Payback and Love.

Steve Gentry

[0:05] Go ahead and have a seat. [0:07] Welcome to Village Church. [0:08] If this is your first time here, my name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village [0:11] Church. [0:11] And as always, I am thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:15] If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to Matthew chapter five.

[0:19] We’re going to be getting back into our series on the book of Matthew this morning. [0:24] For the past two Sundays, we’ve cast vision for church planting. [0:28] We have cast vision for what community living the mission of Jesus together will look like. [0:34] And I think that kind of prepares us to walk into this section of scripture where we learn [0:39] what it is to actually love other people. [0:43] Because I think all of us are used to living by an ethic where we live people, where we

[0:48] can reap some benefit from those people. [0:51] And sometimes those benefits are things that aren’t material, but rather it’s just, it’s [0:57] easy to love somebody that loves me. [0:59] It’s easy to love someone that treats me the exact way that I want to be treated. [1:04] It’s easy to love someone that is born of me. [1:08] You know, it’s easy to love my kids.

[1:10] But Jesus is going to say that the gospel will compel you to live by an ethic where [1:15] you not only love those it is easy to love, but you actually love your enemies. [1:20] You love people who persecute you. [1:23] You do not seek vengeance. [1:25] You do not seek payback when someone hurts you, when someone does something that causes [1:31] pain in your life.

[1:32] You do not live to define your life by the vengeance that you desire on that person. [1:37] But instead you trust God with that hurt and you seek to do good to those people. [1:45] And that is why I believe that this is one of the more difficult teachings of scripture. [1:49] I don’t know that it’s difficult to understand. [1:52] It’s not like, you know, parsing. [1:53] What does this sentence mean?

[1:54] It’s difficult. [1:56] No, it’s difficult to trust it. [1:58] It’s difficult to live it because for the most part every single one of us, our default [2:03] mode is that if you hurt me, I will do one of two things. [2:07] If you are a passive aggressive person, I will hold this against you and pay you back [2:12] in some way that you may not know it was me or I will just hate you forever.

[2:16] Or if you’re like me and you’re an aggressive aggressive person, then you just seek to [2:21] hurt that other person, whether it be in word or deed, you’re going to crush them. [2:26] All right. [2:27] And the fact of the matter is, is that aggressive aggressive people, and I got to defend them [2:31] for a second, but but we get the real brunt of everyone’s judgment. [2:36] We’re like, yeah, you don’t know what it is to love other people.

[2:38] You just hate everyone. [2:40] Yeah, externally. [2:41] What’s the difference? [2:41] You do it internally. [2:43] And here’s the deal. [2:45] God sees you hating just like he sees someone externally hating.

[2:51] It is easy to live your life in hate of other people. [2:56] It is the most difficult thing that you will ever do, regardless of your personality type, [3:02] regardless of your economic status, regardless of anything about your background. [3:06] The most difficult thing that you can do in your life is actually learn what it really [3:10] means to love people the way that Jesus Christ loves people. [3:14] And so that’s what I want to talk about today with the text that we are in.

[3:18] I want to cover the personal reality of the of Matthew chapter five verses 38 through [3:25] 48 because they are difficult to live out. [3:29] And so I want to go ahead and jump into the text. [3:30] Here’s what he says. [3:33] Jesus speaking. [3:34] You have heard it said.

[3:36] Now, when this is a reminder, when Jesus says you have heard it was said, he is usually [3:43] correcting a false teaching of the Old Testament. [3:47] When he says something like it is written, he’s just going to quote the Old Testament. [3:53] So here’s what he says. [3:54] You’ve heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. [3:57] But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil.

[4:00] But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. [4:03] And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. [4:08] And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. [4:11] Give to the one who begs from you. [4:14] Do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. [4:18] You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

[4:22] But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may [4:27] be sons of your father who is in heaven, for he makes his son rise on the evil and on [4:32] the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. [4:35] For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? [4:39] Do not even tax collectors do the same? [4:42] And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others?

[4:47] Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? [4:50] You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. [4:55] You see, the ethic that Jesus lays out in this section is only possible if you build [5:01] your life on faith in Jesus Christ. [5:03] See, I think the difficulty that some people have in loving others is that you try to [5:09] muster up inside of yourself a sentiment for forgiveness.

[5:15] You try to muster up in yourself the emotional fortitude to love someone who hurts you. [5:23] But God does not call us to that type of love because you are incapable of giving that type [5:31] of love in your life. [5:32] You don’t naturally wake up one morning and think, I want to forgive the person that [5:38] has hurt me more than anyone else in this world has ever hurt me. [5:41] That’s a desire that I have.

