Love That’s Tough to Do
Matthew 5:43-48
Sermon by Pastor John Stensrud
Immanuel Baptist Church
Elgin, IL
Delivered on February 18, 2001
Mat 5:43 "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.
In some ways, there isn’t a whole lot of difference between the basic human nature among fellow human beings. For example, we’re all driven by similar desires. One strong desire that is common to all of us is the desire to be liked. I don’t know about you but I want to be liked and appreciated.
And most of us generally try to be likable. Whether we’re on our jobs, around our neighborhoods, or at church, we try to be friendly and make an honest attempt to treat people in such a way that they have positive feelings towards us.
Now there are those who are anti-social and arrogant – socio-paths who do everything in their power to be disliked. But apart from these exceptions, most of us do sincerely try to get along with others. While this is true, it is also true that sometimes it just doesn’t work.
Unfortunately, there are those times when people decide that they really don’t like us. Even though we have made an attempt to be kind to them, and are wonderful people ourselves, they, nonetheless, resolve to be hostile towards us. This is a disturbing reality of life. It can be very disappointing. It can also hurt.
It has happened to me many times – and what especially hurts is when someone in your own family chooses to reject us.
The reason that I chose to give a message on this passage is that someone close to me – no one in this church – leveled untrue accusations against me and is not on speaking terms with me. I was hurt by all this and my first instinct is to become like a hockey player and check my adversary into the boards. I thank God that to this point, I have not responded back with vengence.
Who knows why someone chooses to be our enemy? And how do you respond to them when they do? The tendency is to strike back. It has been called the "plan and pounce" strategy - the "don’t get even, get ahead" method. But what does this way of retaliating at people for their behavior really produce? It produces further animosity and more bad feelings. It makes the hostile person even more hostile, and leaves us feeling worse instead of better.
Jesus said that there was a better way. As a matter of fact, He gives us a radical solution to this ancient problem. Instead of retaliating against your enemy, you should love him by doing good to him!
"Love him! You have got to be kidding!" you may be saying about now. "How can we be expected to love those who are treating us harshly and unfairly? Surely, no one could do that, or would even want to. Even Christians have their limits, don’t they?"
There is no doubt that Christians do have limits. But when it comes to love, the limits far exceed what we may think. The confusion comes when we adopt the thinking of the world. The world’s way is to return evil for evil. Remember, the only problem with "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" is that everyone would soon be blind and toothless.
I used to be a hockey fan when I was a boy. But one thing I noticed was that most players were missing teeth. They say that a hockey game broke out after a fight started. Hockey is often a game of retaliation where players slam an opponent into the boards after a hefty cross check. There must not only be a team doctor for hockey teams but team dentists. Fist fights are part and parcel of the game. So are dentures and partials.
There was an old Amos and Andy radio show routine where Andy was particularly exasperated over a certain fellow on the street who, as Andy walked by him on his way to work each morning, would slap Andy on the chest and say hello. It used to drive Andy crazy. He hated being slapped on the chest. Andy complained to Amos about the situation and told him that he had resolved to do something about it. He said that on the next morning he would strap some dynamite to his chest and when the annoying fellow slapped it, he would blow his hand off!
How do you deal with your enemies?
Let’s first look at a Twisted Belief concerning this subject.
You have heard that it was said, "you shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy." (Matthew 5:43)
Unfortunately, there is a tendency even with Christians to follow the way of the world. Those in the world would tell you that common sense dictates that you love those who love you and hate those who hate you. And this is precisely where the religious leaders of Jesus’ day had come. They had a twisted belief that they thought was based on scripture.
When Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, ’you shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy’" He was referring to the Rabbinic teaching which was supposedly based on Scripture. And indeed, in Leviticus 19:18 we find the teaching about loving your neighbor. It reads: "you shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord."
This teaching is clear enough. The problem was that over time it had become twisted. The religious leaders had distorted the truth in order to accommodate themselves. They had made what God said more acceptable to the common sense of the day.
They had both taken away from and added to the Scripture. In Leviticus 19:18 it qualifies how we are to love our neighbors. It says there that you are to love them "as yourself." This ruled out any kind of superficial and casual application of the word love. To love someone else as you love yourself is to take great care in loving them. We all certainly take great care in loving ourselves. This phrase, however, was conveniently left out.
