Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

I often drive in the right lane, because I rarely speed. Slower traffic is supposed to stay to the right, so I stay to the right. I’m one of those drivers you often pass in frustration and glare at because you want to go 10 miles over the speed limit, and I was keeping you from breaking the law! And while it’s safer to drive the speed limit, there are also dangers about driving in the right lane.

So anyway, one day last week, I was driving home in the right lane on the interstate. One of dangers of driving in the right lane is other drivers who are getting onto the interstate. And there’s never a good solution to how you can safely let them get on, you know? Sometimes you need to get over a lane, sometimes you have to speed up, and sometimes you need to slow down and let them in front of you, usually because the other options weren’t possibilities.

So, this particular day, I slowed down a bit so that a driver getting on the highway could get on. But instead of speeding up as he getting on the interstate, he slowed down, too! He had plenty of room, but was slowing down to let me pass, but his lane was also about to end, so I couldn’t speed up at that point, so I had to slow down even more to let him in, and I was just getting so frustrated, and I just wanted to give it to ‘em good!

Do you ever feel like that? Like you want to give it to ‘em good? Maybe it’s not with driving, but something else? Maybe it’s that someone offended you in something they said. Or maybe it’s that they just wouldn’t agree with you about something, and they got you so frustrated, and you just wanted to give it to ‘em good.

Usually when we feel that way, it has less to do with the other person, less even to do with the situation, and more to do with our own hearts. It’s an expression of our own frustration, rooted not in the other person’s behavior, but in our own lack of contentment. So the next time you want to “give it to ‘em good,” pray. Say, “God, help me to be satisfied in Christ. And help me to forgive those who hurt me, just as you forgave me in Christ.”

Read Luke 6:27-31

Did you know that it’s actually very easy to hear from God? Sometimes churches and preachers over the centuries have made it seem so difficult. In the dark ages especially, monks would sit in silence for days, or even weeks, in order to hear from God.

There’s an old story, and maybe you’ve heard this one before, about a man who wanted to be a monk because he wanted a closer relationship with God. So the man went the monastery and talked to the head monk, and the head monk told him, “In order to become a monk and have a closer relationship with God, you must take a vow of silence and you can only say two words every three years.” The man agreed and began his first three years of silence. And after three years, the head monk came to him and asked him, “How are you doing, brother?” And the man said, “Food cold.” Three more years went by, and the head monk came to him again, and asked him again, “How are you doing, brother?” And the man replied, “Robe dirty.” Three more years went by, and the the head monk came to him again, and before he could even ask him how he was doing, the man replied, “I quit!” And the head monk replied, “And I’m not surprised, you’ve done nothing but complain since you got here!”

While there’s some value in being still and silent before God, God never says that we need to be quiet for years in order to hear from Him. There’s a much easier way to hear from God. Have ears to hear (v. 27a).

It’s interesting that Jesus often began His sermons and parables with this phrase, or one like it. It’s kind of an odd phrase unless there’s a deeper meaning behind the literal word-for-word meaning. I mean, obviously, anyone who was there, was listening. They heard Jesus. They came to hear Him (v. 17-18). So they came to hear Jesus, but were they really listening? Were they really eager to hear the Word of God? Were they eager to obey the Word of God?

So as we gather here together, God not only wants us to hear the Word of God, but to really hear it, and embrace it. So, I tell you, have ears to hear. That is, be willing to hear from God, not just in the sense that you want to know what He says, but in the sense that you’re eager to obey Him. And if you have that kind of attitude toward God, hearing from God is as easy as reading the Word of God.

So anyway, Jesus told His disciples and the crowds who came to hear Him, “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies.” Usually, when it comes to our enemies, we want to give it to ‘em good! But Jesus tells us to do the opposite. Instead of getting even, Jesus tells us to love our enemies. To do good to those who hate us. To bless those who curse us and pray for those who abuse us.

Jesus, we can’t do that! That’s too hard! That’s not natural! If someone hits us, we want to hit ‘em back! If someone hurts us, we want to hurt ‘em back! But Jesus said, “To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also.” I’ve heard some preachers say, “And after he strikes your other cheek, then you can let ‘em have it!” I don’t think that’s in the spirit of what Jesus was teaching.

To be struck on the cheek was the highest insult in that culture. Jesus was saying, “Be willing to be abused, insulted, and then to continue to love, no matter what others do to you.” Even if they take your coat, and in the original Greek, it doesn’t say anything about them asking for it, or borrowing it, it just says if they take it, if they take your cloak, don’t withhold your tunic. In other words, if someone steals from you, go to them and bless them with even more.

Read v. 30

That’s hard for me to do! I like my books! I let people borrow my books sometimes, and then I never see them again! I want to go up them and say, “Give me back my book!” But Jesus tells me, “Don’t demand it back.” That’s hard!

