Distinguishing Love

Introduction

Good morning please open in your Bibles to Luke 6:27-36 that is Luke 6:27-36. If you are using a Bible scattered throughout the chairs that is on page 809. That is page 809 Luke 6:27-36.

Clarity is often found through contrast. For example in order to clearly explain what it means to be a Midwesterner you might contrast Midwest culture from the coasts. When you explain our cultural niceties you might explain that we wave to strangers, and argue over who goes first. Where as a New Yorker might would bump a stranger to get on a subway, and maybe give them a grunt and a raised eyebrow. We wear ball caps and carharts rather than swimwear and flip flops. We have fish frys instead of shrimp boils, and eat hamburgers over po’ boys. We say things like yous and youins, but we don’t say ya’ll. You can describe Midwestern culture by contrasting it from other American regional customs, sayings, and food. You get a clearer picture of the Midwest through contrast. And as you get this clear picture you can distinguish a Midwesterner from other Americans.

Jesus in his teaching on the Sermon on the Plain is teaching his disciples what it means to be his followers. What it means to be Jesus people, to be Christians. For those of us who follow Christ we must accept that we are different from those who do not follow him. We might not shed our midwestern flavor, but our lives should be distinguished from the lives of those who do not follow Jesus, even our fellow Midwesterners. This teaching might be one the most distinct aspects of what it means to be a Christian. You see Christians love in a way that is different from the world. Christian love is not contingent upon the person they love, it is not reactionary to the actions of others, it does not demand anything in return. Christians love their enemies, they do not retaliate, and they love free from expectations. This love will distinguish us from the rest of the world. Let’s read Luke 6:27-36

Love Your Enemies v. 27-28

Luke 6:27–28 ““But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”

Jesus again directs his words to those who are his disciples, those who hear his voice. Hearing Jesus isn’t just the physical act of hearing, but hearing with an intent to obey Him. And he gives these commands to love , do good, bless, and pray for those who treat you poorly. He gives four commands and directs each of them to those who treat Christians badly. We love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who abuse us. We don’t just refuse to not retaliate, but rather we seek to do our enemies good. Love is not just a feeling or a state of mind, but it is an action. We love our enemies by doing them good.

We are to look at those who hate us and ask, how can I do them good? Those who curse us, we bless with our words. We use our words to build up and not tear down, we do not curse even those who curse us. And we pray for those who abuse us. Those who mistreat you, who take advantage of you, those who are you abusers are to be prayed for.

This is outrageous, it might even seem unjust. How is it fair to do good to those who are doing bad to us? Who gives this kind of advice and what should we obey it? Won’t we just become a door mat for other people to walk all over, won’t those our rights and freedoms, won’t we be disrespected if we allow this kind of mistreatment to continue? Why would Jesus tell his followers to do good to those who hate them? Why bless those who curse them? Why pray for those who abuse them?

Because it is what Christians do? Because it is what Christ did, when he died for sinners. And because you actually believe that God sent his son to die for sinners, that he rose again, and that one day he is coming back to judge the living and the dead. Because you actually believe that God will one day set all things right, and He is the judge, which means you are not. Only if you believe these 5 things about the world, 1) that God is in control, 2) that the Son became a man 3) He died for sinners 4) redemption is possible for all, and 5) that He is coming back to judge the world. If you don’t believe these five things, then this is terrible advice. Don’t let people mistreat you. Hate your enemies, repay evil for evil, return curse for curse, and don’t ever pray for your abuser.

But if you do believe these things are true. If you are a Christian then that changes everything. You see, in believing the Gospel, those 5 things, you see the world differently. You love your enemies because you know you were once an enemy of God and he loved you in sending His son. You do good for those who hate you because God did good for you when he died for you while you were still in your sins. You bless those who curse you, because Jesus blesses us, even if we curse him. We pray for our abusers, because we believe that God can redeem and save them.

This is a distinctly Christian teaching, because it only makes sense if the core teachings of Christianity are true. First century Christians heard this teaching and they believed it. It became a part of them. While the events recorded in Luke took place around 30 AD they were not written down until around 60 AD at the earliest. In fact, many of the epistles were written before the Gospel accounts were written down. Yet, these teachings of Jesus are found all over the writings of these Christians.

