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

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

Tottering!

I was watching my one year old grandson, Brandon, today. He had on some baggy little shorts, weird flip-flops over his socks, and he was tottering. It made me think about how I often feel these days. Funny how that when we are little and "innocent" and tottering in our baggy pants, with our little potbelly sticking out from under our t-shirt we look precious. When we are older and tottering in our low slung trousers and the same potbelly, we looks pathetic! I guess that the two drastically opposite points of view are based on the viewer's chronological perspective. Brandon is growing and I'm dying. He is cute because the little guy has a lot to learn and we love to see him progress. The old guy has already had his chance at learning and what he is progressing toward is not quite so much fun to ponder. When I have these weird thoughts I praise my God because He never lets go of my hand whether a tottering little guy or an old one. And I found this verse to prove my po...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Circumcision Advantage

 What a title right? I'm thinking of Romans 3:1 where Paul asks, "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?"  This was always an avoided subject in Sunday school, especially in a mixed class. We didn't use the "C" word. Too wierd.  Paul is bringing up this topic for good reasons. He wants to show that the Jews definitely have had a great advantage during their history. In the next verse he tells one of them when he says, ... "First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God." The first jew talked to God in person. God chose Abram to be the father of many nations and to bring the blessing of the Messiah to the world. The Old Testament is the story of the Jewish nation. God dealt with the Jews throughout the ages of the time before Christ. They were the chosen. But in all that blessing they ended up crucifying the Messiah.  With all of their advantages the Jews came short of the ideal....
Post a Comment
Read more