"this Is Extremely Difficult"

“This is Extremely Difficult”

Luke 6:27-36

A colleague of mine told me about a time a certain person in the church came to his office and told him: “I don’t like you.”

Months later, she came up to him and said, “I get the feeling you don’t like me.”

His response was, “Honestly, you make it kind of difficult.”

(pause)

The Kingdom of God that Jesus preached and lived was about glorious unrestrained and absurd generosity.

It’s like, think of the best thing you can do for the worst person, and go ahead and do it.

Think of what you’d really like someone to do for you, and go ahead and do it for them.

Think of the people who have been nasty to you and lavish generosity on them.

These instructions have a fresh, spring-like quality to them.

They are all about new life bursting out energetically like flowers growing through concrete and startling everyone with their beauty and strength.

But are they possible?

Are they realistic?

If I’m honest with you, I have a hard time with what Jesus says here.

Is this the best way to live?

No doubt about it.

Do I live this way on a normal basis?

Not a chance.

How about you?

The world just doesn’t seem to work like this; even the church doesn’t seem to work like this.

In seminary, I was taking a course taught by a retired United Methodist Bishop, and he said something in class that I disagreed with…

…and I made it clear I disagreed with it…

…I was even kind of rude about it…

…whatever he had said went against what I believed and it made me angry.

After class, the Bishop invited me to join him for lunch.

We went and ate in the posh dining area reserved only for professors and perhaps dignitaries who might be visiting the University.

He didn’t return my anger with anger; instead, he paid for my lunch.

And he made a friend.

And I have great respect for him to this day.

Fairly recently, a colleague angered me, and I let him know it.

A week or so later, he called and invited me to lunch.

I was very humbled and felt guilty for tying up a burden and putting it on his back.

When my colleague called, immediately my frustration with his actions melted away and I felt embarrassed.

I forgot about all the anger which had built up in me for the past couple of weeks.

Suddenly, I had a new respect for this man.

I didn’t even have to try to forgive him; it came naturally.

And a few weeks later, we hung out at Annual Conference.

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…

…Do unto others as you would have them do unto you…

…be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

It makes good sense.

It is, indeed, the way to live.

In Matthew, Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.”

And right here in our passage for this morning, Jesus is telling us the hard truth about how the children of God are supposed to live.

And, oh, how I fail to measure up to this.

But before I become too hard on myself, before you become too hard on yourself, let’s remember that Jesus’ point is not to provide us with a new rule book, a list of dos and don’ts that are designed to frustrate us and make us feel bad about ourselves because we can’t measure up to these standards.

Jesus is not asking us to be perfect in today’s Gospel Lesson, He is explaining what the Kingdom of God is about; He’s showing us what it is like to truly live in the image of God for which we are created.

And He knows we will not get it right every time or even most of the time.

But one thing is for sure—this is how Jesus lived.

And a good leader will never ask His followers, His learners or disciples to do anything He is not willing to do Himself.

Do you want to be like Jesus?

Here it is.

Live like this!

Jesus is explaining to us what God is like, and inviting us into a relationship with this God where we learn to rely more and more on Him and less and less on our own strength and understanding.

Jesus says, “love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.

…and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”