Love for Enemies

Matthew 5:13-26, 38-48

Salt and Light

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Murder

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Retaliation

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Love for 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 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

It is an age-old story that is as old as human history.

Someone acts and hurts someone, strikes out at someone, and then the receiver winds up either retaliating or taking it out on someone else.

It causes never-ending cycles of hurting because we have been hurt.

It has caused deep breaks between friends.

It has caused breaks and feuds and hatred between families.

It has caused breaks and pain and hatred and even death between groups of people divided by race, religion, or any kind of marker, anything that distinguishes, between who is us and who is them.

It even has been a part of what escalates into wars.

I know that World War I had an effect on us here in America and we lost many people, but moving to Europe opened my eyes to how such a thing could completely change and overturn the culture and mindset of an entire cotenant of countries.

After the war was over, there was a wave of European veterans, including ones who became pastors, who doubted the existence of hell after death.

They believed they had already seen it on earth deep in the hellish trenches of WWI, and we were the ones who made it.

And it was all over what?

Tensions were brewing, and then one assassinated archduke from one country by a secret militant group from another escalated until 40 million people in total were dead, 1/3 of all the men in Europe perished, and massive destruction that wasn’t going to be rebuilt before it all happened again decades later.

There are times when we are hurt and can’t retaliate, though, so we wind up taking it out on someone else.

You have probably heard the painfully true phrase.

Hurt people hurt people.

Being hurt ourselves moves us to wind up hurting others.

The boss yells at his employee who then yells at her coworker who then goes home and yells at his kid who then beats up her younger sibling who then goes to school and bullies another kid who then... who then... who then...

And we get hurt, even starting quite young, and then we go and hurt, even still starting quite young.

We live in this world.

Even as Christians, we don’t get out of any of it.

We don’t get to get out of feeling the pain of this cycle.

We don’t get out of being hurt.

We don’t get out of having quarrels.

We don’t get out of having people that dislike us, either because of something we did, or for reasons we don’t know.

So.

So God steps into this cycle and calls us.

We are called to reflect His heart that desires salvation and restorations above all else.

We are called to be holy as He is holy.

We are called to be the salt of the earth.

We are called to be the city on a hill.

We are called to live in the fulfillment of His law that we see in Christ.

We are called to be different.

We are called to be different so that we may be Children of our Father in Heaven.

And the way that Jesus describes the difference we are to have when faced with this vicious cycle kind of builds on top of itself.

First, He goes after the heart, after the root of the problem.

Yes, don’t murder as the law says, but that doesn’t mean you get to stop short of murder and wish that the other was dead.

Letting your anger burn and fester inside of you has a habit of making you act in ways that you regret.

Letting it fester often turns into angry and abusive language that could land you in court for verbally assaulting someone.

Letting that anger burn and smolder like a fire that turns into name calling and slandering another will simply continue to burn and stink until it grows up in you like the fires of hell.

What we typically translate as hell, Gehenna, was also the word for this burning trash pit on the outside of Jerusalem.

The image is strong.

Festering anger and bitterness turns into a stinking burning trash in the heart of the one who holds onto it.

Instead. Be reconciled.

There is even this strong image where reconciliation takes precedent, has to come first, before worship.

When he was talking about going to the Temple, he wasn’t just talking about a two block drive.

He’s preaching in Galilee, a three day walk from Jerusalem.

If you showed up to the temple, bought an animal to sacrifice, and remembered something someone has against you back in Galilee, you couldn’t have made it all the way back to be reconciled before another three-day journey back.

It is a bit of a ridiculous hyperbole to say this: just be reconciled now.

Secondly, we are called to not retaliate like we have been taught by the world to do so.

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” actually comes from the law itself.

It was God’s beginning of trying to stop this escalation of revenge and retaliation.

It was meant to stop things from getting out of hand.

An eye for an eye is better than things escalating out of hand.

I believe God is a God of justice and isn’t okay when people cause hurt and destruction, but we humans do a terrible job at just stopping at what is just or fair.

