THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (part 13)
Matt. 5:43-48
In the Beatitudes earlier in the chapter, Jesus said that those who were persecuted were blessed because great was their reward in heaven. In today's section, Jesus explains how we are to respond to those who persecute and say evil things against us-by loving them.
1) Love, not hate.
Matt. 5:43-45, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 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."
The first place we see the phrase, 'love your neighbor as yourself' is in Lev. 19:18. What you won't find is the second part, 'hate your enemy'. The religious leaders had added to God's command for their own benefit; so as to be able to declare anyone they wished as an enemy and therefore justify not helping such a person; even though God's word said contrary.
Ex. 23:4-5, “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it."
God wanted his people to treat others, even enemies, with love and kindness. The people of Jesus' day understood it as you needed to love a fellow Jew but you were allowed to hate a foreigner. But that was dealt with long ago, too.
Lev. 19:33-34, “ ‘When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God."
So, even though there were places where God commanded otherwise, the teachers of the law had maligned the scriptures and taught what they wanted. Thus, the understood rule of the day was, 'love your friend; hate your enemy'. To be declared an enemy, a person didn't need to have done anything against you, but just the fact that they were a foreigner was enough to be considered an enemy.
Times haven't changed much. There are plenty people today who dislike someone because of their color, race, culture or belief. They hate anyone who's different than them. But Jesus, as he's been doing all along, sets things to right. He's basically saying you are not allowed to hate anyone; even if they hate you.
That's hard though, isn't it? If someone doesn't like us our instinctive reaction is anger. "Oh, you don't want to be my friend anymore; well forget you then!" Obviously we're reacting out of being hurt but that doesn't mean the resentment stops once the initial anger subsides. Sometimes people reconcile but sometimes they don't.
If we know someone hates us it's automatic to hate them in return; even if we had no issue with them prior to that. But Jesus wants us to change the way we operate; he wants us to respond in love. He is asking us to do the most difficult thing ever-love our enemy.
It's hard enough to show love to a stranger, someone who's never done anything to me, let alone show it to someone who has shown they don't like me. When we know someone doesn't like us, we feel if we don't take revenge that should be good enough but Jesus wants us to take it a step further-bless them, do good to them, pray for them-love them.
This goes along with what he said in the verses right before this. Not only are you to not retaliate when wronged and take matters into our own hands, but Jesus wants us to bless them on top of it. If someone wants your tunic give him your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go two. Go the extra mile; go above and beyond.
That's hard enough to do for someone whom I have no issues with; let alone doing it for someone whom I have contention with. Do good to the one who has no desire to do good to me. Bless the one who curses me. Pray for the one who could care less about me? That's impossible.
Yes, by our own power it is. But that's why Jesus is calling us to do it; it will show the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants us to act in accordance with our spirit nature; showing ourselves to be children of God and showing the world the unbelievable ability of someone who operates in that power.
Jesus highlights in vs. 45 that this is what God does. He doesn't just send blessings to those who deserve them. He allows them to come to those that don't thank him and he even sends them to those that hate him. In our way of thinking, the only ones who would ever receive something good in their lives would be the ones who treat us well.
And, as soon as you do something to make us upset the blessings would cease. If you apologized we might forgive you and bless you again. But don't do it again or you may find yourself cut off from ever receiving another blessing from us, regardless of your apologies. Thank God he doesn't operate this way or else we would all be deprived of God's blessings.
Why does God bless the ones who don't love him or serve him? This doesn't mean that God blesses everyone equally. There are certain blessings that God bestows on all mankind and then there are some that he gives only to his children. That's the way we are; even if we love everyone. There are certain things we give our kids that we don't give to everyone. We may be generous to those in need but there are certain things we reserve just for our children; like an inheritance.
God allows those who don't love him to receive a good harvest or good health just like he does for those who do love him. Just like he allows calamity to strike all mankind. It's not just the ones who hate God that receive bad things; God allows tragedy to strike his children as well. God allows good things to happen to bad people and bad things to happen to good people. We don't always know why God allows it but when we look at what Jesus said next we can see one reason why.
2) Stand out.
Matt. 5:46-47, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"
In these verses Jesus is providing contrast as well as making a push for bringing us to a higher level. We are called to stand out; we are meant to shine the light and draw attention so we can redirect it to Jesus. Loving those who love us will not stand out. Not that it's bad-love is good. But loving those who love us is the natural thing to do; it's something that those who don't know Jesus do. And when we see our friends or those we know we would normally greet them warmly; that's what everyone does.
