OPEN: Clarence Darrow, the famed criminal lawyer once joked: "Everyone is a potential murderer. I have not killed anyone - but I frequently get satisfaction out of obituary notices."
APPLY: Now, why would we find that humorous? We find it funny because it comes so close to the truth.
Of all the things Jesus commanded, loving our enemies is perhaps the most difficult.
· I MAY NOT love God like I should, but I’m determined to get a handle on it.
· I many not love my wife the way I should, but I intend to work at it.
· I may not love my neighbor as I should - but I have nothing against trying.
BUT, love my enemy?
How many of you have had enemies?
How many of you would find it difficult to love them?
OF COURSE YOU have difficulty loving them… they’re your enemies!! If you could love them, they wouldn’t be your enemies anymore, now would they?
· They’ve hurt you
· They’ve spoken out against you
· They’ve threatened your self worth, your standing in community, your finances, your job
· They’ve subjected you to mental cruelty and perhaps even caused you bodily harm
I don’t want to love these people…
AND YET, Jesus says… "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."(vs 27-28)
I. Now I have to admit, my favorite way of thinking about my enemies is summed up in Romans 12:19 "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord."
In Deuteronomy 32:35 God tells us: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them."
OR as II Thess 1:6 so quaintly puts it: "God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you.
I LIKE THAT! But, now, let’s be honest… that’s not really “loving my enemy” is it?
SO, why should I love my enemy??? Jesus gives us 3 reasons:
1st - verse 35 tells me that when we are willing to do that "Great is your reward."
Jesus doesn’t expand on this here but this a promise. A promise from Jesus Himself. Jesus is essentially saying: "If you will honor me enough to do the tough things in life, I’ll reward you properly.
ILLUS: Acts tells us the story of the death of Stephen, the 1st Christian to die for his faith. As he lay dying, we’re told that his last words were: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing." What is Jesus doing during this travesty? Stephen says: "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56).
Knowing Stephen’s desire to forgive his enemies even as he is dying, Jesus is standing in heaven. But Hebrews 1:3 tells us that, when Jesus ascended into heaven, "he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."
So, why would Jesus be standing now? My suspicion is, that it is the same as any other time people stand: at a concert, in the presence of an honored individual, at the presentation of our nation’s flag - it’s a mark of respect and honor. Jesus - knowing that Stephen had determined to forgive his killers - took this opportunity to show him and us that this is the type of attitude He honors.
ILLUS: I once was told the true story about a man who had embezzled $27,000 from a partnership he had with a Christian couple. The Christians became embittered, couldn’t sleep well at night and were so troubled that they approached their minister asking what they should do. Their preacher advised that they find a way to "invest" in their former partner. After prayer and discussion, they decided that they would find a financial need that he had and meet it. Learning that he had to move and needed $3000 to do so, they gave that sum to him. Almost immediately, the wife began to sleep better and the bitterness left them. They relate that they believe that God has begun compensating them financially because of their faithfulness in this.
2nd (vs. 35) "You will be Sons of the Most High"
Now, if you’re not sons of the most High… whose sons would you be? (Satan’s…)
Hatred is a tool of Satan
Hebrews 12:15 tells me that bitterness can rob me of salvation.
Romans 12:21 advises me "Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good."
The reason that this is so crucial is that bitterness & hatred warp can me on the inside.
ILLUS: Leonardo Da Vinci once had a terrible falling out with a fellow artist just before he began work on the "Last Supper." The story is told that he determined to paint his enemy as Judas. It was a perfect likeness. But last of all, he set to work painting the likeness of Jesus. No matter how he tried, nothing seemed to please him. Finally, he realized that he could not paint the portrait of Jesus as long as his enemy had been painted into Judas’s place. Once that was corrected, then the face of Jesus came easily. Neither can we paint the face of Jesus in our lives as long as we hold bitterness in our hearts.
3rd (vs. 36) I want to be like my Father
I want to imitate Him. To grow up to be like Him. BUT this part of His personality doesn’t appear to make sense. To be kind to the ungrateful & wicked - why on earth would God want us to be kind to the ungrateful and the wicked?
II Peter 3:9-10 tells us "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, NOT WANTING ANYONE TO PERISH, but everyone to come to repentance."
THAT’S WHY… because it’s the wicked & ungrateful who need salvation. Can you imagine anyone who needs salvation more than your enemy???
God is so serious about this that Prov. 24:17-18 "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him."
CLOSE: It’s our mission then, to reach out to our enemies for their salvation
A woman wrote to "Pulpit Helps" to explain a miraculous lesson her family experienced. During one of their family Bible readings as New Christians, they ran across the verse, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him" (Romans 12:20 RSV).
Ours sons, 7 and 10 at the time, were especially puzzled. "Why should you feed your enemy?" they wondered. My husband and I wondered too, but the only answer John could think of to give the boys was, "We’re supposed to because God says so." It never occurred to us that we would soon learn why.
Day after day John Jr. came home from school complaining about a classmate who sat behind him in 5th grade. "Bob keeps jabbing me when Miss Smith isn’t looking. One of these days, when we’re out on the play ground, I’m going to jab him back.
I was ready to go down to the school and jab Bob myself. Obviously the boy was a brat. Besides, why wasn’t Miss Smith doing a better job with her kids? I’d better give her an oral jab, too, at the same time!"
I was till fuming over this injustice to John Jr. when his 7 year old brother spoke up: "Maybe he should feed his enemy." The 3 of us were startled.
None of us was sure about this "enemy" business. It didn’t seem that an enemy would be in the 5th grade. An enemy was someone who was way off... well, somewhere.
We all looked at John. Since he was the head of the family , he should come up with the solution. But the only answer he could offer was the same one he had give before: "I guess we should because God said so."
"Well," I asked John Jr., "do you know what Bob likes to eat? If you’re going to feed him, you may as well get something he likes." "Jelly beans," he almost shouted, "Bob just loves jelly beans."
So we bought a bag of jelly beans for him to take to school the next day, and decided that the next time Bob jabbed John Jr., John was simply to turn around and deposit the bag on his "enemy’s" desk. We would see whether or not this enemy feeding worked.
The next afternoon, the boys rushed home from the school bus and John Jr. called ahead, "It worked, Mom! It worked." I wanted the details: "What did Bob do? What did he say?"
"He was so surprised he didn’t say anything - he just took the jelly beans. But he didn’t jab me the rest of the day!" In time, John Jr. and Bob became the best of friends - all because of a little bag of Jelly Beans.
Both of our sons subsequently because missionaries on foreign fields. Their way of showing friendship with any "enemies" of the faith was to invite the inhabitants of those countries into their own homes to share food with them around their own tables.
It seems "enemies" are always hungry. Maybe that’s why God said to feed them.
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Fair is Fair - Matthew 5:38-5:48
OWOOooo... I Mean BAAA - Matthew 7:15-7:25
Living With The Enemy - Luke 6:27-6:36
