2024-05-12 To be perfect…

Well, we are finishing our series, / / Misunderstood, this morning where we’ve been talking about the law and how Jesus was correcting how people saw it, and how they understood it. If you remember the first week we looked at Jesus saying in Matthew 5:17, / / “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.”

Do you remember what the purpose of the law was? I am proposing that the law’s purpose was to lead people to life. But it doesn’t always do that in a straightforward way, or, let’s say it this way, sometimes, it’s so difficult to uphold, what’s the point of even trying. Augustine, and I’ve quoted him a few times lately, haven’t I? He said, / / “The law orders, [so] that we, after attempting to do what is ordered, and so feeling our weakness under the law, may learn to implore the help of grace.”

There’s a Christian understanding that the Old Testament Scriptures points to Jesus. This is a core belief of Christianity. But it’s not always clear like, “See, this is talking about Jesus.” Sometimes it is pointing, as Augustine says, to our own weakness and inability to follow the perfect law of God that leads to life, so we must wait for the one who will perfect, or complete the law, who will also complete the purpose of the law in us.

Jesus came to fulfill the purpose of the law. The law’s purpose isn’t to show us how weak we are, that just happens to be what it does because we can’t uphold it. It’s a bi-product.

David, the most praised King of Israel, whom scripture says was a man after God’s own heart, writes about the law of God in Psalm 19. And we know that David didn’t do a great job at keeping the law all the time, did he? His story is full of failure. But he says this in Psalm 19:7-11:

/ / The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

/ / the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

/ / the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

/ / More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

/ / Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

So, David says it a few different ways here.

The law of the Lord is perfect.

the precepts of the Lord are right, precepts is just another word for law, or mandate.

the commandment of the Lord is pure. Another word for law.

The rules of the Lord are true, another word for law.

Do you see what he’s done here. Basically said the same thing 4 or 5 different ways here to make his point. The law is good.

The law leads to life. It revives the soul, makes us wise, gives us reason to rejoice, enlightens us, makes us righteous, so he ends with, desire these things more than gold, more than honey, because they produce what God wants for your life.

But, as I said, the opposite is true. Paul would say in Romans 7:7, / / …it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”

I wrote my final paper for one of my classes this past week and in it I was talking about where we get our moral and ethical understanding. And if we don’t get it from Scripture, and if we don’t get it from God, then where and who do we get it from? That’s actually a major problem in the world today, that people think that within themselves they will find good and right, so they simply live by what they think is good and right, which is not always good or right. Because it often times simply comes from what FEELS good, and then we call what feels good, right.

That’s just not the case. Yes, there is a joy that doing what is right produces. That’s one of the things that David says, the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. But, how many know that doing the right thing isn’t always easy, enjoyable or fun? In fact, sometimes doing the right thing is incredibly difficult. It means sacrificing what our earthy desires want so we can do what God wants. But if you don’t get your moral and ethical guidelines from God and Scripture, then you may end up far off track.

So, Paul says that he wouldn’t have even known what was wrong without the law. That’s a common thing with rules, some tell us what we should not do, while others tell us what we should do. You’ll find that in scripture as well. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon encourages to enjoy the wife of your youth, but also, to steer clear of the promiscuous woman. Both the same thing, directing us toward healthy marriages, just both sides of it. And I said this last week, you do not overcome sin simply by trying to NOT do what you aren’t supposed to do. You have to focus on following Jesus, doing what He said we should do, and as we do that, we will be less inclined to do what Scriptures says we should not do.

If you live your life simply trying to NOT do wrong, it gets pretty difficult. And it’s not fun, just always trying to avoid doing what is wrong. But if you live your life doing what is right, and making that your mission, learning about what is right to do so that you can do it. Over time, especially, it becomes easier.

So, the law directs toward life, Deuteronomy 30:19, / / Oh that you would choose life.

The law also shows us what is wrong, Romans 7:7, / / I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “you must not covet.”

