Living with Friends, Neighbours and Enemies

Father, we come to your word, and sometimes, Father, when we come to your word, we're afraid

to ask questions of your word, because we feel, Father, that it's maybe offensive to

you or maybe we're afraid of the answers.

We confess to you, Father, that sometimes we're afraid of the way others mock your word

or ask questions about your word that we don't know how to answer.

Father, we ask that you would pour out your Holy Spirit gently but deeply upon us at this

time and grant us a great confidence in you, a great confidence in your word.

And, Father, as we become more and more confident in your word, help us to listen to the Bible

ever more deeply.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So this isn't a test.

I don't know how carefully you were listening.

When Abby read the epistle, Romans 12, and in the epistle, towards the end of it, she said,

how did, what was it she said towards the end?

She said, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

So here's the question.

A couple of years ago, he wasn't part of our congregation at the time, but I got his permission

to say his name, by the way, just in case you're worried.

Oh, boy, is George going to use my name and me as an example in a sermon?

I got his permission.

A couple of years ago, just before he joined this congregation, a man who's part of our congregation,

Ross Allen, served a tour of duty six months in Afghanistan as part of Canada's fight against

the Taliban.

So the question is this.

Did he sin?

Did he sin to go to Afghanistan to be part of Canada's mission in fighting the Taliban?

Should he be repenting about it?

Should he come under church discipline?

Should we fight ISIS or feed ISIS?

Is that what the Bible text is saying?

So we're going to look at that.

It'd be a great help.

And that and a whole pile of other comments.

It'd be a great help then if you could turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 12, verse

Romans 12:9

9 and following.

Romans 12, 9 and following.

Because some of you might, especially those of you who are maybe guests and are seeking,

just trying to search out and seek out what's going on with the Christian faith or making

sense of your life.

And you might have had a whole range of comments about the moral list, the ethics list, the

virtues list that Abby read a little bit earlier.

And it's a very, very deep text, Romans 12, 9.

For some of us, it would be a great thing to take if we wanted to take an afternoon or a

couple of hours someday to just reflect upon our life.

It would be a great text to use to reflect upon our lives, Romans 12, 9 and following.

And let's just look at this whole question and we'll begin.

Actually, if you could put up the first verse on the screen, Andrew.

And we're going to camp here longer on this one verse than all of the other verses between

9 and 21.

And it's partially because in some ways this is a key text to make sense of all of the things

in verses 10 to 21.

This is like a key text that we have to sort of have in our mind.

It's the memory verse which I suggest for the week.

And if you could read it out loud with me.

Love without hypocrisy.

Abhor what is evil.

Cling to what is good.

Let's say it together again.

Love without hypocrisy.

Abhor what is evil.

Cling to what is good.

And some of you haven't the vaguest idea in the world what abhor means.

But we'll get to that in a second.

So here's the thing about this text.

And it looks very, very simple.

And in fact, we're going to talk about this more in a moment.

For some of us it even looks like it's commanding an emotion.

Because in our culture, love is often thought of as a very, very powerful and important,

not only an emotion but a disposition to act.

But it's often thought of as an emotion.

So here's the first thing about this text.

Which is, and it's going to be, you know, talking about this ISIS issue and all of it.

Unless we get this verse, the rest of it's going to be difficult to us to understand.

Some of you probably have no idea what abhor means.

And some of you are thinking, I think I know what inestimable meant.

But it's probably, if I asked you how many people used the word abhor or inestimable in the last six months,

probably nobody would put their hands up.

Maybe some of you English majors have used it.

But they're very uncommon words.

And one of the things which is very, very interesting about the Bible

is that when Paul would have written this to the church in Rome,

and it would have been in Greek in the original one,

a lot of the congregation probably scratched their heads

because they didn't know what he was talking about when he said that very first word, love.

Paul chose a very obscure word in Greek when he wrote this.

We're very common with the word now, but I mean the Greeks had other words that we now translate as love,

but this word agape was a very rare word in Greek literature prior to the New Testament.

The word agape, which is translated as love, is in the New Testament hundreds and hundreds of times,

but it was rare.

So virtually every time you read the word love in the New Testament,

you can imagine that the original hearers were scratching their heads,

especially guessing, saying, what on earth is that word?

And they have to go back to their equivalent of their dictionaries to figure it out.

And so the ancient Greeks, they were very familiar with the idea of what we would call brotherly affection,

the word Philadelphia, which is actually in the next verse.

And they were very, they knew about eros,

which is often, you know, sort of sexual attraction,

which is one of the main ways that we understand the word love.

And they were just, they were very familiar with the type of love between friends.

And they had words for all of this, but they had this rare word.

