Hate's Weak, stop it!
This morning I bring you my second installment of the wisdom found in twitter. Donnie Wahlberg said, “Hate’s weak, STOP IT”. Looking for Scripture related to this turns up interesting results. I found many verses where we aren't told to stop hating. In fact, you may recall that I recently preached a series on things God hates. It just goes to show that good theology must win out over good feelings.
So, if we can't find book chapter and verse on this phrase, what can we do? I felt led to couple this with another commonly used phrase. We can't stop hating what God hates, yet we need to love those whom God loves.
Can you guess the phrase? “Hate the sin, love the sinner.”
IL. From MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER in Kansas ok, on sermoncentral.com
Have you heard about Carl? Carl was a quiet man. But he would always greet you with a big smile & a firm handshake. Even after living in our neighborhood for over 50 years, no one could really say they knew him very well.
Before his retirement, he took the bus to work each morning. The sight of him walking down the street alone often worried us. He had a slight limp from a bullet wound received in WW2.
We worried that although he had survived WW2, he might not survive our changing neighborhood with its increase of random violence, gangs, & drug activity.
When he saw the notice asking for volunteers to care for the flower garden at our church, he responded. He was 87 years old when the very thing we feared finally happened.
On a hot summer day, as he was watering the garden, 3 gang members approached him. Ignoring their attempt to intimidate him, he simply asked, "Would you like a drink from the hose?"
The tallest & toughest-looking of the 3 said, "Yeah, sure."
Then, as Carl offered the hose to him, the other two grabbed Carl's arms, & threw him down. As the hose snaked crazily over the ground, dousing everything in its way, they stole his retirement watch & his wallet, & fled.
Carl tried to get up, but he had been thrown down on his bad leg. He lay there trying to lift himself as the minister came running to help him. "Carl, are you okay? Are you hurt?” the minister kept asking as he helped Carl to his feet.
Carl wiped his face & sighed, "Just some punk kids. I hope they'll wise-up someday.” His wet clothes clung to his frame as he bent to pick up the hose.
Concerned, the minister asked, "Carl, what are you doing?” “I've got to finish my watering", came the calm reply. Satisfying himself that Carl really was all right, the minister could only marvel at his composure.
A few weeks later the 3 returned. Just as before their threat was unchallenged. Carl again offered them a drink from his hose. This time they didn't rob him. They grabbed the hose from his hand & drenched him head to foot.
When they had finished their humiliation of him, they sauntered off, throwing catcalls & curses, laughing at what they had done. Carl just watched them. Then he picked up his hose, & went on with his watering.
The summer was fading into fall. And Carl was working in the garden when he was startled by someone suddenly coming up behind him. Turning around, he stumbled & fell. And as he struggled to regain his footing, he looked up to see the leader of his tormentors reaching down for him.
He braced himself for the expected attack. "Don't worry old man, I'm not gonna hurt you.” The young man spoke softly, offering his scarred & tattooed hand to Carl.
As he helped Carl get up, he pulled a crumpled bag from his pocket & handed it to him. "What's this?” Carl asked. "It's your stuff," he explained. "It's your stuff back. Even the money in your wallet."
"I don't understand," Carl said. "Why are you helping me now?” The young man shifted his feet, seeming embarrassed & ill at ease.
"I learned something from you," he said. "I ran with that gang & hurt people like you. We picked on you because you were old & we knew we could do it.
“But every time we came & did something to you, instead of yelling & fighting back, you tried to give us a drink. You kept showing love against our hate.”
Part of the problem with our topic for today is that the world misunderstands hate. They often use the word incorrectly. For example, anytime they hear that they are wrong, they say, “Don't be a hater.” They assume the only motivation for correcting a mistake has to be hate. However, there are many circumstances we could consider in which correcting someone is motivated out of love.
• If a friend’s fly is open and they are about to take the stage. Telling them is a little embarrassment to save a much bigger one!
• American Idol- Many go there thinking they are the next superstar and they can’t carry a tune to save their lives. They leave devastated, angry, confused, etc.! Someone should have spoken in love to warn them.
So, what is hate?
Google defines it as “feel intense or passionate dislike for (someone).”
Hate is that passionate dislike.
I agree that having that strong of a dislike is weak and we should stop it.
