1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,800 I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 6, 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:09,040 verse 27, and we're going to be verses 27 to 36 this morning. 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:11,480 If you're using one of the Bibles found under some of the 4 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:17,160 chairs here in the auditorium in Cambridge, it's in Page 915 that 5 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,920 you'll turn to. If you don't have a Bible of 6 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,520 your own at home, you're here today and you don't have one, we 7 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,440 would love to give one of those Bibles to you. 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,480 That's our gift to you. We everyone to have a Bible in 9 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:31,280 their hands they own, they call their own. 10 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,200 It's my joy this morning to welcome a new member into 11 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,280 fellowship this morning. But not really new to us here at 12 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,680 Forward Church because she's kind of been with us her whole 13 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:44,320 life. But welcome Daniela Fiji into 14 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:48,520 membership today. And so great to see you take 15 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,360 that step into membership. Also want to let you know before 16 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:54,080 we get started today, we're doing Communion. 17 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,080 So you should have got a cup like this when you came in this 18 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,280 morning if you did not get one of these cups. 19 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:03,640 If you just want to put your hand up right now, I think we've 20 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:07,560 got some people in the back and they can get you hooked up with 21 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:09,640 a cup so that we come to Communion. 22 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:14,040 You're all set. I've been thinking a lot lately 23 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:20,960 about the fact that Christianity is weird, and as I've been 24 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:25,480 reflecting on this, I realized I think I grew up. 25 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,200 I spent my childhood in my teenage years at the weirdest 26 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:33,720 point in the Christian Church, especially if you were growing 27 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:38,000 up in a conservative evangelical church, the 80s and 90s were 28 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:43,760 really weird. We had a lot of Christian 29 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:45,400 T-shirts. If you're, if you're growing up 30 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,400 in the 80s and 90s in church, you were well acquainted with 31 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:53,760 Christian T-shirts that often tried to play off like well 32 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,240 known brands or things that were kind of cool in culture. 33 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,760 But we're like 3 years too late to the party. 34 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,240 And so I got some pictures. There's one when I, when I was a 35 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,560 kid in the 90s, there was a brief period of time where there 36 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,320 was a brand called No Fear and the shirts were really cool. 37 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,240 And then like three years later, somebody who was a Christian 38 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,680 finally figured out how to make a shirt that was kind of a riff 39 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:18,360 off that. And so they came up with this 40 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,840 fear not put a little verse on it and we wore it. 41 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:25,480 We got another photo up here, here. 42 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:26,920 Here's what I'm talking about with brands. 43 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,560 And again, if you grew up in in church in the 80s and 90s, you 44 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,240 saw these, you probably wore some of these, right? 45 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:40,160 That that says Jesus, sweet savior. 46 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,520 That's what it says in there, King of Kings and the Reese, the 47 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:45,320 Reese cup does kind of look like a crown. 48 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,520 So that kind of is cool. That one up in the corner, 49 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:51,640 because you can't read. I'm just going to tell you, it 50 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:54,600 says Satan. You just in really small letters 51 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,880 got punked. Yeah. 52 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,520 Oh, that's right, Air Jesus. And that's weird. 53 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,560 That's just weird. I don't even know what to say 54 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,960 about that. So we had, we had Christian 55 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:12,920 T-shirts. I had friends who couldn't play 56 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:15,040 cards but could play cards. And here's what I mean by that. 57 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,800 They couldn't play cards if there was like suits on them, 58 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,920 like diamonds, clubs, spades, hearts. 59 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:28,480 But if you removed the suits, the cards are OK. 60 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,560 So just had to figure out a way to not have diamonds, clubs, 61 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,520 spades and hearts on them. And then they could play those 62 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,600 same friends. They could not go with me to a 63 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,520 movie theater to watch a movie. But eight months later when it 64 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:46,840 came out on VHS, it was super OK to watch that in the house. 65 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,280 I remember having really heated conversations with my mom about 66 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,160 genes in church. She would die. 67 00:03:57,400 --> 00:03:59,280 She would have died back. Now she wears she's in church 68 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,920 all the time now. She would have died back then. 69 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,080 To think that I would be preaching in Gene. 70 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:05,840 And that's especially true if you're a women. 71 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,560 You depending on the church that you're in, you may have worn 72 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,640 these really weird things called culottes, right? 73 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:14,960 Some of you are nodding your head. 74 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,839 It's like it's sort of a skirt, but it's pants. 75 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:23,080 So I'm a rebel. If you were in youth group in 76 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,600 the 90s, you are probably familiar with, with, with things 77 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,560 that ended with CD burning parties and C DS do not burn 78 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,280 well. And, and we were all passionate 79 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:35,240 about if we were going to get rid of the devil's music. 80 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,000 And then a week later Sam the record man was really happy 81 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:39,760 because then we went and bought the CD again. 82 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:41,640 So they got to sell it to us twice. 83 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:48,120 And if you're like, hey, that's not weird, that's weird. 84 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:50,600 It's weird that you don't think that's weird. 85 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:52,640 It's weird that you think that that's normal. 86 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,720 And that's OK. Like if you if you like the 87 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,640 weird, embrace the weird. That's cool. 88 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:02,160 Just don't impose it on anybody else. 89 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:06,080 But but embrace that. But here's why I say this, 90 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:11,000 because Christianity is weird enough on its own, just on the 91 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:15,120 merits. What Christianity is based on 92 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:17,560 the things we do as Christians is weird. 