[5:43] It probably isn’t. [5:45] Let’s just be honest. [5:46] It probably isn’t. [5:47] Nor are you just organically going to wake up one morning more forgiving than you were [5:53] yesterday. [5:54] That doesn’t happen either, but I do believe that is what some of you are hoping for.

[5:59] Some of you are filled with vitriol, you are filled with anger, you are filled with [6:07] hatred towards someone, and your plan is to just, you know, one day I’m going to wake [6:13] up and I’m going to like them more. [6:16] That’s the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard of in my life. [6:20] It’s not going to happen. [6:22] You don’t have that capability.

[6:24] It’s not going to work out that way. [6:27] The only people who can live by the ethic of loving other people in the truest sense [6:35] of the word, which is the love of Jesus Christ, are people who have faith in Jesus Christ. [6:40] Because forgiveness is more than a sentiment. [6:44] Love is more than an emotion. [6:47] In order to make the choice, and it is a choice, to forgive other people, you need to have

[6:55] an objective truth for justice to base that love on. [7:00] And that is exactly what Jesus Christ gives us. [7:04] And so in that, number one, rather than seeking vengeance, you need to be a reconciler. [7:09] You need to be a reconciler. [7:11] You need to choose to seek reconciliation over vengeance. [7:15] But most of you don’t.

[7:17] I know enough people, and I have talked to enough people about the real relational pain [7:21] in their lives to know that most of you are in one form or another just filled with vengeance [7:27] most of the time. [7:29] You are. [7:30] You want some type of payback for something that someone has done to you at some point [7:36] in your life.

[7:37] Whether it be someone has inflicted physical harm on you, or someone has inflicted emotional [7:42] harm on you, or someone just insulted you at some point at the seventh grade lunch table, [7:48] some of you, or most of you, carry around vengeance towards people and a desire for [7:55] payback and retribution in some way towards others in your life. [8:00] You just wish that there was some way that you could make them feel the way that you [8:05] do.

[8:07] You wish that there was just some way that you could make them feel the hurt that you [8:15] feel.

[8:18] Here’s the truth of the matter.

[8:21] You can’t. [8:23] They will never feel the hurt that you feel. [8:26] They will never feel the pain that they have made you feel. [8:29] It is impossible for that to happen. [8:31] And so it is foolish to seek that type of vengeance out. [8:36] But the lie that you actually believe, and here’s the real root of the problem, the lie

[8:42] that you believe is that you want justice. [8:45] You may have even said it in your life, you know what I want? [8:48] I want justice for what was done to me. [8:51] No you don’t. [8:53] You want vengeance. [8:55] See, vengeance can be confused for justice, but vengeance is not justice.

[9:01] See, what Jesus is talking about here is our thirst for vengeance. [9:05] And what he is saying when he says eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, he is quoting [9:09] the Old Testament. [9:11] But what he is saying is that in that day the rabbinical tradition had twisted the [9:17] meaning of that to imply that people could seek personal vengeance in these specific [9:25] ways and if they sought them in these specific ways it was okay.

[9:28] And what Jesus is saying is that is not the meaning of the Old Testament. [9:32] So let’s go and let’s find out what it actually does mean. [9:35] It starts in Exodus chapter 21 and I want to read the entire context of what Jesus [9:41] actually wrote through Moses in the Old Testament. [9:44] In verse 22, Exodus 21 begins this way. [9:46] It says, when men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, never a good idea, so that

[9:51] her children come out. [9:52] Can you think of a worse case scenario than that? [9:54] You hit a woman and a baby comes out. [9:56] That is the worst case scenario I can think of. [10:01] Tough crowd.

[10:03] But there is no harm. [10:06] The first two services reacted appropriately. [10:08] I am going to begin to just inform services of when they fail me. [10:13] The other two understood that I was telling a funny thing there.

[10:21] I actually have time in the third service to ponder these things where I just have [10:25] to keep moving in the other ones. [10:28] So that her children come out, but there is no harm. [10:32] The one who hit her shall surely be fine. [10:35] As the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. [10:40] But if there is no harm, then here it is, then they shall pay life for life, eye for

[10:46] eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, [10:49] stripe for stripe. [10:50] Then in Deuteronomy 19, there is another interpretation of this. [10:55] Because the book of Deuteronomy is a commentary on the law of God. [10:58] Maybe that will help you interpret it better. [11:00] The judges shall inquire diligently.

