Works Cited/Consulted include J Vernon Magee, Holman Commentary, College Press NIV commentary, various sermon central illustrations, as well as Bible and personal observations.
Slides available upon request... brianbyers@live.com
Opening Scripture Slide…
MATTHEW 5:43-48
"You have heard that it was said, ’YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
"If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48 (NASB)
INTRODUCTION:
If you’re here visiting for the first time today…. I just want to recap for you what’s been happening here ….
This chapter in Matthew is the first of three chapters collectively called the Sermon on the Mount.
Change slide to sermon on the mount LOCATION…
Jesus in actually up on a mountain and he begins to teach…
NOT THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS….BUT WHAT IS NOW CALLED THE MOUNT OF THE BEATITUDES…
and Jesus lays out all kinds of things that honestly…. Are pretty tough to live up to!
In fact… these things are so difficult to live up to… that’s there’s only been one person in all of history that’ been able to keep this perfectly….
Are you with me?
Picture this in your mind…. Jesus is on the mountain He sit’s down to teach and…, The crowds of people are there… and Jesus disciples came to him……
CAN YOU IMAGINE? WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO SIT AT THE FEET OF JESUS IN THIS PLACE…
AND HEAR HIS WORDS IN REAL TIME JUST AS HE IS SPEAKING THEM…
The warm sunshine on your face.. maybe a slight breeze blowing…. The smell of the air as it comes to you from the sea of Galilee…. And the very voice and words of Jesus…
and Jesus says to them….
…unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 (NASB)
He is letting the audience know what is expected of those who would be a part of his kingdom!
You’ve got to be even better than the Pharisees… and today we read Jesus said to “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.”
You want to talk about a tall order!
The Pharisees were ultra-religious people… you couldn’t look at a Pharisee and accuse him of being a liberal… they were ultra and extra religious…. And these guys had rules around their rules…..that they followed to try to keep the law and keep the Sabbath day Holy…
And Jesus says to them…. If you’re not more righteous than those guys… you’re just not gonna make it!
If your angry with your brother … you’re over the line,,,
If you even look at a woman with lust in your heart… you’re guilty of adultery… don’t divorce (except for marital unfaithfulness)
Let your yes be yes and don’t lie… Don’t resist an evil person but instead give to the one who ask’s you….
And today He says…. LOVE YOUR ENEMIES! ….
And Right off the bat….. I want you to know that the context of what’s happening
Jesus isn’t giving a message about how to keep all of God’s rules!
The message to his hearers….. is so much bigger than that!!!
Christ has come …. And by His death, burial and resurrection….. He can make our righteousness surpass even that of the Pharisees!
That’s where we’re going! ….. but let’s back up just a bit shall we?
Love your enemies….
-Pause-
Biker Truck Driver Café Story…..
A truck driver is sitting in a crowded roadside diner ready to eat his lunch. It’s not just any diner and any lunch. It’s his favorite diner on the road and his favorite lunch. Just as the waitress brings the truck driver’s meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans to his table, a motorcycle gang swaggers in the door. Most of them seat themselves at the table next to the truck driver but there’s not room at that table for all of them. The gang members left standing turn to the truck driver and bark, “Move! We want that table!”
The truck driver calmly says, “I haven’t finished my meal.” One of the motorcycle toughs takes his dirty finger, swipes it through the mashed potatoes and gravy, sticks his finger in his mouth and says, “Hey, not bad grub.” Another gang member takes the trucker’s cup of coffee and slowly pours it over the remaining food on the plate and snarls, “You’re finished now!”
The trucker stands, takes his napkin, wipes his mouth, walks to the cash register, pays for his meal, and silently walks out the door. All the bikers are laughing now. One of them says, “Ain’t much of a man, is he?” The waitress says, “And he’s not much of a truck driver, either. He just backed his big-rig over all your motorcycles.”
-Pause-
How do you respond to people who make life difficult for you? Have you noticed?
It seems like Some people just go out of their way just to give you a kick!
-pause-
It’s no surprise to you that we’re living in a fallen world where people are awful to one another…
they stomp on each other as they are trying to get ahead in the workplace… They build themselves up by putting you down…
They Rape and Murder and Lie cheat, steal… and all kinds of awful things…
And what’s even more tragic is that those aren’t just things that happen in a land far far away…. Those things have impacted the most of the people in this room at one time or another…
And in the face of all of that… Jesus says….
Matthew 5:43-44
"You have heard that it was said, ’YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
-Pause--
Notice with me where it says Love your enemies… Jesus is not making a suggestion here,….
He’s not saying “if you think it’s a good idea.” …. He’s giving a command!
Love your enemies! … I did a little digging here…. And I found out that this word for Love…. In the Greek language is the word Greek Word agapaô ….
It’s similar to the word Agape…. Its not Phileo Love… like the word Philidelphia the city of brotherly love….
It’s a perfect selfless love that always seeks the benefit of the other without regard for what you get in return!
And Jesus commands us to Love our enemies! Even to the point of Praying for them!
Show Osama photo..
Desert Storm… 911 …PTSD… .
And admit… Apart from Christ…. I CAN”T DO IT!
-Pause-
Change slide to Samaritan
Do you remember the parable of the good Samaritan?