93 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:25,520 We just spent time singing out loud together in public. 94 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,680 Nobody does that. I don't know if you know that 95 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:31,160 people don't do that anywhere else. 96 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:33,800 We're going to take communion today. 97 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:39,080 We're we're going to open up this little pack with grape 98 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:43,240 juice that kind of tastes like off brand freezy juice in a 99 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:45,480 little wafer that they say is bread. 100 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,280 But I have questions. But we're going to take this 101 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:56,360 because we believe that God came down in the flesh. 102 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:02,440 He lived on earth, He lived a sinless life in the person 103 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,920 Jesus. He went to the cross, He died, 104 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,400 He was buried, and three days later he rose again. 105 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:14,120 We believe that he died and rose again, and that's why we take 106 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,640 this, because this is the central reality of our faith. 107 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,560 This is what makes us followers of Jesus. 108 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:27,360 And prayer is weird. It's weird to just be speaking 109 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:29,800 out there and the persons can't see them. 110 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:35,160 Fasting is weird. Believing that a book written 111 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,240 thousands of years ago, over the course of thousands of years by 112 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:45,600 40 ish authors in three different languages across three 113 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,800 different continents in all sorts of different genres is 114 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:54,160 actually written by one guy to us. 115 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,080 And it's his inspired word, every word of it. 116 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,960 True. That's that's a weird thing for 117 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:05,000 most people. We could go on and on. 118 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:07,800 Christianity is weird. We can't run away from their 119 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,600 weirdness. If it's true, we have to embrace 120 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,840 it. We got to lean into it. 121 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:20,800 But of all of the things in Christianity that are weird, 122 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:26,240 what we're going to look at today I think has to be a 123 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:32,040 contender for, if not the weirdest, then at least one of 124 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:38,400 the most unbelievable different difficult teachings that Jesus 125 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,360 gives us. So let's let's read these words 126 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,760 of Jesus together, starting in Luke chapter 27. 127 00:07:51,820 --> 00:07:56,660 Jesus is speaking, continuing on in this sermon on the plane that 128 00:07:56,660 --> 00:08:01,740 we've been walking through. And he says, but I say to you 129 00:08:01,740 --> 00:08:10,880 who listen, love your enemies, do what is good to those who 130 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:17,560 hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat 131 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,760 you. If anyone hits you on the cheek, 132 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:24,680 offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your 133 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:26,880 coat, don't hold back your shirt either. 134 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,680 You give to everyone who asks you, and and from someone who 135 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,520 takes your things. Don't ask for them back. 136 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:40,720 Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. 137 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,080 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? 138 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:48,400 Even sinners love those who love them. 139 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,720 If you do what's good to those who are good to you, what credit 140 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,120 is that to you? Even sinners do that. 141 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,440 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what 142 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,440 credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to 143 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:09,120 be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do what 144 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:13,360 is good, and lend expecting nothing in return, and then your 145 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,800 reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most 146 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,000 High. For He is gracious to the 147 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:25,360 ungrateful and evil, but merciful, just as your Father 148 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:33,720 also is merciful. And I don't even know if we know 149 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:39,720 how weird and different that teaching is. 150 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,560 You, you might be here and maybe you're not even a follower of 151 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,240 Jesus and you're like, well, it sounds aspirational and it 152 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,760 sounds pretty naive, but I don't know if I would would call it 153 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:51,280 weird. I'm just telling you the reason 154 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,600 that we struggle to see how incredibly weird and different 155 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,120 this is, is because we live in a culture that's been so saturated 156 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,320 and so formed by the ethics and the teachings of Jesus. 157 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:05,760 Whether you're a Christian here today or not, whether you're a 158 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:08,720 practicing follower of Jesus or not, that we don't even 159 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:14,120 understand how somebody in a Roman culture, the Greco Roman 160 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:18,600 world, would this. This is a mind blowing reversal 161 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:23,240 of what the natural state and order of things is. 162 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:28,040 And let's be honest, when we stop and think about it and 163 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,440 apply it to ourselves, we know that's true. 164 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:35,120 Most of us struggle to love even the people we like. 165 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,480 Isn't that true, right? We struggle to love the people 166 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:47,560 who like us, and Jesus is calling us to love people who 167 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:51,800 loathe us. I want to tell you a story. 168 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,920 There's a story of a man who comes in to speak to his pastor. 169 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,120 He's coming to speak to his pastor because he wants to get a 170 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:02,760 divorce from his wife. And as often happens, if you do 171 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,720 pastoral counseling, you realize that people often want to come 172 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:09,760 in and have you affirm what they already think rather than 173 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:14,400 challenge their thinking. Says, you know, like, I just 174 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,360 don't love her anymore. I think we need to get a 175 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:22,400 divorce. Pastor says, well, the Bible 176 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:28,040 says husbands love your wives, so you really don't have a 177 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,880 choice. This is God's command to you. 178 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,800 He said, well, I mean, you just don't get it. 179 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,400 I don't even want to be around her anymore. 180 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,160 I don't want to live in the same house as her. 181 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:44,880 So the pastor says, well, here, why don't you try this? 182 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,160 Why don't you trial a trial separation? 