Opening illustration: There is a story told of two shopkeepers. Their stores were across the street from each other, and the two had a bitter rivalry. One day an angel came to one of the shopkeepers and said, “The Lord has sent me to tell you that you may have one wish. Whatever you ask for, however extravagant, you will be given. But you must understand that whatever you receive, your rival will receive two-fold.” The shopkeeper thought for a few moments and finally said, “I wish to be made blind in one eye.”
I think this story is intended as a joke, but the realistic edge makes it more sad than funny. We could easily update it from shopkeepers to politicians. There is a disturbingly high level of deception and sheer nastiness oozing from the political ads and interviews during the past couple of months. It certainly seems that most candidates prioritize damaging their opponents – possibly even over helping themselves. We have seen venom spilt on the streets which has even left our country divided.
“Love your enemies.” It sounds rather odd, don’t you think. I mean, I have a hard enough time loving my family and my friends. Love your enemies? We’re used to hearing this. It’s one of Jesus’ most famous quotes. But imagine, you lived in the times of Jesus and had never heard this one.
Introduction: Someone has said that the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him your friend. This is consistent with Christ’s command that we are to love those who hate us (Matthew 5: 44).
Our Lord gave three reasons we should love our adversaries. First, when we show them kindness, we are imitating the heavenly Father, who “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (v. 45).
Second, we are to love our foes because there’s no reward for loving only those who love us (v. 46).
Third, gracious treatment of our enemies sets us apart from the ungodly. Jesus said, “If you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?” (v. 47). Genuine concern for all should be a distinguishing mark of a Christian (1 John 4: 7-21).
How to destroy your enemy?
1. Love your enemies (vs. 43-44a)
The beginning of this phrase is a quote from the Old Testament (Leviticus 19: 18). But there is nothing in the law that told the Jews to hate their enemies. It was a Pharisaic addition and with the course of time had become a normal way of life in the Jewish culture. That is something that just came naturally and still comes naturally to us. Those that are close to us, those that are like us, they are the ones we love. But the opposition - those that are different and strange - our natural response is to hate them and have nothing to do with them.
The word enemy means an unfriendly opponent. An enemy can be somebody who hates us and seeks to harm us or cause us trouble. An enemy can be someone who has wronged us. Or an enemy can just be somebody on the opposing side, an “unfriendly” in the sense that they are hostile to the values or beliefs that are important to us.
There are lots of areas where we can find enemies. And if we can’t find them, we can always make enemies. It’s easy. All we need are some strong differences. The meaning of enemy that most quickly comes to mind are enemy nations - those who oppose our values or those who infringe on our interests. Since the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001 it is that it is easy to hate. How can we “love” a murderer or a thief who has permanently altered your family? But we can also find enemies here at home. There are political enemies and religious enemies - those who do not value what we value or believe what we believe. Sometimes we identify individual enemies just by their nationality. Maybe you have an enemy in your business, an evil competitor. Perhaps you have a rival for another’s affections. And perhaps the word seems too strong, but we have all discovered personal enemies, people who have wronged us or hurt us. People that hated us … and the natural thing to do is to hate them back.
Hate them for what they do or what they believe or what they value or where they came from or what they threaten to take away from us. Whoever he is, the correct way to respond to your opponent is not to hate him, but to love him. That is not natural. It’s supernatural. It’s a response that is so foreign to us that the only way we’re going to follow this instruction is by asking for God to change us.
It’s interesting, isn’t it, that Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies, even for those who persecute us? It’s prayer that often changes our hearts and moves us from the natural response to the supernatural response. I don’t have what it takes to love my enemies, but God does.
Who is Not Worthy of Your Love? [Proverbs 25: 21-22 – heaping coals of fire on their heads]
By human standards, there are some people who are just not worthy of our love. They don’t deserve it, and so they don’t get it. It’s either a love or hate relationship. I love him. I love him not. That’s the way it works.
God’s standard is different from human standards. Instead of asking, “Who is not worthy of your love?” God asks, “Who do you love who’s not worthy?” An enemy does not deserve your love, but God says to love him anyway. It’s a love FOR hate relationship.
Just what does it mean to love your enemy? These days love often gets defined as just an emotion, a feeling. But love in the Bible goes well beyond how you feel about something. It is a decision, sometimes a decision to do something opposite to what you feel like doing.
But Jesus has a different approach. Instead of a love OR hate relationship, he demands – a love for hate relationship … this will surely set your enemy up for destruction.
Illustration: When your little child comes into your room at 3 o’clock in the morning and says, “Mommy, I threw up.” What do you do? You get out of bed and comfort him and clean him up and change his sheets and soothe him back to sleep. Is that what you FEEL like doing? No way. But you do it because you love him.
