What is love?
Notes
Transcript
Good morning church! Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5. That’s where we will be shortly.
This week is the final week in Matthew 5. Next week we kick off a series called _________________ . We will talk about 4 intense moments in Matthew 6-7. Which lead all the way up to a Christmas series we are starting at the end of November. It’s gonna be a really cool rest of the year on Sundays, alright? Don’t miss any!
Last week we saw Jesus accusing the Hebrew people of exploiting loopholes in the law of God. They had taken important statements from God’s law and were attempting to twist it to fit their own desires. This was not good!
This week, the same thing is happening to a degree. Jesus corrects some bad theology through his teaching. Let me read the thing as a whole and then we will come back and look at it.
“You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well.
And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
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.
For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?
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?
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
PRAY
I have been looking forward to this set of verses since I started this series, because I knew that there were so many tough messages that we would cover to this point. This one was about love. How could that be convicting and tough, right?
On Monday when I read these verses for the first time I just laughed. These may be the hardest verses for me to hear to this point in Matthew 5! I pray God uses our time this morning to not just convict us of our own heart issues, but to build us up and empower us to live differently in Christ, AMEN!
It’s gonna be good today! Y’all just hang on!
Jesus here tells his disciples three things about LOVE...
1. Love is not SEEKING REVENGE
1. Love is not SEEKING REVENGE
Jesus brings up a well known quote from the Old Testament. It was well known by the Jews of Jesus’ day that he is speaking to but it’s also well known to us!
In the first century, the Jewish community is no longer
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!
The first five books of the Old Testament which define so many of the things Jesus has been bringing up here were given to the people of God in preparation for actually becoming a nation. That is important to keep in mind! We can often just read them as if they were written directly for a North Alabama church. But that’s not the case. in all honesty… Some of these laws have more to do with our constitution in purpose than they do practices for worship of the Christian church.
This law in particular was given through Moses for a very unique purpose. It was a civic law. It was a mandate for the people of God as they existed as a nation. God knew there would be a progressing form of a judicial system as the Israelites began to settle in the land God had promised them. They needed to have some standards for functioning as a nation. They needed civic laws!
HOWEVER...
By the first century, this civic law had become a personal standard!
a. A CIVIC law had become PERSONAL
a. A CIVIC law had become PERSONAL
The Jews are no longer really in charge of their own court system. They are living under Roman occupation. So, this law, Instead of being a guide for judges to make sure that justice was served in the courts, it had become a chip on the shoulder of every Jew was wronged. Someone did something to you? God said you should handle it personally. An eye for an eye, baby!
Do you see the chaos that this creates?
I saw this when I was in youth group...
There was a thing that was apparently directly connected to discipleship in the late 90s early 2000s. That was rolling yards or “TP-ing houses” for our northern transplants here. I hated more than anything for my yard to get rolled, because I had to clean it up. It wasn’t a fun family event to clean up. That was on me or my sister if it was her friends who did it.
As bad as I hated my yard getting rolled, something so natural happened the moment I figured out who rolled my yard! I made plans. I schemed with my buddies. And we would bring sweet justice to the situation by doing what? Rolling their yard back, right?
An eye for an eye, right?
This is definitely not what Jesus was talking about.
In fact, Jesus says right after quoting the OT passage...
But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
DON’T Resist an EVILDOER!
This would have shaken his hearers! This was not what they would have expected from the Messiah who they thought would be exacting vengeance on the Romans for taking the land of God’s people!
Jesus turns the idea of revenge into a totally unChrist-like behavior.
There is another reason the eye for an eye law had gotten out of hand though.
b. A protective MAXIMUM had become an expected MINIMUM
b. A protective MAXIMUM had become an expected MINIMUM
The law was originally given by God to actually LIMIT the punishment on a wrongdoer. You see, we typically don’t have trouble paying someone back for what they have done. What we often need are limits to make sure the “punishment fits the crime.” Right?
Go back to the yard rolling...
There was another part of our revenge strategy. We did our best to ask around and try to find out how many rolls of toilet paper were purchased and used on our yard. That was pretty easy because everyone loved to brag about that.