183 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,760 You find a house real close by in the neighborhood and you move 184 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:56,640 in there for a few weeks. And he said, well, what? 185 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:58,040 What? What good would that do? 186 00:11:58,040 --> 00:11:58,800 What? Why would I? 187 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:02,320 Why'd that change anything? The pastor says, well, because 188 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:04,440 the Bible says love your neighbor, so now you'll be her 189 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:08,440 neighbor. So the guy gets really 190 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,880 frustrated. He gets really exasperated. 191 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:13,400 At this point he's like, no, pastor, you don't get it. 192 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:15,320 It's not just that I don't want to be around her. 193 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,840 Like I despise her. I can't stand her anymore. 194 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,520 Pastor looks at him. He says, oh, OK, I think I 195 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,600 understand. So, so you're saying that like 196 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:32,760 you'd view her as your enemy. He's like, yes, pastor says, 197 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:34,040 great, here's what I want you to do. 198 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:38,880 I want you to love her. So that's what Jesus says to do, 199 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,720 right? See, when Jesus says, but I say 200 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:46,240 to you who listen, love your enemies, do good to those who 201 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:48,160 hate you. Here's what he's really saying. 202 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:54,120 He's saying followers of Jesus are called to love everyone, 203 00:12:54,280 --> 00:13:00,400 period. No asterisks, no fine print. 204 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:05,600 The everyone of us, everyone of us in this room, everyone of you 205 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,840 watching online, you listen to this later, Every single one of 206 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,120 us in that moment wants a yellow. 207 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:16,400 But right, we've all got somebody right now who were 208 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:22,560 like, but you don't know blank. You don't know this person. 209 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:27,200 So here's what I want you to do. I want you somewhere. 210 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:31,600 Write this down. I want you to write out the 211 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:36,440 following. Jesus is telling me I'm called 212 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:40,520 to love that person. Write their name down, period. 213 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:44,040 Because that's what this is a call to. 214 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,760 It's a call to the person to for you to love the person who is 215 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,040 the person who you think is absolutely unworthy of your 216 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,120 love. The group of people, do you 217 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,160 think there's no way I can't love them? 218 00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:58,800 That's what Jesus calling us to do. 219 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,360 You get how hard this is? Get how different this is. 220 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:05,320 See, following Jesus, we've been saying this. 221 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,520 Following Jesus means different. Living differently. 222 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:14,240 That means following Jesus means loving differently. 223 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,840 That's not the totality of what it looks like to follow Jesus. 224 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,000 But you can't follow Jesus without doing this. 225 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:29,520 You're like, but you don't know. You know how terrible they are. 226 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,520 You know how deeply they've wounded me and hurt me. 227 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,280 You're right. I haven't walked in your shoes. 228 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:46,120 These are not my words to you. This is Jesus call to everyone 229 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:51,560 who would choose to follow him. And our struggle is this. 230 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,640 It's because we have a wrong concept of what Jesus is calling 231 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:01,240 us to. No, you can't have warm fuzzies 232 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,440 to somebody who has been terrible towards you, who's been 233 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,840 awful towards you, who loathes you, who acts as an enemy 234 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:08,960 towards you. I get that. 235 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,560 But that's not the love that Jesus is calling you to here 236 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:15,880 today. Love here is I don't want you to 237 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,240 be thinking warm fuzzies. I want you to be thinking 238 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:22,400 actions. The love we're talking about is 239 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,160 not fundamentally about how we feel, but how we're going to 240 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:32,760 function with people. Listen, we have such a feeling 241 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:38,520 emotion centric idea of what it is to love and and and emotions 242 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:40,200 are part of it. But I I love. 243 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:45,320 I love what my mother-in-law what what what Judy used to say 244 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,600 to my wife sometimes, which is very hard to believe because 245 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,160 Amanda is about the most lovable person. 246 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,080 In fact, her name means worthy of love. 247 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:58,560 But but her mom's would say to her at times, listen, I love 248 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,680 you. I don't like you very much right 249 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,040 now, right? If you've been a parent, you 250 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:05,200 know that you felt that you've lived that. 251 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:08,520 We're not talking about sentimentality. 252 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:10,600 What I want, what I need you to understand as we walk through 253 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,520 this, is Jesus going to be talking about sacrificial 254 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,800 action, not sentimentality. What Jesus is saying really is 255 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:25,280 this, be loving towards your enemies, act out of love towards 256 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:28,480 your enemies. So what does he mean by that? 257 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,880 Well, now he unpacks it for us, verse 28. 258 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,680 He starts by saying, what does it mean to love your enemies, 259 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,040 Bless those who curse you? That's what it means, loving 260 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,160 you. That's what it means to do good 261 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,960 towards those who hate you. You bless those who curse you. 262 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:49,120 And I would put it this way, respond to words of hate with 263 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,400 words of healing. That's part of what it looks 264 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:56,200 like to love your enemies. And I'm going to tell you, maybe 265 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,360 out of all of these we're going to walk through and every one of 266 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:02,240 us is going to struggle with different parts of this. 267 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,240 This is a hard one for me, really hard 1 for me. 268 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:13,119 I've been blessed with the ability to have a pretty quick 269 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:18,520 wit and pretty sharp tongue, which is not a blessing. 270 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:23,480 When you get into a spot where somebody hurts you, it's not a 271 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:27,599 blessing for them. At least when someone comes at 272 00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:33,400 me verbally, everything in me wants to completely annihilate 273 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:35,800 and dismantle that person down to the very core. 274 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,200 Like, I want to RIP their heart out with my words. 275 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:41,400 I just want to slice them to pieces. 