Love in Action (Joel Giesbrecht)

Well, good morning. Please open your Bibles to

Matthew chapter 5. I'll be starting at verse 38 and

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

going to the end of the chapter. We're continuing the sermon

series through the Sermon on the Mount.

It's a powerful message given by Jesus to the people of that day,

including his disciples. And as we have seen read so far

from what we call the Sermon on the Mount, it was an

authoritative and it was a bold message.

It would have shocked the people that heard it when Jesus spoke,

and it shocks people still today.

And although we don't have the privilege of audibly hearing

Jesus teach his message, we have a written account of what he

said. The message is a call to a

higher standard, a practical handbook, if you will, for

Christian living. He juxtaposes the laws that were

given in what we now call the Old Testament, and he builds on

them. He expands them not to abolish

the laws, but to show the intent behind the laws and ultimately

to fulfill the laws. And the passage that we will

read today is no different. From a quick glance, it seems

wrong. It seems theoretical, or in

other words, it seems impossible to follow.

But what I love about the Scripture is, unlike my too

frequent tendency to soften the edges, the Scripture speaks

plainly. And so with that, let's read

Matthew 538 to 48. You have heard that it was said

an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil.

But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him, the

other also. And if anyone would sue you and

take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him 2 miles.

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one

who would borrow from you. You have heard that it was said,

You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who

persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in

heaven. For he makes the sunrise on the

evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the

unjust. For if you love those who love

you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors

do the same? And if you greet only your

brothers, what more are you doing than others?

Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Before we continue, let's pray. Heavenly Father, you are

perfect. Your word is a lamp for our

feet. It lights the path that we're to

follow. And I pray as we continue to

look into your word today, You give us understanding to rightly

handle the word of truth. Lord, may your name be glorified

by the preaching of this text. Amen.

What is the most selfless thing that you have ever done?

Perhaps you let someone cut in line during busy traffic.

Maybe you've paid for someone's groceries when they couldn't

afford it. Or maybe you went as far as to

give your own blood to someone that needed it.

Those things are good, but over the last two years I've had a

front row seat to I think is the most selfless thing a person can

do. I'm talking about being a

mother. Over the last two years, I've

seen my wife go through pregnancy, birthing and

nurturing our little boy. In the first few weeks of

pregnancy, the woman can already start to feel sick.

They then proceed to carry the baby for nine months, being

careful about what they do so as no harm comes to the baby.

When the delivery day finally comes, they go through intense

emotions and physical pain as they bring this baby into the

world. And instead of resting and

having a peaceful recovery, they immediately go into caretaker

mode as they feed and support this new baby that is literally

depending on them for its very existence.

And it doesn't stop there. Mothers continue to sacrifice

their time, their energy, and their own body for this baby.

They give up their sleep, their comfort, and their own desires

so that the baby will be well taken care of.

And as the baby continues to grow and develop, the role of

the mother does not go away. They continue to sacrifice

themselves for the needs of their children, with no promise

of their work being compensated or appreciated.

Whether you're a mother, you're married to one, or you have a

good mother, this probably isn't new information to you.

Among the many words you could describe being a good parent and

specifically a good mother, I think selfless would be fitting.

And of course, I think most mothers would probably agree

that the positives outweigh all the negatives and that putting

away their own desires would be worth it when it comes to

raising a child. But in other areas of our life,

how often do we feel like it's worth it to let go of our

selfish desires? I think if we're honest with

ourselves, our selfish desires often override our Christian

duties, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally.

Our actions show that we want what we want, when we want it,

how we want it, and where we want it.

We don't want to sacrifice, and as far as it depends on us or as

far as it benefits us, we want justice.

But as we look further into this passage today, we'll see that

Jesus teaching is in contrast to what we may feel we're entitled

to. We'll see that because God is

just, we should let go of our selfish desires.

Not all our desires are inherently selfish.

We can have desires to do good and to help others, but often

our desires come from selfish motivations, desires that have

something in it for us, even if it's just a moral sense of

superiority. So what are some of the selfish

desires that we need to let go of?

We need to let go of our desire for revenge, our desire to hate,

and our desire to be passive. A desire for revenge seems to be

the most socially acceptable desire.

If someone wrongs you, no one bats an eye if you retaliate or

seek retribution. And therefore it's often easy to

sweep it under the rug with sayings like, well, he had it

coming or what goes around comes around.