The gospel of Matthew also mentions another one. “If anyone forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two.” From this verse, we get the phrase, “Go the extra mile.” And what we mean by that is that we’re to go above and beyond what’s expected of us, and while that’s a true surface level meaning of the phrase, that really doesn’t do the original meaning justice. You see, it was Roman law that Roman soldiers could require non-Romans, who oftentimes were the Jews, to walk with them and carry their equipment for them for a mile. And that was hard enough! A Roman mile was roughly 1,000 paces, and soldiers carried very heavy equipment, such as their armor and weapons, so to go the first mile with them, carrying their equipment, that was hard enough! So to go the extra mile, well, that just doesn’t make any sense!

And the conclusion of all these hard commands is this (v. 31). The Golden Rule. Great advice. I heard it growing up from my mom. I could quote it. In fact, I bet most people in America can quote it, whether or not they’ve ever belonged to a church. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Great advice. But so hard to live by.

And why should we? I mean, that’s kind of what I thought growing up. Why should I love those who hate me? Who want to hurt me? Who take my things and don’t care about me at all? Why should I love them?

Well, maybe it’s so that our enemies will come around. That they’ll see our kindness and love and start to love us, too! Or maybe it’s because we’ll be happier people if we don’t take revenge. We’ll find joy in doing what’s right, and not in returning evil for evil. Well, maybe those things will happen, and Scripture seems to imply that they will in places, but that’s not the reason Jesus gives in this passage. Why should we love our enemies? (v. 32-36)

Jesus gives us two reasons to love our enemies. First, our reward will be great. Which, I don’t completely understand. I mean, read verse 35 again. Expect nothing in return, and your reward will be great. Don’t expect a reward, and your reward will be great. And I know the common way to understand this verse is to say that we’re to work not for treasures on earth, but treasures in heaven, and I think there’s something to that. In fact, I emphasized that message just last week. But it’s kind of funny to say, “Don’t expect anything, and then expect something from God.” Should that really be our motivation? Greed? Working out of the desire to get more?

Maybe this isn’t an if/then, but a remember that. Maybe it’s not saying, “If you love your enemies, and if you do good, and if you lend, expecting nothing in return, then your reward will be great.” No, maybe instead, it’s saying, “Love your enemies! Do good! Lend, expecting nothing in return, because remember that your reward will be great!” Remember that God has already blessed you with every spiritual blessing, and that you already have immeasurable blessings waiting for you in heaven, so with that in mind, love! Do good! Lend, expecting nothing in return, because you don’t need it! If you have Jesus, you already have everything!

Jesus names a second reason to love our enemies: we will be sons of the Most High. When we love those who hurt us, we’re reflecting the same love that God showed us. Because who is the ungrateful and the evil? We are! We hurt God, we sinned against Him, and yet He came down in the form of a man, and died for our sin. He demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were His enemies, He gave us His life. While we were ungrateful and evil, and while we’re still oftentimes ungrateful and evil, Christ loves us.

So, in the end, the Golden Rule is more about remembering what God has done for us than hoping to change others at all. “Do unto others as you would have God do unto you.” Or maybe even, “Do unto others as God has done unto you.” God is merciful toward you.

Think about it, Jesus was struck on the cheek, insulted, beaten, and He didn’t retaliate. And remember, He endured that for our sin, so it’s kind of like we struck Him on the cheek. And He allowed them, us, to strike Him again, and again, and again. And they stripped Him of his cloak, His clothes, and He gave them all of His clothes. He carried the cross, walking with us, for us, not just a mile, but all the way to Mount Calvary, where He bled and died for us. And Jesus didn’t merely lend us His body and His blood, He gave us His body and His blood, expecting nothing in return, because salvation is not by our effort, but by His grace.

Jesus wasn’t preaching a moralistic sermon, He was telling us what love looks like, and what He would do for us. Jesus gave it to us, good. He gave Himself to us. And when we receive Him, the Holy Spirit begins to transform us, so that we are sons of God, reflecting God, so that we don’t desire any longer to retaliate, but to love.

But you won’t receive Jesus unless you have ears to hear. Did you know that if you come to church and simply go through the motions, you may leave the service in worse spiritual condition than when you came in? Because maybe you’ve reinforced in yourself the idea that your presence here, or your giving, or your hearing the sermon is all that God wants from you. Simply hearing everything I’ve told you won’t save you. You need to humble yourself, and love Jesus.

I read a story about a young man who spent an entire evening telling a girl how much he loved her. He said that he couldn’t live without her; that he’d go to the ends of the earth for her; how he’d go through fire for her, and even die for her. But when leaving he said, “I’ll see you tomorrow night, if it doesn’t rain.”

People often say they love God, yet deny it by their actions. Humble yourself, and truly love Jesus, because He first loved you.