The law reveals how imperfect and weak we are, Paul actually says in Romans 3:20, / / For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

And Scripture says we’re all incapable of following it. Romans 3:23, / / For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

So, think of it this way. God is saying, “I’m going to show you what it takes to live a perfect life, which in your own human strength will show you that you can’t live that life, but I am a gracious and loving God who is going to show grace and make you perfect, not by your adherence to the law, but by the obedience of Jesus Christ and his life, death and resurrection.”

So the law:

/ / shows you what is right and wrong and what you must do to be perfect,

/ / shows you that you aren’t perfect and can’t do it,

/ / and leads you to the One who makes you perfect as a free gift of grace.

That’s what Jesus came to fulfill. What the law could not do, BECAUSE we can’t adhere to the law in perfection, Jesus came to complete the purpose of the law by living a perfect life unto death, so by the power of the Holy Spirit through his resurrection he might lead us all to new life, perfect life, eternal life.

But, as we’ve see over the last few weeks, that doesn’t mean we just take what the law says and throw it out.

So, Jesus brings some correction, or sets things straight in regards to how the law had been interpreted, because he also said that not a single tiny bit of the law will pass away until it’s fully complete.

Which brings us up to today, the last section of scripture in this series Matthew 5:43-48.

/ / “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

And that brings us to the end of chapter 5.

Now, If you’re bible has the section titles in there, maybe yours is like mine, it says, / / “Teaching about Love for Enemies”.

And although that is true, it just does not do this section of scripture justice. Jesus is saying a whole lot more than just ‘love your enemies.’

But, he does say that, doesn’t he? word for word, “Love your enemies!”. So, we should at least start there.

/ / 1. Hate Your Enemy?

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.”

Now, if you don’t look closely, or if you don’t actually go back to see what law Jesus is talking about, you’ll walk away thinking that there’s actually a law, given by God that says, “hate your enemies.” Because that’s what it says, right? If you just read it for what it is, that’s what it’s saying. This is why we need to not just read scripture, but study scripture, because this could end up being a bit confusing.

First, the law that Jesus is referring to is, Leviticus 19:18, which says, / / “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

I think we looked at this verse during the week we looked at anger and revenge. And if you know the New Testament, you know this isn’t the only time this law gets brought up.

In Matthew 19:19, Jesus quotes this law to the rich young ruler when he asks what he must do to be saved. Jesus says, “Keep the commandments.” And he asks him, “which ones?” Jesus says, / / “You must not murder. You just not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

But in Matthew 22:34-40, The Pharisees come to Jesus and ask him what the most important commandment of Moses is. And Jesus replies with two commandments, but tells them that they are of the same value.

/ / “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

And you may have noticed before that in Mark’s version of this account he adds, “And all your strength” - / / “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”

But what’s important here is that Jesus says that this second part, “Love your neighbor as yourself” is equally as important. Or in some translations it says, “And another is like this…”.

To be like something is to be the same as or equal to.

But, I don’t know if you noticed, there’s no mention of hating your enemies, is there?

And I confess, I am no Greek scholar, so I don’t know what to look for in that writing, but in the english translation of this scripture only the “love your neighbor” is in quotations. Meaning, This is the part that is being referenced, and then Jesus adds “and hate your enemy.”

So, why isn’t there an uproar? Why aren’t at least the pharisees who know the law inside and out jumping up and saying, “Rabbi, that’s wrong!”

Is it possible that the people actually know what Jesus is kind of talking about when he says that?

It call comes down to what that word, “hate” means. So, to hate something is to feel an intense or passionate dislike for something or someone. As our kids are growing up and they start throwing around the word hate, what do we say, or at least I said to Kaylee, “Well, hate is a pretty strong word, maybe you just don’t like it too much.” Hate is a strong word.

But, if you read into it, in the New Testament, hating is often used to contrast loving.

Hebrews 1:9, / / You love justice and hate evil.

1 John 2:10-11, / / Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light…But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness.

John 12:25 (ESV), / / Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

It’s a contrast word. But here’s where it begins to make sense in respect to what Jesus is saying, and why this is a correction for the Jewish people listening. Remember, he’s started this conversation with, “Don’t misunderstand why I came. I didn’t come to abolish the law…” So there’s something about the law here that he’s come to accomplish and perfect, to bring a new light to.

