. 82 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,260 The amount of action that's going on here? 83 00:05:54,270 --> 00:05:59,280 The amount of the amount of verbs going on here, it 84 00:05:59,290 --> 00:06:01,270 indicates that this is something that we really do need to 85 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:02,670 practice. This isn't some spiritual 86 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:04,980 metaphor. This is something we need to 87 00:06:05,030 --> 00:06:08,200 work out how to actually do in our everyday life. 88 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,740 Well, one of the things that can be a little confusing is that we 89 00:06:12,750 --> 00:06:15,710 talked about this on Wednesday that the English language is a 90 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,230 little bit not the best when it comes to the word love. 91 00:06:19,300 --> 00:06:24,050 We talk about how we love our cat and we love spaghetti, and 92 00:06:24,060 --> 00:06:28,850 also we love our spouse. It's it's very imprecise. 93 00:06:28,900 --> 00:06:33,180 Whereas in the Greek there's lots of different words for the 94 00:06:33,190 --> 00:06:35,660 word love. There's storage, which is a 95 00:06:35,670 --> 00:06:39,610 familial parental love. There's eras, which is romantic 96 00:06:39,620 --> 00:06:42,900 love, passionate love. There's philia, which is a love 97 00:06:42,950 --> 00:06:46,180 between friends. But we're not talking about this 98 00:06:46,190 --> 00:06:49,680 kind of when we say love your enemies, we're not talking about 99 00:06:49,690 --> 00:06:51,520 any of those. We're not talking about having 100 00:06:51,530 --> 00:06:55,580 having to love our enemies as we do our romantic partner or our 101 00:06:55,590 --> 00:07:01,940 friends or even, or even yeah, a family or a child. 102 00:07:01,990 --> 00:07:05,200 It's nothing like that. It's the word agape and say 103 00:07:05,210 --> 00:07:09,310 agape. Agape is sort of this God tier 104 00:07:09,370 --> 00:07:11,860 love. It's unconditional, it's 105 00:07:11,930 --> 00:07:16,080 selfless, it's transcendence. It's a love that's not based on 106 00:07:16,090 --> 00:07:21,390 feeling or even merit. It's often categorized as as the 107 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,770 type of love that God has for creation. 108 00:07:23,860 --> 00:07:28,530 And here we see it as the type of love that Jesus is calling 109 00:07:28,540 --> 00:07:31,530 his followers of Jesus to live out. 110 00:07:32,370 --> 00:07:39,760 Jesus is calling us to a love that chooses and that tracks. 111 00:07:41,100 --> 00:07:46,330 I don't know of anyone who has successfully loved and done good 112 00:07:46,340 --> 00:07:52,130 to someone who hates them based on feelings and vibes. 113 00:07:53,890 --> 00:07:58,740 It just won't happen. This is an act of the will. 114 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,800 This is an act of the will. I think it's just worth naming 115 00:08:02,810 --> 00:08:07,410 that as we go into this because I don't want us to be confused 116 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,630 that this love is the same love that we share with friends and 117 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:14,860 family. It's not. 118 00:08:16,910 --> 00:08:20,380 It is actually freeing for us to realize that the sort of love 119 00:08:20,390 --> 00:08:24,560 we're talking about is does not need to have the warm fuzzies 120 00:08:24,650 --> 00:08:28,850 and affection for those who literally have ill will and ill 121 00:08:28,860 --> 00:08:34,780 intent toward you. Agape does not need feelings for 122 00:08:34,789 --> 00:08:40,409 it to be effectual. So when we say things like love 123 00:08:40,419 --> 00:08:44,530 your enemies do good to those who hate you, we are saying that 124 00:08:44,540 --> 00:08:47,700 we are actively seeking their goods. 125 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:51,210 We're actively seeking and desiring their good. 126 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,510 That's how we should understand the kind of love that Jesus is 127 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:57,330 talking about here. It's an undeserved love simply 128 00:08:57,340 --> 00:09:01,170 because it's what Jesus calls us to and it is the right thing to 129 00:09:01,180 --> 00:09:05,330 do regardless of how we feel. But it forces us to ask a really 130 00:09:05,340 --> 00:09:10,210 important question. Who is my enemy? 131 00:09:11,190 --> 00:09:13,960 It's not language we use often in our world today. 132 00:09:14,030 --> 00:09:16,810 Who is my enemy? It's a question I wrestle with a 133 00:09:16,820 --> 00:09:19,110 lot. My mind immediately goes toward 134 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:23,410 works of fiction, films, shows, novels, video games where there 135 00:09:23,420 --> 00:09:26,450 is a very clear, very obvious enemy. 136 00:09:26,500 --> 00:09:28,610 They're the ones doing the bad thing. 137 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:31,570 And sometimes, you know, there's, they mix it up a little 138 00:09:31,580 --> 00:09:33,770 bit and the bad guy ends up being the good guy and good guy 139 00:09:33,780 --> 00:09:36,410 ends up being the bad guy. But generally speaking, there is 140 00:09:36,420 --> 00:09:40,650 always an obvious enemy by the end that has been triumphed over 141 00:09:40,740 --> 00:09:43,610 and the Kingdom is restored to peace. 142 00:09:44,750 --> 00:09:47,120 That's not most of our reality though, right? 143 00:09:48,510 --> 00:09:51,840 In Jesus's day though. However, there was a clear and 144 00:09:51,850 --> 00:09:54,920 present threat to the people here in Jesus's words. 145 00:09:54,990 --> 00:10:01,500 When they heard Jesus say Love your enemies, they would have 146 00:10:01,510 --> 00:10:06,180 likely heard love your Roman occupiers. 147 00:10:07,140 --> 00:10:08,100 That's what they would have heard. 148 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,120 Love the people that are actively seeking to hurt and 149 00:10:12,130 --> 00:10:14,250 oppress them. Love the people that are 150 00:10:14,260 --> 00:10:17,210 exorbitantly taxing and impoverishing them. 151 00:10:17,260 --> 00:10:21,370 Love the people that are causing them physical harm and violence. 