276 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:49,360 And, and this was not good when I first got married. 277 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:56,160 It was, it's not good because if you've been married, you know, 278 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:00,720 you, you're, you now you put yourself into what is, I would 279 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:04,760 call this God's sanctification chamber, right? 280 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,760 Two sinners living in close proximity to each other all the 281 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:11,520 time is going to do one of two things. 282 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:15,400 You're either going to grow like crazy in Christ or you're going 283 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:20,880 to kill each other. And by God's grace and a wife 284 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:26,280 who again, is unbelievably patient and kind towards me, I 285 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:31,360 grew to move away from responding with harsh words all 286 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:34,480 the time. But I still struggle at times to 287 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:39,600 just not respond in the moment with vitriol when I feel hurt by 288 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,400 something. I had to recognize a couple 289 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,760 things. Just a marriage, but life in 290 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:49,760 general, 1. I don't always hear things 291 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:54,600 correctly. I don't know about you, but 292 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,160 there's a lot of things that happen in a day and in life that 293 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:03,200 can cause me to have some filters where the thing that 294 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,280 somebody is intending to say is not the thing that I heard. 295 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,640 There's a lot of past trauma that can happen in your life, 296 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:13,600 past wounds that can get opened up, man, when you got burned 297 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:18,320 skin, just a little tap sets you off with pain, right? 298 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:21,440 And all of us have some burns in our life. 299 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,080 And there are ways that we all respond in unhealthy fashion 300 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:31,320 because of the past pains that we have when we come in contact 301 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:33,280 with people who say things in our current moment, but they 302 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:35,040 don't know that they're hurting us that way. 303 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:39,760 So I had to recognize sometimes the the issue was a me issue. 304 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,480 I felt cursed, but they weren't meaning to curse me. 305 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,720 Second thing I realized is, yeah, sometimes people really 306 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:51,880 are cruel with their words. They intend to harm me. 307 00:19:53,800 --> 00:20:00,280 But even when they intend to harm me, it's usually not really 308 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:07,400 about me, see? Usually people are responding 309 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:11,840 out of their own pain. Hurt people hurt people, and 310 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,000 we've all got hurt. And sometimes we act out of that 311 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:15,200 hurt. And so I learned to ask the 312 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,440 question, am I, am I truly hearing what this person is 313 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:24,520 saying? And what hurt or pain in that 314 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,640 person's life has caused them to act in this way that they would 315 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:33,760 want to inflict pain on me? Now this is an explanation. 316 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,120 It's not an excuse. That's what I just want to be 317 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,680 clear on that It's not an excuse for you to harm somebody else, 318 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,880 to hurt somebody else, to be hateful towards somebody else 319 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,400 because you've experienced a lot of harm and pain and hurt in 320 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,320 your life. But when we receive that from 321 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:58,280 somebody, it is super helpful to change my posture towards that 322 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:04,360 person to be able to respond back in ways that are not going 323 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:07,400 to try and RIP that other person apart for the pain they've 324 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,880 caused me. It it helps to create a heart 325 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:14,480 that is more able to bless when you're cursed. 326 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:17,560 So let me give you a couple real life examples. 327 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,200 Maybe you've been here before, maybe you've experienced this, 328 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:26,520 you've been in a meeting maybe where a Co worker just kind of 329 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:31,520 calls you out and lays into you and criticizes you in front of a 330 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:36,240 team of people. I don't know about you, but my 331 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:40,440 response in that moment is either to fire back. 332 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:44,680 I want to fire back or even more so I'm going to plot my revenge 333 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,480 and get them later. I'm going to find my time where 334 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:49,680 I'm going to be able to take them. 335 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,200 I'm on the watch now. Every time you screw up, man, 336 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:56,400 I'm on it. But instead, if we're going to 337 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:02,200 bless those who curse us, here's what it looks like when you get 338 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,640 an opportunity to catch them doing something right, you 339 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:11,560 praise them, you encourage them. That's that's totally flipped 340 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:16,920 from what we want to do, right? Maybe because you realize, hey, 341 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:21,480 hurt people hurt people. When your emotion levels come 342 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,640 down a little bit, you kind of pull them aside. 343 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,720 You check in to see how they are doing and if there's something 344 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,960 going on in their life. It's a pretty different way of 345 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:33,920 responding than I think our usual way of responding there. 346 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:37,760 How about this on, on social media, man, it's easy to be a 347 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:42,680 keyboard warrior, especially when you get a nasty comment 348 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,200 back at you. Somebody behind the anonymity of 349 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,480 a keyboard tweet something at you, says something at you, runs 350 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:53,760 you down, man, I we would never talk to people in real life the 351 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,760 way that some of us talk online. There's just no way you wouldn't 352 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,200 do it. But when that happens, if you're 353 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:06,600 on the receiving end of just some nastiness, instead of 354 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:11,960 getting into some type of flame war online, what if you engage 355 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,640 with gentleness? What if maybe instead of even 356 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,360 going public, you sent a quick message privately to see what's 357 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:24,400 going on in somebody's life? See, being loving towards your 358 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:29,760 enemies looks like responding to words of hate with words of 359 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,520 healing and with words that bring healing to a relationship 360 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,960 instead of further dividing it. Second thing he says is this. 361 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:41,480 Pray for those who mistreat you. And here's how I would put this. 362 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:45,160 I think Jesus is saying this. When someone hurts you, put 363 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:46,880 their name on a prayer list, not a hit list. 364 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:54,880 See, we think that we have gone above and beyond with people 365 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:59,080 simply when we don't retaliate in kind to the things they send 366 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,160 our way. Jesus says no, It's more than 367 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,640 that. When someone comes at you, I 368 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:07,920 actually want you to do good towards them. 369 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:11,640 I want you to pray for your enemies. 