One of my theological workbooks says, this word hate, generally implies separating oneself from that which is hated either by physical separation or cessation of actions, thoughts, or ideas.

So, let’s reframe what Jesus is saying in a way that the people listening would have understood him to be saying:

/ / “You have heard it said, ‘Love your fellow Israelite’, but separate yourselves from those you are opposed to.”

Now that. That is VERY Old Testament.

The enemy, those who you are opposed to, those who surround you and would take your land from you if given the chance, stay completely separate from them.

When God tells Israel to take the promised land he tells them to drive out every single person from the land, don’t leave anyone left, for one simple reason - if you do, they’ll turn your hearts toward their gods, and to how they live, and it will be contrary to how God has told Israel to live, which will not produce life.

The world was messy. The surrounding nations to Israel were caught in these cult religions where they were sacrificing their children to their “gods”, where their temples were places of cult prostitution. And if you read the books of 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles, you see over and over again this line, “And King (so-and-so) did not do as his fathers had done, but instead did evil in the sight of the Lord.” And then describes how they let the people and religions of the world around them corrupt them into serving other ‘gods’.

So, it was better to just completely separate.

Deuteronomy 7:3-4 specifically says you are not to marry anyone from another nation either.

God was serious about this. So, for Jesus to say this, he’s tying all of that in. All the times God said - and remember, Jesus is God, so he knows what he said, right? He’s the very Word of God… so all the times he said, “separate yourselves,” “don’t follow other religions,” “don’t marry from other nations,” “don’t let how they live corrupt you and draw you away from me.”..all of that is wrapped up in “and hate your enemies.” I think that is what he’s saying.

You have heard it said, Love your neighbor, that’s the law, and to protect you and keep you following the law, you were also told to separate yourselves from the world around you, from those opposed to you, or opposed to your God, and your way of living.

I think some people would like to live that way still. Get our own little piece of land, or island, or something, live only with people that think like us, worship like us, act like us. But this is actually what Jesus is fixing.

/ / 2. Set the Record Straight: God Created All

The thing Jesus is correcting is a bit like he opened this conversation we call the Sermon on the Mount. It’s where we actually started this year, back in January, in Matthew 5:13-16 when Jesus says, / / “You are the salt of the earth…” “You are the light of the world…”

That’s what God intended. When you read the whole of the Old Testament and the New Testament together, you see that God intended to bless the world THROUGH Israel. And that hate, or separation as we now understand it, was so that Israel was not corrupted, which would forfeit their ability to bless the nations.

If Israel decides to follow the gods of the nations around them, then they are not living in the blessing of God and won’t be able to be a blessing to the nations around them.

God intended for Israel to be a blessing, but they couldn’t keep it together to a point where they are completely exiled from their nation and dispersed all over the region. So when Jesus is born, which, as we covered over Christmas, was at the perfect moment, the fullness of time, as Galatians 4:4 says, Israel is not a nation. The region is occupied by Rome, overflowing with Roman soldiers and Gentiles.

But what’s the plan? You could even say, “what was the purpose of the law?” That the nations would be blessed through the people of God by living their lives to the glory of God.

So reading again what Jesus said, / / “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbors’, but hate your enemies. But I say, Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that mush. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.”

What Jesus is doing here is setting the record straight. “You were intended to bless the people around you. You failed at that. Now I am here to completely fulfill the law and the prophets so that all of humanity will be blessed through ME.”

This is a major shift for Jewish people. Since the beginning they have been God’s chosen people. Right? They’ve been the ones God intended to carry out the blessing of God in the earth for all mankind. But ultimately, it’s through the lineage of Israel, the seed of Abraham, the ancestor of King David, who is Jesus Christ, that all the world will be blessed.

That’s a hard thing to give up, being the people of God. Maybe there’s a bit of a dual purpose in Jesus using the word “hate”. Being occupied by Rome has taken it’s toll on the people. They are not happy with their situation. You could easily say, not only did the people of Israel see themselves as separated from the rest of the world in that they are God’s chosen people, but they’ve actually come to hate the others as well. Look at the enmity with Rome, with the Samaritans, even within their own factions of Pharisees and Sadducees, religious leaders, scribes. They are all bickering and quarreling.