And this rare word means a self-giving,

self-sacrificing,

self-emptying

acts for the good of the other person.

I'll try to say that again.

I know it's not a lecture,

but this word agape means self-giving or self-emptying

or self-sacrificing

or putting yourself and your needs second

to act in a way which is good for somebody else.

And it was a rare word.

But for Christians, it's in a sense an obvious word.

Paul was a very, very learned man.

And probably, you know, he's maybe just reading,

you know, casually some Greek fiction or philosophy or something like that,

some Greek plays.

And he comes across that word and he says,

no, that exactly describes what Jesus did for us.

What a great word.

Agape.

It describes what Jesus did for us.

How he set aside his glory and his divine prerogatives

and his divine splendor,

his appearance as God,

the honor that was due to him as God,

the prerogatives that were due to him as God,

the worship and veneration and fear that was due to him as God.

He set all of that aside in obedience to the Father

and out of love for human beings

who were rebels and hated God in a sense

and were completely misled.

He set all of that aside

and he didn't stop being God,

but he takes into himself our human nature

and he comes and lives amongst us as a human being,

completely and utterly unrecognized,

eventually rejected by his people,

crucified upon a cross,

which is a shameful form of death.

Everything there is to taste of death.

You can't be poorer than dead.

He comes to be completely and utterly poor.

He rises from the dead.

He's vindicated, but he does all of that

because he loves human beings

and wants human beings to be reconciled to the Father.

There is no better word for love than agape.

And so it's almost any sense in our culture

that love involves a type of self-sacrifice

or putting yourself second

or that it's an action, not just a feeling.

It comes from Christianity.

It's from the Bible,

the Christian faith that it's had.

Whatever presence it has in the culture,

it comes from here.

And so this is really important

because in our culture we're losing this.

And it's really interesting.

Can you say this verse with me again, please?

Love without hypocrisy.

Abhor what is evil.

Cling to what is good.

In our culture,

we tend to think of love as primarily a feeling.

We don't tend to think of love as a verb,

as an action,

something that we actually do.

Even if we don't have a feeling of love

or affection or anything like that

or friendship,

that it's something,

things that we do.

And so in our culture,

increasingly it's a feeling.

And it's often seen,

it's funny,

in our culture,

increasingly,

if somebody says that there's something

which is good and evil,

which is coming up in a moment,

people say,

well, good and evil are relative.

It depends on if it's good for you or for me.

But if there's one absolute in our culture,

it's the absolute to love.

Like,

loving trumps all sorts of things.

And we know in our culture

that the experience of love in our culture

and in many other cultures,

it has a power to blind.

Like,

how many pop songs

and country and western songs

all go around the type of idea,

if loving you is wrong,

I don't want to be right.

You know?

And love, love, love,

all you need is love.

Like,

just constant

praise of love in our culture.

And the Bible here

isn't undermining the praise of love.

In fact,

I think that the Christian faith

teaches that love

is the soul's food.

We were made

at the very depth of who we are

as in souled bodies

is we hunger for love.

That is what our soul needs.

To thrive.

Because ultimately,

God made us for himself

and God is love.

And only the Christian account of God

makes sense of love.

Because from all eternity,

before any human beings existed

or before any angel existed,

the Father loved the Son.

And the Son loved the Father.

And in some scripture texts

it's described almost as if

the Holy Spirit's constant movement

between the Father and the Son

is the love of the Father and the Son.

And the Holy Spirit is love.

To have the Holy Spirit

be poured out into our hearts

is to have love poured out

into our hearts.

The Bible exalts

this self-sacrificing,

self-emptying,

self-giving love

as an action for the good

of the other person.

And it is our soul's food.

But it can blind.

It can mislead.

It can overwhelm common sense.

And it's not just an emotion.

But the very heart

of these Christian virtues

that all of the other virtues

that are going to follow it

begins with this three-legged stool.

The first part of it is

love without hypocrisy.

In other words,

it's to come from our heart.

It's not to just be something

we do to manipulate

the other person.

And it's connected

to these two other things.

One of them is the word abhor.

In the original language,

the word which is translated

as abhor,

it's the only time

in the New Testament

that this word is there.

And it's a word

that actually has

emotional connotations to it.

It actually sort of

is trying to say

to be the goal

that this verse

is launching us on a quest

in terms of

to live a life

that is actually sane,

intellectually, morally,

and relationally.

And at the heart

of this quest

is that we're going to try

to love without hypocrisy.

And we're going to abhor evil.

And that means

actually have a type of

physical and emotional

revulsion to it.

It would be as if

somebody said

they were going to give you

a tasty roast beef sandwich.

My apologies

to the vegetarians.