370 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,520 And when Jesus says pray for them, it's not Lord smite them. 371 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:20,920 OK, that's not this is not what he's saying. 372 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,080 He's asking that you would pray for their healing. 373 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,760 I want you to go back to your what about person the the person 374 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,040 that came into your mind when I said you have to love everyone 375 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,600 and everything inside of you wanted to scream, but not that 376 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,520 person, right? That's the first person you need 377 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:47,120 to put on your prayer list. I'll just challenge you to pray 378 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:50,200 for that person for the next 30 days. 379 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:55,160 Commit to praying that God would bring healing into their life, 380 00:24:56,360 --> 00:25:00,680 that God would help them in whatever they're struggling 381 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,240 with. The God would save them if 382 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,600 they're not a follower of Jesus, that Jesus would be real to them 383 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:09,640 and they would come to a point where they would believe in him 384 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:13,360 and be transformed by him and see how that begins to change 385 00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:19,040 your heart towards that person. And if you think there's no way 386 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,680 nobody could ever do this, well, that's exactly what Jesus did. 387 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:30,280 While Jesus was being nailed to the cross, he cries out about 388 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,400 the soldiers who are crucifying him. 389 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,600 Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 390 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:43,720 While Stephen is being stoned to death and martyred for preaching 391 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:49,120 the name of Jesus, he calls out for forgiveness for those who 392 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:55,440 are stoning him. Now, you can absolutely pray 393 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:59,400 against the injustice that is committed to you. 394 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,760 The Psalms give us some templates and some frameworks 395 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,560 for praying against injustice, against evil. 396 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,520 But for our hearts, we got to pray even for those who are 397 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:17,560 doing evil against us. So loving your enemies looks 398 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,560 like speaking words of healing towards those who hate you. 399 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:25,040 It means praying for those who you would just like to be able 400 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:28,800 to smack. It also means that when you're 401 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,520 insulted, you don't return the favor. 402 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:36,360 Verse 29 says if anyone hits you on the cheek for the other also. 403 00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:39,720 So I want to give a very important heads up before I 404 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:44,840 delve into this a little bit. This is not a call to endure 405 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,440 abuse. We're going to talk about why 406 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,760 that is. This is clearly not Jesus saying 407 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,080 if you're abused, suffer abuse. OK? 408 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,520 If you are abused, let me say if you're being abused right now, 409 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,840 two things. Get out, get help. 410 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:06,200 Reach out to us. Let people in your life know who 411 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:07,800 can support you and encourage you in that. 412 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:13,840 If you're an abuser, let me say this to you, repent, come clean. 413 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,320 You get yourself out of that situation. 414 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:19,480 Don't make the person who's being abused you get a 415 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,880 repentance would look like you saying, I don't know what to do. 416 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,240 I can't stop myself right now. I've got some stuff that's so 417 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,920 broken in me this out. Then you get out and we'll help 418 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:34,280 you and you come and ask us for help so we can begin to help 419 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:37,480 figure out how to get you some healing so that you won't live 420 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,600 that way. Jesus here is making a point 421 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,240 about how we respond when we're insulted, not how we respond to 422 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,640 being abused. He's not calling on people to 423 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:54,120 stay in an abusive situation. See, in Jesus day, hitting a 424 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:58,880 person on the cheek, slapping them was the ultimate sign of an 425 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:00,360 insult. And in fact, Matthew adds a 426 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:03,200 detail that Luke doesn't include in this text. 427 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,360 Matthew when he's recounting Jesus teachings on this says 428 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:09,280 when someone hits you on the right cheek. 429 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:13,320 And so if I was to hit somebody on the right cheek as a as a 430 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:17,800 right hand dominated person, I would need to backhand slap, 431 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,160 cross the cheek go like that sound guys. 432 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:27,520 I'm sorry. The right hand backhand slap was 433 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:31,400 an insult that was given from somebody who was a superior in 434 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,360 social station, connotating that the person that they were 435 00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:39,240 insulting was an inferior. OK, you get this. 436 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,080 So if you're an inferior, I'm going to slap you. 437 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,360 Like even today we kind of get this, this, this feels just so 438 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:50,040 dismissive. Jesus says if he hits you on one 439 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:51,640 cheek, turn the other cheek to you. 440 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,040 So if we add in Matthew's teaching, if he hits you on the 441 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,320 right cheek, turn the left cheek to him. 442 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,760 Now here's what happens with the left-handed smack. 443 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:05,120 That was viewed as a insult that you would give to somebody who 444 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:09,320 is on equal footing, an equal plane with you socially. 