152 00:10:23,050 --> 00:10:24,940 This was not theoretical for them. 153 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,370 Sometimes it feels a little theoretical for me, but was not 154 00:10:29,380 --> 00:10:33,120 for them. There would have almost 155 00:10:33,130 --> 00:10:35,790 certainly been factions within the Jewish people as well, that 156 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:37,380 there would have been maybe some infighting. 157 00:10:37,450 --> 00:10:41,800 There was, you know, groups like the mixed ethnicity Samaritans. 158 00:10:41,850 --> 00:10:44,980 There was the Zealots, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the 159 00:10:44,990 --> 00:10:47,400 Essenes. There was no shortage of people 160 00:10:47,410 --> 00:10:51,900 to have disagreement with, even hate filled and violent 161 00:10:51,970 --> 00:10:56,730 disagreements. Jesus's words would have been 162 00:10:56,740 --> 00:11:00,410 explosive for his followers. Explosive. 163 00:11:01,460 --> 00:11:04,310 Their minds were being filled automatically with people who 164 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:09,350 had actively seeked to harm and wronged them. 165 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:14,440 And depending on the life you've lived, that may not be your 166 00:11:14,450 --> 00:11:16,600 reality. And depending on the life you've 167 00:11:16,610 --> 00:11:19,950 lived, maybe that is your reality or has been your 168 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,330 reality. Because the reality is we have 169 00:11:22,340 --> 00:11:25,080 it pretty good here in Guelph. It's not perfect. 170 00:11:25,750 --> 00:11:28,520 Cost of living has become an increasing issue. 171 00:11:28,770 --> 00:11:34,430 There are challenges that we all face, but we are not under 172 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:38,900 imminent threat of occupation at the moment. 173 00:11:42,330 --> 00:11:48,640 To clarify that, we may have religious disagreements, we may 174 00:11:48,650 --> 00:11:52,700 have political disagreements, policy disagreements, but I have 175 00:11:52,710 --> 00:11:56,220 never looked at an average citizen with whom I may have 176 00:11:56,230 --> 00:11:59,540 some disagreements with and said they are my sworn enemy. 177 00:11:59,950 --> 00:12:05,570 Hasn't happened, but when we think about today, what about 178 00:12:05,580 --> 00:12:08,790 the Jewish community who have seen a significant uptick in 179 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,410 anti-Semitic thought and action? Even for those who have nothing 180 00:12:12,420 --> 00:12:14,750 to do with what's happening in the Middle East? 181 00:12:15,140 --> 00:12:17,460 What about the Palestinian community who are continuing to 182 00:12:17,470 --> 00:12:21,800 face violence and starvation at every turn? 183 00:12:22,770 --> 00:12:27,040 Or what about our black siblings who frequently bear the brunt of 184 00:12:27,050 --> 00:12:31,140 racial injustice? Or Christians in parts of the 185 00:12:31,150 --> 00:12:34,680 world where they face persecution and violence and the 186 00:12:34,690 --> 00:12:38,040 threat of death and imprisonment just simply for reading the 187 00:12:38,050 --> 00:12:41,550 Scriptures. If I were to create an 188 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:44,350 exhaustive list, we would not be able to go home. 189 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:46,890 So if I had to not say the thing that you were thinking about 190 00:12:46,900 --> 00:12:49,070 when I talked about that, just forgive me. 191 00:12:49,140 --> 00:12:53,700 I can only say so many things. The fact that there is so much 192 00:12:53,710 --> 00:12:57,160 of this only strengthens Jesus's call for us. 193 00:12:59,540 --> 00:13:04,250 Countless people groups around the world face genuine hatred 194 00:13:04,260 --> 00:13:09,090 and violence on a daily basis. They are enemies in the same 195 00:13:09,100 --> 00:13:12,830 sense that Jesus is hears, would have heard and understood. 196 00:13:13,770 --> 00:13:17,440 But I go back to the question, do I have enemies? 197 00:13:17,970 --> 00:13:22,470 Do you have enemies? It's worth asking. 198 00:13:22,610 --> 00:13:25,050 I have people in my life that have deeply hurt me. 199 00:13:26,290 --> 00:13:29,760 I also have people in my life that I have hurt deeply. 200 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:36,800 I've been affected by people where I could maybe use the word 201 00:13:37,030 --> 00:13:40,000 enemy. And also there have been times 202 00:13:40,010 --> 00:13:43,390 where arguably I was the enemy, I was the bad guy. 203 00:13:46,570 --> 00:13:50,860 I just think it's worth taking a moment to consider, to think 204 00:13:50,870 --> 00:13:54,040 about what that looks like for us to understand our own 205 00:13:54,050 --> 00:13:57,130 terminology. What do we mean when we say the 206 00:13:57,140 --> 00:14:00,780 word love? What do we mean when we say 207 00:14:00,890 --> 00:14:03,470 enemy? The terms can be a little bit 208 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:06,550 nonspecific, a little bit nebulous until we put a little 209 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:09,920 bit of skin on them. So I I've worked on sort of 210 00:14:09,930 --> 00:14:12,410 defining this a little bit. This is not perfect, but it's 211 00:14:12,420 --> 00:14:15,210 sort of like I'm workshopping this definition a little bit. 212 00:14:15,990 --> 00:14:23,380 It's this unconditionally love and actively seek good for those 213 00:14:23,390 --> 00:14:31,970 who seek to work against you. Bless them, pray for them, and 214 00:14:31,980 --> 00:14:34,690 then Jesus gets very, very specific. 215 00:14:36,190 --> 00:14:39,080 Look at these examples. So at first one, if someone 216 00:14:39,090 --> 00:14:43,490 slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other. 217 00:14:44,090 --> 00:14:47,200 Now this is a back of the hand slap. 218 00:14:47,210 --> 00:14:50,500 OK, not inherently violent, like you're not going to kill or 219 00:14:50,510 --> 00:14:52,920 knock someone out that way, but there's obviously some 220 00:14:52,930 --> 00:14:57,380 physicality to it. The intent was to send a 221 00:14:57,390 --> 00:15:00,600 message. This would have been understood 222 00:15:00,610 --> 00:15:03,580 as more of an insult. Now the Bible project, they call 223 00:15:03,590 --> 00:15:08,020 it the severest public affront to a person's dignity. 