A tasty roast beef sandwich

or for the vegetarians,

a tasty tofu sandwich

if you're vegan.

And you get the roast beef

and there's maggots

and it's rotting

and you gag.

Harder to notice

maggots on tofu.

No, I shouldn't have said that.

Because it's white.

That's right.

Anyway, same type of idea.

And that's what this word is.

That as we,

that the Bible is calling us

to be launched on this quest

that's going to call us

to love,

that self-giving actions

for the good and benefit

of others

that comes from our heart,

that's consistent,

congruent with who we are.

And that part of that

is also going to be

that as we get closer

to loving people

and knowing God,

that there is this,

increasingly,

there will almost be

a revulsion,

a gagging,

as if somebody offers us

rotten meat

when we are invited

to do that,

which is wrong.

And the word here,

I think we try and,

I use in this version here,

cling,

to what is good.

There's,

the word that's translated

here is cling.

It's used in,

in,

in,

in several other places

in the New Testament.

We're not going to turn them

right now,

but if you go to

1 Corinthians 6,

and there's this passage

about why Christians

shouldn't sleep

with prostitutes.

And the word for being

united with a prostitute

in,

in sexual knowing

is the word

that we translate here

as cling.

And when it talks,

Jesus talks about

a union

of the husband

with the wife

that's a type

of sexual knowing,

that,

that,

that holding fast

to the,

to the wife

by the husband,

that's the word

which is translated

here as cling.

In other words,

that the,

this quest

for moral

and relational

intellectual sanity

is going to involve

that we have

this,

that we're propelled

to act

in a way

that is good

for the other person

that means

in potentially

putting ourselves

second.

and it's not

that love

is now

completely

and utterly

blind,

but you can't

love if you're

completely and utterly

ignorant of good

and evil.

And it's very obvious

from talking about this

that this means

that this opens up

a whole can of worms

in our culture,

which I don't have

time to go into,

but I just,

it needs to be seen here.

I'd say,

by the way,

that this,

this is deeply true.

This is deeply,

deeply,

deeply true.

That,

but in our culture,

we tend to think

of right and wrong

as relative,

that we tend

to think of it

in terms of,

sorry,

moment here,

big fancy word,

utilitarianism.

That's basically

how most people

think of right and wrong

in our culture.

And within utilitarianism,

it's the,

you know,

it's whatever's

going to cause

the least amount

of pain

or the most good

for the most people,

that's what you do

for an act.

But the problem,

there's huge problems

with that.

Utilitarianism

has no remedy

against selfishness.

I mean,

it sounds very good

that whenever

we're going

to do an act

that we should

think of what's

going to cause

the most harm

and the most good

for the most people

is some type

of Catholicism.

But here's the problem.

I'm going to be

blindingly honest

with you.

I don't weigh myself

the same as you.

And you don't do

that for me.

In fact,

isn't it very,

very common

for, let's say,

political leaders?

Like,

what went on

in the province

of Ontario

with a whole range

of political scandals?

Did the premier

calculate the greatest

good for the entire

province?

Or did he say

that the good

for himself

and a couple

of his friends

outweighed the

worth of

10 million people?

And I'm not

saying that to pick

on him.

I'm not trying

to make a political

point.

I'm just saying

that's the profound

problem with

utilitarianism.

The fact of the matter

is that every one

of us think

that we're

worth more

than the other

person.

You know,

it's going to

discomfort me

or discomfort

you or the

whole congregation.

I choose me.

That's how it weighs

out in the scale.

And the other

deep problem

with utilitarianism,

even though it

has, I mean,

you know,

partly that obviously

is part of moral

reflection,

but just not

as an overriding

rule,

is that utilitarianism

is what allowed

Stalin to kill

up to 50 million

people in Mao

to kill up

to 50 million

people,

and the rulers

of the Khmer Rouge

to kill a third

of the population

because to move

to a classless

society,

it's just

unfortunate that

a few people

have to die

along the way,

but the end

justifies the

means.

And the Bible

here,

when it's saying

love must be

love without

hypocrisy,

abhor what is

evil,

cling to what

is good,

it's picturing

that the good

is not relative,

that the end

does not

justify the

means,

that there's

the complete

opposite of

utilitarianism,

there is a

profound challenge

to selfishness.

And the fact

of the matter

is,

is that selfishness

is always the

barrier to love.

That at some

point in time

in a relationship

for a husband

and wife,

for the marriage

to last,

because both

are sinners,

I'm a sinner,

Louise is a sinner,

we're both sinners,

and at different

times in the marriage

you have to die

to yourself

and put yourself

second,

for the marriage

to go.

