Text: Matthew 5:38-42
Subject: Justice
Theme: New Testament view of justice
Prop: The Law provided justice, but Christians are not to always seek justice.
Trans.: Jesus gives us the solution to a heart of retaliation. Turn the other cheek, give more than is required, to go the extra mile, to show mercy to the less fortunate.
INTRODUCTION
One winter day not so long ago a man went shopping at the local neighborhood mall. When he returned to his car he noticed a rather foul odor coming from under the hood and so he checked the engine. In the compartment he discovered a dead cat rather mutilated from being caught in the fan belt. The poor cat had sought shelter from the snow and cold and didn’t realize the dangers of resting on the engine block. Mr. Jones was lucky though, one of his shopping bags was made of plastic and so he emptied its contents and proceeded to scrape, pull and push the cat corpse into the bag. With a bang he slammed the hood down and walked off to wash his hands, but looking back he noticed something unusual. He had left the bag on the hood of the car. He was about to return and pick it up but just then a lady walks by, looks suspiciously in both directions, she grabs the bag, and with her cart she then speeds off for the mall. "Well this is too good to be true!" the man thought as he laughed at the lady. He decided to follow her and see what would happen next. She went to a restaurant and proceeded to survey her prize. "Yeek!" she screamed as she looked in the bag. And then over she fell. Of course, the management was equally alarmed that a customer had fainted in their establishment and so they called the paramedics. The woman in no time at all was strapped to a cart and ready to be hauled off to the ambulance. But the man couldn’t resist. "Hey lady!" he shouted, "don’t forget your package!" And with that he gently laid the cat corpse filled bag on the lady’s chest, just as the ambulance doors were closing!
One summer evening in Broken Bow, Nebraska, a weary truck driver pulled his rig into an all-night truck stop. He was tired and hungry. The waitress had just served three tough looking, leather jacketed motorcyclist - of the Hell’s Angel’s type - decided to give him a hard time. Not only did they verbally abuse him, one grabbed the hamburger off his plate, another took a handful of his french fries and the third picked up his coffee and began to drink it.
How did this trucker respond? How would you respond? Well, this trucker did not respond as one might expect. Instead, he calmly rose, picked up his check, walked to the front of the room, put the check and his money on the register, and went out the door. The waitress followed him to put the money in the till and stood watching out the door as the big truck drove away into the night.
When she returned, one of the cyclists said to her, “Well, he’s not much of a man, is he?”
She replied, “I don’t know about that, but he sure isn’t much of a truck driver. He just ran over three motorcycles on his way out of the parking lot.”
SERMON
I. JUSTICE ACCORDING TO THE LAW. Verse 38.
1. In the Old Testament, it was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Jesus is quoting from Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy 19:21
2. This was not revenge, but it was justice.
3. Revenge happens when we feel that justice was not served, so God in His wisdom said that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth would ensure that people would not seek revenge.
The farmer had been pestered by a carload of people who delighted in climbing an orchard fence and eating his apples without asking permission. One day, as he walked up to them, one of them smiled sheepishly and said, "We hope you don’t mind that we took a few of your apples." "No, not at all," said the farmer, "and I hope you don’t mind that I took some of the air out of your tires."
II. JUSTICE FOR THE CHRISTIAN. Verses 39-42.
1. Jesus reveals to us the fact that the Christian has a higher calling in life than seeking revenge. We can spend our time demanding our rights, or we can live by a higher law. We can be a testimony to God’s mercy.
2. When Jesus says do not resist him who is evil, he is not implying that we do not resist evil. He is saying that we are not to take matters into our own hands, as if justice depends on our reaction.
3. READ 1 CORINTHIANS 9:19-23
Trans.: Jesus gives us the solution to a heart of retaliation. Turn the other cheek, give more than is required, to go the extra mile, to show mercy to the less fortunate.