445 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,720 And So what Jesus is really saying is when you bear with the 446 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:20,960 insults of someone without responding to them, you've taken 447 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:25,320 away their power. How do you take away their 448 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:26,480 power? How does how does that work? 449 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,200 Works like this. When you refuse to respond to a 450 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:36,000 bully, to the insult of a bully, to the insult of somebody who is 451 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:40,480 hoping to knock you down and crush you and make you feel 452 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:45,640 small, When when you don't respond, when you don't respond 453 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:50,960 in kind, you are declaring to them this your approval or 454 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,080 disapproval holds no power over me. 455 00:29:55,440 --> 00:30:01,200 It's my dignity, my worth. It's not determined by your 456 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,160 opinion. I'm strong enough to take this 457 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,800 because I actually don't care you. 458 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:12,240 You can't make me feel away. You can't make me respond away 459 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:20,360 because I am convinced that my dignity and my worth and my 460 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:25,840 value is found in the one who made me in his image, the one 461 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:27,440 who died on the cross to save me. 462 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:33,240 So your insults hold no power over me. 463 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:38,160 That's what you declare when you withstand an insult, when you, 464 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:39,880 when you have to respond in kind. 465 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:43,760 Here's what you're saying. I'm so devastated by what you're 466 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:45,240 saying. I've given you all the power 467 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:49,000 over me. And then he says this. 468 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,720 If anyone takes your coat, don't hold back your shirt either. 469 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,360 Give to everyone who asks you. And from someone who takes your 470 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,240 things, don't ask for them back. What he's saying is be generous 471 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:04,200 even when it's costly. Loving our enemies. 472 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,040 I just if you haven't got it yet, it's costly. 473 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:14,320 Loving your enemies means giving up the vengeance that you 474 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:18,480 deserve. More than that, because of what 475 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:23,320 Jesus is calling us to here, it means absorbing that cost of 476 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:29,840 vengeance and going further and responding with mercy and grace 477 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:32,920 towards them. Not just not returning evil, but 478 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,720 returning evil with good. That's costly. 479 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:40,600 And so if you're going to love your enemies me, you have to be 480 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:44,320 generous even when it's costed. More than that. 481 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:49,600 We think of hate as the opposite of love, but many people would 482 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:54,560 argue, and I think this is true, that apathy is actually the 483 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:57,840 opposite of love. Love and hate, They, they, 484 00:31:58,040 --> 00:31:59,800 they're both deep emotional feelings. 485 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:05,160 They both come out of a deep sense of I care. 486 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:11,520 Apathy is a complete lack of concern or care or feeling 487 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:19,040 towards somebody. Feeling apathy is the opposite 488 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:27,880 of love, and feeling apathy towards those who are in need is 489 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:31,720 in some sense a greater absence of love. 490 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:36,240 When we feel no concern about those who are hurting, those who 491 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,080 are broken, those who are in need, in some ways, that's more 492 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:42,080 concerning about the lack of love in our soul. 493 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,280 See, if we're going to love everyone, period, it means 494 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:54,520 acting in love towards those not only that we want to hate, but 495 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:59,800 that we totally want to ignore and not see that we want to not 496 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:04,320 notice or care about. And I know, like it's real. 497 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:07,200 Compassion fatigue is a real deal, especially in a world 498 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:12,000 where we bombarded with everything awful in the world 499 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,160 all the time from everywhere. Our hearts just get tired. 500 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:20,680 It gets we get weary of loving or caring or being concerned. 501 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:25,840 I get it. But aren't you glad the God 502 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,320 never got to a point of stopping caring? 503 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,000 God never gets to a point where he's just like, I'm done. 504 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,080 I mean, I just don't have it in me anymore to care about you. 505 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:39,320 Be honest. There's a lot going on in the 506 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,640 world and you're kind of annoying. 507 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:43,480 So I'm just going to forget about you. 508 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:49,000 So how do we do it? Here's here's what I would say. 509 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:54,840 Some of us, we we need to tune out the noise because we are 510 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:59,360 compassion fatigued and focus on the person in front of us in the 511 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:03,680 flesh. When when, when that person on 512 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:08,719 the street is in front of you. See them as a person created in 513 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:10,840 the image of God whom Jesus loved. 514 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:16,000 Care about them enough to say hello and give them some 515 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,600 dignity. Focus on the people. 516 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:24,760 We can't fix everything all the time, but you can deal with the 517 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:27,360 person who's in front of you in that moment, who needs care and 518 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:28,960 who needs love and who needs to be seen. 519 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,159 Finally, just in case we're still struggling to understand 520 00:34:34,159 --> 00:34:38,440 what Jesus is calling us to when he calls us to love our enemies. 521 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:42,800 He says this just as others, just as you want others to do 522 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:46,400 for you, do the same for them. So I would say this, Jesus 523 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:50,239 saying, show the love to others that you wish others would show 524 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:54,920 to you. That grace that you wish other 525 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,720 people would extend to you and you're not at your best. 526 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:03,800 That forgiveness that you wish somebody would offer to you when 527 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:10,720 you have messed up royally. That kindness, a little bit of 528 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:13,680 kindness that you wish you would get in a world that often seems 529 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:19,960 really cruel and cold. The patience in a world that is 530 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:24,840 so quick to give up and discard people, you do that. 531 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:28,600 You do that with the people who are in front of you. 532 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:31,080 You do that with the people God brings into your life. 533 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:34,080 The things that you wish that somebody would give to you, you 534 00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:38,200 give to them. You say, Derek, that's hard. 535 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:42,000 This is all so hard. What if I just, how about this? 536 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:48,840 I'll love the people who love me and, and, and, and I'll ignore 537 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:50,400 the jerks. I'll, I'll at least I'll get 538 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,080 better. And instead of respond to them, 539 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,360 I'll ignore them. No, this is what Jesus says. 540 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,040 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? 