Not only regular people; but even the heathens are doing that. Jesus highlights pagans and tax-collectors. Tax collectors were not highly regarded. Some of them were fellow Jews who were hired by the Romans. Therefore, they were considered traitors, accosting their own people in order to collect taxes for Rome. The Greek poet Theocritus, when asked, 'which of the wild beasts were most cruel' answered, 'bears and lions in the mountains and tax gatherers in the city'.
Jesus is saying even ruthless people are able to show kindness to those who are kind to them. So, we need to do much better. When we greet people we don't even know with warmth and sincerity, it will cause people to wonder what's behind it; especially when we extend it towards those in society who are normally shunned or ignored. When we show love to strangers, it gets people's attention. And when we show kindness to someone who has disrespected us, that will cause people to take notice.
But this would be uncomfortable; I don't want to draw attention to myself. I just want to go about my daily routine and keep to myself. That's understandable; but what is preferable isn't necessarily acceptable.
But for some people, it's not just uncomfortable or inconvenient, it's downright scary. Talking to strangers makes you nervous; no matter who it is. This can be true for many of us. For some people, talking with strangers is not a problem; in fact they enjoy it. For others, it's a chore; they have to talk themselves into it.
Jesus knows this; he knows how hard it is for you. He will be there to help you. And he's not saying you need to do this with everyone you see. And he's not expecting you to carry on an hour long conversation with every stranger you meet.
But it's interesting how we can be nervous at first but when the conversation gets going you find yourself talking and before you know it, an hour has gone by. You walk away realizing you just did something pretty remarkable.
Now, since you overcame the initial difficulty and accomplished the victory, you've given yourself some confidence to do it again; going into it without as much fear and trepidation. That's part of the reward Jesus was talking about; the reward that comes from overcoming difficulty to do God's work.
Okay, that's talking to strangers; what about those who are my enemy? I can talk to a stranger; they haven't done anything to me. What about the people who have given me trouble? You telling me I'm supposed to treat them kindly? Come on, Jesus, now you're asking too much. I mean, to love those who love me; there's nothing too noble about that. To love the stranger who hasn't loved me; that's admirable. But to love the one who has hated me? That's impossible.
First of all, we're not to love what they do. We can hate what they say or do; we can be angry at their sin and callousness, but we are called to show them the love and kindness that was shown to us by God. That's not saying what they did was okay. That doesn't mean we need to be their best friends but we are choosing to exhibit the golden rule. We treat them, not as they treat us, but as we would want to be treated and as we have been treated by God.
But think about the blessings that come from doing that? Let's start with ourselves. Are we not better people because of it? When we operate in the power of the Holy Spirit by loving our enemies we are legitimizing and showing ourselves to be children of God (45).
That in itself brings joy and fulfillment. Not that we're living in fear and need validation all the time that we're saved, but when we operate in love in the biggest ways we're glad that we passed the test of resistance and followed through on obeying the will of God. We rejoice that we can claim that victory. We rejoice because we thwarted the devils' plans and desires.
The late US syndicated columnist Sydney J. Harris accompanied his friend George to his favorite newsstand. George greeted the man selling the newspapers courteously, but in return he received gruff service. He barely acknowledged his customer and never even looked up at him when he requested the late night edition.
Accepting the newspaper, which was shoved rudely in his direction, George politely smiled and wished the newsman a pleasant weekend. The proprietor grunted an indiscernible sound and seemed relieved that the two men had completed their transaction.
As the two friends walked down the street the columnist asked, "Does he always treat you so rudely?" "Yes, unfortunately, he does," George responded. "And are you always so kind and friendly to him?" "Yes, I am!" George continued as they turned a corner. "Why are you so nice when he is so unfriendly to you?" With a look of deep contemplation, George explained, "Because I don’t want him to decide how I am going to act."
It's so easy to get sucked into someone else's negativity. But when we maintain kindness in the face of hostility we are making sure the devil doesn't gain a foothold or a victory. Instead, we shine the light of Christ and give him the victory. When we love like this we get satisfaction from accomplishing the work of the kingdom and pleasing our heavenly Father.
It's natural for a child to want to please their parents. And it hurts a child when they know they haven't. It's no different for the children of God. It's natural in our spirit to want to please our heavenly Father and we feel so good when we know we have pleased him. There's a reason why the most anticipated words we want to hear from God is , "well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master's happiness". That's the ultimate reward.