224 00:15:08,060 --> 00:15:14,870 So this was meant to be a public spectacle of insults and if you 225 00:15:14,940 --> 00:15:19,050 were backhandedly slapped you would have been severely 226 00:15:19,870 --> 00:15:22,880 insulted. It was meant to demean and 227 00:15:22,890 --> 00:15:26,710 humiliate and Jesus says give them the other cheek. 228 00:15:29,070 --> 00:15:31,620 A couple of things here that I think really matter for how we 229 00:15:31,630 --> 00:15:34,360 see and understand this and the rest of the text. 230 00:15:34,430 --> 00:15:39,680 Jesus is calling his followers to confound the person to 231 00:15:39,690 --> 00:15:45,330 subvert their expectations. Rather than being a pushover, 232 00:15:45,380 --> 00:15:48,890 the person is actually reclaiming their agency by 233 00:15:48,900 --> 00:15:50,890 outright rejecting their insults. 234 00:15:52,010 --> 00:15:54,600 And I want to visualize this, so I'm going to invite someone up 235 00:15:54,610 --> 00:16:01,900 and slap them Anderson. So OK, so I'm not I'm not 236 00:16:01,910 --> 00:16:07,440 actually going to do it. I so, but I actually, I'm a 237 00:16:07,450 --> 00:16:09,380 visual person. I needed like a little bit of a 238 00:16:09,390 --> 00:16:10,890 visualization for what this looks like. 239 00:16:10,900 --> 00:16:16,330 So if I were to backhandedly slap Anderson, I would, you know 240 00:16:16,690 --> 00:16:19,340 that, right? And then the idea is he would 241 00:16:19,350 --> 00:16:21,040 give me his other cheek, his left cheek. 242 00:16:21,150 --> 00:16:24,200 And what I would be forced to do if I were to slap again, I would 243 00:16:24,210 --> 00:16:26,840 have to use the front of my hand because I can't use my left 244 00:16:26,850 --> 00:16:28,480 hand. That's totally out of the 245 00:16:28,490 --> 00:16:32,020 question in that culture. So I would have to use the palm 246 00:16:32,090 --> 00:16:35,160 of my hand on that side. Thank you, Anderson. 247 00:16:37,730 --> 00:16:42,070 So I primed him for that. Just so you know, he he knew 248 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:44,340 that was coming, texted him yesterday and said, hey, can I 249 00:16:44,350 --> 00:16:53,790 slap you tomorrow at church? So what the palm indicated, it 250 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:58,500 was actually a symbolic thing that would suggest I am actually 251 00:16:58,510 --> 00:17:00,520 your equal. So if you're going to slap me 252 00:17:00,570 --> 00:17:04,200 with your palm, it tells you. It's telling me, it's telling 253 00:17:04,210 --> 00:17:07,319 that person and telling the people around that I if you're 254 00:17:07,329 --> 00:17:10,940 going to stop me again, do it. But that makes me an equal. 255 00:17:10,950 --> 00:17:13,839 I am on equal footing with you. So again, is this is this idea 256 00:17:13,890 --> 00:17:18,550 of the person reclaiming what was meant to be an insult? 257 00:17:19,349 --> 00:17:21,099 They're not just sitting down and taking it. 258 00:17:21,369 --> 00:17:27,540 They're saying I will not play this game, I will not stoop to 259 00:17:27,550 --> 00:17:31,900 the level, offer the other cheek, give to everyone who 260 00:17:31,910 --> 00:17:35,060 asks, and even if they take stuff, don't demand it back. 261 00:17:36,740 --> 00:17:39,990 Similarly, this is about not letting their actions hold 262 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,560 weight over you. It's about not letting them have 263 00:17:42,570 --> 00:17:46,350 control over you. And then we have the matter of 264 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:51,480 giving the coats. Says if someone gives If someone 265 00:17:51,490 --> 00:17:56,360 takes your coats, do not withhold your shirt from them. 266 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,910 This would have likely led to a person being basically naked, so 267 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,950 I'm not going to use a visual for this one. 268 00:18:06,340 --> 00:18:08,630 It's kind of like the person says to them, OK, you're gonna 269 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,610 unjustly take my coat, why don't you take my shirt too? 270 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,770 You know, how about you just take it all? 271 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:20,410 It's an exceptionally vulnerable place to be in, especially 272 00:18:20,420 --> 00:18:22,970 considering that those articles of clothing were often meant to 273 00:18:22,980 --> 00:18:26,920 keep them warm at night as well. The folks at the Bible Project 274 00:18:26,970 --> 00:18:30,560 say it this way. They say this obvious 275 00:18:30,610 --> 00:18:34,880 vulnerability forces an opponents to publicly confront 276 00:18:34,940 --> 00:18:39,000 his callous greed in literally taking the clothes off of the 277 00:18:39,010 --> 00:18:41,940 other person's back. And that person's radical 278 00:18:41,990 --> 00:18:45,960 generosity would have would present a striking contrast 279 00:18:46,030 --> 00:18:49,580 against their opponents. Tight fisted, grasping. 280 00:18:50,460 --> 00:18:53,160 This person was confronted with their own selfishness because 281 00:18:53,170 --> 00:18:56,910 the reality is more often than not, they were taking the coats 282 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,730 or the cloak as a collateral for often an unjust lawsuit. 283 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:03,990 The person was extorting them. It was a shakedown. 284 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,730 That's what it was. So you could imagine a person in 285 00:19:06,740 --> 00:19:11,030 power, a Roman centurion or soldier, they would go to your 286 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,490 average citizen and they would say, hey, I saw you do that 287 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,970 thing over there. I need you to I want to arrest 288 00:19:18,980 --> 00:19:23,230 you, but I need your cloak. And so it was often an unjust 289 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:27,410 shakedown. Again, the response here is a 290 00:19:27,420 --> 00:19:32,250 subversive, creative, nonviolent resistance that is 291 00:19:32,260 --> 00:19:36,050 simultaneously generous, loving, but also confronts the 292 00:19:36,060 --> 00:19:39,580 perpetrator. In both of these examples, Jesus 293 00:19:39,590 --> 00:19:41,950 is not suggesting that we become doormats. 