For example the book of Romans was written between 56-57 AD. We read this in Romans 12:17–21 “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

It isn’t a word for word quote, but it is a fleshed out explanation of the sermon on the plain. Do good for those who hate you by feeding them and giving them drink. Don’t seek revenge is very similar to turn the other cheek. Paul writes these words even though he was not present for this sermon. How? How does he know that this is what Jesus taught? Because when Paul became a Christian in Acts 9, after being a persecutor of Christians, he is sent to a man named Ananias who is a Christians. And he spent time with the disciples in Damascus. And after coming to faith in Christ and spending time with these Christians he radically changes. The man who once set out to beat and imprison men and women he consider enemies and now telling others to do good and feed those who hate them.

What changed? Paul became a Christian. Christians are distinguished from the world by their love. Christians love their enemies. Now, loving your enemies doesn’t make you Christian, but rather it is the result of being a Christian. When you come to Jesus something supernatural happens. The Holy Spirit dwells within you and empowers you do things you could never do on your own. He empowers us to love our enemies and do them good. We can bless them and pray for them because we know that redemption is possible. Even for our enemies. We know that if they don’t repent that one day God will rightly judge their wickedness.

T/S- This is why we can turn the other cheek and not repay evil for evil. This is why we don’t retaliate even when mistreated.

Love Does Not Retaliate v. 29-31

Luke 6:29–31 “To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.”

Jesus uses hyperbole to make a really clear point. Hyperbole is to purposefully use an exaggeration to make a point. We all do this from to time. In our house we say things like Milo is the cutest baby ever! Even in front of our other children. My older kids don’t cry and say, does that mean he is cuter than I was! No, even they understand hyperbole and then say, yeah Milo is so cute!

Jesus is not saying that you can’t cover your face when being beaten, refuse to call the cops when someone steals from you, or that you must give cash to every begger on the street. Rather, he is making clear that we are not to personally retaliate with violence or ill will, even when being mistreated. Even when someone does us harm, we are not to seek their harm and pain. And he uses these exaggerations with force.

The statement to strike on the cheek conveys the idea of being punched in the jaw. Not just open hand slapped on the cheek. The illustration about clothing refers to a thief taking your outer garment, leaving you with nothing but your inner tunic. If you do not withold this inner garment you would end up naked, embarrassed, exposed.

We are to look to give away our money rather than look for ways to hord it. We don’t go seeking retribution from the one who does us harm. We don’t spend our time and energy thinking of ways to stick it to them. These hyperbolic statements are summarized by verse 31. Luke 6:31 “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.”

When we encounter this text, I think we all start ask questions about the technicality of self-defense, the injustice of theft, we work through hypothetical scenerios that are rarely realistic about masked gunman entering the house and Dad morphing into batman to save the family. Instead of asking when can I use force to defend myself, we need to look at verse 31. We should ask, “how do I wish others would treat me? And do that.” If I were sinful and did not something terrible like strike an innocent person or steal from them, what would I want them to do for me. If I were poor and hungry what would I hope someone would do for me. That’s the answer.

Jesus is dealing with realistic situations. Situations in which people in power, real power, are going to severely mistreat him and then his disciples. They won’t have a realistic option of self-defense, the courts will be rigged against him, and for Jesus this statements will be literal.

Jesus will be struck on the face, Jesus will be stripped naked, Jesus will have a criminal beg to be taken to paradise, and his earthly goods will be gambled over. Jesus doesn’t rise from the dead and say, “Hey, which one of those soldiers took my cloak? Let me at that those men who spit on me and hit me in the face!” Instead, he offers forgiveness. He loves them freely with no expectations. He loves them because it is right. And in Christ we to are free to love with no expectations.