At least they know they are God’s chosen…And then Jesus says, “Not just you…but them…”

Them who???? Who are you talking about???

Them You said we should stay clear from?

Them you said we should distance ourselves, have no contact with, them that are unclean…THEM??!?!?!

“Yes, them!”

But, why?

Because, don’t you realize I created them too?

Last week I briefly mentioned what we call the / / Doctrine of Creation - that God created all things out of nothing and as Genesis says after each of God’s creative moments, “It is good.” God’s creation is good. Including humanity, of which he said it was “very good”. Sin and its corruption of humanity does not change the fact that humanity, as a creation of God, is very good.

Now, don’t get that confused with action. I am not saying we are all basically good in action or reaction. I am saying, as a creation of God, you are good. As a creation of God, every human being, no matter how far from God they are at this moment, is God’s good creation. They may not be acting good, but God did not decide to make evil people. God made man and woman and said, “It is very good.”

But we also have what is called the / / Doctrine of Providence. Providence is God’s work in the world. And it is three-fold.

The word / / Providence essentially means, God at work to accomplish God’s goal for God’s good creation.

Galatians 4:4-5 is a perfect example of God working to bring his purposes for humanity to completion. / / At the fullness of time, God sent his Son…to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

God is all about completing HIS goals. And this is not saying God is in control by taking control, this is saying God is in control by working his purpose and narrative to the end.

So, the doctrine of / / providence is that God not only worked to create all, but he also preserves, conserves, and governs that creation.

What’s that mean?

Daniel Migliore says these three things:

Of / / preservation - The steadfast love of God the creator is providentially at work in preserving and caring for the creation but also in rejecting evil and setting under judgment all that jeopardizes life and its fulfillment.

Meaning simply - God preserves and CARES for the world God has created.

Of / / conservation - The steadfast love of God the redeemer is providentially at work both in the heights and in the depths of creaturely experience, both when the creature is strong and flourishing and when it is weak and suffering.

Simply put - God is WITH us at all times, through our good times and times of suffering.

And of governance - The steadfast love of God the consummator is providentially at work everywhere, preparing for the coming reign of God, planting seeds of hope, renewing and transforming all things.

This is speaking to the destiny of creation and the promise God has given to it from it’s very foundation - that the Spirit of God will renew and transform all things, that death and the grave will be defeated, and that new life will be experienced. It’s kind of a weird word for it, but if you know what it means to consummate a marriage, that’s when the marriage is deemed official. And at the end of time, or when Christ returns, we become what? His bride. It is made official, we are brought into the Kingdom of God for all eternity as His bride…officially. That is the goal God is working toward for humanity.

What I want you to see here, and what I think Jesus is saying here in these verses about loving vs. hating, is that / / God is responsible for all creation, and as such, God is invested in all creation, and because God is invested in all creation, we too must be lovers of all creation.

And I think we need to hear this more than the people in front of Jesus needed to hear it.

God gives the sunlight to both evil and good.

God sends the rain on both the evil and good.

If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that?

If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?

/ / We do not get to decide to only love those on our side of life. Whether that is religion, politics, social beliefs, war, race… That’s not how this works. Jesus is challenging a deeply rooted systemic inclusivity of the Jewish culture.

I’m not using systemic as a catchy trendy current word, it means what relates to or affects an entire system. And so let’s just boil down our systems.

Jesus is talking to his people, the Jews, who needed to see that things were changing. Through Jesus the fulfillment of the law was taking place and all of humanity would be welcomed into the family of God. They had to get rid of their biases or they would never be able to handle it. You can’t live like God’s separated chosen people anymore because ALL of God’s good creation of humanity is chosen.

And I’m not saying that God doesn’t have a soft spot for the people of Israel. I think scripturally there is plenty said on that. But what I do know is what Jesus is saying here is that there is no separation of Jew and Gentile anymore.

God as Creator preserves and cares for all the world that God has created.

