Revenge
Notes
Transcript
My friends say I’m the cheapest person they know, but I’m not buying it.
My doctor told me he thinks I have a bacon addiction, thankfully he thinks I can be cured.
We are in this series, the Summer on the Mount, and we have been taking some time looking at what people believe are some of Jesus’ most famous sermons. It is probably the most well-know of all of Jesus teaching, but it is also probably the hardest for us to obey. We had to deal last week we Jesus talking about oaths, and marriage, and how different that looks from what we expect living in this world. Two weeks ago Jesus talked about the law and what it means for us living a kingdom life in today’s world. We saw Jesus didn’t come to put the law to death, if anything he upped the ante, made what we saw in the law harder, because it wasnt just bout our actions, but our heart.This morning will be no different; today, Jesus will be throwing us in to the deep end of the pool and seeing if we can swim in some of the hardest teachings we may hear.
Jesus will say some crazy things that kind of counter the way our heart would normally react; he will go against us defending ourselves. Normally, if someone were to hit us or make fun of us, our normal reaction would be to stand up and react and say, “No way this is going to happen,” and then give them a zinger back, but we would have to go a little bit harder, I have a reputation to defend, and everyone knows you have to one up the competition - thats how we are built in our fallenness, we want to get our own justice in situations.
Jesus is going to come and say you have it all wrong. You don’t need to have a reputation you are trying to keep for people. You’ve got it all wrong, he will tell us if we feel like we have this reputation to defend, we’re not really in Jesus. That sounds harsh, but if thats us we are still people who feel like we have something to lose personally, so we haven’t done what Paul tells us in Galatians 2, where he says, “I’ve been crucified in Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but he that lives in me.” Jesus is going to say, how can you defend yourself, how can you feel like you have some reputation to defend? If you are really my follower, you’re already dead. So here he dives in.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
He quotes Exodus 21 here, and it basically says, if someone wrongs you, you wrong them equally. You may look at this and think the OT was brutal, but what you have to realize is this was a limiting law. This isn’t some law that says you have to go after them for the same thing they did to you, but instead, this was saying don’t go crazy. People were like the mafia, you know, you never go against the family business, so this was limiting how much you were allowed to give back. Its just the the way our hearts are in this fallen world, we like it we go over the top. We like to watch movies like Braveheart and our hearts see how much they go over the top for revenge and we are like, that serves you right! Its a terrible overreaction, he’s almost lost his mind, and what Jesus is saying is, “Come on, just chill; calm down. You can’t go crazy on a person just because they wronged you.”
So, in the time when Jesus is speaking, the Pharisees had taken this law, and made it all about personal vengeance. So they would take things outside the law and courts and make decisions on it themselves. Jesus comes in and says, “You have heard it said,” and he’s telling them, its not that I am trying to give you a new law to follow; I am trying to explain the heart of it in the first place.
Martin Lloyd Jones when he was talking about this scripture said we are constantly trying to force ourselves back into law. We don’t really want to listen to what Jesus says without it being a law, because we don’t like to think for ourselves. What we really like is math equations. So we’d get to this place and we want the right equation for what we are about to do, and we may say something like, “Pastor, I think the math equation means I can this person across the face” The point Jesus is trying to make is this isn’t about math, he’s trying to get to the spirit of it, he’s saying its not math, its not x plus 2 equals y. It’s not if you do this, you get that, its more beautiful than that. What Jesus is talking about is a beautiful vision that isn’t just black and white, but gets to the spirit of the law and the spirit behind it was not about personal vengeance.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
39 “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
This is mind boggling stuff when you actually stop to think about it, because this is so contrary to our way of life. This should change everything about the way you think, because the gospel is offensive, and this verse is no different. Listen, this verse should confront your life and challenge you. This verse should come into your life and you should realize you are nothing like this, you are not doing this naturally and it should make you think, what if I got all of this wrong on my own, what if I am not doing any of it right without Jesus. There was a moment in your life when the Gospel confronted you and you realized you were living incorrectly and you needed him to get right. Here’s whats more scandalous about this, all of the stuff he is going to tell us we need to do, is going to be impossible for us to do on our own, we aren’t going to actually be able to do it so its a good thing he came and he died for us so we can be made right with God. SO he tells us he wants our righteousness to exceed the pharisees so he says, look at vs 40
40 “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.