The idea of karma gets thrown in as a platitude to remove the

need for deeper thought or action.

And so why should we let go of that desire?

Well, most importantly, because the Bible says so.

In Exodus 3235, God says vengeance is mine.

God commands the Israelites to not seek personal vengeance, but

rather to wait on the Lord. It is for him to exact judgment

where he sees fit. Paul reiterates this in his

letter to the church in Rome saying, Beloved, never avenge

yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written,

vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

When we decide to go against what is commanded in the Bible,

we weaken our testimony as believers in Galatians. 5.

Paul writes To walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify

the desires of the flesh. He continues to say that the

that the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and vice

versa, and that those who belong to Christ Jesus have been

crucified have crucified the flesh with its passion and

desires. So in summary, if we are in

Christ, that is, if we have put our hope and trust in Jesus, we

should keep in step with the Spirit and the fruit of the

Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit being

Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

When you take revenge into your own hands it shows a a lack of

self-control. Going back to our passage verses

38 and 39. You have heard that it was said

an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil, but if

anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other

also. Jesus is referring back to the

laws of Moses that were put in place to give justice and

retribution to the offended, but it was also to prevent excessive

revenge from being taken by the individual.

The laws were given to the judges to make sure that the

proper amount of restitution was made.

This would protect all parties involved from continuous and

needless bloodshed. The laws were given to just not

to justify violence, but to give a proper guidance for justice.

But here Jesus, like he's done with so many other laws, he

doesn't remove them, rather he calls for a higher standard.

The idea of turning the other cheek when slapped show is to

show humility and that you do possess self-control and that

culture. Being slapped on the right cheek

was an insult to the receiver. Most people were likely

right-handed and so to be hit on the right cheek would require a

backhanded slap. It wasn't a life threatening

blow, but rather a gesture of contempt and humiliation.

Jesus is saying not to retaliate with that same level of insult

or evil, but rather to be controlled in your response.

When you take revenge into your own hands.

It it also shows a lack of patience.

Let's look at verses 40 to 41. And if anyone would sue you and

take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him 2 miles.

Here we get the phrase going the extra mile.

No doubt you've heard this one before.

It's a common saying among believers and non believers

alike. The meaning of this verse, and

really the meaning of the greater passage, is to sacrifice

your own time and desires to benefit others.

In those days, the Roman law was that if a soldier requested it,

the Jew would have to take the soldiers pack and carry it for a

mile. And of course, as you would

imagine, the Jewish people didn't look too favorably on the

Roman soldiers because of this. It was insulting and oppressive.

But again, Jesus raises the bar and says go the extra mile.

He doesn't say go a mile and berate them the whole time about

how evil they are. And for the Roman soldiers, this

would have been a surprise for them too.

They would have been aware that the Jewish people didn't like

them. And so if someone offered to do

extra work, extra hard work, they would have been perplexed.

So much so that I'm sure the question was asked, why are you

doing this? And I think that's the point.

Later in this book in Chapter 7, Jesus says you will know them by

their fruit, meaning that you'll be able to tell true believers

from false ones by their actions, by possessing and

showing the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of patience.

Rather, it gives you the ability to share Jesus when you go the

extra mile and it confuses the person and they ask why are you

doing this? That is the perfect opening, the

perfect opportunity to share Jesus.

Who Jesus is and what he taught you switched the roles from

being the victim to being in a place of power to share the

gospel. And back to verse 42, Jesus says

give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse the one

who would borrow from you. When you take revenge into your

own hands, it shows a lack of kindness.

Besides not getting revenge when someone physically hurts you,

it's tough not to get revenge when someone takes from you.

I don't think this verse is saying that as a Christian

you're not required to give all your money away, or that as

Christians we can't have possessions.

Psalm 1717 to 18 says a friend is always loyal and a brother is

born to help in a time of need. But then in the next verse it

says it's poor judgement to guarantee another person's debt

or to put up security for a friend.

There's a contrast there. As Christians, as fellow

brothers and sisters in Christ, we should be willing to help,

but in the same vein, be discerning about what kind of

help is actually needed. Simply giving money often does

less good than giving time and attention to address the real

problem. But the overarching theme here

is to be kind, to go out of your way to help someone else, to not

be greedy with what God has given you, but to hold it with

an open hand and to be willing to use it to help others again.