God as Redeemer is with all mankind through highs and lows.

God as Consummator is bringing all of creation, including humanity for those who believe in Him, to His desired end of redemption and new life in Christ, who will reign in a new Kingdom, and will be ambassadors to that kingdom in the here and now.

So for us today, what does that mean?

It means we have to leave our hate, I know, strong word, so let’s just bring it down to those we will keep a distance to, or separate ourselves from…we have to leave that at the door. It has to die. We are one people.

So, no more us vs. them. Do they have an agenda? They might. And that agenda might even be to separate. What’s our agenda? That through the Love of God all humanity might come to Christ. Every other agenda pails in comparison.

So, where their agenda might be to divide, we are meant to bring together.

No more us vs. them in politics. Love your party, hate the others. It doesn’t work like that. I’m not saying don’t be political or don’t advocate for our local, state or federal politics. Politics are important because they are part of our world that we live in. So don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. Everyone one of us should be first at the polls ready to cast our vote based on the wisdom and understanding God gives us regarding the true matters at hand. And if you feel in any way to be involved in politics, then you should follow Jesus to where he takes you. BUT, we must leave the mentality of separation behind. Because God loves the person across the aisle just as much as he loves you. That person is a part of God’s good creation. Are they acting good? Maybe not, but are they created good because God is the one who created them and said, “It is very good.”? Yes!

We have to recognize that they are God’s good creation even if they think differently than us. Them, as a creature, as a created being, were created by God, and God only creates good things.

No more us vs. them in race or culture or ethnicity. It has to die. I’m so tired of it. And that means in lower and higher. We can’t solve a problem by demeaning one side so that the other side feels uplifted. That’s not actually helpful. What we need are people who are willing to recognize they haven’t always done it right, and to commit to looking at, celebrating and loving each person for the God created gift that they are. God only creates good.

No more us vs. them in social issues. And this is a tricky one because often times it is people who are actually advocating for things that we view as sin. Listen to me carefully. You do not need to compromise or give up your moral belief and understanding of scripture to love someone. You don’t. You also don’t need to get involved with every person or every situation. Feel free to live really well in your little corner of the world. And by that I don’t mean go hide, I mean, You don’t need to go out looking for difficult people to love. But, in the home, in the grocery store, in the church, in your workplace, when you are with people, begin to see them like Jesus sees them, as his good creation. Corrupted by sin? Maybe. Most likely. In fact, we all are, right? And some of us are just corrupted in certain areas, different ways. And some of us have had the grace of God at work in us for a little longer. Doesn’t make us better, just means we’ve been fortunate enough to experience God in a particular way. And our desire should be that God shines his grace on them and the Holy Spirit works in them for true transformation to the Glory of Jesus Christ.

If God gives sunlight & rain on both the evil and good. That shows / / God is at work in this earth for the betterment and preservation of all mankind.

If we only love those who love us, or are only kind to our friends, there’s no benefit. That shows / / we are meant to begin to let the Holy Spirit tear down any barrier and wall that has been built up - maybe to no fault of our own, but it’s there.

/ / 3. Do Your Best

The last thing Jesus says is, “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Well, I don’t know you feel about that, but that sounds impossible to me.

Which is why I’m glad Jesus didn’t stop at “You are to be perfect.” But added, “…even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

The word perfect, or the Greek word teleios means to describe something as complete, mature or perfection, like the perfection of God.

God is perfect, right? So, Jesus is saying, Just as God is perfect in this matter, of loving and treating all humanity the same, so should you be. That’s the goal he’s setting before us. God treats everyone the same. Yes, I know, you have enjoyed being God’s chosen people. But I am opening a really wide door for all of humanity to accept me and become family. It’s how I always intended it, but seeing as though you couldn’t fulfill it, I’m here to do that.

And so we have to go back a few verses and see how Jesus thinks this might be possible. This is the “But I say…” part. Ok, so Jesus had said, you’ve heard to love your neighbors, hate your enemies…

Matthew 5:44-45, / / “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.”

Jesus gives two simple instructions here.

/ / Love your enemies.

Pray for those who persecute you.