[11:02] And if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you [11:07] shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. [11:10] So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and the rest shall fear, excuse me, hear [11:15] and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. [11:20] Your eye shall have no pity, and here it is again. [11:22] It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

[11:28] You see, both of these passages are about civil law. [11:32] Both of these passages are about forming a just society to actually prevent people [11:41] from inflicting more punishment than a crime actually necessitates. [11:46] And so what’s happening in the sections of Scripture is they’re actually creating a [11:51] society that is governed by righteousness so that people won’t repay more harm because [11:59] their thirst for vengeance wants it.

[12:02] I have a great example that actually happened just this past week, and it’s actually a [12:06] tragic story. [12:08] In Pennsylvania earlier this week, a young mother made the decision that she could run [12:13] into her husband’s place of work, talk to him for a few minutes, with three children [12:18] in the car with the car running. [12:21] And while she was in the place of business, someone got in the car and drove away.

[12:27] They stole the car. [12:28] Now, I have no idea if this person knew that there were three kids in the back seat. [12:31] I have to assume he turned around and he was like, I’ve made a grave error. [12:35] But he’s driving down the road, and they realize what has happened, and here’s the crazy part [12:40] of the story. [12:40] This guy must have been super fast.

[12:42] The father ran after the car, and other people realized what was happening and ran with [12:50] him and caught up to the car. [12:54] And they dragged the carjacker out of the car and beat him to death. [12:58] And so he’s dead. [13:00] Now, I’m a father. [13:02] I have three children.

[13:04] Is this a safe place? [13:07] You not laughing at my joke earlier makes me question it, all right? [13:10] I don’t know if I should share this with you. [13:13] But there’s a piece of me as a father that says, yep, that’s what happens.

[13:23] But if, as a society, that’s how we respond to crime, we would descend into absolute [13:32] anarchy, wouldn’t we? [13:34] Because we would not have righteous justice, we would have mob justice, where we would [13:43] just inflict whatever punishment emotionally feels right at that time. [13:49] So what was actually taking place in Exodus and Deuteronomy, and we’re going to see a [13:53] place in Leviticus as well, but what was actually taking place in that time is God was governing

[13:59] Israel and helping them prevent things like that. [14:04] Because if you do something to someone that I love, my sinful tendency is going to be [14:11] to inflict more punishment on you than, quite frankly, you actually deserve, if the truth [14:19] be told. [14:20] And so in this law, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, God was not saying if someone punches [14:26] you in the eye on Tuesday, that gives you the license to on Thursday find them and

[14:33] give them a black eye as well. [14:35] That’s not the teaching here. [14:37] The teaching here is you need to set up a system where an impartial judge can actually [14:44] lay out a just sentence for the actual crime that was committed. [14:50] And so Jesus is looking to them and saying, you have tried to turn this into a personal [14:54] And that is not what the law was ever meant to do.

[15:00] These were never laws of retribution. [15:03] They were to ensure that they didn’t inflict too much punishment, which is what we will [15:09] naturally do if we just seek personal vengeance every single time. [15:15] So what you need to deal with in your life is that resentment, revenge, vengeance, and [15:22] need for payback. [15:24] They are gospel barriers.

[15:26] They’re gospel barriers in two ways. [15:28] The first way is that it is a gospel barrier in your life. [15:33] You see, if you are overwhelmed with a thirst for vengeance, then you cannot grow in your [15:39] faith. [15:40] You cannot grow in following Jesus. [15:43] And just the scripture should teach us this, that the path of following Jesus, the one

[15:50] who paid the penalty for my sin when he didn’t deserve it, I cannot follow closely to him [15:57] if I am overwhelmed with a need to get payback from other people for perceived injustices [16:05] or actual injustices even that they have done towards me. [16:10] I will not become more loving. [16:12] I will not become more like Christ. [16:15] I will not learn what it is to sacrifice my life for other people if I am overwhelmed

[16:22] with vengeance. [16:23] But it doesn’t just create a barrier in my life. [16:26] It creates a barrier through my life. [16:31] See, God tells me that I am to live for the sake of others. [16:36] God tells me through Jesus that I am to live to take the good news that Jesus has forgiven [16:42] me of my sin and you of your sin.

[16:45] He wants me to actually take that reality out into the world and offer forgiveness of [16:51] sins to other people through Jesus. [16:54] That would create a problem. [16:56] It’s very hard to offer forgiveness of sin when I am unable to forgive others of their [17:03] sin. [17:04] It creates quite a difficulty when I am called to offer the good news of Jesus Christ to

[17:11] others that I am trying to inflict punishment on. [17:14] It’s very hard for me to give the well-meant offer of the gospel to tell someone Jesus [17:20] has paid the penalty for your sin while also trying to inflict penalty for people’s sin [17:28] onto them. [17:30] You see, your need for payback, your need for vengeance, your resentment towards others [17:38] will create nothing but barriers in your life for the gospel to work.