It's of the

very nature

of love,

real love,

the soul's

food,

is to be

willing to

die to self.

And it's

deeply connected

to recognizing

what's good

and what is

evil,

and the Bible

here is

obviously

portraying it,

not that it's

perfectly known

by any human

being,

but that there

is something

which is

really,

truly good,

and things

which are

truly evil,

evil,

and that

moral sanity

means that

we gag

at evil,

and we

want to

be as

close to

the good

as we

possibly can,

because using

old language,

you know,

every one of us

has a will,

the food

that our will

needs is

goodness,

is the good.

If our will

is given

over to

evil,

we shrivel

and die.

The will

feeds

on the good.

The soul,

the very bottom

of who we

are,

it feeds

on love.

The mind

feeds

on

truth.

And

the emotions,

the affections,

it feeds

on beauty.

That's the

heart of the

Christian mind

and the

Christian worldview,

and this text

is inviting us

to enter

into a

quest

that's

ultimately

an outline

of sanity.

The Bible

is inviting

us to be

sane

in every

culture

which has

elements

of insanity.

Some cultures

are way more

insane than

others.

Can you say

this verse

with me

again?

Love

without

hypocrisy,

abhor

what is

evil,

cling to

what is

good.

And here's a

prayer.

If you could put it up,

Andrew,

and just,

by the way,

I know that

these,

the other points

will move through

them a bit,

obviously,

a bit more

quickly,

otherwise it'll be

an 80-minute

sermon.

but these

points,

if you're

interested in

them,

all my

points this

morning are

just

invitations

to pray.

And it's

an invitation

to pray

because nobody's

arrived.

I need to

pray these

prayers.

You can

always have

more.

And they'll

all go on

the web

later on

if you're

curious about

trying to

use them

later on

in your

devotions.

Dear

Lord,

please make

me a

disciple of

Jesus

gripped by

the gospel

who loves

without

hypocrisy,

completely

rejects

evil,

and is

inseparably

glued to

what is

good,

all to

your glory.

That's what

this Bible

is inviting

us to

pray.

This text

is inviting

us to

pray.

Now,

there's

one,

some of

you might

be saying,

are you

George

saying that

Christians

are the

only ones

who know

what's

good?

That if

you don't

read the

Bible,

you don't

know what's

good?

That non-Christians

only love

evil things

and Christians

only love

good things.

George,

that's

completely

and utterly

ridiculous.

And some

of you are

saying,

George,

don't you

know that

what's

good and

evil is

often determined

by the

powerful?

ISIS thinks

it's doing

good things

when it

slaughters,

it kills

Christians and

Muslims who

aren't the

same type of

Muslims as

them and

destroys works

of art.

They think

they're doing

good things.

And George,

you haven't even

got to other

things in the

text which are

completely and

utterly ridiculous,

like the Bible

telling you how

to feel.

And there'll

be a lot of

pushback to

this, right?

I mean,

so often when I

think, when I'm

preparing my

sermon, I think

to myself, if I

was to say some

of these things in

my local Tim Hortons

or Starbucks, how

would people react?

Especially if they

were the majority and

I was the only one

reading the Bible.

But here's the

thing, and I know

sometimes, I've had

comments occasionally

that some people in

the congregation don't

appreciate it when I

ask the questions that

non-Christians ask.

And that's fine.

But here's the

thing.

Well, actually,

here, we can't

grow as Christians

without asking

questions.

Andrew, could you

put up the verse

Romans 12, 1 and

2?

All of the ethical

parts of the book

of Romans, in a

sense, it's an

unpacking of these

two verses which

are at a profound

heart of what it

means to be a

follower of Jesus.

Could you read it

out with me,

please?

I appeal to you

therefore, brothers

and sisters, by the

mercies of God, to

present your bodies

as a living sacrifice,

holy and pleasing to

God, which is your

rational worship.

Do not be

conformed to this

age, but be

transformed by the

renewal of your

mind, that by

testing you may

discern what is the

will of God, what

is good and

pleasing and

perfect.

You get nothing

else out of this,

you'll start to

memorize the Bible.

Better to know the

Bible than my

words.

Take that to the

bank, base your

life on it.

And you'll notice

in that text, on

one hand, there's

obviously things about

obedience, like

sometimes Christians

are threatened by

questions because

they say, George,

you just have to

obey.

And that's true.

This text tells us

that obedience is the

bottom line.

But it says

testing.

It says testing as

part of the renewal

of your mind.

And that both means

like in evangelism,

when you try to share

the gospel with other

people, people push

back and ask questions

and that's fine because

sometimes, here's the

thing, sometimes these

questions are very,

very, very, very

honest questions.

