Loving Our Enemies

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Corrie Ten Boom Story: the former Nazi
Matthew 5:38 ESV
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
Matthew 5:39 ESV
39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Matthew 5:40 ESV
40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Matthew 5:41 ESV
41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
Matthew 5:42 ESV
42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Matthew 5:43 ESV
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Matthew 5:44 ESV
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Matthew 5:45 ESV
45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:46 ESV
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Matthew 5:47 ESV
47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Matthew 5:48 ESV
48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
God loves his enemies, even the unbelievers.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God. If we love only those that love us back, what redemption is there in that? Every person that ever lived, saw the reflection of what God was like by the actions and values of another believer. To see God’s mercy, we look to the merciful. To see God’s faithfulness, we look to the faithful. God is in the business of saving the lost, and he wants us to be a part of that. If you don’t care about that...... well, that’s another sermon. Christ prayed for Peter, even though he knew that he would renounce him. Christ showed honor to Judas, knowing that he would betray him. Christ healed the ear of the temple servant, even as he led Jesus to his trial. God takes every possible opportunity to show his love, mercy, and grace, to us in our messed up estate, because when his judgement comes, it is final. He wants to take every opportunity to show us his grace, to win us to himself.
Why?
Because Jesus did it for us:
God displays his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We were lost. We weren’t just lost, we were workers of evil. We weren’t neutral to God, we were his enemies, working against his good laws and good kingdom. We were leading others astray, we were flagrantly tossing to the muck the good laws of our God. And yet, even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Because Jesus did it for us
Because Jesus calls us to it:
Have you counted the cost? Have you considered what new life means? Either Christ is Lord of all, or he is not Lord at all. If he is Lord of all, then even the response to our enemies is all under his direction.
Because Jesus did it for us
Because Jesus calls us to it
The Reward:
God expects us to be nice to those who are nice to us, we don’t get bonus points for that. God tells us that we receive reward in heaven for loving our enemies. Its easy to think “all well and good, but that doesn’t mean much”. It’s actually the opposite that is true. Everything in this life is constantly slipping through our fingers. You can’t anymore hang onto prosperity here than you can grab onto liquid water. The rewards we build up in heaven are more permanent, more real, than anything that is here on earth. Money is quickly spent, cars break down, expensive china breaks, 401ks can vanish in an instant. Store up your treasure in heaven where moth and rust don’t destroy them, and where they cannot be stolen.
Our ability to love our enemies is directly tied to our willingness to let go of our anger, and to forgive. This is so costly. Well does Jesus say that following him is like laying down our lives. Not all are called to be martyrs for him, but certainly all are called to die to themselves. To choose to show kindness and love to the people that mock us, name call, try to ensnare us; some days it feels a lot like dying. No this is not easy, nothing that Jesus asks us to do is easy. Without the presence of God, the power and filling of the Holy Spirit, this is impossible. But where would you be if someone hadn’t decided to love their enemy? Every one of us, at some point in our lives have scorned our God, have mocked him or his servants. Where would you be? If we claim that our God is a God who shows forgiveness and love to his enemies [US], then it is on us to follow his example, or else we are truly the hypocrites the world claims we are.
Lets be completely honest about the state of our own hearts. When God looked at us and saw our hearts, to his view our hearts looked at disgusting as a used maxxi pad or a tampon. Go ahead, be shocked I said that from the pulpit, that’s exactly what the scriptures say. All our good deeds are as filthy rags, the literal translation of that is menstrual rags. How’s that for imagery? We are not good people. God didn’t pick us because we had good hearts. In his eyes we are all floozies, unfaithful, murderers, arrogant-stuck-up hypocrites. And that’s not even scratching the surface of the evil in our hearts. Envy; all of us are guilty of that. Why do all those people get nice things and I don’t? I deserve that! The wages of our sin is death!
Ephesians 2:1 ESV
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Ephesians 2:2 ESV
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
Ephesians 2:3 ESV
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Ephesians 2:4 ESV
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
Ephesians 2:5 ESV
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Ephesians 2:6 ESV
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 2:7 ESV
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8 ESV
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Ephesians 2:9 ESV
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:10 ESV
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
This is the whole story of God’s relationship with us!
My story.
Action Steps:
Identify your “enemy”.
Confess your sin.
Pray for them.
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