So, when we found out how many rolls were used, we purchased just that many, right?
WRONG! I wanted at least 50% more. That was a standard for us. If they used 100, we picked up a box of 150. and so on.
We have a natural draw towards paying someone back more than they did to us.
That’s why God knew it was necessary to say an EYE FOR AN EYE. Not two eyes for an eye. Or death for an eye. God knew the heart of man and knew that the government would need limits so that it would actually be true justice.
However, when Jesus talks about this law as it pertains to the personal aspect of his disciples, he actually goes the other way with it! In the same way that you are naturally drawn towards overdoing revenge, he says overdo love!
If someone insults you publically even as far as backhanding you, just chill out and let them do it again if they have to!
If someone sues for your shirt, blow their mind by offering a coat too!
If a Roman soldier makes you walk with him to help carry stuff from one town to the next, volunteer to walk ever further!
If someone needs something from you, give them what they need without charging them!
This is not just a counter-cultural idea Jesus is sharing here, it goes against our very nature as humans!
We must be careful here to not take notes on these specific scenarios as if Jesus is giving rules for real situations. Surely you can see that Jesus isn’t saying, “No guys, you missed it! It’s not about the law of an eye for an eye. It’s about the heart! But here are more laws for you to keep.”
Jesus is working to re-establish the original intent of the law which was to be centered around a set of values! We will come back to this...
So, love is not SEEKING REVENGE. There is no place for this in the life of a believer!
But Jesus also helps them see that...
2. Love is not SELECTIVE
2. Love is not SELECTIVE
If Jesus has been describing HOW to love in the first part, he now shifts his focus to WHO we are to love.
Before we even look back at the text, let me ask you...
Who do you find it easy to love?
Who do you find it easy to love?
Allow for answers… (family, people like me, nice people)
Who do you find it difficult to love?
Who do you find it difficult to love?
Allow for answer… (family...... jerks, people very different from me)
If you are honest, we are not that different from the first century Jews. They had taken an Old Testament verse and filled in some things they perceived as gaps with their own ideas.
“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
You will find “Love your neighbor” in the Old Testament. However, you will not find Hate your Enemy in there! This had become a common truth of the day. The believed that because God said to love your neighbor, ipso facto, he must also be giving us permission to hate our enemies.
Jesus comes right in with a correction for them...
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
WHAT!!!!!!!?
Love your enemies, and then he ramps it up again, “PRAY FOR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU!”
Jesus here goes well beyond the patience in the face of their enemies of verse 39. not only are they not to retaliate, nor even to resist, but even positively to seek the good of their persecutors and to pray for them.
We aren’t talking about praying for the doofus who merged lanes right in front of you on the interstate, or the guy who left a mess in the bathroom stall, alright. Jesus says to pray for those who PERSECUTE YOU. Jesus doesn’t like work his way to the extreme. He just jumps off in it! Intercede to the Lord on behalf of the person who has physically assaulted you for your faith.
That’s just a natural response, right? NO! It’s totally unnatural and sounds a little crazy if we are honest! But this is the call of Christ for those who claim to be his followers!
The reason Jesus gives that we should love not just our neighbors but even our enemies is that God does! He says God doesn’t only bless the righteous with rain and sunshine. The crops of many corrupt people continue to grow and bring a harvest year after year. WHY? Jesus says it’s because God loves even his enemies.
The theological term described here is “common grace.” There is a certain level of grace that God gives to all regardless of the spiritual relationship. Many people who hate God woke up this morning with breath in their lungs. Many of them have good families and good health. This is common grace, a general gift from God.
Then Jesus pokes the bear even more. He asks if they think they deserve a participation trophy for their love...
For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?
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?
Jesus says, You love those who love you? BIG WHOOP! Even those who don’t know God do that! There must be something different about you if you expect to be part of this kingdom of God on earth!
If we restrict our love only to members of our own circle we are no better than what the rest of the world expects and practices.
In fact, historians point to the fact that this very teaching of loving one’s enemies provided one of the most distinctive traits of the early Christian movement. It was what God used to set them apart from the world around them!
Again, why should we do this? Why is this important?