By doing so, you can be an effective witness for Christ and

share your love for Jesus. In Genesis 37, we're given the

account of Joseph at the age of 17.

Joseph's brothers, who are jealous of him, attempted to

kill Joseph by throwing him into a deep pit.

But when a group of traders came by, they thought to themselves,

why kill Joseph when we can get something in return for him?

So they pulled him back up and sold them into slavery for their

own profit. Joseph ends up going to Egypt

and being sold to the captain of Pharaoh's guard.

Joseph, being a man of integrity, rises the ranks and

gets put in charge of the guard or of the captain's household.

He then gets wrongfully accused, thrown into prison, and again

rises the ranks in prison, ultimately at the age of 30

becomes second in command in all of Egypt next to only the

Pharaoh. Then when a time of famine

comes, Joseph's brothers come to Egypt seeking food.

Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they don't recognize him and

the same brothers that tried to kill him and sold them into

slavery are now at his mercy. But Joseph displays self-control

and he doesn't seek revenge for their wrongdoing.

He exhibits patience and he tests them and ultimately shows

kindness to them, but giving them the best land in all of

Egypt to live and to raise their families.

Joseph displayed what Jesus would teach approximately 1800

years later. He let go of his desire for

revenge and instead he left it to God.

He showed strength where it would have been easy to show

weakness. When Joseph's brothers apologize

in fear of Joseph, he tells them, As for you, you meant evil

against me, but God meant it for good to bring it about that many

people should be kept alive as they are today.

God used for good the evil that Joseph's brothers committed.

It does not condone or endorse the evil, but it shows that God

is in control of all things. So in our own lives, what is our

response when injustice is committed against us?

Do we jump to retaliate and so by doing so, stoop to the

offenders level? Maybe there's someone that

worked at at that's constantly giving you a hard time and

making you do work that no one else does.

For those of you in school, maybe there's someone that picks

on you that bullies you or that spreads rumors about you.

Whatever the case is, we aren't required to be a doormat and let

others walk over us. And I would encourage you to

report wrongful behaviors to the proper authorities.

But from what is in your control, be wise about handling

the situation. Don't seek revenge in your

suffering and don't waste your suffering.

If you're going to suffer, it might as well be for the glory

of Christ. Walk in the Spirit and live out

the fruit of the Spirit. Be self controlled, be patient

and show kindness wherever you can.

What people mean for evil, God can use for good.

Use those moments to show to show Jesus to those around you

and tell them about the hope that you have in Him.

You may think then, well, I won't take revenge on them, I

won't show my anger physically, but I still hate them.

But that doesn't get you off the hook.

Hate is equally wrong in the sight of God.

We heard a few weeks ago Jesus teaching on anger and that

everyone who is angry with his brother is liable to judgement.

Jesus is just concerned about just as concerned about your

heart as he is about your actions.

Speaking to the Pharisees in Matthew 23, Jesus says Woe to

you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.

For you are like a whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear

beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all

uncleanliness. So you are outwardly.

So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within

you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Jesus harshly rebuked the Pharisees for trying to have the

appearance of righteousness while their hearts were full of

hate. Jesus knew their hearts and He

knows ours as well. As Christians, then, we should

let go of our desire for hate, and instead we're called to love

our enemies, to love our enemies by praying for them, by treating

them as equals, and by giving and greeting them.

Let's go back to the passage, verses 43 to 45.

Jesus speaking, you have heard that it was said, you shall love

your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who

persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in

heaven. Jesus is saying to not only love

your enemies, but pray for them. It seems to be the climax of the

sermon. Jesus has referenced many old

laws and He calls for the higher standard, and this seems to be

the greatest. Loving your enemies, praying for

them. How many world leaders can you

think of that have told their constituents to pray for their

enemies? But by praying for your enemies,

it puts you in the correct heart posture toward them.

In Proverbs 16, it says violent people mislead their companions,

leading them down a harmful path.

With narrowed eyes, people plot evil.

With a smirk, they plan their mischief.

Pausing to pray for our enemies prevents us from being blinded

by anger and helps us remove the desire to hate.

It also brings us closer to the likeness of God.

Jesus says to love and pray for your enemies so that you will be

sons of your Father who is in heaven.

It points to sacrifice himself and conforming to the will of

God. And we should also love our

enemies by treating them as equals.