Sometimes the

questions aren't.

Sometimes the

questions, there's no

person, they're not

asking seriously, they're

just trying to

embarrass you.

They'll ask you a

question that makes

them sound like an

atheist and then as

if they're a Hindu and

then as if they're a

Buddhist and then as if

they're an agnostic and

then as if they're a

rationalist and then as

if they're an empiricist

and you don't know what

some of those words mean

but that's fine.

But the fact of the

matter is that they're

all contradictory.

And when people ask a

whole series of

questions like that, it

often means that they're

actually not serious,

they're not asking

honest questions.

But you read the

gospels, Jesus loves

honest questions.

He never is upset with

an honest question.

Dishonest questions, he

often tries to make them,

to flip it on them to

show their hypocrisy of

the question.

But honest questions,

Jesus loves honest

questions.

Christians should love

honest questions.

And honest questions is

how we grow.

Could you put up the

second prayer here,

Andrew, the second

point?

And it's just an

important thing for us

to pray, especially those

of us?

I know I don't

always like questions.

You know, I get into a

conversation with somebody

and they ask me a

question and I can just

feel my face going red

and I don't know how to

answer the question.

And, you know, maybe

there's a whole series of

I just get red, you know,

and I stand there feeling

a bit embarrassed.

And that's fine.

I mean, it's not, I don't

enjoy it.

But life goes on.

Sunrise is the next day.

And the good thing about

questions like that is it

can propel us to search

the scriptures and search

for wise Christians alive

today or who have been

alive before us who can

give us answers to the

question.

You will come across no

question at a Starbucks

or a Tim Hortons or a

Bridgehead that has not

been asked before that some

wise Christian hasn't

written an answer to.

So here's the second

point.

Dear Lord, please make me a

disciple of Jesus.

This is gripped by the

gospel who daily meditates

upon your word and asks

your word honest questions

so that you will renew my

mind to obey your word and

live for your glory.

For all of us who are afraid

of questions.

And, you know, when I began

this, you know, this question

about whether we should feed

ISIS or fight it, that's a

real question.

That's part of the difference

between Anglicans and

Anabaptists.

That's part of the difference

between an Anglican and a

Hutterite.

It's a real question.

It's a good question to ask

and to meditate upon.

And so this second point, a bit of a

challenge, especially for us

Christians.

I mean, it's a challenge for any

seekers who are here is, are you

asking honest questions or

questions to make yourself look

smart and other people look dumb?

Jesus loves honest questions.

And Christians should love honest

questions.

The truth is your friend.

Clarity that follows questions is

your friend.

So that's why I suggest that we

want to pray, Dear Lord, please

make me a disciple of Jesus gripped

by the gospel who daily meditates

upon your word, thinks about the

word, asks your word honest

questions so that you will renew my

mind to obey your word and live for

your glory.

So let's look.

We've spent a long time on one

verse.

We're going to look at the others.

And does the Bible command

emotions?

Does the Bible say that we should

feed ISIS rather than fight it?

Is the Bible being foolish and

impractical?

Is Nietzsche right that the Bible

reflects a slave mentality?

That's what Ayn Rand said.

Those of you university students

probably are familiar with Ayn Rand's

thinking.

Is it just reflect a type of slave

mentality, doormat mentality?

which isn't appropriate to the

dignity of human beings?

Is that what the Bible's teaching?

Well, let's look.

We'll read verse, I'll read verse

nine and then we'll keep going on.

Let love in, so love without

hypocrisy, abhor what is evil,

cling to what is good.

Love one another with brotherly

affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor.

Now just sort of pause here for a

second.

The first few verses, probably

verses 10 to 13, are really

talking a bit about continuing to

talk about life within the

Christian community.

But then in verses 14 to 16, it

branches into not only life with

our friends, like in our Christian

community, but our neighbors and our

enemies.

But these first ones in particular,

love one another with brotherly

affection.

It's specifically addressed to the

church.

church.

And it means that the type of

relations that we should have in

the church are the type of

relations we should have as if we

were a family.

Brothers and sisters, mothers and

fathers, aunties and uncles.

That's how we're to understand and

try to view the local church and

also the relations between churches.

One of the things we pray about at

the church prayer meetings and the

staff prayer meetings when we pray

for other churches is that there be a

growth of affection, brotherly and

sisterly affection between the

churches.

It's a good thing to pray for.

And it's also then, it's giving us a

bit of a sense now about what does it

mean to love as an action that is

putting ourselves second and is

seeking to do good for the other.

Well, it comes here with love one

another with brotherly affection in

terms of love each other as if we're

a family, outdo one another in

showing honor.