They also added to the text of scripture by saying that you were to hate your enemy. This was convenient because it fit nicely with the common sense thinking of the day. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what God had intended at all. Even the context of Leviticus 19:18 indicates that. We are told there that we are not to "take vengeance, nor bear any grudge."
What we have illustrated in the teaching of the religious leaders is a twisting of scripture to accommodate our sinful desires. And to this mentality Jesus speaks a powerful and radical word that is transforming in its impact.
A Transformed Behavior
But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order 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 un-righteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gathers do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:44-48)
In v.44 Jesus offers a four-part strategy for ministry instead of retaliation:
(1) love your enemies;
- Not storge ( "family affection );
- Not eros ( "passionate longing" );
- Not phillia ( "warm and affectionate friendship" );
- but agape ( "unconquerable benevolence" ); It is the love which is divine in origin and available only in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is more of the mind than of the emotions, but it comes straight from the heart of God.
Examining this passage of Scripture will reveal the transformed behavior that Jesus is after in each of us. The point is that Jesus does not want us to act like the world. He wants us to manifest a behavior that is based upon a supernatural principle of divine life. He desires that we live above the level of mediocrity by the power of His Spirit. He desires for us to live a life that in our own strength we cannot live.
The first thing He says to us is that you should love your enemies. This is a powerful and radical teaching about the inclusiveness of love. The kind of love that Jesus advocates even embraces our enemies.
To those listening to Jesus that day, this must have seemed like an impossibility. How could anyone love his or her enemy? Enemies don’t evoke love in anyone. Jesus, however, wanted to make a point that He considered our neighbor to include our enemies. In other words, no one is outside the scope of our love. Or no one should be. We then are called to manifest love to all people.
The love of which Jesus speaks is a particular kind of love. It is agape, the love of God. Someone once called it "the God-kind of love." It is the love that we receive from God and give out to the world. It is the love empowered by God. It is not emotion, though it may involve emotion. It is love in action. It is the love that seeks the highest welfare of another. It is the love that manifests itself in deeds. This is how we are to love our enemies. We are to love them by treating them in a loving way.
Next, Jesus tells us to pray for those who persecute you. Now, He is not saying that we should pray for them to be struck by lightning or that a house should fall on them. Rather, He is saying that we should pray on their behalf to God. We should pray that God would begin to act in their lives. We should pray that they would be blessed by God, not to continue being our enemies but to see the truth and submit to God.
This prayer does at least two things.
First, it impacts them and their situation. Prayer can change things and people. When we pray for our enemies we are doing good to them. We are making a difference in their lives. Second, prayer changes us. When we pray for our enemies, we are engaging in a Godlike work. We are interceding for them as Christ intercedes for us. We are beginning to see them through Christ’s eyes. Prayer causes our hearts to reach out in compassionate love for others. Perhaps this is why Jesus encouraged us to pray for our enemies.
Jesus goes on to tell us that if we behave in this way we will be identifying ourselves as His children. We should do this in order 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. (Matthew 5:45)
How do we manifest to the watching world that we are truly children of God? It is through our love and concern. We do not love others in order to earn salvation. Rather, because we are saved, we love others. We reveal who we are by what we do. And as children of God, we must love people.
Are you manifesting your identity as a child of God? You see, we should show this impartial love because God shows impartial love. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. The point is that God blesses everyone. He doesn’t just bless those who love Him. He sends His blessing without regard to whether the one receiving the blessing deserves it.
He goes on to say that we must live on a higher level than those around us. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gathers do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? (Matthew 5:46-47)
We are not called to live on the same level as the world. Indeed, we are called to live on a level that is not only higher, but impossible. The point of what Jesus is saying is that we must live by the power of God. He is asking us to do things that in our own strength we cannot do. The only possible way to truly love our enemies is to live by the power of God. He is calling us to submit our weaknesses to Him and allow Him to pour His strength into us. When we are weak then He is strong. He is calling us to be in the world but not of the world.