[17:44] In Proverbs chapter 24, the text says this, do not say I will do to him as he has done [17:51] to me. [17:52] I will pay the man back for what he has done. [17:57] The Proverbs is a book of wisdom. [17:59] The Proverbs is telling us right here that if you live with a thirst for payback, you [18:04] are unwise.

[18:08] Only fools believe that payback is going to give them the satisfaction that they so long [18:16] for. [18:17] But how deceived are we in that? [18:20] A tangible example of this is very interesting to me. [18:23] It’s in 2 Timothy chapter 4. [18:25] The apostle Paul writes 2 Timothy to a young pastor named Timothy.

[18:30] And this is one of the craziest parts of scripture to me is when he only tells us part of the [18:34] story and we have no idea what happened. [18:36] The entire biography of Alexander the Coppersmith is this sentence. [18:42] Alexander the Coppersmith did me great harm. [18:46] That’s all I know about him. [18:47] That’s all any of us know about him.

[18:49] We don’t even know what the harm was. [18:52] We don’t know anything about this guy other than the fact that what he did to the apostle [18:59] Paul was so significant that the Holy Spirit told the apostle Paul include that in this [19:06] letter. [19:07] I can’t wait to get to heaven and ask really weird questions like Paul. [19:12] Seriously, what did that guy do?

[19:15] And so he tells him Alexander the Coppersmith did me great harm but then note what he says [19:19] next. [19:20] Does he say I’m going to get him? [19:26] Does he say, oh boy, he doesn’t know what I have in store for payback? [19:33] No. [19:33] He says Alexander the Coppersmith did me great harm.

[19:36] The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. [19:40] Then in verse 15 he states this. [19:42] He says, beware of him yourself for he strongly opposed our message. [19:45] So there’s three important things that I want you to see in light of what Jesus is teaching [19:49] here. [19:50] The first thing is that Paul didn’t deny his pain.

[19:54] Paul didn’t pretend. [19:56] See sometimes in our quest to kind of fake love other people, we just pretend that the [20:02] pain isn’t real. [20:04] That’s just passive aggressive. [20:05] Hey, you didn’t hurt me. [20:08] I’m too strong for that.

[20:10] No one can hurt me. [20:13] You know, Paul is honest. [20:15] Paul is real. [20:16] Paul says this guy did something that caused me great harm. [20:21] It is real. [20:23] The pain is real.

[20:24] But then note the second thing that he does, he trusts God with his pain. [20:31] His pain is filtered through his faith. [20:36] And he says Alexander the Coppersmith did me great harm. [20:40] The pain is real, but I am trusting the Lord in all of his sovereignty and all of his [20:46] providence he will deal with Alexander the Coppersmith. [20:51] That freed Paul to actually preach the gospel to Alexander the Coppersmith.

[21:00] Because when you trust God with your pain, you trust God with the punishment. [21:06] You can actually truly forgive someone and go back to that person and reconcile.

[21:14] But then the third thing that he did, and this is just as important, forgiveness does [21:20] not give others a license to continue to inflict pain. [21:25] He warns Timothy. [21:27] He says Timothy, do not let him do the same thing to you. [21:32] Beware of him, because he hates the gospel. [21:37] He is trying to stop us from preaching the gospel.

[21:40] So be on the lookout, stay away from this guy. [21:43] See there is wisdom in this. [21:45] There is wisdom in being honest about your pain, there is wisdom in trusting God with [21:49] your pain, and there is wisdom for not putting yourself in the exact same environment so [21:54] that the person can create more hurt and more pain in your life. [22:00] Don’t spend your life seeking retribution because you will never find enough of it.

[22:07] You won’t. [22:08] Number two this morning, loving people will require sacrifice. [22:13] Loving people will require sacrifice. [22:15] I love where Jesus goes with this because he is about to give us one of the most [22:20] misunderstood texts in scripture and then he is going to give us a few more. [22:24] And he tells us in verse 39.

[22:27] Oh excuse me. [22:28] But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. [22:31] If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. [22:36] It’s one of the most misunderstood texts of scripture with two polarizations. [22:41] The first polar side uses this as a text to defend pacifism. [22:45] And I’m talking universal pacifism and that’s not what this text is doing.

