The Extra Mile

Matthew 5:38–48 ““You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Intro

Recap

We are going through the sermon on the mount.

The two themes that Jesus focuses on is upside down thinking and raising the bar.

This week, we are looking at a passage where these two lines of thinking merge together.

Jesus wants us to go the extra mile.

What does the extra mile mean?

God is calling us to a lifestyle, not a list of dos and don’ts.

1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

We try to make being a Christian shrink down to I need to do this, this, and not this.

Why? Because it is easier.

Jesus cares about the heart.

Going the extra mile means that we don’t shoot for the least amount of what we can do.

Look at what he says again.

Living for Jesus doesn’t mean doing the bare minimum, it means going the extra mile.

One of my favorite passages about this is in Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:5–6 “Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,”

Even when no one else is watching, we are suppose to go the extra mile.

Jesus wants us to be like Him, and it starts with love

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

We can’t be God, so how are we suppose to be like Him?

We are suppose to love

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

All throughout the Bible, a Christian is characterized by love.

John 13:34–35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

In this passage, Jesus specifically states that we are to love our enemies.

Anyone can love their friends, although sometimes that is hard. But the marks of a Christian is loving your enemies.

People even now days bring up “An eye for an eye”, because we want to retaliate. But Jesus says we need to respond with love.

We can love our enemies because Jesus loved us while we were enemies.

Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

Are you like Jesus? Do you go the extra mile and love others?

Questions:

What does it look like to go the extra mile?

How do we love our enemies?

Who has God called you to love like He loves?