So he says, look I know the pharisees say an eye for an eye and all that, so if someone sues you for your shirt, go ahead and give him your coat also. Listen, thats all these people would have been wearing, nothing else. So he says, I know the Pharisees get all worked up in their righteousness and tell you you are supposed to do this and give them these things but you should go over the top, give them your coat too.
And thats all they were wearing. And he says, seriously, it has to be even more than the Pharisees, so vs 41-42
why? Because it was all outwardly with them
Can’t you see how Jesus has turned all of this upside down on its head it’s about your heart because if you will give extra, your heart is in the right place
41 “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
42 “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
So when some people read this text they immediately think Jesus is saying we should never stand up for justice, we should never use force, we should never move forward against anything, we just have to take all the abuse, that is exactly what Jesus would do, don’t you see that here? Some people even take this to the extreme and say we should never have police or any type of government and politics because it goes against what Jesus is telling us here, we just need to let people have whatever they want and do what they want because thats what we need to do, Jesus said it.
This was the idea Tolstoy talked about in war and peace, he said if we eliminate all government and get rid of all justice officers then we would have a perfect society. The world would be so much better off, we would be able to have anything we wanted, everyone would be able to take what they needed, it would just be perfect.
But Jesus isn’t speaking against justice. Justice is a theme in all of his messaging, he is repeatedly taking about going to war against satan time and time again. We have to stand up for someone when they can’t stand up for themselves . The Bible even speaks about discipline in the church, the Bible teaches we have to resist someone who is in habitual sin. We see this in the book of Galatians as Paul gets in Peter’s face and he tells him you are doing this all wrong.
Understand, God is a just God, and there is this reason justice is built into our souls, we long for it and want it. Don’t think so? What is that normal thought when someone cuts you off in traffic? Listen, there was this time when I was driving a bunch of people to a concert in Knoxville when I was at Asbury. We were running late because of the girl my roommate was dating at the time, so we were travelling a little quickly. Well we stopped to get some food, and I will never forget, we are sitting at the Wendys and I am eating my JBC and I pray before, God keep us safe as we travel. We get on teh road again and not ten minutes later I come over the top of Jellico mountain and there is this state trooper sitting in the middle. And I look in my rearview and I am saying to myself, “don’t pull out, don’t pull out, daaaaang…” So, I never sped the rest of the way, and I totally think I prayed myself into a ticket. God kept me safe after that. So now when someone cuts me off or drives crazy around the family all together, I am kind and I pray for them, “God, keep them safe.” See, Justice.
Ad Jesus isn’t against Justice, he will tell us we have to fight for widows and orphans. Contrary to Tolstoy’s belief Jesus isn’t talking about how to run a country. Look, how crazy is it when we look at the world and think Jesus is speaking into these non-christians systems and think they should act like a Christian system. Following Jesus is hard enough if you are actually following Jesus, its impossible to expect people wo are not following Jesus to act like they are. So Jesus is saying, instead of reforming all society why not start with you. Like when your family member says something bad about you you start lashing out; you call your momma, your sister, your first cousin twice removed, your neighbor in third grade, the person that sits down the pew from you, and you make sure they all know what is going on to defend yourself and make yourself look better. So Jesus here isn’t telling us how to run a country, he’s trying to get to your heart and tell you to run your life.
Then there is some practical examples he gives.
Someone slaps your right cheek, give them the other one; someone sues you for your tunic, give them your coat; if someone makes you go a single mile, go two instead.
The question we should be asking is, how do we even get there? And Jesus doesn’t tell us here, but he will say it elsewhere in the New Testament; the only way we can get there is if we believe God will have vengeance in the end. Just pause for a second, he says the way we can get comfort in turning the other cheek now, is by knowing in the end, God will have vengance. This the same comfort people have in countries around the world where there are horrible atrocities, and why they not respond and retaliate, because they believe God will have vengeance in the end. Look at what Paul says
19 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.”
If we don’t have the option to trust Jesus will have justice in the end, we will carry out all kinds of injustices in the world. If there isn’t a God that will deal with all of the atrocities that I see, with all the injustices of the world, then I need to get vengeance on my own right now. But if there is a God who is able to get justice, I need to let god carry it out and get out of the way. We get to the place where we can say God is so all satisfying to me, I don’t need to carry out vengeance in this life right now.