Christ takes it a step further in perhaps one of the hardest teachings He gave. It is one that actually has perhaps been confusing or even misunderstood to affirm abuse or that we should stay in abusive situations.

I don’t think it says that, but I’m sorry to say that it is still a difficult teaching.

One scholar said to be struck on the right cheek in this context almost certainly meant to be backhanded by another’s right hand.

It wasn’t just violent but also an insult, a sign of superiority by the one doing the slapping, usually meaning that the one being slapped was a child or a slave or (back in that day) a woman.

To turn to them the other cheek would mean to say that...

I’m not going to hit back. I’m not going to keep this cycle of violence going, but if you want to hit me again, you’ll have to hit me as an equal.

Or let’s say that you are in court and some powerful person sues you for the shirt off your back.

This kind of scenario would actually reference a kind of unjust suppression of those who are very poor by those who are already very rich.

They have enough to drag the person into court, but the person doesn’t have anything to sue for except the clothes off of their own body.

They can’t win anymore than someone with no lawyer could win against the best lawyers money can buy.

So Jesus says to give them that shirt and then your cloak as well.

I don’t think Jesus was promoting nudity or streaking... but....

Those two items were typically the only things people wore.

You strip down... in public... in front of everyone... into shameful nakedness, perhaps to show the person what they’re doing...

Carelessly reducing the ones who already are without into a state of shame and disgrace.

The last one was a specific reference to the Jew’s relationship with Rome.

It was law back in Rome that a Roman soldier could force a civilian to carry their equipment for a mile, but it was really strict that they couldn’t go force them a step farther.

Being forced to carry the equipment of the very people who were occupying your land and had overtaken and suppressed your people... that’s painful.

Turn the tables on them Jesus says.

Surprise them.

Go an extra mile.

Not because they forced you, but because you choose to.

And in doing so, show them the way God’s Kingdom, the only one that’ll last, fights back and will win the war against all darkness and suppression in the end.

Thirdly,

Well, it doesn’t get easier from there.

Don’t just let address your anger. Don’t just not retaliate.

No.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Want their good.

Hope for their best.

Desire their salvation and transformation.

Actively pray for it.

Is there a harder command in all of Christ’s teaching?

I don’t think so.

God says that vengeance is His, and I believe that He is a just God.

However, maybe retaliation isn’t what is ultimately and first most on His mind and heart.

Otherwise, we’re all in trouble.

Vengeance is His and He will be just, but His first and greatest desire is still mercy and restoration.

Forgiveness and renewal of relationship and love seems to be what is at the center, beginning, and ultimate desire of His will.

He doesn’t seem to want to get even.

He wants salvation and change.

Partly I think because if we are looking for the one who is to blame, the ultimate enemy among us to hate, and we’re all being honest, we all are that enemy.

We have all been hurt, and we have all caused hurt.

No exceptions.

Our enemies who have hurt us were also probably very hurt themselves.

The cycle goes on unless we are willing to allow God to stop it and stop it with us.

Left to our own devices, we can’t get out of it. We still need a savior to pull us out. We still need each other to help us.

However, the same voice that said to love your enemies also cried “Father, forgive them” from the cross.

He does not ask us to do anything that He has not done Himself.

He does not ask us to do it alone, cause He knows we can’t.

Challenge:

So I think this week, just to try and make it a bit more practical and concrete, I would like to encourage you to ask God to help you break out of the cycle...

Perhaps what I would challenge you most to do is going to sound a bit surprising, because it isn’t just to somehow force yourself to get over the hurt and be nice.

I honestly think that the first way to do what Christ is calling us to do is to be honest about when we’re hurt.

We don’t slap back, but that doesn’t take the sting out of the first or second cheek.

When we pretend it isn’t there, it festers and bubbles out eventually.

Admit it and take it to a crucified Christ who knows that pain all too well.

Admit it to ourselves and each other that we have been hurt and seek and ask God what it looks like to stop that cycle and respond with love.