A story in the Sunshine Magazine about a professor of psychology illustrates how difficult it is to love others. Although he had no children of his own, whenever he saw a neighbor scolding a child for some wrongdoing, he would say, "You should love your boy, not punish him." One hot summer afternoon the professor was doing some repair work on a concrete driveway leading to his garage. Tired out after several hours of work, he laid down the towel, wiped the perspiration from his forehead, and started toward the house. Just then out of the corner of his eye he saw a mischievous little boy putting his foot into the fresh cement. He rushed over, grabbed him, and was about to spank him severely when a neighbor leaned from a window and said, "Watch it, Professor! Don’t you remember? You must ’love’ the child!" At this, he yelled back furiously, "I do love him in the abstract but not in the concrete!"
I imagine that upon first reading this text, most people think something like, “Yeah, right!” I agree. This teaching more than the earlier ones confronts our very lifestyle and culture. How can you “love” those terrorists responsible for the WTC and Pentagon bombings? How can you “love” a murderer or rapist that has permanently altered your family and your life? How do you “love” a person who has swindled you out of your money or your job? It almost makes you angry to even consider it, but still, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the very Word, says we should. Now, if you’re like me, sometimes you need an explanation along with the commandment because it seems so impossible to keep. Today we will examine some very valid and even life-changing reasons that Jesus tells us to love our enemies.
I. THE TWISTED COMMANDMENT (v. 43)
A. It’s Foundation
Lev. 19:18, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear
any grudge against the children of thy people, but
thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the
LORD."
1. The teaching that calls on people to “hate
your enemy” can be found nowhere in the Bible.
2. It is a misinterpretation, coupled with an
addition, to Leviticus 19:18.
B. It’s Falsehood
We find two errors here:
1. Narrow interpretation of the word “neighbor”
as being only a Jew. In our time this would be
akin to saying that a white man’s neighbor could
only be a white man, and so forth.
2. Assumption that you can’t love and therefore
can justifiably hate anyone who is not of your
own origin. The Jewish rabbis were in effect
advocating open and deliberate racism on the
grounds of national origin.
3. Hear their own words: “A Jew sees a Gentile
fall into the sea, let him by no means lift him
out; for it is written, Thou shalt not rise up
against the blood of thy neighbor:-but this is
not thy neighbor.” Maimon. This shows that by
neighbor they understood a Jew; one who was of
the same blood and religion with themselves.
II. IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE (v. 44-48)
A. Why Should I Love My Enemies?
1. The common sense argument
a. Five times Jesus told His disciples to be of
good cheer. He also spoke about our joy being
full. Even though we often don’t act like it,
God ultimately wants us to be joyful and have a
positive outlook on life.
b. Listen close. Write this down or etch it in
your memory: It is impossible for a human
being to hate someone and still be happy. Hate
consumes us and destroys your joy.
2. The changed life argument
a. God deals with all people on even ground (v.
45). The idea of being “children of God” means
to be a reflection of your Father.
b. It’s easy to love those who love you. Even
the worst person will love someone who loves
them back (v. 46-47).
1) Jesus calls us out of a life of
mediocrity into a life exemplary (2 Cor.
5:17, 21)
2) Jesus loved those who didn’t even love
Him back. All He wants us to do is be like
Him.
If you say that you can’t do it, Jesus says you can, and thank Him because He gives us three approaches to deal with people who we don’t get along with. Now let’s look at “how” to deal with your enemies.
B. How To Handle Your Enemies (v. 44)
Listen to the words of another pastor. “Jesus is
not suggesting that believers should not have
enemies. That someone else marks me as his or her
enemy is often beyond my control. There are people
who have set themselves against me and against all
that I stand for; I am sometimes powerless to in
any way dissuade them. There are people who despise
me, who seek to hurt me or to ruin me. That is a
sad fact of life in our fallen world. But Jesus
teaches me that I am able to control my response to
my enemies. I can refuse to be their enemies. I can
resist the urge to hate them right back.”
1. Our guidelines (v. 44)
a. bless instead of curse
- don’t retaliate in word
b. do good instead of evil
- don’t retaliate in deed
c. pray instead of seeking revenge
1) Pray that God would touch their heart as
you attempt to touch their life.
2) Retaliation only breeds more
retaliation. God can change a persons
heart, and therefore, their life.
3) The whole of the Christian life can be
summed up in one phrase:
“Restraint in the face of opposition.”
Conclusion (v. 48)
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.
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.
I feel compelled to move sideways for a moment. I hope that you understand that all of these teachings we have looked at over the past weeks concerning Christian character have no value in themselves. If you look at these various commandments and believe that by attempting to live up to this lifestyle you will become a Christian, you have missed the point. All of these lifestyle changes that Jesus teaches here cannot “make” you a Christian. They are only achievable in the lives of people who have already become Christians. You can only do these things with God’s help. We don’t gather together here to perform some type of “religion”. Religion will not get you any closer to God. The only way to know God personally is through Jesus Christ. He paved the only way to God. The pathway to God cannot be traveled by making steps of rituals or even getting your morals in order. Please understand this. If you could get to God on your own, Jesus would have never had to die in your place. You don’t need a list of good deeds. You can’t make yourself a Christian. If you’ve spent your life trying to reform yourself, stop today. Invite Jesus Christ into your heart and accept His payment to God for your sins today.