[22:49] Because if it did mean that, it would be to the contrary of dozens and dozens of other [22:54] texts that actually go the opposite direction where it says the government is supposed to [23:00] seek justice. [23:00] The government is supposed to punish crime. [23:03] And it actually goes into the place where in Matthew chapter 18, Jesus actually deals with [23:09] church discipline where he says if someone is going through the church, inflicting pain

[23:14] and causing sin, you need to deal with that. [23:17] And eventually if they won’t stop, you need to have a type of governmental control over [23:21] your church and put that person out of the church so they will stop inflicting pain. [23:26] So pacifism is not what Jesus is talking about. [23:29] But then there’s another side and it’s almost comical. [23:31] But there are some people that actually believe this and you are one of them.

[23:34] If you are one of them, I’m sorry for calling it comical, but you are really, really wrong. [23:40] All right. [23:40] There’s some people that say what Jesus is saying here is that if someone hits you on one cheek, [23:46] you offer them the other cheek and if they hit that one, you are all out of cheeks, [23:51] so then destroy them.

[23:54] All right.

[23:56] That’s not what he’s talking about either. [23:59] All right. [24:00] So what is Jesus actually talking about? [24:02] Jesus is actually not talking about physical violence in the way that we think about physical [24:08] violence because we’re thinking about someone just gets mad, comes up and punches a person. [24:11] All right.

[24:12] That’s not what Jesus is talking about. [24:13] Jesus is talking about reputation. [24:15] In this passage, in that context, if someone was to strike you on the side of the cheek, [24:23] that is a insult. [24:26] That is someone questioning. [24:27] If you are a man, that is someone coming up to you and saying, you are not masculine.

[24:32] You are effeminate. [24:34] You are not a man because you won’t even slap me back. [24:38] And Jesus is actually looking at the person. [24:41] He’s saying, just because someone insults you, just because someone is trying to make [24:48] you look weak in front of other people, don’t respond. [24:55] Don’t feel the need to trade insult for insult.

[24:59] That’s hard because many of you like me, if you insult me, I will make you regret it. [25:07] You will leave self-conscious of something. [25:10] All right. [25:10] It’s just going to happen. [25:12] All right. [25:13] You can call me fat all day.

[25:14] I’m going to find something on you, buddy.

[25:17] All right. [25:18] And you may have to go see a therapist. [25:21] All right. [25:21] I’m talking deep pain. [25:24] Mental.

[25:28] You know.

[25:32] But what the apostle is saying is, excuse me, what Jesus is saying is, [25:36] if you understand the love that Jesus has for you, your identity will not be consumed [25:43] with your reputation with other people.

[25:46] You will be willing to look weak for the sake of others. [25:51] And you say, but I don’t want to look weak.

[25:55] To that, Jesus would say, there is no greater weakness than dying on a cross.

[26:00] There is no weaker of a look than for people to look at you on a cross and say, [26:05] if you’re a god, call down a legion of angels to save your life.

[26:11] You see, our definition of what reputation is supposed to look like, [26:16] Jesus is going to tell us it needs to be the opposite. [26:18] He continues. [26:19] He says, and if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, [26:23] see, I know you guys love your tunics.

[26:27] Let him have your cloak as well. [26:28] Not my cloak. [26:30] And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. [26:36] Give to the one who begs from you. [26:37] Do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. [26:41] And see, what many of us do is, is we then begin to compartmentalize

[26:45] and create categories and try to say, okay, well, what specifically does he mean by tunic? [26:51] And what does he mean by cloak? [26:52] And does that mean if someone sues me, I can’t hire a lawyer? [26:55] You know, does that mean I can’t defend myself against con artists? [26:59] See, what you are doing is, is you are doing something called isogesis when you do that. [27:04] You are trying to put meaning into the text that isn’t there.

[27:07] That’s not what we’re trying to do here. [27:09] We’re trying to do exegesis. [27:11] We’re trying to find meaning out of the text to see what exactly is Jesus getting at. [27:16] And here’s what I think Jesus is getting at. [27:19] He’s saying that if you want to walk the path of love, [27:23] if you want to walk the path of loving people the way that Jesus loves people,

[27:28] you are going to have to take some hits. [27:32] You are going to have to incur some injury. [27:37] People are going to try to take advantage of you. [27:42] People are going to insult you. [27:45] I’ve experienced that to my face, and I’ve experienced that behind my back. [27:52] I’ve experienced all sorts of times when people have taken, tried to take advantage of me,

[27:57] and I’ve experienced people very successfully duping me and taking advantage of me.