294 00:19:43,610 --> 00:19:47,840 He's not suggesting that we Simply put up with coercion and 295 00:19:47,850 --> 00:19:50,720 violence. He's not suggesting that we 296 00:19:50,730 --> 00:19:53,790 remain in an abusive relationship. 297 00:19:56,540 --> 00:19:57,970 I want to make that abundantly clear. 298 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:03,330 This is not about refusing to defend yourself if someone comes 299 00:20:03,340 --> 00:20:07,420 at you with a baseball bat. And it isn't about being devoid 300 00:20:07,430 --> 00:20:11,690 of boundaries. That's not what Jesus is saying 301 00:20:11,700 --> 00:20:15,150 here, and to excuse that would be abuse and coercion in of 302 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:21,430 itself. Jesus is showing us a different 303 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,830 way in the life of the Kingdom, that violence and greed will 304 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,190 only be. Get more violence and more greed 305 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,080 and that we don't have to play the game, we don't have to 306 00:20:32,090 --> 00:20:36,010 reciprocate. We can choose a better path. 307 00:20:38,300 --> 00:20:41,450 And then Jesus says at the very bottom here, Oh, I gotta go back 308 00:20:41,460 --> 00:20:47,380 here, says do to others as you would have them do to you. 309 00:20:47,390 --> 00:20:50,570 What do we call that? Golden rule? 310 00:20:50,580 --> 00:20:59,180 Golden rule so. Some of you may know that this 311 00:20:59,190 --> 00:21:02,730 is basically a codified universal law. 312 00:21:03,610 --> 00:21:07,680 Nearly every belief system, culture, religion, philosophy 313 00:21:07,690 --> 00:21:11,320 has some version of this rule. So what Jesus is saying here 314 00:21:11,330 --> 00:21:14,660 when he says the Golden Rule, it would have been understood. 315 00:21:14,670 --> 00:21:16,500 It would have been common knowledge. 316 00:21:16,510 --> 00:21:20,840 In some ways, people of all belief systems can be virtuous 317 00:21:20,850 --> 00:21:25,070 and loving, but as we'll see in a second, Jesus is about to say 318 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,090 and do something different as he takes this principle further. 319 00:21:28,300 --> 00:21:30,920 Jesus is doing what he does best and what he's doing all the way 320 00:21:30,930 --> 00:21:34,690 along here. He is subverting expectations. 321 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,390 He's taking this well known principle and he expands upon it 322 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,250 in a way that's challenging to even the most moral and even the 323 00:21:42,260 --> 00:21:44,030 most ethical person you could imagine. 324 00:21:44,100 --> 00:21:46,170 Think about the best person you know. 325 00:21:46,300 --> 00:21:49,650 Think about the most like virtuous person you know. 326 00:21:49,740 --> 00:21:53,640 Jesus is going to be challenging even them. 327 00:21:54,650 --> 00:21:56,410 One commentator, they say it like this. 328 00:21:56,420 --> 00:22:02,280 They say the Christian ethic is based on the extra thing. 329 00:22:02,530 --> 00:22:06,760 It's based on the extra thing. So Jesus expands on this famous 330 00:22:06,770 --> 00:22:09,480 principle and in some ways he blows it up. 331 00:22:09,710 --> 00:22:12,760 Now this second section, it sort of repeats a few things that I 332 00:22:12,770 --> 00:22:13,960 want us to draw our attention to. 333 00:22:13,970 --> 00:22:18,060 So if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? 334 00:22:18,110 --> 00:22:20,920 So what credit is that to you? Repeat that. 335 00:22:21,010 --> 00:22:26,980 And then he says, even sinners, even sinners love, love those 336 00:22:26,990 --> 00:22:30,910 who love them. And if you do good to those who 337 00:22:30,980 --> 00:22:35,740 are good to you again, what credit is that to them? 338 00:22:36,450 --> 00:22:40,890 What crate is that to you? Again, even sinners do that. 339 00:22:40,980 --> 00:22:43,890 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayments, 340 00:22:44,060 --> 00:22:46,580 again what credit is that to you? 341 00:22:47,700 --> 00:22:54,300 And again, even sinners land to sinners expecting to be paid in 342 00:22:54,310 --> 00:22:59,560 full. In the Kingdom of God, we don't 343 00:22:59,570 --> 00:23:04,240 just look after one another. We don't just love people who we 344 00:23:04,250 --> 00:23:08,880 get along with in our affinity group, we don't just do nice 345 00:23:08,890 --> 00:23:12,420 things for those who can reciprocate, and we don't just 346 00:23:12,470 --> 00:23:15,700 lend to those who we know can give it back. 347 00:23:15,710 --> 00:23:18,420 We are not a bank that needs collateral. 348 00:23:18,430 --> 00:23:24,890 Yes, everyone does that, St. Sinner alike. 349 00:23:24,940 --> 00:23:30,540 This is nothing new. Jesus, however, is doing 350 00:23:30,590 --> 00:23:33,650 something new. This is what he's doing. 351 00:23:35,060 --> 00:23:38,330 To love only those who love us, to do good to only those who can 352 00:23:38,340 --> 00:23:42,970 do that do good to us, to lend to only those who can repay. 353 00:23:43,020 --> 00:23:46,480 That is common. It's easy. 354 00:23:46,770 --> 00:23:50,820 It requires no extra grace on our behalf. 355 00:23:51,900 --> 00:23:54,760 Three times, he says. What credit is that to you? 356 00:23:54,770 --> 00:23:57,550 That was a question we asked on Wednesday night because we were 357 00:23:57,560 --> 00:23:59,890 kind of curious about that. It's curious with the language 358 00:23:59,900 --> 00:24:02,250 of it. It, it seems almost economical. 359 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,720 But what's interesting is that word credits. 