541 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:00,720 Even sinners love those who love them. 542 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:04,400 If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit 543 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:05,800 is that to you? Even sinners do that. 544 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,680 If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what 545 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:11,960 credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to be repaid 546 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,880 in full. Listen, what he's saying is love 547 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:16,840 that's easy isn't love that's different. 548 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:21,400 That's not the type of love that Jesus is calling his people to. 549 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,320 It's not enough. It's not enough. 550 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:30,320 Kingdom love, Christian love, Jesus love is supernatural love. 551 00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:35,680 It's above and beyond love. It's choosing to act in love 552 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,800 towards your spouse when your spouse deserves anything but 553 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:43,880 love. It's choosing to love the 554 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:49,680 coworkers that are awful, that annoy you, that you can't stand, 555 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:56,000 the ones that undermine you. It's loving the person in the 556 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,840 church, not just the ones who are kind to you, but the ones 557 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:01,560 who are kind of a pain. OK. 558 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:09,040 It's loving everyone, period. It's it's loving like the sun 559 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:12,320 instead of like a candle. Here's what I mean by that. 560 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:17,200 A candle burns as long as the conditions for burning are 561 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:21,280 right, as long as it's got oxygen, as long as it's got 562 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:24,440 fuel, as long as a wind doesn't come along and blow it up, then 563 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:29,320 a candle will burn. But the sun burns and shines no 564 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:34,640 matter what, because the sun burns and shines because of 565 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:39,840 what's in it, right? Not because of what's around it. 566 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,160 So many of us love like candles. We love because of what's around 567 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:45,400 us. Jesus is calling us to love 568 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:51,680 because of what's in us. He says love your enemies, do 569 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:54,520 good, do what is good, and land expecting nothing. 570 00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:59,120 Because of this, we love like the sun, because we've been 571 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:04,360 loved by the sun, he says. Then your reward will be great, 572 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:08,080 and you will be children of the Most High, for he is gracious to 573 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:12,440 the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful, just as your Father 574 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:14,840 also is merciful. The way The reason we love 575 00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:19,160 everyone, period, is because Jesus loved us, period. 576 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,240 That's the gospel. That's the truth. 577 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:31,600 Becoming a Christian starts with understanding this reality that 578 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:36,840 God loved us just like Jesus is calling us to love others. 579 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:43,240 To To love this way, you have to understand how merciful God has 580 00:38:43,240 --> 00:38:45,480 been to you. It has to sink into your heart. 581 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:48,960 To love this way. You have to understand how 582 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:54,600 greatly God has loved you. Romans 58 says this, but God 583 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:58,600 proves his own love for us in this and while we were still 584 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:01,720 sinners. Christ died for us when we were 585 00:39:01,720 --> 00:39:04,880 his enemies. Jesus died for us when we did 586 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:08,080 nothing to deserve it. Jesus died when you wanted 587 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:12,800 nothing to do with God. God came running towards you in 588 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:17,520 the person of Jesus. Jesus doesn't love us because of 589 00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:22,400 what we do for Him. He loved us in spite of what we 590 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:28,440 have done to Him. You might be here today and you 591 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:32,040 have no love for God. I want you to know this. 592 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:40,720 God loves you because His love isn't contingent upon your love 593 00:39:40,720 --> 00:39:42,640 for Him. The things He came running 594 00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:44,120 towards you when you wanted nothing to do with. 595 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:45,240 Because that's what He did for me. 596 00:39:47,240 --> 00:39:50,560 And the only way to love differently is to receive a 597 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:54,440 different kind of love. You see what he said then your 598 00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:57,080 reward will be great. When you do this, you will be 599 00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:02,520 children of the Most High. He is not talking here about 600 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:07,120 loving your enemies so that you can earn the love of the Father. 601 00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:11,040 This is pre cross. Now that we're post cross, now 602 00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:14,200 that we understand what Jesus has done, we understand what 603 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:20,160 he's saying is. I loved you this way and if you 604 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:23,560 have received my love, you've become children of the Most 605 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:26,480 High. So that's the type of love you 606 00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:30,000 can now take out in the world. You know why you can do this 607 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:31,840 type of love even though it's costly? 608 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:36,280 Because you have a never ending source of love and grace that's 609 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:38,520 coming from the Father. If you had to do this on your 610 00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:43,160 own, you can't do it. You run out of resources. 611 00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:47,880 But when we come back to the reality that this is the way we 612 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:53,520 are loved, not just in the past but every day by Jesus, now all 613 00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:57,080 of a sudden I have the ability to respond in kind because I'm 614 00:40:57,080 --> 00:40:59,600 never going to run out of the love that I'm receiving. 615 00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:02,600 I've always got more love to give. 616 00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:08,120 Only those who have understood what it is necessary to be 617 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,320 called sons and daughters of God. 618 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:15,640 Only those who cry out that they are enemies of God, deserving 619 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:20,360 his judgment and wrath, and then who accept the love of God by 620 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:24,680 receiving the fact that Jesus died on the cross for them while 621 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:29,160 they were sinners and enemies, and is rose again in power, 622 00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:33,320 victorious to give us the Holy Spirit power to be able to go 623 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:36,440 out and do this. Now we've got the resources 624 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:39,640 necessary to be able to love this way. 625 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:46,080 If Jesus could act in love towards you when all you 626 00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:51,560 deserved was punishment, you can act in love towards those who 627 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:57,240 deserve your hate. If Jesus could forgive you when 628 00:41:57,240 --> 00:42:01,760 you didn't deserve it. You can forgive those who have 629 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:05,120 wronged you even though they don't deserve it. 630 00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:11,760 If Jesus prayed for those who were nailing him to the cross, 631 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:17,080 you can pray for the people who have murdered your reputation. 