Now, I don’t want you to hear me saying this morning that means you just let people hurt you. This is not it at all, it is not what Jesus is talking about. Listen, there are some people who look at this and think Jesus is saying all martial arts are out and learning how to defend yourself its all out because of this. This isn’t what is goign on here, if you’re out on the street with your family and some drunk guy stumbles into you, punches you in the face, and tries to steal your purse, he’s not saying you just take the beating and hand him your purse and give him your cell phone too. Its not persona l for this dude, he just wants your money, knock that guy out, call the cops, and you can feed him while you’re waiting on them to get their.
The language here is much deeper than this random person; its the person that knows your name and wants to hurt you, or make fun of you, or even talk about you behind your back. Those are the ones you don’t respond to. The ones who know you and want to cause serious pain. THis is what Jesus is trying to setup here, the people that really know us and want to hurt us, those are the ones we are not supposed to defend ourselves.
Jesus is saying the problem with the christian community is, that everyone is trying to defend themselves. What is my response when I hear stuff from people in the community. I know we take the new method, we say, “I will write a blog and tell the truth.” “No,” Jesus says take it, “because the minute you are trying to defend yourself is the moment you think you are somebody. Remember the moment you went to baptism you died, so did you reputation and the need to defend yourself.”
That is what he is trying to say, make sure you realize we don’t have any rights; we gave them all up when we believed in Jesus. From a worldly perspective 90% of the world lives in a place where it is illegal to be a christian. Did you ever notice all of the people who were disciples of Jesus in the Bible gets thrown in jail? Everyone gets thrown in jail in this for following Jesus and doing what he said. We have had a good run but it is coming to an end. Don’t believe me? Most people will tell you we are about 50-60 years behind Canada, and they just passed laws where there are parts of the Bible that are against the law to read in public, because its hate speech.
Remember, Jesus said, blessed are you WHEN you are persecuted in my name; he didn’t say IF, he said WHEN; it is going to happen.
In the world at large, as Christians we are known as being whiny complaining babies from the people on the outside. We gotta be tough, because things are going to get awful.
Listen, we need to teach our kids to be tough with their faith, because the real world isn’t going to handle them well, its not going to be easy. And not just their faith, but in life in general.
Tell my daughters all the time they are little princesses, and I love them and they are so beautiful, and they are, but at some point, I may need to teach them to be like the queen of hearts or something, just to toughen them up. Boys are going to be mean, not just their brothers, but the boys out there in the world, and not just the boys, but girls will be worse; they will stab you in the back and say nasty things about you when you’re not around.
Listen, there are a ton of 20 somethings in the world who grew up where there were no losers, but most of us are losers, didn’t you hear Ricky Bobby say, “if your not first your last.”
So we have to toughen up our kids because they are going out into a rough world.
Not only that, but we have to toughen up as the church, because we are going to get ABUSED.
What you need to understand about the culture is there was something in the culture about the slap. If you slapped someone on the right cheek it was because you were slapping them with the back of your hand, and it was a symbol of shame. The reason Jesus is telling you to turn the other cheek to them is because you are in essence saying, “I won’t let you shame me because I am made in the image of God and you can’t have power over me.”
What you may not know, is in this time, the Roman soldiers if they got tired were allowed to put their gear on you and force you to walk a mile for them. However, it was illegal for them to make you walk two. So, what Jesus is telling them is, hey, when they want you to walk that one mile, go ahead and walk two, get them in trouble, and what you are saying is Roman Empire you have no power over me at all. And it is saying, I’ll absorb it because you don’t own me.
C.S. Lewis…
Mere Christianity ends this way, “Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions, and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end. Submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for your self, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, raise, ruin and decay but look for Christ and you will find him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”
Jesus is saying are you willing for all of you to die? He’s not talking about when people hurt others; he’s talking about when people do it to you.
You may be thinking, this is impossible how do I ever do this; you can’t that’s why Jesus came to save us and allow us to function in real life. But this whole passage isn’t just about you and me; its about him. He didn’t react when they put thorns on his head; he’s the one that walked they put the roman equipment on his shoulders, and wanted him to walk the mile, and he walked all the way to outside Jerusalem to his own death.
When they said, “give us your cloak,” they took him and made him naked before the world. This was Jesus doing everything he told us we needed to do and the only reason we can even get to a place like this where we can turn the other cheek.
Some of you may have heard…window…the first thought may be revenge but let me tell you
Maybe this morning…