Love Free from Expectations v. 32-36

Luke 6:32–36 ““If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Jesus begins by asking rhetorical questions about loving those who love in return, doing good to those who do good to you, and lending to those who will pay you back. He asks, each time what benefit is that to you? Now, the answer is interesting because it actually is a benefit to love those who love you in return. Their returned love is the benefit. Doing good to those who do good to you is beneficial, because they do good to you. Lending and knowing you will be paid back is a great benefit. But that is not what Jesus is getting at. You see at face value it is beneficial to love, to do good, and to lend to those who will love you, do good to you, and return your money. Their love, good deeds, and returned cash are all benefits.

But that is not the benefit that Jesus is trying to get us to desire. He explains that even sinners love those who love them, even sinners do good to those who do good to them, even sinners lend to those who they know will pay them back. This is all conditional or transactional love. You love me and I will love you. And I think we can all see the allure of loving this way. It is tempting to say, I will love those who love me, I will do good to those who do good to me, I’ll lend you so long as you prove that you can pay me back. It you hold up your end of the transaction, I will uphold mine. This seems fair right?

Yet, Jesus calls us to a different kind of love that comes with a different benefit. Jesus claims that there is a benefit from loving, doing good, and lending to those who cannot return the favor. Blessing those who cannot or will not bless you in return brings is beneficial according to Jesus. When you love, do good, and lend to those who cannot or will not return your goodness then your reward will be great. Jesus is telling us to love and expect nothing in return. Our love isn’t to be transactional, but rather we love freely. Our love is not to be conditional, but rather unconditional.

If you can love without expectation of return then that means you can love your enemies. We don’t expect our enemies to love us, but they also don’t expect us to love them. We are to disrupt the expectations of our enemies by loving them. We are to do good to those who seek to do us harm. We are to lend to those who can’t pay us back. And if we do this, it is then that our reward will be great.

Why? Because our reward is not in material possessions or in the love of others. Our reward is being sons of the Most High. A love the disrupts the expectations of worldly system is a love from another world entirely. It is a love from a different kingdom than the kingdom of darkness that has its hold on this world. The love that comes from our heavenly Father is unconditional love. The love of God is free. It doesn’t come with strings attached, in fact it even goes beyond loving neutral parties. The love of God extends even to His enemies. Sinners like you and me, and sinners like those who seek to do us harm. The love of God is so effective that it changes the objects of His love. Those who were once enemies of God become sons of God.

Why would God do this? Why does God love his enemies, because He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. He is merciful and therefore we are to be merciful. If you are a Christian than you believe this. You have to believe this. Because you know that you were once an enemy of God. Romans 5:6–11 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 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. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

You were once an enemy of God, but you have be reconciled, that is peace has been made between you and God, through the death of his Son. You were saved from the wrath of God because Jesus died for you, while you were still a sinner. He loved you, though you hated him, he did good for you, though you who rebelled against him, and he bought you with his blood, and you will never be able to pay him back. So, when we are hated, harmed, and encounter those in need who can’t pay us back what are we to do.

We are to be kind to the ungrateful and evil. We are to be merciful as our Father is merciful. We are disrupt the expectations of our enemies by repaying their evil with kindness. We are not overcome by evil, but rather we overcome evil with good. In so doing we prove that we are sons of the Most High. We distinguish ourselves from the world and we show that we are the ones who have a merciful heavenly Father.

Conclusion

Some of us have a boss who is unreasonable and demanding. Some have a literal neighbor who is a terror to your neighborhood. Some of you have an ungrateful teenager or child, Some of you live with your enemy, you married them. And maybe there are times when you think I’m done. Today I quit my job, Today we list the house, today I smack the smart mouth, today I call the divorce lawyer. If they don’t show me some love, respect, some affection, if they don’t hold up their end of the deal… If they do one more hateful thing, if they curse me or say another mean thing, if they abuse me one more time, … then I am getting my retribution.

Beloved, you can’t. Because its all true. God is control, He sent the Son, He died for sin, Redemption is possible, and He is coming again to judge the living and the dead. These trials from bosses to spouses and every other kind of evil in between are all opportunities. Opportunities for you to bring clarity through contrast. The world expects to react a certain way, your enemies expect you to react a certain way. Disrupt their expectations by loving your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse. You reward will be great! You are sons and daughters of the Most High! You can be kind to the ungrateful and evil. Let’s be merciful as our Father is merciful. Let’s pray.