In other words, in much of the

world, we outdo one another in

trying to get promotions and trying

to get the credit.

How many of us work in situations

where if things go right, the boss

gets the credit, things go bad, who

gets the blame?

I know you can all share scars

afterwards during coffee from those

times when it just, you know, and

we've all worked with people who just

seem to be on one hand Teflon when it

comes to problems and magnets when it

comes time to compliments.

And the Bible says that's not the way

to live a life.

In the Christian community, we should

try to praise each other.

Verse 11, do not be slothful in zeal,

be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Just a bit of a pause here.

The sin of sloth is the sin of being

lazy about the things that matter to

God.

It's probably one of the biggest sins

for churches in the year, for

Christians in the year 2016, where we

can be so busy, like those of you who

are parents, you can be so busy taking

your kids to 63 different activities a

week, and you're both working on jobs, and

you're both really, really harried, and

before you know it, you've been really,

really busy doing really, really, really

culturally good things, and you haven't

prayed once all day, all week, all month,

all year.

And busyness is a sign of sloth.

Because sloth isn't laziness, it's

laziness and indifference to the things

that matter to God.

It's, you know, in a sense, saying, you

know, maybe as a parent, I should put my

kids in fewer activities, and just let

them play, and maybe take a few minutes

to pray and read God's Word, or have time

to do something loving for others, outside

of the family.

Verse 12, rejoice in hope, be patient in

tribulation, be constant in prayer.

It's very easy for people, and in fact,

this text has often been used to justify

people staying subservient, like in a

slave-like position.

It's not justifying that at all.

And, you know, because it, the other texts

are all full of action words, right?

It's filled with, is my mic going in and

out?

No?

Okay, it sounds like it's going in and out

to my ear.

So it's filled with action words.

It's not saying that you don't get out

of trouble, or you don't try to do what's

good, or it's not saying that you just

always let powerful people step on you.

That's not what it's saying here.

But it's talking about the fact is that

sometimes we just have lots of

tribulation in our lives, and there's

sometimes there's nothing you can do

about it.

There really isn't.

And you just have to be patient, and

you have to be present in those

difficult times, not with optimism,

because optimism tells us things are

going to get better.

You know what?

Sometimes things don't get better.

Sometimes the arthritis stays.

Sometimes the news of the cancer, it's

not going to be healed.

You know, sometimes you get the bad

news on the phone, and it's going to

describe an aspect of your life for the

rest of your life.

And the Bible here isn't telling us

about optimism.

It's telling us about hope.

And the difference between hope and

optimism is optimism is a worldly

belief that things will get better,

often by our own power.

Hope is saying yes to the promises that

God makes to us.

It's a very, very different thing.

It's similar, but very different.

And so the Bible here is encouraging us

to know the promises of God and read

them and pray them.

And even if we're saying, Father, I

believe in this promise, help my

unbelief.

So it's in the Bible.

Pray it.

You know?

And it's one thing to go through long

seasons of pain and long seasons of

having not much money or long seasons of

loneliness or a whole range of other

tribulations.

But to have a sense of the promises of

God.

That you're chosen by Jesus.

You might not be choice, but you're

chosen.

That he hears your prayer.

That there's a new heaven and a new

earth.

That there are things in your prayer life

that can make a difference for others,

even if it's just going to be an act of

love and put yourself second and people

don't even notice it.

And you can go on and on and on.

But it's an invitation, not just to

believe that things are going to get

better, but to believe that God has

made promises and he kept them in

Jesus.

He'll keep them for you.

And we can start to learn them and ask

that God would help us to believe them

in the midst of our troubles.

What verse was I on?

Just keep going through them.

Verse 13.

Contribute to the needs of the saints

and seek to show hospitality.

That's sort of an obvious one.

The main thing about hospitality is

hospitality in the New Testament is

dealing not with being hospitable to

your friends, but to strangers.

The other.

People who are different than you.

For a person who's involved in a

certain type of youth culture, maybe

with lots of tattoos and piercings, it's

being hospitable to old, to old,

middle-aged white guys like myself.

And vice versa.

It's the stranger, the other, which we're

to primarily show hospitality to.

Continue on.

Verse 14.

Bless those who persecute you.

Bless and do not curse them.

This is really inviting us to deal with

the problem we have with anger and

hatred.

That when people hurt us, our natural

reaction is to hate them, to be angry

at them, and want to not just see them

punished, but to see them obliterated.

How many people in the U.S.

want to see Trump be completely and utterly

obliterated?

How many Trump supporters would love to

see Hillary Clinton completely and utterly

obliterated?

I'm taking the U.S.

example, but I'm doing it because

we can get the point.