The last part of verse 45 says For he makes the his sunrise on

the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on

the unjust. Borrowing from Matthew Henry's

commentary, he points out that the sun and rain are both

blessings from God. And where would we be without

the sun or the rain? Yet God in all his goodness

allows both to fall on the believer and on the non believer

alike. It proves the goodness and the

mercy of God. If we were in control of the sun

and the rain, would we be impartial to the just and to the

unjust? Yet the very people that

slandered the name of God, that mock in the ridicule His the

idea of His existence, do so in the loving outpour of the sun in

the rain and air to breathe from Him.

James 117 says every good and perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no

variation or shadow due to change.

It is ironic that those that don't believe in God can only do

so because of God. It does beg the question then,

why does God allow evil? And while that's a much larger

topic, I love Frank Turk's response to this.

He quoting Turk, he says God allows evil because he allows

free choice and that's the only way that we could have love.

In other words, he doesn't force you to love him.

He reveals himself and who he is.

He draws and He calls, and it is our responsibility to respond by

treating our enemies as equals in the fact that they were

created in the image of God. It removes any potential for

pride or for boasting. It allows us to see fellow men

and women like God sees us sinners in need of a Saviour.

And then lastly, to let go of our desire for hate.

We should love our enemies by greeting them and giving freely.

Verses 46 to 47 For if you love those who love you, what reward

do you have? Do not even the tax collectors

do the same? And if you greet only your

brothers, what more are you doing than others?

Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Jesus wraps up this idea of loving your enemies by comparing

how Christians are to act versus how the world acts.

Jesus saying that if you only do the bare minimum, if you only

love those that love you, if you only greet those that greet you,

if you only give to the ones that give to you, how are you

any different? Christians are called to be

different, not to conform to the pattern of this world, but to be

transformed by the renewal of your mind.

CS Lewis touches on this subject in the book 4 Loves.

He writes by having great many friends.

I do not prove that I have a wide appreciation of human

excellence. You might as well say I proved

the width of my literary taste by being able to enjoy all the

books in my own study. The answer is the same in both

cases. You chose those books, you chose

those friends. Of course they suit you.

The truly wide taste in humanity will find something to

appreciate in the cross section of humanity whom one has to meet

every day. CS Lewis has a large vocabulary

and I had to read that. Reread that quote like 5 times

before it made sense to me. But Simply put, how are you

treating the people that you don't choose to have in your

life? The waitress at the restaurant.

The janitor at your workplace, the people you pass by in the

grocery store, how you love and greet those everyday people that

you don't choose to have in your life will tell you a lot more

about yourself than those that you, that are close to you and

that you do choose to have in your life.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in the in the waiting room as my

wife was getting ready for her ultrasound.

And ironically, I was reading this book by CS Lewis there.

And they're sitting next to me were what seemed to be two very

pleasant elderly ladies. And sitting next to them, I

could hear their conversation well as they went on about the

state of the nation, the economy and all the rest of the stuff

that goes along with those conversations.

And it wasn't until they mentioned their great disdain

for the American president that sparked my curiosity.

There had been, there had been a public, deadly public shooting

in the news recently. And one lady mentioned that she

wished the shooter that shot at the American president had the

same aim as this recent shooter. I put my book down, surprised by

this bat brash statement from this lady.

But she didn't skip a beat. And in the very next sentence,

she lamented how rude the president was and of his great

disdain towards people and his disregard for people.

The irony was palpable. In one sentence she wished for a

man's death and in another she demanded kindness and mercy.

We don't have Christ if when we don't have Christ in our lives.

That line of thinking is fair to the non believer.

Yes, it can sound hypocritical, but really there's nothing wrong

with it. Death to those I hate and

kindness to me and to those I love.

But through Jesus's words we can see the fault.

In that way of thinking, it removes grace and mercy from the

equation. We may think that we always want

justice, but when it comes to our own sins, to our own

shortcomings, then we want mercy.

Yes, we have enemies, and yes, they may hate us, but if you

were saved here this morning, you too were once an enemy of

the cross. Paul, writing in First

Corinthians, says, Do you not know that the unrighteous will

not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be the deceived, neither

the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor

men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor

drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the

Kingdom of God. And such were some of you.

This applies to us today too. There is no individual that is

too far gone that God cannot save.

Jesus calls us to love our enemies.