[28:05] Jesus is telling us that your vision of the path of love is probably an easy road. [28:12] And Jesus is saying it’s going to be the hardest road that you have ever walked down, [28:17] where people are going to hurt you. [28:18] People are going to lie about you. [28:21] People are going to take advantage of you. [28:22] People are going to borrow money from you, and they are never going to pay it back.

[28:30] But here’s the deal with that one. [28:32] If someone’s borrowing money from you, [28:35] that’s a good sign they’re not going to pay it back because they don’t have any money. [28:41] So who’s the dummy in that situation?

[28:45] You, for thinking they’re going to pay it back.

[28:49] And Jesus is saying the path of loving people is going to require sacrifice. [28:55] Know that going in.

[28:59] Know going into this that you are going to have to form and choose a commitment to forgiving [29:06] people for things that you never thought you were going to need to forgive them for. [29:14] Nobody goes into a friendship thinking that person’s going to betray them.

[29:19] No. [29:20] But Jesus is saying if you’re going to love as many people as the gospel forces you to love, [29:27] they’re going to betray you.

[29:29] It’s going to happen. [29:31] There’s going to be people that come into your life, and they’re going to deceive you, [29:36] and they’re going to take this thing from you, and then they’re going to come back and say, [29:40] hey, you owe me. [29:42] I don’t owe you. [29:43] And Jesus is saying, take the hit.

[29:47] Take the hit. [29:49] Now, again, just to qualify, this is not saying that Christians are to be doormats inside of the [29:56] church. [29:56] This doesn’t mean that when a con artist comes into our presence and starts going from one [30:00] person to another conning everyone, there isn’t a system to hold them accountable. [30:05] There is.

[30:05] It’s called church discipline. [30:06] If somebody comes in and starts duping everybody out of money, the elders need to be informed [30:10] and we need to put that person out from among us. [30:12] But what Jesus is saying here, when that person comes to you and they con you and they dupe [30:18] you, don’t seek vengeance on that person.

[30:23] Protect other people from them the way that Paul protected Timothy, but you need to just [30:28] forgive them. [30:29] Don’t be consumed with your hate for that person forever, because that person needs [30:34] the gospel of Jesus Christ. [30:36] The reason they are the way that they are is because they do not have faith in Jesus, [30:41] even if they claim that they do.

[30:45] Jesus is saying you’re going to have to take some hits and for the most part, and here’s [30:51] where it’s difficult for you.

[30:55] Many of you have not built the type of faith that is required to take those kinds of hits. [31:01] And that’s the problem with your relationship with Jesus. [31:04] You only want enough of his love so you feel reconciled to God. [31:10] You don’t want so much of his love that you have to pursue reconciliation with others, [31:17] even in the face of the fact that you didn’t do what was wrong in the situation.

[31:23] Faith in Jesus makes you realize that you didn’t deserve the reconciliation you received [31:28] from God, and so many of the people in your life that you’re going to pursue with [31:32] reconciliation, they don’t deserve it from you either.

[31:38] They don’t deserve forgiveness.

[31:42] They don’t deserve for you to say, I’m sorry to them, but sometimes just to give the gospel, [31:50] you’re going to have to say you’re sorry for things that you don’t even know that you did. [31:55] Husbands know what that’s all about.

[31:59] That’s the reality of the situation.

[32:04] In Philippians chapter 2, the apostle Paul gives what I believe is a commentary on Matthew 5. [32:11] He says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, [32:15] count others more significant than yourselves. And it’s just crazy. [32:18] And I love this verse because that’s a problem for me. [32:23] Because I can’t imagine anyone being more significant than me. [32:28] And that’s the problem most of you have. You’re just unwilling to admit it.

[32:31] The problem in most of your relationships is that your relationship is dictated by these questions. [32:39] What about me? What about my needs? What about my wants? What about my pain? What about my hurt? [32:52] What about what I want? You see, most of your relationships are dictated by those questions, [32:59] and that’s why you can’t forgive. But the apostle Paul comes and he says, [33:04] your problem is that you’re not looking at the world and you’re not treating people the way that [33:08] Jesus treats people. He continues and he says, let each of you look not only to his own interests,

[33:14] but also to the interests of others. If you will learn to live that way, it will form

[33:23] relational generosity in your life that is unparalleled. [33:27] In 1 Peter chapter 3, Peter says this, do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling. [33:34] And that’s where most of us stop. We’re like, okay, hey, look, I’m not going to do any wicked [33:38] things towards other people just because they’ve done wicked things towards me. But there’s more [33:42] to the verse. He goes on and he says, on the contrary, bless. When the world around you seems [33:56] like it’s all against you, the gospel says that the answer is not to just sit there and play the

[34:02] victim. The answer is you get up and seek to be a blessing to everyone around you. Because he says, [34:12] to this you were called that you may obtain a blessing. See, in order to take inventory of [34:19] the Bible, we need to ask ourselves a few questions. When was the last time you inconvenienced [34:25] yourself to love someone else? But I don’t think that’s the right question. Because we can find [34:34] all sorts of ways to answer that question, to give ourselves an out. Because I’m not talking about [34:40] some of you young mothers, you were up at 3 a.m. with a baby and you’re like, boom, I’ve got one.

