Loving Our Enemies (February 20, 2022)

LOVING OUR ENEMIES

Text: Luke 6: 26-38

Luk 6:27-38  "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  (28)  bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.  (29)  If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.  (30)  Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.  (31)  Do to others as you would have them do to you.  (32)  "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.  (33)  If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.  (34)  If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.  (35)  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  (36)  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  (37)  "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;  (38)  give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

Nikita Kruschev, a WWII vet and leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 - 1964 is on record in his response about “turning the other cheek”. He said, "If a man strikes me on one cheek, I'll hit him back on the other one and knock his head off!” (Wallace T. Viets. Seven Days That Changed The World. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962, pp. 21-22). Nikita was certainly not all by himself in that sentiment. How easy is it for you to “turn the other cheek” after someone has used you, insulted, struck on the jaw or slandered you? How many of us would like to agree with Nikita when Jesus calls us to forgive? Is it easier to be vengeful, judgmental, unforgiving and indifferent to our enemies? Is it harder to turn the other cheek, to offer something else when someone has taken something from us, to be generous, to be merciful and to go the extra mile?

Two things we can pull from today’s text are opposition and going the extra mile.

HOW DO WE HANDLE OPPOSITION?

Is vengeance an option?

1) The law of retribution: There are undoubtedly some who like Old Testament idea of practicing an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Leviticus 24:19-20  says, “If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him,  (20)  fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him” (ESV). If we all practiced this ideal without any boundaries would we not all eventually be blind and toothless?

2) Boundaries: Some might take that to mean that vengeance is justifiable, but it actually meant that vengeance had limits. There is no question that Kruschev is someone who would have gone beyond what was proper.

"A chilling Jewish folk tale tells of two merchants who owned shops across the street form one another.   Each judged the day successful not on the basis of total sales, but on whether he made more than the other.   Upon the completion of a sale, each would look across the street mock the other.   God decided to put an end to this nasty rivalry and sent an angel to visit one of the merchants. 

         "You can have anything you want in the world," the angel said.   "It can riches, wisdom, a long life, many children.   Just know that whatever you ask, your competitor will get twice as much.   Thus, if you ask for $20,000, he will get $40,000.   What is your wish?" 

         "The merchant thought for a while before he answered, "Make me blind in one eye."   Envy is as senseless as that" (William R. White.  Fatal Attractions: Sermons On The Seven Deadly Sins.  Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992, p.  30).  This story is allegorical because the characters are symbolic of human nature.

Do you think God would use you like He used Jonah and go into enemy territory to share his love?

1) Missionaries: Have you ever thought of yourself as a missionary? Have you ever thought of yourself doing God’s work behind enemy lines? Isn’t the world we live in a spiritual battle ground? Romans 10:14 - 15 says, “What if that is precisely where God sends us? How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? (NIV).