We should pray for them, treat them as equals, as humans made

in the image of God, and to show Christ's love for them.

Loving our enemies does not mean condoning their sin or enabling

sin to happen. But Paul continues to say, but

you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified

in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our

God. So if we have been sanctified,

if we have been washed and justified in Christ, then we

have a responsibility to also love our enemies and to let go

of our desire for hate. Lastly, because God is just, we

should let go of our desire for revenge and our desire for hate,

and we should also let go of our desire to be passive.

At first glance, this doesn't really seem to be an issue,

right? I've never heard anyone say I

desire to be passive. It's almost a contradiction.

So being passive means to allow things to happen to you without

taking action, or to allow things to happen without taking

action. So to desire to be passive would

be to want to allow things to happen without being responsible

to take action. Again, you rarely, if ever, hear

anyone say that they want to be passive, but I'm a firm believer

that behavior is a language. Sometimes what we say and what

we do are two different things. I can say I want to grow

spiritually, but if I don't pray or if I don't read my Bible,

then I don't really want it. I just want to want it.

Being a Christian is not just about what you believe, but

where is your devotion, where are your actions.

Our faith needs to be put into practice and not merely held as

an intellectual belief. The whole Sermon on the Mount is

not a theoretical sermon, it's an application for how to live.

James, the brother of Jesus says, but be doers of the word

and not only hears deceiving yourself, it's a call to be

present and active, to not desire a life of passivity and

to let go of that desire. To be passive.

We need to be blameless, bold and brave.

The last verse of this passage, verse 48, says you therefore

must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Talk about a high bar, right? It's probably would have been a

good idea to just start with that verse.

That's it, be perfect, done. But it's not that simple.

Often we'll hear the phrase no one is perfect as an excuse for

our sins or the sins of someone else.

And even though that's technically true, it can be

misused. Christ is calling us to be

blameless. We know on this side of heaven

we will never truly be blameless or perfect, but that should be

the goal. That should be what we strive

for. Using the excuse.

Yeah, but no one's perfect. To remain in sin is a sign that

we don't understand Jesus teaching.

As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us,

guiding and helping us to live a life that resembles Jesus.

We are sanctified, set apart, and God calls us to a higher

standard. To not stay in the muck, in the

mire of our own sin and so fuel our desire, our desire for

passivity, but to come out and live in the light of His Word.

To let go of our desire to be passive means we also need to be

bold. Bold to protect, love and give.

And for all you English majors out there, you'll recognize

those as verbs. And from what I remember from

school, verbs are action words. They are the opposite of being

passive. When we read a verse like

Matthew 539 where Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, it can

be easy to apply this to areas of our life that it was not

intended. I don't believe that this is a

call for complete pacifism, but rather for proper action.

First Corinthians 13 seven says that love always protects.

The ESV says that it bears all things, and the original word

there means to cover. True love protects.

It covers as God protected the Israelites in the Old Testament,

as Joseph protected Mary from public shame in the New

Testament. True love looks for the

betterment of others. It isn't selfish, but it's a

shield to the vulnerable. Turning the other cheek is a

response of strength, to show that my trust in Jesus is

greater than my own need for justice or for retaliation.

But we aren't told to turn someone else's cheek for them.

Jesus was addressing the personal desires for retribution

and revenge, which seeks to bring glory to yourself and make

yourself look great. And that is a selfish desire,

and it goes against the teachings of Jesus.

But he wasn't saying that we need to be passive when we see

the victimization of the vulnerable.

Jesus himself wasn't passive when He saw the money lenders

abusing the temple and those coming to it.

He flipped their tables and he drove them out with a whip.

He took action to protect the vulnerable.

It's right and proper to have righteous anger when we see the

mistreatment and the abuse of others.

Ephesians 426 says be angry and do not sin.

It shows that it is possible to be angry and not sin at the same

time. When Canadians landed on Juno

Beach in 1944, it wasn't a hatred of people that led them

there, but a love of good and a hatred of evil.

Don't hear me wrong, I'm not saying that there was no sin

there or that all the motives were pure and right, but that is

where the issue lies. What is our heart position?