[34:50] Now before you throw anything at me, I got three kids, I know. It’s not hard to love a baby. [34:59] It’s difficult physically, emotionally, mentally to get up at 3 a.m. and feed a baby. That is [35:06] difficult. But you didn’t get up and think in your right mind, now some of y’all were hallucinating [35:12] because you haven’t had sleep in five months, but in your right mind you don’t wake up and say, [35:17] I hate that baby, I’m going to inflict evil on that baby. No, you love the baby, that’s why you’re [35:24] doing it, that’s why it’s worth it. And that’s what Jesus is talking about in verse 46. Look

[35:28] in verse 46. He says, if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax [35:35] collectors do the same. See, what Jesus is saying here is, is he’s looking at me and he’s saying, [35:40] Steve, it is easy to love your children because they are your children. It is easy to love your [35:49] wife because she is your wife. And you could just take that into the small circle of influence that [35:56] you have in your life of family members and friends. You just naturally love all of those [36:03] people or even your coworkers and your boss because your love for them is based on a quid pro

[36:09] quo. That raise that you want, that promotion that you want. It is easy to do good to people [36:17] when you know the payback or the sentiment or the emotion or the feeling is going to be reciprocated [36:25] immediately. What Jesus is saying, he wants us to ask a different question. Maybe this is a better [36:32] question. When was the last time you inconvenienced yourself to love someone outside of your family?

[36:43] Outside of the people who can give you money. Outside of the people who make you feel better [36:51] about yourself. Outside of your clique. When was the last time you inconvenienced yourself to love [37:01] someone that you didn’t assume there was going to be a payback for your love? When was the last time you did that?

[37:15] So like I said, this text is not hard to interpret, but I think it is the hardest to obey. [37:24] Because if you answer that question, you will know whether or not you actually are loving people the way that Jesus loves people.

[37:37] You will know whether or not you are forgiving people the way that Jesus forgives people.

[37:45] Number three this morning, the cross is what gives you justice so that you can love. The cross gives [37:52] you justice so that you can love. The text goes on and Jesus says something very interesting in verse 43. [37:59] He says, you’ve heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. Now what’s fascinating about this text is this is where people go to actually say Jesus is changing the message of the Old Testament. [38:11] We know that can’t be true because at the beginning of chapter 5 he told us I didn’t come to abolish the law, I came to fulfill the law. [38:19] But what Jesus is doing here is he is exposing false teaching because they did an omission and an addition in this teaching. [38:29] Look in Leviticus chapter 19. It says, you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor, what? As yourself.

[38:39] So what was the omission? The omission was as yourself. So what they did was they said, oh no no no, the standard is love your neighbor. [38:49] But the problem with that is us. If all I say is love my neighbor, I have no level at which to know how I am to love my neighbor. [38:58] So it can just be based on my mood at the present time. And I’ll tell you, you find me at some days and loving my neighbor is just north of punching you in the face. [39:09] Alright, and so that’s a problem. I don’t think the love of Jesus would dictate that, alright. [39:14] But when I look at it and it says love your neighbor as yourself because I am the Lord, oh, so the love that I need to have for people around me, [39:25] because Jesus has said elsewhere, your neighbor is everyone around you. Any love that I want to receive, I need to give.

[39:34] Any treatment that I would like to get from others, I need to give to others. But there’s also an addition.

[39:45] If you struggle with believing that the Bible is God’s Word because of things like hate your enemy, that’s Jesus’s point. [39:52] Hate your enemy is nowhere in the Old Testament. You won’t find it. It’s not in the Bible. [40:02] What Jesus is doing here is he is exposing an addition that the rabbinical tradition had put on love your neighbor because they were looking for an out. [40:12] So they added the hate your enemy part and that’s why Jesus says, I give you a different teaching. [40:18] Love your enemy. Not because it changed the Old Testament, but because he was seeking to change their unbiblical tradition. [40:28] Pray for those who persecute you. And you might be thinking, yeah, I’ll pray for them. Pray for a swift death.