If you can do that, you’ll be acting as true children of God.

There’s two things here. First, Love your enemies. / / Who are your enemies? Well, Jesus just defined that by using the word hate, didn’t he? Anyone you see as other. In the same way that Israel was told to stick to themselves because the surrounding world would corrupt them if given the chance, what do most Christians believe? We need to be separated from the sinners… Most churches are havens for Christians not hospitals for sinners. Who is other? Who do you see as opposed to you and what you believe? Start there, humble yourself, repent, and ask Holy Spirit to change your heart and mind toward them.

And this doesn’t make them right, or you wrong, or you right and them wrong. This isn’t about who is right or wrong, this is about seeing people as God’s good creation. If you can’t see someone else as God’s good creation, you will continue to hate them when you are meant to love them. I’m not saying this is easy. Jesus is saying this to Jewish people who are in a current occupation by a ruthless Roman empire. That’s real problems. Most of ours are just #firstworldproblems.

Then he says, / / Pray for those who persecute you. My bible dictionary defines this as an organized program of persecution.

We can’t allow ourselves to be blind to what’s going on in this world. And it does not start with people, we know that. Scripture says clearly that our fight is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, evil forces. If creation is good, then what we are fighting against is the evil that has corrupted God’s good creation, not the creation itself. And evil has had it’s way in this world for a long time and these days are no different.

The gender issues, political issues, social issues, war, religious pushback and persecution. We can’t close our eyes to these things, but also, we can’t fight them in our own strength, because that just puts people against people and we’ve just seen that’s not where our efforts are meant to be put.

What good is it to love only the people who love you, or be kind to only your friends. Jesus is challenging us, “How are you any different from anyone else who does that?”

And what might be the most important and crucial item here is that Jesus is saying, / / “PRAY for those who persecute you. Love those who are opposed to you.”

This works through us a spiritual AND physical representation of Jesus to the world around us.

Be the ambassador you were meant to be. Ambassadors make frequent calls to their home country…. PRAY. We don’t pray enough. We need to start there.

So, in closing this morning. Three things I want you to pray for:

/ / FIRST - Pray for you. Pray that God changes YOUR heart. Pray that the Holy Spirit would transform you. Pray that you have the courage and fortitude to follow Jesus with your whole life, loving God in heart, soul, mind and strength.

/ / SECOND - Pray for those who persecute you. Don’t just pray that they change, or go away. Pray for an openness to the things of God. Pray for their salvation. Pray for God’s good grace to meet them. If God gave you the grace and time to choose, then pray that for others. Don’t use prayer as a means to get your way, but as an opportunity to advocate for someone else.

That is why we need to see people as God sees people. As the good creation he made. When we recognize that it helps us pray for them knowing God loves them just as much and in the same ways as He loves us.

/ / THIRD - Pray for opportunity. This is where the prayer meets the loving. Love is fully expressed through action. If we are to love like Jesus loves, there’s a whole lot of laying down of our own desires to meet the needs of others. I don’t pretend to fully know how to do that all the time, but I know Jesus shows us through these simple yet deeply profound teachings that we’re going through in the Sermon on the Mount. Don’t just listen to these things, ask God to help you adhere to the way of Kingdom Living that Jesus is describing.

You don’t have to go out and be all super spiritual about these things. “Let me wash your feet.” or whatever. “Let me apologize for all the hurt you’ve received at the hands of the church.” … just be kind to people, be open to opportunity to love people as Jesus leads you. Develop your prayer life and your listening life, to hear the Holy Spirit lead you.

If Jesus is saying these are the things that make us true children of God then we need to also listen to Paul who said:

Romans 8:14, / / For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Which is a great segue because next week we are going to be celebrating Pentecost Sunday, the day that the Holy Spirit broke through on the early church and filled the apostles with power.

If you can remember these three things from this morning.

/ / God did not intend for us to hate our enemies, or those who are different or opposed to us.

/ / God created all, equally, thoughtfully, wonderfully.

/ / Do your best to be like your Heavenly Father, pray for and love those around you - especially those who are difficult.

Let’s pray this morning.