When we perform the most difficult act of love because of our love for God he will recognize and reward that. When we allow the Holy Spirit to control our thoughts, words and actions we know we have accomplished something. It doesn't matter how small it is, either. Loving our enemy is probably the biggest, but there is no such thing as a small accomplishment in the spirit. Whenever we resist temptation; when we forsake doing our own will for the sake of doing God's will we win the battle and can claim the victory.
But what about what it accomplishes for others? As I said; it gets noticed. And for the right people; it will become contagious. People will be inspired to do as we do. Perhaps they know they should love their enemies but keep falling short when the opportunity to do so comes. They think it's an impossible endeavor. Then they see you do it.
When we engage with people who are drawn to what we're doing for Jesus we let them know it's not because we're someone great; it's because we allowed the Holy Spirit to take control. And that it's no different for any other Christian. They can be inspired by this. If he can do it; I can do it.
For those who don't know Christ but like what they see, it's an open door to share the gospel. And what about the enemy whom we're showing the love of Christ to? What kind of impact are we making? The greatest way to turn an enemy into a friend is by loving them. If that softens their heart and they choose to entertain salvation through Christ then we give them the opportunity to stop living for the devil and start living for Jesus.
An Armenian nurse had been held captive along with her brother by the Turks. Her brother was slain by a Turkish soldier before her eyes. Somehow she escaped and later became a nurse in a military hospital. One day she was stunned to find that the man who had killed her brother had been captured and brought wounded to the hospital where she worked.
Something within her cried out, Vengeance! But a stronger voice called for her to love. She nursed the man back to health. The recuperating soldier asked her, "Why didn’t you let me die?" She answered, "I am a follower of Him who said, ’Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you’". Impressed, the young soldier replied, "I never heard such words before. Tell me more. I want this kind of religion."
Christians becoming more like Christ, Christians becoming inspired to love their enemy and those who aren't saved being compelled to want to learn about salvation through Christ. I'd say these are pretty good reasons to do the impossible and love those who don't love us.
3) Be perfect.
Matt. 5:48, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Be perfect? Loving my enemy isn't enough, I have to be perfect too? How can Jesus say this? Talk about impossible standards! When we put our faith in Jesus, his sinless perfection was transferred to us. Now, God sees us through the lens of his Son. In essence, we are perfect, from a positional sense. However, that's not true from a practical sense.
Since we don't become perfect in the practical sense after our baptism, we go through the sanctification process-the process of becoming more like Jesus. We turn away from the thoughts and behaviors that are not of Christ and begin to develop the character that is of Christ.
And thankfully, because of God's grace and mercy, we don't have to meet that standard of perfection in order to be accepted because Jesus took care of that. However, that doesn't mean the standard is lowered. There's no greater achievement than perfection. This means we will be spending the rest of our Christian lives trying to get as close as we can to that standard-that's our goal.
And we have been given the power to do it through Christ. We never have an excuse to sin or fall short. God is understanding when we do fall short but that doesn't mean he excuses it. To say, "well, nobody's perfect" is really a cop-out. Not that we should beat ourselves up when we fall short, but let's not be passive about it either.
When we don't do what God wants us to do, it's not because we couldn't do it; it's because we chose not to. Jesus isn't going to tell us to love our enemies if he wasn't going to give us the ability to do it. The question is-are we willing to do it? It's no small thing but it's not impossible.
"Well, I'm just not there yet. Someday, when I've been a Christian for a number of years, then I'll be able to do this." I don't see Jesus giving this clarifier. He doesn't say this is only for the mature in the faith. The mature in the faith may understand more and have more experiences in living out their faith, but the commands of Christ don't come with a timeline.
If you're a Christian you are responsible, and able, to do what you know you need to do. Regardless of whether or not perfection can be achieved, we need to strive to get as close as we can; doing the most we can during the short time we have in this world to bring about the greatest good for the kingdom of God.
God has given us work to do; he wants us to multiply our talents. Will we bury them or will we put them to work? We need to do the best we can with what we've been given; and we've been given the best God has to offer-the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever watched a little child who mimics their parent? You see this a lot with sons and their fathers. They want to dress like them, look like them, act like them. They sit near them and mimic their every move and gesture. Why? Because of their love and admiration; they want to be like dad. It's no different for children of God.
As God placed a natural desire for sons to be like their fathers, he has placed, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, a desire for us to be like God. Unfortunately, the worldly nature that still exists in us wants nothing to do with that. Thus, the battle rages on. The Holy Spirit is no match for the devil but we have to allow the Spirit to win out. Being like Christ isn't easy; but it's worth it.
