2018-08-12 Exodus 23 Tribalism/Enemies

Exodus 23:1–9 CSB

“You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness. “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice. Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit. “If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it. “You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit. Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty. You must not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and corrupts the words of the righteous. You must not oppress a resident alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be a resident alien because you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 23:1–5 CSB

“You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness. “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice. Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit. “If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.

Don’t get sucked into tribalism.

(CSB)

23:1 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness.

2 “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice. 3 Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

In a world of fake news, there are not multiple versions of the truth.

(CSB) 1 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness. 2 “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice. 3 Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

1 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness. 2 “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice. 3 Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

23 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness.

2 “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice. 3 Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

Illus: In large part we are driven by the narratives of our tribe. Here is what I mean, What you believe in our day in age is determined by what group you associate with.

perhaps your tribe is your family. What truth would would like is, “my daddy always said, or my mama always said”. From this perspective you would understand the world around you.

perhaps your tribe is your political party. Your truth would sound like this, “this president, commentator, political personality said this.” once your political guides speak, everything else becomes false news.

Perhaps your tribe is your friends. Your truth would sound like this, “I asked my friends and they told me.”

There is nothing wrong with family, politics or friends. That said, they are often terrible sources of truth. As Christians we cannot succumb to fake news.

When the advice of your friends is different than the clear word of God, your friends are wrong.

When the opinions of your political party lead you away from clear scriptural teaching, your political party is wrong.

When the words of your mom and dad do not match what the Bible says, your mom and dad were wrong.

There is only one source of truth, and it is God. God has given us this truth through scripture.

We must fight against the false

We are living in a day where multiple versions of the “truth” are being used as weapons to destroy our fellow man. Our hope is not in following a mob, but instead in grounding ourselves in the word of God.

(CSB) 9 With his mouth the ungodly destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous are rescued.

9 With his mouth the ungodly destroys his neighbor,

but through knowledge the righteous are rescued.

The bible calls you to think for yourself.

(CSB)

23 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness.

23 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness.

2 “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice. 3 Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

Illus: The devil seeks to steal kill and destroy. Right now he has acomplished this through getting us to constantly argrue, speread false witness, and slander our brothers.

He has tricked us into making enemies out of those we are called to love.

We must pursue truth as Christians. When you hear gossip, when you hear political banter, when you hear foolishness and your heart stops for a moment and says “Is this true?”.

Listen. Perhalps God’s spirit is opening your eyes to falsehood.

Check. See if what your hear is true, go also to see if it lines up with God’s Word.

Ask. Does this build up my brother, does this further a fight, does this help me love my enemy?

(CSB) 14 But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually. 15 The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. 16 For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct him?, But we have the mind of Christ.

14 But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually. 15 The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. 16 For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct him?, But we have the mind of Christ.

who has known the Lord’s mind,

that he may instruct him?,

But we have the mind of Christ.

Do you genuinely care for your enemy?

(CSB) 4 “If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

4 “If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

Do you take pleasure in your enemies pain?

(CSB) 4 “If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

Illus: Scrolling through Facebook it is not hard to see the clickbait articles. This revelation will infuriate this group. This statement will destroy this group. Share this article to make this group mad.

Truth is there is a dark place in all of our hearts where we want to see our enemies suffer.

Yes, Yes, we should LOVE our enemies, but if they suffer a little because our our actions, we might get a little thrill out of it.

OK be truthful, you get a kick out of seeing your enemies suffer. Don’t you?

(CSB)

17 Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, 18 or the Lord will see, be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.

and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

18 or the Lord will see, be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.

and turn his wrath away from him.

We should live with higher standards for ourselves.

(CSB) 4 “If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

Illus: Watch what is happening here. You see your enemies ox and think… HA! they are getting what they deserve.

But God’s word is clear, Don’tr rejoice in your enemies struggle, but instead help them.

OUr standard is to serve our neighbors and enemies, no matter how they react, or what they say.

(CSB) 43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary?, Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

(CSB) 43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary?, Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary?, Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Serve unconditionally.

5 “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.,

(CSB) 5 “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.,

You have been given mercy. You can give mercy.

Illus:You don’t serve your enemy because he deserves it. More often than not he does not deserve your service. YOu serve them because God has served you, and you owe it to God.

You are called to serve people who hate you, because God served us when you hated Him.

(CSB) 30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.