Anyone can live in a belligerent, spiteful, revengeful way. It takes a child of God to live above the level of this mediocrity and walk by the power of the Spirit.
Finally, He tells us to be like our heavenly Father. Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)
The constant call to the Christian is to be like God. It is God’s purpose to conform each one of us to the image of Jesus Christ. He is calling us to surrender our lives so that God can mold us into a Christ-like person.
The word for perfect in Greek is often translated "mature" or complete -- it means that nothing is missing, nothing is inferior, everything is flawless. The Lord expects from each one of us a flawless, superior love for our neighbors. Anything short of absolute perfection is unacceptable.
Because of this, some would say that it really doesn’t mean perfect. They say this because they can’t conceive of God asking us to be perfect. After all, none of us are perfect. And none of us will be ever be perfect in this life.
While it is true that none of us will ever be perfect in this life, this does not diminish the force of Jesus’ word. He is calling us to be perfect. How can this be? How can He ask us to be perfect when He knows that we can’t be perfect?
He calls us to be perfect because perfection is our standard when it comes to loving our neighbor / loving our enemy. It must be. Imperfection can never be the standard for any believer. You see, our standard is God Himself. We must never judge ourselves by any other standard. When we do, we end up living far below what God has intended for us. While you may not hit perfection if you shoot for it, I can guarantee you that if you shoot for imperfection you will always hit it. So, while we may never be perfect in this life, our standard can never be imperfection. Our standard, our desire, is to be like God.
Now it seems hard enough to accomplish this when those whom we love don’t "deserve" such devotion; to extend it to our enemies seems unreasonable, if not impossible! Yet Jesus does expect it of His disciples, and we are equipped with the mighty power of the Holy Spirit in order that we may obey Him.
Jesus is telling us that He wants us to be like Him. He wants us to love with the kind of love He has. When we see that kind of love, it makes us want to be someone who loves like that.
It was the day after Christmas and Mr. Greene parked his car to pick up the morning paper. He noticed a dirty, poorly dressed boy looking at his car. Seeing the boy eyeing the car, he reminded himself to be quick or he might be missing a hubcap when he returned. He came out of the store with his paper under his arm and just as he opened the door to the car, the boy asked "Mister, how much would a new car like that cost?" Mr. Greene responded, "I really don’t know; my brother gave me this car as a gift." The ragged little boy looked unbelievingly at the car with a look of wonder in his eyes, and said something unexpected. He didn’t say what you might think, "Gee, I wish I had a brother like that." He said, "Gee, I wish I could be a brother like that." Our call is to be people who manifest the nature of the God we serve -it is a call to be like Jesus.
If we would learn to be like Jesus, we must go back and reflect clearly on what it cost Christ to forgive us. We were no bargain for the Lord! We were none who deserved his love. He gave his forgiveness to us freely. It is remembering this that will open the possibility of love in our hearts toward people whom we find obnoxious, cruel, frightening, and difficult. The one who recognizes little need of forgiveness loves little; and the converse is also true-the one who has been forgiven much loves much.
I want to end with a call to do something specific. Sometime this week at least once, will you extend yourself to do something loving for a person you don’t expect to love you back? I don’t mean somebody you already like or you’re already familiar with, nor someone who is going to be perceptive of your sacrifice and at some point come back and do something sacrificial for you. Don’t choose someone who is already in the circle of neighbors. Will you greet somebody, at some risk to yourself? Will you reach out and say hello to someone, wish them well and express concern for them who may snub you, turn their back on you, reject you, laugh at you, or stare at you? Will there be anything, even once in the coming week, that will remind the world of love that is different from that which can be generated by human beings.
It could be a second grader who lives on Hickory Place, Ann Street, or Burnham Mills in Elgin who needs tutoring, and doesn’t have much to give you back. It could be young people of all kinds in your community who are so confused and desperate and in over their heads that they don’t have much to offer you back. It could be someone with a learning disability or physical handicap, someone who is homelessness or addicted to alcohol, or others who have all kinds of things that make them difficult to be around. But the challenge is to, at least once in the course of the next seven days, try something where you can’t predict that any good will come of it to you. See if learning God’s heart doesn’t make it more sure in your experience that you are in fact a child of your Father!