360 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:08,690 I don't know what I just did. Grandma need to come and help 361 00:24:08,700 --> 00:24:12,190 me. Nope, Nope. 362 00:24:13,770 --> 00:24:15,940 Grants coming. I'll just, I'll just keep going 363 00:24:17,370 --> 00:24:21,960 of that word credit. It's one word that I did not 364 00:24:21,970 --> 00:24:25,660 expect. It's the word grace. 365 00:24:26,050 --> 00:24:29,140 It's the word chorus. Thank. 366 00:24:29,150 --> 00:24:35,850 Thank you, Sir. I'm not So another way to say 367 00:24:35,860 --> 00:24:39,170 this. So again, credits equals grace, 368 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,440 which is the Greek word chorus. Another way to say this might be 369 00:24:42,450 --> 00:24:45,560 this. When you're only doing what is 370 00:24:45,570 --> 00:24:49,530 common to everyone, how is that extending grace? 371 00:24:49,810 --> 00:24:52,460 How is that showcasing generosity? 372 00:24:53,180 --> 00:24:57,180 Even even sinners do that. We all do that. 373 00:24:57,530 --> 00:25:00,160 This is common. Jesus is calling us to be 374 00:25:00,170 --> 00:25:07,180 uncommon because again, Jesus is talking about love that is not 375 00:25:07,190 --> 00:25:11,500 love that is just common love. It is agape love, transcendence, 376 00:25:11,570 --> 00:25:15,660 unconditional, unmerited love. And the implication is that the 377 00:25:15,670 --> 00:25:19,520 stakes are greater and higher and wider with this sort of 378 00:25:19,530 --> 00:25:21,460 love. It's not a love that is 379 00:25:21,470 --> 00:25:25,620 contained to those who just look, act, and think like us. 380 00:25:25,810 --> 00:25:28,930 It's a love that is not. It's not a love that is merely 381 00:25:28,940 --> 00:25:34,990 reciprocal or transactional. Jesus continues. 382 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:42,990 He says, But love your enemies, do good to them and lend to them 383 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:44,870 without expecting to get anything back. 384 00:25:45,020 --> 00:25:47,060 It almost kind of feels like this is like his, like, summary 385 00:25:47,070 --> 00:25:50,430 statement. He's like, OK folks, let's just 386 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:55,090 recap real quick, you know, love your enemies, do good, lend. 387 00:25:55,140 --> 00:25:56,630 Just making sure we got the points. 388 00:25:56,820 --> 00:25:59,910 I will notice that that last little bit here, lending to them 389 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:01,410 without expecting anything in return. 390 00:26:01,890 --> 00:26:08,430 That to me brings back memories of all the way back in Luke 391 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,670 chapter 4 when Jesus begins his ministry, he opens the scroll 392 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:16,690 from Isaiah and he reads about the Kingdom being enacted and 393 00:26:16,700 --> 00:26:20,070 the year of the Lord's favor favor or the year of Jubilee, 394 00:26:20,130 --> 00:26:23,740 which would have erased debts. Kind of has that vibe to it. 395 00:26:23,750 --> 00:26:27,020 A little bit of saying lend knowing that you won't get it 396 00:26:27,030 --> 00:26:32,150 back, but he ends this section by saying then your reward will 397 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:34,570 be great. You will be children of the Most 398 00:26:34,580 --> 00:26:37,680 High because he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 399 00:26:37,690 --> 00:26:40,950 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 400 00:26:42,210 --> 00:26:46,760 Now we might read this so the word and might trip us up a 401 00:26:46,770 --> 00:26:48,800 little bit and can mean a bunch of things. 402 00:26:48,850 --> 00:26:53,260 It could also be read as that is. 403 00:26:53,330 --> 00:26:58,340 So imagine this. Then your reward will be great, 404 00:26:58,390 --> 00:27:02,860 that is you will be children of the Most High. 405 00:27:04,110 --> 00:27:10,780 So it's cause and effect. But wait, aren't we supposed to 406 00:27:10,790 --> 00:27:13,370 be doing all of this as Jesus was saying earlier, not 407 00:27:13,380 --> 00:27:15,860 expecting anything? Return yes. 408 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:19,300 And isn't all of us not supposed to be transactional? 409 00:27:20,100 --> 00:27:26,260 Yes, what Jesus is doing here is he is simply stating a reality. 410 00:27:26,490 --> 00:27:30,700 He is stating a fact that when we live in this way, we live as 411 00:27:30,710 --> 00:27:34,520 children of God. We live as recipients and heirs 412 00:27:34,530 --> 00:27:38,100 of grace, as citizens of the Kingdom, even when we don't 413 00:27:38,110 --> 00:27:42,810 deserve it. And he calls us to treat others 414 00:27:42,820 --> 00:27:49,210 in this same way, to be merciful, to give unmerited, 415 00:27:49,260 --> 00:27:54,330 unwarranted love and grace to those who do not deserve it. 416 00:27:58,620 --> 00:28:01,760 You're all good. It's a lot like it feels 417 00:28:01,770 --> 00:28:04,620 weighty. It feels really difficult. 418 00:28:04,750 --> 00:28:08,600 This sort of agape love is not difficult to comprehend or 419 00:28:08,610 --> 00:28:12,200 understand, but it is difficult to do. 420 00:28:12,390 --> 00:28:16,820 It is scarce. It's one thing to understand, 421 00:28:16,870 --> 00:28:21,330 it's another thing to do, someone at my table group 422 00:28:21,340 --> 00:28:23,030 actually said. And I agree with them in some 423 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,900 ways, they said. Doesn't it feel impossible? 424 00:28:26,770 --> 00:28:30,570 Like, yeah, it kind of does. I wouldn't blame you if you felt 425 00:28:30,580 --> 00:28:33,760 like that. But what I would not want is for 426 00:28:33,770 --> 00:28:36,410 us walking away from today feeling like it's all futile. 427 00:28:36,420 --> 00:28:37,780 We just put our hands up and walk away. 428 00:28:37,790 --> 00:28:40,270 Like I just, I can't do it, can't do it. 429 00:28:40,310 --> 00:28:44,050 We shouldn't even try. We can't do that. 430 00:28:44,850 --> 00:28:49,470 The stakes are too high. If there's anything that 431 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,870 followers of Jesus have been accused of over the years, it's 432 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,950 that we are not living out this very command right. 