Skip to main content

What? How?

 27 “But to you who are listening, I say: 

  • Love your enemies, 
  • do good to those who hate you, 28 
  • bless those who curse you, 
  • pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, 
  • turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, 
  • do not withhold your shirt from them. 
  • 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 
  • 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 


32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 

33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 

34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 

35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. 

Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, 

because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 

36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.


I have read this passage many times through the years. So many that I confess that it has become a quick read without much thought. This morning, however, this text jumped out at me as if it were a first-time encounter. I tried to imagine how it must have sounded to an oppressed people. How did the Jews, who the Romans dominated, take to this sermon? 

Envisioning trying to fulfill these few words is startling and appalling. Who would want to do all of this? What planet would these people come from? How would we, mere earthlings, treat these strange beings?

We tend to turn the above list on its head. We do the opposite of all of Jesus’ suggestions. But, of course, they are not suggestions at all. We only wished that they were. We know that we want others to treat us well. No doubt there. However, the other stuff is for the weak and meek, a group we see as puny and frail. Imagine if we tried to do all of this. We’d probably be dead in a week. 

If that scenario were true, then why would Jesus have said it? All of these words were to be the norm for Kingdom living. When practiced, we would exhibit true power and be “children of the Highest.” That’s because these character qualities reflect how He is to us. He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. That would be you and me. 

Think about these things, my friends. We are his as we do these things, and as we become weak, we become strong.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abs of Steel with Glasses

Have you ever wondered why Clark Kent always took his glasses off before he turned into Superman? I hadn’t ever thought about it either until this last Saturday when I almost got sucker-punched. Wellington, one of my spunky Juniors, wanted to wrestle. He feigned a punch to my gut and I said, “Go ahead. I have abs of steel!” I think that my gym visits might be going to my head because my abs of steel are buried under a healthy layer of blubber. I have improved my six-pack but it is far from chiseled. It looks more like a quarter of a keg. Anyway, quick as a wink and with near lightening speed Wellington said, “Yeah but up here is made of glass!” as his poke went within a hair’s breadth of my glasses! I belly-laughed. His rapid reflexes and wit had caught me by surprise. And what he said was so true and funny. It was an excellent though brief lesson. I often prepare for an oncoming fray. I get ready, set and then “BLAM”! The proverbial punch comes from a totally different direction. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Urgent Prayer (part 2)

Does God ever give you a gut punch? He did that just a few days ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button and brought a few tears too. One thing that shook me was the final statement that the missionary made. He was questioning himself and said, I wonder if what I have done will make a difference. This question comes to a missionary's mind now and again as they ponder how vast God's world is and how tiny one’s work is. As I thought, and identified, with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24, “ Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” When, in Matthew, the sower sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here in John, Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his comi...
Post a Comment
Read more