I'll share a short story that's slightly embarrassing to tell,

but I think it fits here. Quite a few years ago my then

girlfriend and now wife Courtney and I were standing in line

outside the Tigers baseball stadium with a couple friends

and not too far away from us. There were a few older guys that

were open air preaching using a microphone and some portable

speakers. They were handing out Bible

tracts and from what I heard they were sharing the gospel

from those waiting to go inside. While I was standing there I

heard a loud commotion with people yelling and a man walking

away from the area. This man had gone up to the

Street Preachers and pushed them and knocked over all of his

speakers and the different resources.

I immediately got angry and I was looking for the guy that did

this. I got so wrapped up about it all

that all I could think about was what I would do if I would see

this guy or the things I would all tell him.

But I was quickly humbled when I saw a few people go over to

these gentlemen, pick up their stuff and ask if they were OK.

I was so focused on my hatred for this immature man that I

didn't even think to help. Of the ones that were to help,

the ones that were abused, for all I know, the people that

helped them that day, they might not even have been Christians.

While IA professing Christian stood there passively doing

nothing. My words said one thing, but my

heart and my actions showed another.

I was justifiably angry, but in my anger I was passive and I

missed an opportunity to show kindness on the outside.

I could have faked moral virtue and said how self controlled I

was to not retaliate, but in my heart I had already retaliated.

And that's what Jesus is constantly going back to in the

sermon. What's in the heart?

And that's the source of the problem.

If we don't let go of our passivity, we cannot expect to

become virtuous. CS Lewis put it in this way in a

sort of ghastly simplicity. Re remove the organ and demand

the function. We make men without chests and

expect of them virtue and enterprise.

Our love for others should not remove our boldness, but rather

it should bring it out. Being bold for the faith and

standing up for the oppressed is not antithetical to the gospel,

it displays it. Finally, we should be blameless,

we should be bold, and we should be brave.

When Jesus preached the sermon, he knew the effect it would

have. When he rebuked the Pharisees

for being whitewashed tombs, he knew the effect it would have.

Jesus came to bring love into a broken world.

His message was to come out of the darkness and into the light,

to repent and believe, to love God and love your neighbor.

Yet there are still those that hated him.

Looking at the example of Jesus, we too should not be surprised

when we are hated for the sake of the Gospel.

Later in the book of Matthew, when Jesus sends out the 12

apostles, he tells them, I am sending you out a sheep in the

midst of wolves. So be wise as serpent and as

serpents, and innocent as doves. And he continues to say that you

will be hated by all for my name's sake.

But even if we are hated and mocked, Jesus prior words still

stand firm. Through the work of the Spirit.

We are to be brave and to love our enemies as Christ did.

Being blameless, being bold and being brave is a call for all

Christians, men and women alike. But for a moment, let me speak

to the men and I'm speaking to myself as well.

You are called to be courageous. Paul, writing in First in

Corinthians, says be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act

like men, be strong, let all that you do be done in love.

In a day and age where being a man is looked down upon or

twisted as something to hide from, we're still called to be

godly men. Not some dumb caricature as

displayed by social media influencers, but as leaders.

Leaders that love like Christ did and put others needs before

our own. Letting go of trivial disputes

and selfish desires and honoring Christ by loving him and serving

others well. To quote Bobby Jameson,

authority flows from those who take responsibility.

So take responsibility. Don't wait for others to do it

first. There's plenty of bad leaders

out there and when we become passive to their abuse of others

and when we disguise it and turning the other cheek, we

contribute to that hurt. Again.

Quoting Bobby Jameson, he says the opposite of selfish ambition

is not passivity, but rather selfless ambition.

As Christians, we all need to have a selfless ambition for the

good of others. Not only that we that we don't

prioritize our own needs, but that we actively prioritize the

needs of others, men, women, young and old.

Our duty is to love God and to love others, and it's by our

love that the world will see that we are different and

therefore point to Christ. Doug Wilson says that the

Christian faith does not advance by the sword, but instead by the

sword of the Spirit. By rejecting passivity and

loving others, we can be a light in a Dark World.

About 7-7 weeks ago on September 10th, there was an event that

happened that shocked the world and caught the eyes and ears of

almost everyone in the world. A young man, a husband, and the

father of two small children was assassinated in public in front

of hundreds of students. And because of his popularity,

the event was captured on video and spread like wildfire across

the Internet for everyone to see.

I'm sure most of you have heard of this man named Charlie Kirk.

He was a passionate individual who had a mission to help young

people. He was bold and sharing his

faith, and he never shield away from sharing the gospel.

He shared the gospel at every university campus he attended

and online to millions of viewers.