433 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:00,410 We've become well known to many over the generations as 434 00:29:00,420 --> 00:29:06,170 hypocrites and fraudulence and worse, so we can't just afford 435 00:29:06,180 --> 00:29:07,930 to ignore this because it's hard. 436 00:29:09,230 --> 00:29:13,900 If we are Jesus's representatives on earth, this 437 00:29:13,970 --> 00:29:19,410 is mission critical. So with the time we have left, I 438 00:29:19,420 --> 00:29:22,230 want to get us thinking a little bit, a little bit about how we 439 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:26,190 actually do this work. I wanna get return to that 440 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:27,360 question. Who is my enemy? 441 00:29:29,300 --> 00:29:31,510 It matters as we think about how to live this out. 442 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:36,490 So who are the people who have caused you harm, whether 443 00:29:36,500 --> 00:29:39,630 emotional or physical? Who are the people over the 444 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,540 years that have insulted you in some way or another? 445 00:29:43,630 --> 00:29:47,590 Who are the people who seem bent on making your life miserable? 446 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,180 Does anyone have anyone in their life that they just? 447 00:29:50,190 --> 00:29:52,060 It seems like maybe it's a coworker or something like that. 448 00:29:52,130 --> 00:29:57,890 Don't raise your hands that just they make your life miserable. 449 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,310 Now, it's kind of a light version of this, I recognize, 450 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:02,950 but I just want to, I want, I want to. 451 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,500 If we can't do it in the small things, we're going to start 452 00:30:05,510 --> 00:30:10,080 doing the bigger things, right? Chances are you could probably 453 00:30:10,090 --> 00:30:14,220 think of a situation or two. So here are a few ways in which 454 00:30:14,230 --> 00:30:17,420 we can embody what Jesus is challenging us with here. 455 00:30:19,340 --> 00:30:25,190 Firstly, is this resist the temptation to fight back, as we 456 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:28,290 saw in the example of the slap and the cloak. 457 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:34,990 There is a season in my life where I used to be pretty feisty 458 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,430 online and on social media. I occasionally get myself in 459 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,230 trouble where I'd get a friend texting me. 460 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,830 But like, that was a little bit a little bit too much, buddy. 461 00:30:45,490 --> 00:30:48,330 I wanted to win the argument. I was often fighting with other 462 00:30:48,340 --> 00:30:51,330 Christians, by the way, not just like anybody, which I know that 463 00:30:51,340 --> 00:30:55,420 makes it better or worse, but I wanted to the bare minimum. 464 00:30:55,430 --> 00:30:57,600 I wanted them to concede my points. 465 00:30:58,210 --> 00:31:03,220 I generally wouldn't insult, but I was pretty snarky sometimes. 466 00:31:05,710 --> 00:31:09,400 Sometimes, even when I was being totally earnest, though, I would 467 00:31:09,410 --> 00:31:13,890 receive the most like, just bonkers responses from often 468 00:31:13,900 --> 00:31:17,520 Christians. One time they insulted my hair. 469 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,270 That was the line for me. That was just that was that was 470 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,150 too much like, look, I got one good feature and it's my hair. 471 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:29,670 OK. Now, to be fair, it was like a 472 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:31,450 COVID cut that I had to do by myself. 473 00:31:31,460 --> 00:31:33,490 So like maybe that was justified. 474 00:31:33,500 --> 00:31:37,720 I don't know. So this would happen as I was 475 00:31:37,730 --> 00:31:40,900 having like genuine discourse with someone and they would, I 476 00:31:40,910 --> 00:31:42,950 would try to be like, I would like, you know, sit there for a 477 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:44,240 second. I would like do some deep 478 00:31:44,250 --> 00:31:46,160 breathing. I'd pray, I'd be like, OK, I 479 00:31:46,170 --> 00:31:48,260 want to engage in in a healthy way here. 480 00:31:48,330 --> 00:31:52,510 And then still they would come at me and insult me. 481 00:31:52,850 --> 00:31:58,480 Not just the hair, I think some people just thrive on conflict 482 00:31:58,630 --> 00:32:03,490 and even cruelty at times. But as I have attempted to love 483 00:32:03,500 --> 00:32:08,130 as Christ calls me to, I've learned to just start responding 484 00:32:08,140 --> 00:32:10,730 in a different way with people who seem bent on 485 00:32:10,740 --> 00:32:14,930 misunderstanding you. I try to respond with some 486 00:32:14,940 --> 00:32:16,620 version of the following, and you can try this. 487 00:32:16,630 --> 00:32:19,540 You can try this in real life, you can try it online. 488 00:32:19,550 --> 00:32:25,060 Whatever I just said, be well. I hope you have a really good 489 00:32:25,070 --> 00:32:27,130 day. And I try to really mean it. 490 00:32:27,210 --> 00:32:29,080 Again, this is not about feelings, right? 491 00:32:29,150 --> 00:32:31,740 We can't always muster up a feeling in that moment. 492 00:32:31,810 --> 00:32:35,180 But I can choose to say I don't want to play this game anymore. 493 00:32:35,310 --> 00:32:38,000 I don't think it's healthy for me to engage in this way. 494 00:32:38,050 --> 00:32:41,720 I'm going to wish you well and truly try to meet it with all my 495 00:32:41,730 --> 00:32:44,630 heart. I hope you have a great day. 496 00:32:49,430 --> 00:32:53,400 It's a hard exercise for me to be able to let go, to follow 497 00:32:53,410 --> 00:32:57,720 Jesus's call, to choose to love that person regardless of 498 00:32:57,730 --> 00:33:01,010 whether they deserve it. After insulting my hair. 499 00:33:04,580 --> 00:33:09,750 Also, this is interesting. It often makes them really upset 500 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,070 when you don't play the game. That's not the intention. 