632 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:25,360 And when you do that, when I do that, we give the world just a 633 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:30,520 little glimpse of the unbelievable, weird, totally 634 00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:33,920 different type of love that God offers than anything else in 635 00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:39,000 this world. And it proves, it proves that we 636 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,680 have understood the type of love God has given to us and received 637 00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:46,440 it. And then you can have great 638 00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:51,520 confidence in knowing that you are a son or daughter of God 639 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:54,440 Most High. We're going to take communion 640 00:42:54,440 --> 00:43:02,360 this morning and just say this as we begin to take it again. 641 00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:05,280 If you came in late and you don't have communion, just put 642 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:06,600 your hand up. We'll get some people at the 643 00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:10,840 back and they can get you one of these, but communions for those 644 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:12,640 who have made the decision to follow Jesus. 645 00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:15,960 So if you're not yet a follower of Jesus, you just kind of 646 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:17,400 listening and exploring this whole thing. 647 00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:19,480 This is not for you. This is for those of us who have 648 00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:22,440 said, I believe all of this stuff about what Jesus has done 649 00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:24,480 for me today. We're going to take this 650 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:29,680 together because we're going to remind ourselves of this 651 00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:35,000 incredible love that's been shown to us that is the source 652 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,080 and the power through the work of the Holy Spirit for us to be 653 00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:43,080 able to love even our enemies. See, communion is a reminder of 654 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:51,360 what Jesus has done, and it's a reminder for those of those who 655 00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:55,200 he did it for. If we weren't enemies, if we 656 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:58,240 weren't sinners, if we weren't those worthy of God's hate, who 657 00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:00,240 hated God. Jesus didn't have to go to the 658 00:44:00,240 --> 00:44:06,240 cross, but he suffered and he died. 659 00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:11,280 And he did it out of love for us. 660 00:44:12,240 --> 00:44:19,040 Those who were his enemies, who were his betrayers, who he 661 00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:23,120 didn't just come to a point of being OK with. 662 00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:29,720 He didn't just come to a point of letting it go, He came to a 663 00:44:29,720 --> 00:44:33,680 point of receiving us into His family as sons and daughters. 664 00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:41,680 That's how greatly He loved us. The bread reminds us of His 665 00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:44,720 body, offered for those of us who did not deserve it. 666 00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:50,000 The cup reminds us of His blood poured out for those of us who 667 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:51,920 at that point had never asked for it. 668 00:44:54,400 --> 00:45:01,160 Jesus loved you when you were unlovable and he still loves us 669 00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:04,560 today in those moments where we sometimes lapse back into being 670 00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:08,360 unlovable. And he still loves us today even 671 00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:10,720 though every one of us in this room have some stuff we need to 672 00:45:10,720 --> 00:45:13,040 work out about people that we're not loving well. 673 00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:19,000 So I want to give us a little bit of time here just to prepare 674 00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:21,880 and reflect together. I'm going to ask you just close 675 00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:23,240 your eyes, bow your head. I say this all the time. 676 00:45:23,240 --> 00:45:25,800 There's nothing special about this except that, you know, in a 677 00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:29,240 culture of distraction, this just helps us to remove the 678 00:45:29,240 --> 00:45:31,200 distractions, to hear from God a little better. 679 00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:38,440 I want you to ask yourself this. Is there someone today that I 680 00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:40,280 need to love who I haven't been loving? 681 00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:45,400 Is there someone I'd call my enemy? 682 00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:54,400 Someone I need to forgive, someone right now that I need to 683 00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:57,880 pray for them and stop resenting them and stop plotting my 684 00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:00,400 retaliation against them, but just to pray for them? 685 00:46:06,420 --> 00:46:09,260 Maybe there's someone that you've withheld mercy from. 686 00:46:11,180 --> 00:46:13,860 The God is calling you to love because He's never withheld his 687 00:46:13,860 --> 00:46:34,640 mercy from you. Father, thank you for loving us, 688 00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:42,960 unlovable us. Thank you for loving us to such 689 00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:47,360 an extent that while we cursed you, you blessed us. 690 00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:55,320 That when we insulted you, you turned towards us. 691 00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:01,360 We wanted nothing to do with you. 692 00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:04,080 You did everything to be with us. 693 00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:10,200 God help us to understand the depth of the love that we have 694 00:47:10,200 --> 00:47:14,360 received from you and how undeserved that love is. 695 00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:18,040 Because until we get that, until our hearts are convinced of that 696 00:47:18,040 --> 00:47:21,040 reality, we just don't have it in us to do what you're asking 697 00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:23,360 us to do today. So help us break our hearts. 698 00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:29,680 Show us our sins so we could see your love, so that we could love 699 00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:34,960 those who sin against us. Father, as we prepare to take 700 00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:41,160 this wafer, we thank you for your body, broken for us 701 00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:47,080 unlovely, unlovable sinners, broken so that you could crown 702 00:47:47,080 --> 00:47:51,240 us with Christ's glory, put his robe on us, and call us sons and 703 00:47:51,240 --> 00:47:53,480 daughters of the King. How unbelievable. 704 00:47:54,600 --> 00:48:00,440 Thank you church, let's take and eat God's body broken for us 705 00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:11,440 together. Father, we thank you for the cup 706 00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:18,520 represents the blood of Christ poured out for the forgiveness 707 00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:20,200 of sins. A new covenant, a new way that 708 00:48:20,200 --> 00:48:24,600 we get to relate to you. Not by our efforts and actions, 709 00:48:24,600 --> 00:48:28,440 Father, but it was because, well, we wanted nothing to do 710 00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:30,040 with you. You ran towards us. 711 00:48:30,040 --> 00:48:34,400 You initiated God for some of us. 712 00:48:34,400 --> 00:48:36,960 We're waiting for somebody else to initiate. 713 00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:40,920 God help us to be like You. We know there is brokenness in a 714 00:48:40,920 --> 00:48:44,800 relationship. Let us be the ones to initiate 715 00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:48,400 as far as it depends on us, as much as that we're able to do, 716 00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:50,000 and we can't do it on our own. It takes 2. 717 00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:53,560 We know that, Father, so we pray that you would soften hearts for 718 00:48:53,560 --> 00:48:56,560 those who we would maybe even call this afternoon or reach out 719 00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:58,960 to. But if you're prompting us to 720 00:48:58,960 --> 00:49:03,920 make the first step, remind us again, afresh and anew, that you 721 00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:06,240 have taken all the steps towards us. 722 00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:10,840 Forgiveness is possible because you've forgiven us through the 723 00:49:10,840 --> 00:49:13,160 blood of of your Son on the cross. 724 00:49:14,640 --> 00:49:21,880 Let's take and drink together. We're just going to take some 725 00:49:21,880 --> 00:49:24,160 time here at the end, a little bit longer than usual. 726 00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:28,320 I want us to respond in heartfelt praise and worship to 727 00:49:28,320 --> 00:49:31,960 all that Christ has done for us on the cross.