Specifically, he wanted to reach young men, as his wife put it.

Specifically to the young men who felt like they had no

direction, no purpose, no faith, and no reason to live.

The men wasting their lives on distractions and the men

consumed with resentment, anger, and hate.

Charlie wanted to help them, and in doing that, moments after

sharing the gospel, his life was taken.

And since that event, as you would expect in the age of the

Internet, there's been thousands of conspiracy while the

accusations and outright lies. But amidst of all that chaos,

there's still a grieving widow and two small children whose dad

will never come home. A mother and a father whose son,

whose son's death is watched, analyzed and argued about in

front of the whole world. It's hard to imagine what we

would do if we were in the place of Charlie's family.

And I don't think anyone would blame them if they exclaim their

hatred of the killer and demanded retaliation.

But they didn't organize mobs or protest and riot.

There was no call for violence or payback.

Instead, his wife Erica forgave her husband's killer.

Speaking at the memorial, she said she forgave him because it

was what Christ did. And she continued to say the

answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the

gospel is love. Love for our enemies and those

who persecute us. Erica could have let her

desires, could have chosen to let her desires and hate for

hate to override her Christian duties, and I don't think many

people would have said otherwise.

But she rejected passivity and chose to take action to love her

enemy and forgive forgiveness. She exemplified Christ and

forgiving the very one responsible for her husband's

death. There was another event, and

this one took place just over 2000 years ago that would

forever impact human history. An innocent man, a beloved son,

was killed in front of hundreds to see.

Like Charlie's death, this man has also been.

This man's death has also been analysed and argued about in

front of the whole world. But unlike Charlie, and this is

important, this man was perfect, never committing a sin, never

saying a single thing wrong. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,

fully God and fully man, went to the cross willingly and died for

the sins of the world. He was beaten, mocked and

humiliated, and he endured the suffering not for anything he

did, but for my sins and for your sins.

Then after being nailed to the cross and put up for all to see

Jesus dying on the cross, said Father, forgive them, for they

know not what they do. God and His perfect justice

could not let sin go unpunished, but being a loving Father

provided a way for you and me to go to heaven.

He gave up His very own Son to be abused and mistreated and

ultimately killed to pray to pay the price that you and I could

not. He is the ultimate example of

being a selfless parent. God hates sin, but He is not

passive in His love for sinners. There will one day be justice

for all who have put their trust in Jesus.

So we need not waste our time plotting and wishing for

revenge, but rather our focus should be on God's mercy toward

us. Romans 58 says But God shows his

love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died

for us. As we read today, we are called

to be perfect, and it is only through perfection that we can

go to heaven. But we don't fit that bill.

We aren't perfect, not even close, but Jesus is.

Jesus did for us what we could never do.

Jesus died so that you and I could live.

If you haven't put your hope and trust in Jesus, I would

encourage you to look at the life of Jesus.

Look at the love He showed and continues to show.

He is impartial. He isn't selfish.

He desires all men and women to come to faith.

Second, Peter 39 says that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His

promise, as some count slowness, but patient is patient toward

you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should

reach repentance. The Lord is patient, but we will

all have to give an account one day and on that day there is

nothing that we can bring to the table, no good works, nothing we

can point out and say this is the reason I deserve it, we

don't deserve it. The only hope we have is in the

death and resurrection of Jesus. And that is the beauty of the

gospel, that a man who knew no sin would take the place for you

and me to selflessly lay down his life as a ransom for many.

Christ embodied what it means to love your enemies, so look to

him. Humans are flawed, but Jesus is

perfect and as Christians, let that be our example.

To live a life like Christ, to leave vengeance to the Lord, to

love our enemies, to give of ourselves freely and to take

action to protect the vulnerable.

As Micah 6-8 puts it, do justice, love kindness and walk

humbly with God. Let's pray God there is no one

else like you. There are no words like your

words. You have made everyone in Your

image worthy of love and protection.

Help us to follow Your words. It's easy to read, but it can be

difficult to live out. Lord, be patient with us.

Teach us Your ways that we may walk in Your truth and give us

hearts of understanding. We thank You and we give praise

to You because You alone have saved us.

We are sinners, but You are a merciful and gracious God, slow

to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

May we exemplify Christ as we live our lives in faith and

devotion to you. All this we pray in Jesus name,

Amen.