A. N.T. JUSTICE MAY REQUIRE SUBMISSION TO INJURIES. Verse 39.
1. Jesus was the ultimate example of turning the other cheek.
2. This does not imply that we are to let our families be murdered while we do nothing.
3. Paul appealed to his Roman citizenship at times to preserve his own life.
4. Georges Klem en so was twice the prime minister of France, and played a major role in the treaties that concluded WW1. At the Versailles conference, Klem en so was on his way to a meeting with President Woodrow Wilson’s advisor when he was shot at by a young anarchist named Emile Cottin. As Klem em so’s car sped away Cottin fired at least six more shots, one of which struck Klem en so near his heart. Cottin was captured and the death penalty demanded, but Klem en so asked for leniency, recommending eight years in prison “with intensive training in a shooting gallery.”
Richard Weaver, a Christian worker, earned his living in the mines. He had the higher priority, however, of trying to bring his associates in contact with the savior and His soul-restoring Word. While most of the men were indifferent, one became offended by his witness, and finally exclaimed, "I’m sick of your constant preaching. I’ve a good mind to smack you in the face!" "Go ahead if it will make you feel better," replied Weaver. The man immediately struck him a stinging blow. The Christian did not retaliate but turned the other cheek. Again the unbeliever struck him and then walked away, cursing under his breath. Weaver called after him, "I forgive you, and still pray that the Lord will save you!" The next morning his assailant was waiting for him when he came to work "Oh, Dick," he said, his voice filled with emotion, "do you really forgive me for what I did yesterday?" "Certainly," said Weaver extending his hand. As he told him again the message of salvation, God opened the man’s heart, and he was ready to become a Christian.
1. This man was willing to suffer physical injury so that he might win one to Jesus.
B. N.T. JUSTICE MAY REQUIRE ACCEPTANCE OF LOSS OF PROPERTY. Verse 40.
1. The Law did not allow the outer garment to be taken from a person since it protected them from the cold.
2. We have a person who is trying to take every advantage of the law and Jesus is saying that it would be better to suffer a small lose than to have an attitude of revenge. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:7 tells us that we are better off being taken advantage of than bringing shame to Christ.
3. READ PHILIPPIANS 3:4-12
C. N.T. JUSTICE MAY REQUIRE ACCEPTANCE OF BURDENS IMPOSED. Verse 41.
1. READ 1 CORINTHIANS 10:23-33
2. EXPLAIN THE VERSE AS IT PERTAINS TO THE ROMAN SOLDIERS.
3. When a Christian does something, it should be done to the best of our ability.
4. TALK ABOUT THE LAST YEAR OF A CONTRACT.
5. It can be a burden to sacrifice rights, but there are times that we must be willing to do that.
D. N.T. JUSTICE MAY REQUIRE A READINESS TO SHARE. Verse. 42.
1. Does not mean that we just blindly give away all. Stewardship. People who will not work.
2. Duty to family.
CONCLUSION
God has a purpose for our lives, and that purpose is to try to win as many people to Christ that we can. We have a choice to make when we are wronged. We can seek revenge ourselves, or we can show mercy. There are times in which we will need to assert our rights. There were times when Paul did so to preserve his life. We need to think long and hard before we retaliate for a wrong suffered.
Hudson Taylor, dressed in a Chinese costume, while waiting for a boatman to take him across the river, stood on a jetty. Presently a richly dressed Chinaman came and also stood waiting. When the boat drew near this man not seeing that Mr. Taylor was a foreigner, struck him on the head and knocked him over into the mud. Mr. Taylor said the feeling came to him to hit the man, but God immediately stopped him. When the boat came up, the Chinaman looked at Mr. Taylor and recognized him as a foreigner. He could hardly believe it, and said, "What, you a foreigner, and did not strike me back when I struck you like that?" Mr. Taylor said "This boat is mine. Come in and I will take you where you want to go." On the way out, Mr. Taylor poured into that Chinaman’s ears the message of salvation. He left the man with tears running down his face. Such is the power of the Gospel of Christ.
