Let Haters Hate Series

“Let Haters Hate”

Luke 6:17-26

A sermon for 5/9/21

Pastor John Bright

Luke 6 “22 Blessed are you when men hate you,

And when they exclude you,

And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,

For the Son of Man’s sake.

23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!

For indeed your reward is great in heaven,

For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.”

There’s no telling how many of us have thought it, but never said it.

Sometimes kids get so mad at Mom or Dad that those three words actually cross their lip – “I hate you.”

It probably happens the most with teens during their most rebellious years. Almost always, those words lead to regret and the bond of love is later restored. Jesus is talking about a whole other kind of hate.

We find these verses in the midst of a much larger teaching in Luke 6. There are similarities between this part of Luke and the three chapters in Matthew we call the Sermon on the Mount. Last week, we looked at the prayer of Jesus- how He listened to the Father in choosing the 12 Apostles – choosing who would suffer and die for Him. In the next verse we read – “17 And He came down with them and stood on a level place…” This is why Luke’s section of teaching is called the Sermon on the Plain.

This is also another place in Luke that we see Jesus healing those who come to Him. “17…a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, 18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.” I often have discussions with folks in the church who are not comfortable with a Healing Ministry for today. They often tell me, “We can’t heal anyone, only Jesus could do that.” Actually, according to the verse I just read, it was not Jesus healing them. It was the POWER OF GOD coming out of Him that was doing the healing. There is a long history in the Church of anointing with oil and laying on of hands. When we do that, we just want that same POWER OF GOD flowing to the one who needs healing. Just remember what I have told you before – all those folks that got a healing on that day – they all died. Not one of them is still around today. Our praying for healing will never keep death away forever, but we can pray for healing that makes living easier to handle. Amen?

Luke condenses the “blessed are those” that we often associate with the Beatitudes from Matthew 5. It is usually accepted that Luke wrote for Gentile Christians and Matthew wrote for Jewish Christians. We can always be sure that God meant for them to write EXACTLY what He told them to write. God also wanted you and me to have the totality of His Holy Word for today. It was important then and important for today that Believers trust that God is always with them – even in times of struggle. He is with the poor – those who lack for the basic needs of life we take for granted (until a pandemic hits). He is with the hungry – think about all those folks who rely on God’s Storehouse and how they need the food we collect. God is with the ones who cry – could these be the many parents today losing kids to addiction, overdose and suicide? God is with all these and we should be also!

Let’s spend some time today talking about folks hating you. How do you feel when I say that? We want to be loved. (Today is Mother’s Day - a day when we celebrate love for the special ladies in our lives and they all want to be loved). We want to be liked – especially on Social Media. If folks on there click “like” on my post or my tweet when I show off my best dance moves on Tiktok – does that mean they like me?

We have gotten caught in a loop of wanting to be liked and basing how I feel about myself – my self-acceptance – on how much other people give me praise.

Do we care more about what God thinks or other people?

We hear the same message throughout the Bible.

Listen to the wisdom from Proverbs -

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare,

But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.