We understand that because it’s natural to love your own child. It’s not natural to love our enemy, but “love” is the same thing. It means having enough concern for another’s well-being that you overcome your personal desires in order to meet their needs and help them feel loved.
So pick one or two of your enemies: a political opponent, a competitor, someone whose values are antithetical to yours, or someone who’s done you wrong. Think about that person and listen to how Jesus would have you treat them. 1 Corinthians 13 lays it out pretty well as to what is really upon God’s heart. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs.
2. Be good/kind to your enemies (vs. 44b-45)
Beloved that's a question for us to face, those of us that are Christians. What makes us different in the world? Are we different on the job because our ethics are different, our conversation is different, our attitude is different, our love is different? Are we different in our homes; are we different in our communities? Because if we're not different, we have nothing to say to this society that they're going to believe.
Oswald Sanders said, "The Master expects from His disciples such conduct as can be explained only in terms of the supernatural." And if your conduct can only be explained in terms of the supernatural, then you've got something to say to the society, they're going to take note. But if you're like everybody else, what is the difference? What do you have that they don't have? If we're to speak to this age and call this godless age to Jesus Christ and let them know that there's something real about Christ, it'll be when our lives are unique have no other explanation than that God is there.
Illustration: Abraham Lincoln was held in contempt by a man named Mr. Stanton. He called Lincoln, "A low, cunning clown," and he nicknamed him 'the original gorilla.' He said that men were foolish to wander around Africa trying to capture a gorilla when they could find one in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln never said anything to Stanton, and because Stanton was the best man for the job, when Lincoln needed a war minister for the United States, he chose Mr. Stanton. He appointed him over all of the soldiers of the United States. He treated him with kindness and courtesy and the years passed.
The night an assassin's bullet tore out Lincoln's life, in a little room to which the President's body was taken, there stood that same Mr. Stanton, looking down into the silent face of Abraham Lincoln with all its ruggedness and character. Speaking through his tears, he said, "There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen." Because Mr. Lincoln could love him with a forgiving love, he received and returned his adoration. President Lincoln had set a standard and exemplified it. What about us?
Reason: Why should we love and be good to them? If we’re going to pursue something so contrary to our nature and our desires, we ought to have a good reason for doing so. Jesus tells us in verse 45 that there’s only one reason to love your enemies. You should do it because it’s just what your Dad would do. That’s just the way God treats them. When we love our enemies, we demonstrate that we are God’s children. We prove our relationship with him. Jesus gives two examples. It doesn’t matter whether they are good men or evil men, God gives them His sunshine. Even if they don’t acknowledge it belongs to him! He gives them light. He gives them warmth. He makes their food grow. Rain is not a negative event; it’s another positive gift. God waters the whole earth. He doesn’t just supply food for the righteous, but also for the unrighteous. God gives without distinction. He loves people indiscriminately. You don’t have to earn God’s love.
3. Be gracious to your enemies (vs. 46-48)
The natural response is: my brother, I love him. The outsider, I love him not. That was the trap that captured the Pharisees and I fear that it is also the attitude that has ensnared much of the church today. Not surprisingly, Jesus had something to say to the Pharisees of his day about this problem, and I think his words are particularly relevant to us today when God’s people have once again developed a reputation for hating other people.
Jonah the prophet of God who had absolutely no grace or compassion on the Ninevites. He wanted his people to have revival. He didn't want those Gentile Ninevites to have a revival. God the Father says to him, in Jonah 4: 10-11, words which spoke of His compassion not only on the people but even the animals. God the Father had compassion on those people who did not know their right hand from their left, and He wanted them to come and to enjoy the grace which is held in store for all those who embrace Him by faith. It’s easy to love those in whom we delight. It’s difficult to love those who are not only different from us but those who use us and abuse us and seek to take advantage of us. John Stott has said, and this hits me right between the eyes: "Everybody believes in love. But not love for those who’ve injured us." “Everybody believes in love. But not love for those who’re outsiders.”
How can we be perfect?
• In character
• In holiness
• In maturity
• In love (Agape Love makes us Christ-like)
Christ’s calls us to excel, to rise above mediocrity, and to mature in every area, becoming like Him. Only those who strive to be perfect will one day be Christ-like perfect. Amen!
Illustration: In Genesis 17: 20 it says, “As for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I'll make him a great nation." Did you hear that? God is even gracious to an illegitimate son. God is even gracious to a 'not a people,' to an outcast.
Application: Obeying Jesus’ command to love our enemies doesn’t come naturally, however. Often our first response is to retaliate. But when we choose to display an attitude of love and helpfulness toward those who despise us, we may actually break down their hostility and eventually win their favor. Yes, the best way - the Christ-like way - to destroy an enemy is to make him your friend! To melt an enemy, try the warmth of love.