However, when you see what is often mislabeled as hate, it is a different story.
• It isn’t hate to tell the truth even if it is painful
o I have had students call me mean for correcting them in class. They asked why I hated them. That was done in love, not hate. That came from a desire to see them be successful and avoid the consequences of mistakes.
• It isn’t hate when we challenge sin.
o We are often called haters if we say a behavior is sin. Yet if done properly, it is done in an effort to help the listener. If you saw someone in imminent danger you would intervene wouldn’t you? Sin puts people in some of the worst types of danger!
In John 8:2-11 we see a Biblical example of this concept I’m trying to help us grasp today.
“At dawn He went to the temple complex again, and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began to teach them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. “Teacher,” they said to Him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say? ” They asked this to trap Him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with His finger. When they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then He stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only He was left, with the woman in the center. When Jesus stood up, He said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? ” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” (John 8:2-11 HCSB)
Jesus was here confronted with a dilemma. There is a woman who is obviously a sinner. The New Living Translation says she was a “woman who had been caught in the act of adultery”. Somehow these Pharisees knew that there was an affair going on, and had caught her in the act. They brought her to Jesus to trap Him. They were going to see if He was a friend of sinners and would be soft on the issue of adultery, or on their side, and judge her harshly, which would have been against everything He had taught and done up to this point.
Jesus handled them masterfully, and in doing so set an example for us.
We need to have the same attitude as Jesus. Nowhere in this passage do we find Him easy on sin. Coupled with other passages we will examine, we can see that He, being God, hated sin. However, this is also a beautiful example of how we should hate sin while loving sinners.
1. Hate sin
Ex: How do we see that Jesus hated sin?
Driving out money changers
Command to nearly everyone He healed- "go and sin no more"
We never see Him letting them off the hook!
He called for a change by pointing out their life post encounter with
Christ was to be different than it had been before Christ.
AP: we too must take a hard line on sin
in our lives
Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus,[a]the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him[c] endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne. HCSB
in our church
Hold each other accountable.
Not out of anger and malice, but out of love and as protection.
in our society
We are called to be salt and light to this world. In being that, we will
by our example, convictions, and words be pointing out the error of sin and calling for repentance.
2) Love sinners
EX: Jesus clearly loved sinners
He went to their homes - Zacheaus
He tolerated their presence/touch- Woman in Simon’s house
Here in John 8, he showed love when He didn't condemn her. He could have called for her death. It was in keeping with the law wasn’t it? I think His love let Him see past the woman and realize she was just a pawn. Some even speculate she was either a prostitute or had been set up. The glaring omission in this story is where is the guy? It takes 2 to commit adultery! They didn’t care about the sin.
He could have crushed her already broken spirit. One word would have destroyed the last bit of hope she might have had. His loving and merciful response to her is a perfect example of what was meant in Matthew 12;19-20 which points out how Jesus fulfilled a prophesy of Isaiah.
“He will not argue or shout, and no one will hear His voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not put out a smoldering wick, until He has led justice to victory. (Matthew 12:19-20 HCSB)
This is the reason Jesus is seen so often with hurting people. His love moves Him to not break the delicate reed or snuff out the little light left.
Il: One rule of medicine is to do no harm. The idea is that when diagnosing and treating, be careful not to cause further injury.
That didn’t work out so well for my niece’s husband Robert. He went to an emergency room with symptoms of appendicitis. While there, the doctor told him to jump up and down. Since he didn’t crumble to the floor in pain, they sent him home telling him he had gas. This might well have been the first flair up in what led to his appendix bursting and him having emergency surgery later.
Like Jesus, we must love sinners!
• love them enough to speak the truth in love Ephesians 4:14-15 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ.
• Love them enough to restore a dislocated brother/sister Galatians 6:1-2 Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted. 2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
• Love them enough to call for repentance. Jesus preached repentance! He told them to turn from their sin. Even in this passage, he still tells her to “go and sin no more.” When we proclaim repentance, we are offering a lifeline to drowning men and women! We are rescuing the perishing!
Conclusion:
Today, my challenge to you is this.
Let us hate sin like Jesus does.
But NEVER forget, we must love the sinners!
After all, we are all sinners aren’t we? 1 John 1:10 10 If we say, “We don’t have any sin,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. HCSB