It's a natural part of being human

is that there are people that we hate,

that we're angry, that we want to

obliterate them.

And this text is directly challenging

that as the way to deal with human

beings.

Verse 15.

This is the one that some people would

say that it's commanding us to have an

emotion, rejoice with those who rejoice.

I mean, and people might say, well, how

silly is the Bible commanding us to

rejoice?

You can't command somebody to rejoice.

You can't command a feeling.

But if you look at the text again, and

you just think to yourself, well, maybe

the text isn't stupid.

Maybe it's smart.

Rejoice with those who rejoice.

Weep with those who weep.

It's calling us for empathy.

In a very, very concrete way, it's

calling us to try to look at the world,

walk a mile in somebody else's shoes.

To try to look at the world from their

perspective in their eyes.

Doesn't mean that everything they want

to do is right, or everything they want

to do is wrong.

But it's calling us to not put ourselves

first and see ourselves as the center of the

universe, but to actually try to look at the

world from another's point of view.

Verse 16.

This is a really important verse for those

of us who live in a government town,

where if you go into a meeting with

others, you know, maybe in politics, or I

guess in business as well, or a political

meeting, and the tendency is to want to

flock to the popular, the powerful, or the

up-and-coming, and treat as toxic those

on their way down.

You know, we've all been in those types of

receptions where their eyes are just

dancing around, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

but they're looking for somebody way more

important, or cool, or hip, or beneficial

to themselves to spend time with.

And this next verse is saying, notice the

wall weeds.

A wall weed is a wallflower, but not as

pretty.

Far more plain.

Notice the toxic, the wall toxic people,

the weak people.

Notice the servers.

Notice the waiters.

Notice the janitors.

And notice them.

And the working class and the lower

working class.

And notice them.

And walk towards them, not away from them.

Verse 16.

Sorry, I guess I skipped it.

Oh, yeah.

Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be haughty, which is excessive

pride, but associate with the lowly.

Never be wise in your own sight.

A major problem with all of us is that

we're legends in our own minds.

And most people don't share our own

legendary status in our own minds.

Now we're going to get to the part that

deals with ISIS.

And I see my time is running out.

I'll have to, we'll deal with this in a

sec.

But look at the ISIS thing here.

Repay no one evil for evil.

Verse 17.

But give thought to do what is honorable

in the sight of all.

If possible, so far as it depends on you,

live peaceably with all.

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.

To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry,

feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

For by so doing, you will heap burning

coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil,

but overcome evil with good.

And, um,

how do we understand this text?

You know, one of the problems we have,

this isn't a text,

remember I said at the very, very beginning

that it's verse 9 is sort of like the

toehold.

If you were rappelling down a mountain,

this is where you'd hammer something into the rock

so that you're not going to go crashing down

the mountainside when you go rappelling.

That the rappelling would actually work

because you have this firm anchor

in solid rock that helps you to understand things.

And the common human problem is,

in fact, which is often characterized,

not entirely fairly,

it's by the modern left,

but, you know, there's an element to it

that on one hand,

there's a whole way of thinking in the West

that people are basically good.

That, um,

what can be good for me can be,

you know, there's a type of moral relativism,

a type of belief that at the same time

it's a bit of contradictory

that things are right or wrong

depending on who you are,

but contradictorily we also believe

that people are basically good

and that it's basically that

the enemy needs a type of therapy

or a type of lesson

and it's very, very powerful,

especially in university settings

and people who have degrees.

It's a very, very common type of way

of viewing the world.

The other way of viewing the world,

which is very common,

is to basically see war

as a type of god,

like a love of violence.

In the time that Paul was writing,

there was actually a god of war.

Like, in fact,

that the,

many of the, um,

Roman, um,

like the armies,

they'd actually worship a god of war,

different gods of war,

and there can be a worshipping of violence

and a worshipping of war,

and the Bible here

is going in between the two of them.

In fact, interestingly enough,

the Bible isn't here saying something

which is black and white,

it's causing us

to take a step back

to try to say,

it's very, very obvious

from verse 9

that the Bible doesn't believe

that things are relative

and it doesn't believe

that, um,

that people are basically good.

And at the other hand,

it's also saying

that you definitely don't want,

you have to completely

and utterly dethrone

and take away as an idol

anything to do with war.

And it's definitely the case

that there are times

when a gentle answer

turns away wrath.

And if this was

the only text in the Bible,

it might be that

that's how we would view it,

that we should,

should just sort of

give in to ISIS.

But the very, very next verse,

which we're going to look at

next week,

talks about the state.

It talks about the role

of the state

in having the sword.

It's a,

it's a,

it's a complete rejection

of pacifism.