501 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:16,310 That's that's just a byproduct. And that says more about them 502 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:18,550 than it does about anything else that's happening there. 503 00:33:18,780 --> 00:33:20,610 It says something about what's happening in their hearts. 504 00:33:22,050 --> 00:33:24,860 I know this is a little bit of a silly example, but honestly, 505 00:33:24,870 --> 00:33:29,680 it's a significant way that we can maintain our dignity and not 506 00:33:29,690 --> 00:33:31,580 play the game that they would have us play. 507 00:33:31,590 --> 00:33:33,880 We don't need to play it. We can be different. 508 00:33:33,890 --> 00:33:38,360 We can be uncommon. We'll often face fights that 509 00:33:38,370 --> 00:33:41,220 were never gonna be able to win. So instead of winning, try to 510 00:33:41,230 --> 00:33:43,430 play their game. So stop trying to play the game 511 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:48,220 and play a different game now. I give one example here, but 512 00:33:48,230 --> 00:33:50,500 your situation in context may be very different. 513 00:33:51,540 --> 00:33:54,290 How you respond may need to be very different. 514 00:33:54,300 --> 00:33:59,950 And to do this well over the long haul, we need Holy Spirit 515 00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:06,700 inspired creativity and we need to be reflective rather than 516 00:34:06,710 --> 00:34:11,210 reactive. Here's another way we can live 517 00:34:11,219 --> 00:34:17,510 this out. Be gracious and generous even to 518 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,300 the undeserving. Now I put undeserving in 519 00:34:20,310 --> 00:34:23,590 quotation marks because I think that's a highly subjective word. 520 00:34:24,270 --> 00:34:27,560 Who made me? Who made you the arbiters of who 521 00:34:27,570 --> 00:34:30,580 is worthy or unworthy of generosity and grace? 522 00:34:30,750 --> 00:34:33,310 The whole point is that we are all undeserving. 523 00:34:34,969 --> 00:34:39,000 At my previous church, we were in a high traffic area downtown 524 00:34:39,010 --> 00:34:42,770 Guelph, and despite our best efforts to keep things locked 525 00:34:42,780 --> 00:34:45,170 down, things would often go missing. 526 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:53,030 Yeah, Kendra knows. Kendra knows one day we had we 527 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:55,190 had a computer go missing. It was like our computer that 528 00:34:55,199 --> 00:34:58,110 double does all like the screens for worship on Sundays and our 529 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:01,390 live stream and videos etcetera. It was gone. 530 00:35:02,330 --> 00:35:04,320 So I looked up the security camera. 531 00:35:05,130 --> 00:35:08,900 We had one kind of like just facing kind of the exterior door 532 00:35:08,910 --> 00:35:12,580 out of the sanctuary and I see two teenagers now. 533 00:35:12,590 --> 00:35:15,100 We had a program that was running in the IT was a upper 534 00:35:15,110 --> 00:35:17,430 grand district school board program that was running out of 535 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:18,890 the school. And I kind of looked and said, 536 00:35:18,900 --> 00:35:21,270 OK, it's none of them. I asked. 537 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:23,220 The teacher said, no, it's none of them. 538 00:35:23,770 --> 00:35:26,240 So I called up the downtown beat cop. 539 00:35:26,250 --> 00:35:28,960 He was, he was well known and actually very well loved among 540 00:35:28,970 --> 00:35:32,840 the people. He came over and I, I showed him 541 00:35:32,850 --> 00:35:35,120 the footage and he said I know who those people are. 542 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:37,960 I know their names here, their names and so and so and so and 543 00:35:37,970 --> 00:35:39,750 so. And actually I was just chatting 544 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:41,870 with them a few minutes ago at one of the drop in centres. 545 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:44,950 I said this is great. So, so he said let me know, I'll 546 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,190 go talk to them. Let me know if you want to press 547 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:51,960 charges. I didn't feel good about that. 548 00:35:52,270 --> 00:35:54,840 I I did not feel right about that. 549 00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:59,530 I was sure, and I was correct in that assumption that the 550 00:35:59,540 --> 00:36:02,140 computer was long gone. This is what happens, right? 551 00:36:02,150 --> 00:36:05,470 You you know someone grabs something and what could have 552 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:10,080 gone on Facebook marketplace for 600 bucks, you sell for 100 or 553 00:36:10,090 --> 00:36:15,650 $200 for whatever you need. I knew it was long gone, but I 554 00:36:15,660 --> 00:36:18,620 wanted to meet with them. So we actually ended up meeting 555 00:36:18,630 --> 00:36:21,250 a few times. I, I, he gave me their name and 556 00:36:21,260 --> 00:36:24,270 I and I like, I found, I went on Facebook and I found them and I 557 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:26,580 said, hey, I'm just gonna shoot the messages until they respond. 558 00:36:26,660 --> 00:36:30,300 And so I was persistent. So, but eventually they did. 559 00:36:30,310 --> 00:36:33,030 And they're like, yeah, yeah, I'll, I'll come, we'll come. 560 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:34,730 And I met with them a couple times. 561 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:37,330 We had some really interesting chats. 562 00:36:37,990 --> 00:36:41,380 I got to share a little bit of my story with them, my faith 563 00:36:41,390 --> 00:36:43,810 journey. I got to hear some of their 564 00:36:43,820 --> 00:36:47,760 story. As you can imagine, their story 565 00:36:47,770 --> 00:36:51,900 was filled with some difficults and hard, hard things. 