A man fell among thieves and and they left his naked and bleeding by the side of the road…. 3 People came by….. and only one of them actually stopped to help… Not the church people… Not the people you would expect… but the Foreigner… the Samarating stopped and helped the man….
And Jesus showed us that every human in our sphere of influence is our neighbor.
Therefore, by definition, Christians are to love everyone and hate no one.
And here…. In this passage… Jesus used a different approach to make the same point.
First, he urged them to follow the example of their Father in heaven.
The Father gives gifts (sun and rain) to good and evil alike,…
and so we, as believers, ought to love and pray for our enemies …..
…By this we will show ourselves sons of your Father in heaven. He teaches us to love everyone because God does.
A little girl’s Prayer: A little girl was being punished by eating alone in the corner of the dining room.
The family paid no attention to her until they heard her pray: “I thank Thee, Lord, for preparing a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”
I’m not sure that’s exactly the kind of prayer that Jesus had in mind when He said to pray for those who persecute us.
But I wonder if we could pray things like…
God please be patient with them so that they might have a little bit more time to turn to you.
Or God please bless them and reveal yourself to them so that they might ultimately be saved? …
Or what about this one?..... .
As Jesus hung on the cross …… Father forgive them for they know not what they do?
-Pause-
You know what I’ve noticed?
I’ve noticed that aside from anything that God might do to answer my prayers….
The very act of praying for someone who has done me wrong…. Softens my heart!
When an enemy does something terrible to me… I want God to ZAP em! . I want God to change them!
But as I pray for them, I find that regardless of what God does or doesn’t do with them… … God Changes me! My anger and fear turn to brokenness and peace…
-Pause-
True story.
A Jewish Rabbi…lived in Lincoln, Nebraska. And for more than 3 years, a self-proclaimed Nazi & Ku Klux Klansman, directed a torrent of hate-filled mailings & phone calls toward him.
The Nazi promoted white supremacy, anti-Semitism, & other messages of prejudice, declaring his apartment the KKK state headquarters & himself the grand dragon.
His whole purpose in life seemed to be to spew out hate-ridden racial slurs & obscene remarks against The Rabbi & all those like him.
At first, the Rabbi and his family were so afraid they locked their doors & worried themselves almost sick over there safety.
But one day Rabbi Weisser found out something…..
It turns out that that this Nazi… was a 42-year-old clinically blind, double amputee.
And he became convinced that Trapp’s own physical helplessness was a source of the bitterness he expressed.
So The rabbi decided to do the unexpected. He left a message on the Nazi’ answering machine, telling him about another side of life…a life free of hatred & racism.
The Rabbi… later said, "I probably called 10 times & left messages before he finally picked up the phone & asked me why I was harassing him. I said that I’d like to help him. I offered him a ride to the grocery store or to the mall."
and His enemy was stunned. Disarmed by the kindness & courtesy, he started thinking.
He later admitted, through tears, that he heard in the rabbi’s voice, "something I hadn’t experienced in years…… It was love."
Slowly the bitter man began to soften. One night he called the Rabbi… and said he wanted out, but didn’t know how.
They grabbed a bucket of fried chicken & took him dinner. Before long they made a trade: in return for their love he gave them his swastika rings, hate tracts, & Klan robes.
That same day he gave up his Ku Klux Klan recruiting job & dumped the rest of his propaganda in the trash.
"They showed me so much love
that I couldn’t help but love them back,"
Family, if that could happen in Lincoln, Nebraska, what could happen here in our community, if we truly began to live lives that showed the love of Jesus to those around us?
What would happen if really got serious about living this out ….?
God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked… He doesn’t want anyone to perish but instead that all would come to repentance…
Romans 12 says… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.!!!
---- Pause-
Matthew 5:45
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Now Jesus is not saying…. That you become sons of our Heavenly Father but Loving our enemies and praying for them…
He’s showing us that When we live this way… we show who it is that we belong to…
John 12:35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
-Pause-
Family …. WE Love because He first loved us!
Jesus calls his followers to a love that is grounded in the very character of God.
It is this ……. that separates Jesus’ form of righteousness from that of the Pharisees.
Matthew 5:46-47
"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Romans 12:14 (NASB)
Close… ….
And so we come to this verse..
Change slide to BE PERFECT SLIDE
1. Matthew 5:48
"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
What is God’s standard of perfection? 75% perfect?
What is it that we’re aiming for?
We know that we fall short… we know that we blow it from time to time…
But family… we don’t AIM for that! (POINT… We don’t aim here.. we aim there!)
And even while we’re aiming for perfection…. We definitely don’t become perfect in the Father’s eyes by being good!
In this Christmas season… there is a Christmas nursery rhyme…..
Little Jack Horner Sat in a corner Eating a Christmas pie; He put in his thumb, And pulled out a plum, And said, What a good boy am I!
I’m afraid that’s just not gonna cut it!
Pause----- (Tone down)
…… Family… We need a Savior…. We need Christ!
We need Jesus! …. Because of His death burial and resurrection….
all of our sin can be laid to his account….
And His righteousness can be laid to our account!
And as God looks at us…. Instead of our flawed goodness… God sees the righteousness of Christ!
The Bible says “if anyone is in Christ… they are a new creation! The old is gone and the new has come…
How do we do that? Faith… Repentance… Confession… Baptism….
Pray….