Jesus has already said, because our heavenly father does the same. “Love you enemies” is not some philosophical mindset that Jesus challenges us to adopt. It is a direct reflection of the character of God Himself! Loving our enemies is one of the best ways we can show God to the world!
HOWEVER,
Before you start writing down all these new rules that you think Jesus is laying out for us, remember the whole over-arching idea that Jesus is driving home!
The law was never to be a list of things to check off in our actions. They were to be things that revealed the heart of God and the heart he desired from us. Heart being the key. The theme of the kingdom!
It’s this idea that Jesus brings out in verse 48...
Let me read it again...
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
THEREFORE is an important word here. Anytime you see a “therefore” it is pointing back in the text to what was just discussed as a reason for the next thing to be true.
Here, Jesus is pointing back to at least the 6 statements we have been talking about in October and how each of them is really about the heart and desire behind the law.
Because of this… , “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
This can be a ridiculously intimidating passage. But let’s look at it in context here.
When a Jew hear’s “Be perfect.” What do they think about?
They think about the law, right? Keep the law!
This actually wasn’t completely impossible. If you can compile a set of laws for someone to keep, give them enough time and the right motivation and they can figure out a way to keep them.
So a Jew would hear Jesus say, “Do the right things all the time.”
But does Jesus just say, “Be Perfect?” NO! He says “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect!”
God isn’t perfect because he keeps the law, right? There are laws that God couldn’t even break because he doesn’t have a body. He is a spirit! So, that can’t be right. It has to be different right?
Well, what is it?
God is perfect in his character, motives, and desires. The very thing Jesus has been pushing his disciples towards!
That’s why it seems that Jesus is wrapping up this discussion on love by saying...
3. Love is BEING more than DOING
3. Love is BEING more than DOING
Jesus reminds here that Kingdom citizens are not simply “law-keepers”. They are to be LIKE GOD! Not called to DO first! But to BE!
This is a stark difference from the way the Jews were understanding the law by Jesus’ day.
God had said this very thing in the law already!...
“Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
God had tried to show them even in the law that this was more than creating a set of rules for them. It was about revealing his character and his values so they could know him and become like him! Never about DOing but about BEing.
And we can be guilty of the same thing right? Allowing our minds and hearts to run rampant so long as we control our tongues and bodies. Maybe we are loving those like us well, but have no regard for those we consider different and especially those who are our enemies. BIG WHOOP, right? That’s not what God has called us to be! God desires to transform us inside not just help us control the outside! To live a life trying to simply look good on the outside is striving to be a religious person. However, giving God full reign in our hearts to change our desires and natural sinful bent is to be in relationship with Christ!
INVITATION
If today, you admit that you have simply been living your life with a checklist before you with no real desire to be changed inside, I want to challenge you to think about whether you have truly surrendered to his lordship in your heart! To give him your actions and your mouth is great! But to give him your heart, that is salvation!
If this talk about how and who to love struck a cord today, just know that you are not alone! I’m with you! But we can’t just acknowledge that we are all messed up people and not repent. We must all come before the throne of God and ask for his help to love those who we don’t find it easy to love!
And if you need motivation, remember that doing so is to mimic the very love of God...
But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
God didn’t wait for us to be likeable. He didn’t wait for us to get our act together. Jesus was sent to save Heath Haney before he was even born, let alone living a repentant life! God is the perfect example of perfect love for all of mankind. And we have been called to mimic it!
No excuses. Let’s ask God to change our hearts towards those around us and be broken and humble even in the midst of difficult people, amen?
And if you have never trusted in Jesus as your Savior, I have bad news, the Bible says that you are a sinner and an enemy of God. Because of your sin you are separated from God forever.
BUT, just as we read, God sent Jesus to die for your sins even before you knew you needed it.
Today, myself or one of our decision counselors would love to talk with you about how you could trust in JEsus today to save you and begin transforming your heart into that Godlike perfection that he desires and has planned for you!
During this last worship song, I will be down front to talk with any of you about prayer needs or decisions you need to make. But remember we have decision counselors by the door here as well that can talk with you about salvation, church membership here at East, baptism, or any other decision.
You respond as God leads today.