566 00:36:55,290 --> 00:36:59,940 In some small way, I think I got to speak life into them in some 567 00:36:59,950 --> 00:37:02,760 way. That was almost 10 years ago and 568 00:37:02,770 --> 00:37:05,690 I still often think about where they've landed now. 569 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:10,430 I wish I could have kept in touch in some way, but I I hope 570 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:12,460 that I made a difference in their life in some way. 571 00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:17,850 Now I can't claim that that has always been the case for me. 572 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:22,650 There have been times where I have sought retribution and 573 00:37:22,660 --> 00:37:27,080 taken justice into my own hands, but I'm grateful for situations 574 00:37:27,090 --> 00:37:31,970 like this where we get a very tangible opportunity to be 575 00:37:31,980 --> 00:37:35,480 merciful as God is merciful. Yeah. 576 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:46,340 Do you know someone in your life that is in need of that kind of 577 00:37:46,350 --> 00:37:51,150 mercy, that kind of grace, that kind of forgiveness? 578 00:37:55,690 --> 00:37:59,390 Now, if you're someone who's very justice oriented, you're 579 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,010 probably like getting a little bit amped up right now. 580 00:38:02,020 --> 00:38:04,820 You're like, but that's not fair. 581 00:38:06,650 --> 00:38:10,550 These situations can be a pretty tough pill to swallow for some 582 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:13,090 of us who are not prone to act this way, which I think is 583 00:38:13,100 --> 00:38:17,590 probably a lot of us. This is about stepping out in 584 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:22,850 faith, trusting God that our hearts will be transformed when 585 00:38:22,860 --> 00:38:27,840 we choose to love this agape love, when we choose to forgive 586 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:32,970 and when we choose mercy. When Jesus told His followers to 587 00:38:32,980 --> 00:38:36,360 love their enemies, I have to think he knows what he was 588 00:38:36,370 --> 00:38:39,880 doing. That he was asking something 589 00:38:39,930 --> 00:38:44,190 hard, that he was asking something unprecedented even. 590 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:51,270 But Jesus is inviting us to participate in his Kingdom. 591 00:38:51,310 --> 00:38:56,820 That's what he's inviting us to. It's his Kingdom. 592 00:38:57,270 --> 00:39:02,140 And because it's Jesus's Kingdom, He will not ask us to 593 00:39:02,150 --> 00:39:06,400 do something that He himself is not willing and in fact did not 594 00:39:06,410 --> 00:39:07,930 do. Merciful as. 595 00:39:07,940 --> 00:39:12,120 God is merciful because Jesus went before us and He showed us 596 00:39:12,240 --> 00:39:17,140 what that mercy looks like. He did this with his healing of 597 00:39:17,150 --> 00:39:19,750 the sick. He did this with the forgiving 598 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:23,000 of the tax collectors. He did this by associating with 599 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:27,310 lowlifes and nobodies as well as the least of these. 600 00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:30,010 And most of all, he did. This at the cross. 601 00:39:31,620 --> 00:39:33,270 At the. Cross, he cried. 602 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:37,050 Out in front of the people who were literally murdering him, he 603 00:39:37,060 --> 00:39:40,130 said. Father forgive them, for they do 604 00:39:40,140 --> 00:39:44,350 not know what they are doing extending. 605 00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:47,370 Mercy. Toward. 606 00:39:47,380 --> 00:39:52,050 Those who were killing him with Jesus as our. 607 00:39:52,060 --> 00:39:57,020 Forerunner, as the one who extend that same mercy to me and 608 00:39:57,030 --> 00:40:04,510 to you, We have our mandates. We have our example and by the 609 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:05,850 strength. And power of the Holy. 610 00:40:05,860 --> 00:40:11,040 Spirits, we can go out to our families, to our neighborhoods, 611 00:40:12,130 --> 00:40:13,720 to our schools. To our. 612 00:40:13,730 --> 00:40:18,230 Places of work wherever we find ourselves. 613 00:40:19,810 --> 00:40:26,120 And we can, unconditionally. Love and actively seek the good 614 00:40:26,170 --> 00:40:29,810 for everyone, even those who are working against us. 615 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:38,650 Let's pray. God, this is a. 616 00:40:38,700 --> 00:40:46,210 Difficult word. It's not something that we. 617 00:40:46,220 --> 00:40:52,940 Can do on our own strength. Or through just mustering. 618 00:40:52,950 --> 00:40:56,770 Up the right feelings. God, it's. 619 00:40:56,830 --> 00:40:59,860 Something that we. Need your help. 620 00:41:06,910 --> 00:41:09,940 As we take a moment. Here, in the quiet of this 621 00:41:09,950 --> 00:41:15,360 space, to think upon the ways in which we may need to have this 622 00:41:15,370 --> 00:41:17,620 agape love for someone in our world. 623 00:41:20,060 --> 00:41:22,960 Would you? Empower. 624 00:41:22,970 --> 00:41:29,760 Us by your spirits. Would you allow us to experience 625 00:41:29,830 --> 00:41:34,300 all that you have for us, the fullness of your love, which is 626 00:41:34,310 --> 00:41:48,130 even love for the undeserving? God, we pray that you would. 627 00:41:49,330 --> 00:41:51,130 Speak to. US this week. 628 00:41:52,500 --> 00:41:54,130 As we. Consider how to do. 629 00:41:54,140 --> 00:41:58,070 This it feels impossible sometimes. 630 00:41:59,910 --> 00:42:01,720 But God where where with things that. 631 00:42:01,730 --> 00:42:05,240 Seem impossible for us. We know that you can make these 632 00:42:05,250 --> 00:42:08,280 things possible. Would you help us now? 633 00:42:08,290 --> 00:42:11,720 As we. Seek to live out all of what you 634 00:42:11,730 --> 00:42:15,700 ask of us in the Scriptures by your spirits. 635 00:42:17,670 --> 00:42:20,980 Amen. Invite Christian. 636 00:42:20,990 --> 00:42:21,910 Now it'll be us in the. Prayers.