Faith Challenges that will Change Your Summer
And Justice for All
Matt 5:33-48
7/14/2013
Introduction
* The Masai tribe, located in Kenya and Tanzania, greet each other by spitting. When greeting elders, a tribesman must spit in his hand before offering a handshake, thus showing respect. The men spit on newborns, telling them that they are bad. It is believed that if a baby is praised, it will be cursed with a bad life. (This would really give new meaning to the greeting time on Sundays)
* Eligible women in rural Austria during the 19th century would tuck apple slices in their armpits while dancing. When the music stopped, they would offer the sweat-soaked fruit to their partner. He would consume the "exotic treat" if he wanted to pursue a more intimate relationship with her.
* According to some Chinese customs, a husband should carry his bride over a bed of burning coals when entering their home for the first time. This myth has been performed to ensure she will have an easy, successful labor (who says men don't experience pain associated with childbirth).
Custom's set us apart; they become our culture, the attitudes, actions and values that define us. In His early messages Jesus kept referring to the coming kingdom of God and the culture that defines it.
Look with me at
Matt 5:33-48
33 "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
38 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Exceed expectations)
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Love extraordinarily)
I. Exhibit Authenticity
Matt 5:27-32
33 "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Authentic -- the contents of the thing in question correspond to the facts and are not fictitious.
Dave Davila, age 24, took a job in Chicago and had to leave his close-knit family in East Moline, Illinois. But family gatherings just weren't the same without Dave. So his mother took a digital photo of him and had it blown up to his actual height--5 foot 8 inches--and mounted on heavy cardboard from a neighbor's new stove box.
So there's Dave, standing casually, a blue shirt hanging untucked over his khaki shorts. They all call him Flat Dave.
At first, Flat Dave just showed up and stood quietly by at family gatherings. Then word spread throughout the community, and he became something of a celebrity in East Moline. "Complete strangers want to pose with him," said his brother Dan. He also said, "I think Flat Dave's actually better looking."
Sometimes things get somewhat awkward for the real Dave--the one the family now calls Thick Dave. "I'm in Chicago talking to my mom on the phone, and she says, 'Hold on, I've got to load you into the van.' It's a little weird."
Rex W. Huppke, "Meet Flat Dave. He's a Real Stand-Up Guy," Chicago Tribune (July 2, 2006);
A. Oaths -- Validation appeal -- mean nothing
Swear to God -- My cousin Cindy (Jersey accent) Swear to God
Mean nothing
B. Reputation means everything
Appl: The only way to develop a reputation for authenticity is to live it out in all things.
II. Exceed Expectations
38 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you
In the original movie, The Jackie Robinson Story the Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, interviews Jackie Robinson as a potential player toe break the color barrier in professional baseball.
The clip begins in Branch Rickey's office. It is their first meeting. Rickey surprises Robinson by telling him he wants Robinson to try out for his team and possibly become the first black player in the major leagues.
Rickey asks, "What do you think, Jackie? Do you got guts enough to play the game no matter what happens? They'll shout insults at you. They'll come into you spikes first. They'll throw at your head."
"They've been throwing at my head for a long time, Mr. Rickey," Robinson responds.
Rickey fabricates a scenario: "Suppose I'm a player on the eve of an important game. Suppose I collide with you at second base, and when I get up I say, 'You, you dirty black so-and-so.' What do you do?"
"Mr. Rickey, do you want a ballplayer who's afraid to fight back?" Robinson asks.
Rickey answers emphatically, "I want a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back. You've got to do the job with base hits, stolen bases, and fielding ground balls, Jackie. Nothing else. Now, I'm playing you in the World Series, and I'm hotheaded. I want to win the game. So I go into you spikes first. You jab the ball in my ribs and the umpire says 'out'. All I can see is your black face, that black face right over me. So I haul off and punch you right in the cheek. What do you do?"
Robinson calmly thinks for a moment, then answers, "Mr. Rickey, I've got two cheeks."
Appl: What does Jesus expects us to do when we are mistreated -- the unexpected
A. Justice
* defined in black and white terms
* eye for an eye
B. Mercy
* What is not expected
What does Jesus expects us to do when we're over looked, diminished, debased. The unexpected -- don't retreat, don't withdraw.
What does Jesus expect us to do when we been used, the unexpected -- keep serving, keep giving keep reaching.
What does Jesus expects us to do when we're betrayed, the unexpected -- keep trusting.
What does Jesus expect us to do when others have failed us--the unexpected--we remain faithful, loyal.
What does Jesus expect those who follow in his kingdom to demonstrate when they are wronged? The mercy he will show the world who wronged him.
III. Love Extraordinarily
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Love extraordinarily)
Five times in the passage is the highest deepest most significant word for love expressed in the passage.
Agape. . . what does it look like? Loving in extraordinary outrageous ways.
In his book Hidden in Plain Sight, author and pastor Mark Buchanan writes about a woman named Regine. Originally from Rwanda, Regine came to Christ while reading her sister's Bible during the genocide that ravaged her country. When she fled to Canada for refuge, she met her husband, Gordon. They decided to return to Rwanda to show the love of Christ to the people who had once been her enemies. Regine told Mark Buchanan this story ofagape love:
A woman's only son was killed. She was consumed with grief and hate and bitterness. "God," she prayed, "reveal my son's killer."
One night she dreamed she was going to heaven. But there was a complication: in order to get to heaven she had to pass through a certain house. She had to walk down the street, enter the house through the front door, go through its rooms, up the stairs, and exit through the back door.
She asked God whose house this was.
"It's the house," he told her, "of your son's killer."
The road to heaven passed through the house of her enemy.
Two nights later, there was a knock at her door. She opened it, and there stood a young man. He was about her son's age.
"Yes?"
He hesitated. Then he said, "I am the one who killed your son. Since that day, I have had no life. No peace. So here I am. I am placing my life in your hands. Kill me. I am dead already. Throw me in jail. I am in prison already. Torture me. I am in torment already. Do with me as you wish."
The woman had prayed for this day. Now it had arrived, and she didn't know what to do. She found, to her own surprise, that she did not want to kill him. Or throw him in jail. Or torture him. In that moment of reckoning, she found she only wanted one thing: a son.
"I ask this of you. Come into my home and live with me. Eat the food I would have prepared for my son. Wear the clothes I would have made for my son. Become the son I lost."
And so he did.
Agape lovers do what God himself has done, love their enemies until they be reconciled.
Mark Buchanan, Hidden in Plain Sight (Thomas Nelson, 2007), pp. 187-189; submitted by Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois
A. Highest Calling
B. Great Sanctifier
C. Clearest Witness
What is beyond dispute is that Christ expects the culture of his kingdom to be different than the culture of the world.
Christ expects that our lives would exemplify the priorities and characteristics of his kingdom
* Authenticity,
* Justice that exceeds expectations
* Extraordinary examples of extravagant love.
IV. Now what?
A. Evaluate -- Has the culture of the Kingdom become your lifestyle?
B. Admit--which characteristic needs to be buffed?
C. Describe--in what setting, in what way is the Holy Spirit Challenging you to become more kingdom like.
D. What actions will you take?