Although the type of pacifism

espoused by Hutterites

and certain Mennonites,

I think is very noble

because they would be willing

to be slaughtered.

And there's no naivete

about human beings

being basically good

or that ISIS

is basically good.

No naivete

in true Anabaptist thought.

But it's not

a biblical good

to allow innocent people

to be slaughtered.

It is a biblical good

to do what you can

to prevent the slaughter

of innocents.

Thou shalt not kill.

And it's,

it's not a biblical good

to allow yourself

to be slaughtered.

And the Bible here

is not saying

that the good

can be determined

by evil people

because obviously

from ISIS's point of view

it would be a good thing

if we laid down our arms

and allowed them

to walk over us.

But there's no real way

that you can understand

that that could ever

possibly be a positive good

to allow people

who would completely

and utterly suppress

religious freedom

and oppress women

and people who have

sexual orientations

which the Bible say

are wrong

but they're still human beings

for which God died

and there's no

biblical justification

to murder them

because of their

sexual orientation

or to hate them.

There's no biblical warrant

for any of that.

And it is not at all

even remotely loving

to see this text

as meaning a capitulation

to any type of responsibility

to defend the weak

and the innocent

and to defend

religious freedom

or prosperity.

So the text

is calling us

to a type of

in some ways

uncomfortable middle place

that calls for prayer

and reflection.

It's out of texts

like this

that this idea

that there can be

a just war

has developed

and I know

there's complications

with it

but it's vastly wiser

than naively believing

that human beings

are basically good

or worshipping

the idol

and the god of war.

I've gone beyond my time.

Let me just say

Andrew,

could you put up

the third prayer?

We'll do the last two

very quickly.

Dear Lord,

please make me

a disciple of Jesus

gripped by the gospel

who is dying

to all of the sloth,

envy,

unforgiveness,

greed,

anger,

and hate

in my life

which is why

Jesus died for me

and help me

to live free

and whole

for your glory.

That's what the Bible

wants us to do.

It's outlined insanity.

Here's this final thing

I was going to go through.

I don't have time

to do it

but there's another

powerful motivation

for a Christian

when they read this

because if we read

this script by the gospel

what do we understand?

Who showed love

to me

but Jesus?

Who died

on the cross

for me

bearing evil

because he hated evil?

That was Jesus.

Who died

clinging

to what was good

by obeying the Father

and seeing the good

that this was a good creation

worth dying for?

That was Jesus.

Who did not

repay evil fruit?

Like you go all the way

through this text

we have to read

this text

as a follower

of Jesus

understanding

what Jesus did

for us on the cross

and if you look

at this text

from a different thing

Jesus

blessed those

who persecuted him

we persecuted him

but he blessed us

he did not curse us

you know

he came to identify

with us

to take upon himself

our human nature

in a sense

to rejoice

with those who

rejoice

and weep

with those who weep

he died

so that we would be

at peace with God

because we were

enmity with him

he became humble

he was the opposite

of haughty

so that he would

die upon the cross

he associated

with me

when I was completely

and utterly lowly

he did

what was good

for all

could you put up

the final prayer

Andrew?

Dear Lord

please

sorry I have to

turn the page

Dear Lord

please help me

to remember

that in wrath

I treated you

as my enemy

please help me

to remember

that you showed

me mercy

when Jesus died

upon the cross

in my place

please help me

to live

in humble gratitude

to Jesus Christ

crucified

and then live

for the good

of people

and for your

great glory

this entire text

only makes

sense

to be launched

on a journey

on a quest

of moral sanity

understanding

what Jesus

did for us

we

were the violent

ones

we

were the ones

who clung

to evil

we were the ones

who wanted him

rejected

and he

died

for us

please stand

father we

ask that

your holy

spirit

would do

a deep

work

within us

that you

would deliver

us from

all fear

of honest

questions

that you

would deliver

us from

a fear

of the

truth

that you

would grant

to us

father

a love

of the

truth

a love

of clarity

a love

of honest

questions

that you

would grant

us father

a love

of your

word

but most

of all

father

we ask

that you

would make

us

disciples

of Jesus

who are

gripped

by the

gospel

who

father

live our

lives

out of

gratitude

for the

mercy

you showed

us

on the

cross

that you

father

would daily

humble

us

as we

meditate

upon

your

mercy

shown

to us

in the

person

of

Jesus

and as

father

your

holy

spirit

humbles

us

by

helping

us

to

meditate

upon

the

mercy

shown

to us

by

Jesus

help

us

to

live

for

the

good

of

people

and

for

your

glory

and

we

ask

this

in the

name

of

Jesus

your

son

and

our

savior

amen

им

we

to

God

him

to

him

and

to