[40:36] That’s not what he’s talking about. Saying pray for their blessing. [40:40] You don’t know how you know you have really forgiven someone? [40:44] If you can pray that God would bless them and mean it. That’s how you know you’ve truly forgiven someone. [40:51] Jesus is not content with your self-centered inclination to love people that benefit you or simply make you feel better about yourself. [41:00] He wants you to truly have the type of love that you can offer to someone who is classified as your enemy. [41:08] Someone who is seeking your harm. Someone who is annoying.

[41:14] Jesus doesn’t want you to only have the type of love in your life to form a community group only with people of your personality type. [41:22] Only with people at your life stage. Only with people that you have things in common with. Only with people that don’t annoy you. [41:29] When was the last time you wanted to quit a community group because there were one or two annoying people in that community group? [41:37] Here’s the deal. You don’t love people. That’s what that means.

[41:46] Because you haven’t weighed how God treats you.

[41:52] In Romans chapter 5 we have the basis for love. Verse 6 it says, [41:59] For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. [42:03] For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. [42:10] But God chose his love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

[42:19] In the original language that last sentence there that while we were still sinners, [42:24] what that sentence really means is that while we were opposed to God, while we were rebelling against God, [42:32] or to put it in a better sense for us, while we were enemies of God, Christ died for us.

[42:43] See the reason that some of you struggle to love, the reason you struggle to forgive [42:47] is quite frankly because you’ve heard a wrong version of the gospel. [42:52] The version that you believe is that you were so valuable to God. [42:57] God looked at you and thought you were such a good person, you were such a good addition [43:03] to his family and kingdom. You were so good at life that Jesus died for you. That’s not the gospel. [43:12] The gospel is that you were an enemy of God. Apart from faith in Jesus Christ,

[43:18] every single one of us are an enemy of God. Before I came to faith in Jesus Christ, [43:26] the truth of my story is that in my sin I was an enemy of God. And so were you if you currently [43:35] have faith in God. But friend I’ll tell you the truth, if you don’t have faith in God, [43:39] you are an enemy of God. But even in that state, Christ, because of how great his love is, [43:47] he paid the penalty for my sin against him. And he desires for us to walk through this world, [43:57] offering that type of love to others. You are able to forgive people who sin against you

[44:07] because Jesus died for that sin on the cross. You are able to sacrifice in order to love other [44:15] people and incur injury and be taken advantage of and incur hurt to love other people because [44:25] Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice. And because of that, there is no sacrifice you can make that’ll [44:31] be greater than his. And you are able to love unlovable people because you were unlovable.

[44:43] And you are able to love your enemies because Jesus loved you when you were his enemy.

[44:54] See, and he’s not talking about some mythical enemy that you see on TV that’s thousands of [45:00] miles away. No, he’s talking about the perimeter around your actual feet in your real life. [45:11] See, for some of you, you can’t even comprehend what I’m talking about. [45:16] Because you are so saturated with a desire for vengeance, you are so saturated with hate, [45:22] you are so saturated with a desire to get payback for the hurt that you feel in your life [45:26] that you can’t imagine what forgiveness would even be like. And here’s what I want you to

[45:31] understand. The reason that you can’t imagine that is because you’ve never experienced true [45:37] forgiveness from Jesus Christ. And I am stating point blank, you are not a Christian.

[45:44] If you cannot forgive, you are not following Jesus Christ. But here’s the good news. If you [45:54] will trust Jesus today, in that moment, you go from enemy of God to cherished child of God. [46:03] In that moment, you go from a person that only wants justice for the sins committed against them [46:10] to a person that looks to the cross and says, Jesus got justice for the hurt that I’ve [46:16] experienced in my life. You go from a person that only knows hate to a person who through faith [46:23] can be consumed with love. Every Sunday, we reflect on what’s called the Lord’s Supper.

[46:33] The bread on the table in the back and in the front of this room represent the broken body [46:38] of Jesus. The cup represents his shed blood. And here’s the significance today. [46:44] While I was an enemy of God, Jesus came and he willingly had his body broken and he willingly [46:50] shed his blood so that I won’t have to under the wrath of God. And when we eat and when we drink, [46:58] we proclaim to everyone around us, I have been forgiven. I am loved. I have been saved from my [47:08] sin by Jesus. But then after you eat and drink, you’re going to walk into a real world with real

[47:15] people where there’s real pain. And if you proclaim the forgiveness of Jesus here, [47:21] you need to go out there and proclaim the forgiveness of Jesus to others. When you’re ready, come.