RESISTING RETALIATION (February 5 2017) - Daniel Meyer

If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up.

If you don't have a Bible, I'm hoping there's one near you.

All right, but open it up to Matthew 5.

We're going to be in verses, it's right up there, 38 to 42.

Matthew 5, 38 to 42.

Jesus is in the middle of one of the greatest sermons ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount.

So Matthew 5, 38 to 42.

And you're all there?

Alright, would you stand with me for the reading of God's word?

It says this 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 any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

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

Let's pray.

Well, Heavenly Father, Lord, we know that it is true that if we meet, if we come together, O Lord, and you do not meet with us, we are here in vain.

And so, God, we ask for your presence to be here.

Lord, we ask that you would show us from your word, Lord, as we're huddled around the very words of Jesus Christ, O God, that you would teach us, Lord, that you would soften our hearts, God, open our ears to hear a word from you.

Lord, would we understand these things?

Would it change our hearts and grow our affections to be more like Jesus Christ?

And Lord, would you be honored and glorified in all of these things, God?

We ask for your presence.

We ask for you to move.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Please take your seats.

Well, this is my question for you this morning.

Have you ever been in a situation where you're like, I'm gonna take matters into my own hands?

You ever been there?

You've said those words, maybe exactly.

I'm gonna take matters into my own hands.

You know what I mean, right?

You know what I mean?

Someone's done something against you, someone said something mean to you, someone has hurt you in some way, maybe publicly, and now you're like, well, I'm gonna get you back.

That's often our initial response when someone undermines our dig our dignity or our reputation.

We're publicly embarrassed, and so we're like, well, I'm gonna take matters into my own hands and I'm gonna get you back.

You punch, I punch back harder.

Because we think we deserve better.

You can't treat me that way.

I won't be disrespected.

I'll be feared, and I'll be known as someone who is great, and if not great, then at least someone who is not embarrassed or different.

And even right now, as I as I say these things, some of you are like, yeah, that's right.

That's right.

That's actually what I've been told every single day of my life since I was a kid, you know?

You've heard this before.

Don't let them get the better of you.

Right?

Don't be disrespected.

Don't let them make a fool out of you.

Make sure people know.

Stand up for yourself.

Stand up for yourself.

Well, the reality is, is to Jesus, and in the text that we just read, all of this is pride.

All of this is disobedience, all of this is an attempt for us to take vengeance or to retaliate against someone when it really isn't our job.

But look at what Jesus says here.

Look what Jesus says, alright?

Verse 39.

It says, if you have heard you have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.

All right.

So in the Old Testament, God lays out this law for his people.

And included in that law was this phrase.

So if you go to Exodus 21, don't go there now, but in Exodus 21, God is instructing his people to leave these things to a judge.

Right?

The punishment has to fit the crime.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

So you can put yourself back in ancient times, right?

And I'm just imagining a lot of them are shepherds and a lot of them have some livestock, alright?

And so one person goes up and either on purpose or accidentally kills someone else's goat.

Any goat owners here?

Not many.

Alright, so you, but your goat is killed, alright?

And then the reaction of that person was, you kill my goat, I'm gonna kill three of your goats.

And Jesus is, or God is saying in the Old Testament here, no, no, no, no, no, no.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, go to a judge, don't retaliate.

Go to a judge and let him decide what is right.

You broke my property, I'm gonna break your face.

No, no, no.

Go to a judge, let him decide what the punishment is for you.

Have you guys ever read through the book of Genesis?

One of my favorite books of the Bible.

If you haven't read right through it cover to cover, just this week, take a couple days, a couple chapters at a time, and read through it.

But in chapter four, right after the story of Cain and Abel, you remember those guys?

Brother kills the other guy, right?

And then there's this genealogy of Cain, and it kind of goes through his great-grandchildren.

And one of those great-grandchildren is this man named Lamech.

Do you remember the story?

Well, it says this about Lamech in Genesis 4, 23 and 24.

It says, Lamech says to his wives, Ada and Ziliah, I think that's how you say their names.

Hear my voice, you wives of Lamech.

Listen to what I say.

I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.

You see?

So this is the human heart.

This is what we want to do.

You hurt me, I hurt you back more.

You better know that I'm gonna do this.

And in Lamech's case, he's even bragging about it.

And the reality is that all of us in this room, all of us, our hearts, when left unattended, lean this way.

You might say, Well, I'm never gonna kill someone.

The reality is the heart left alone, left without the Holy Spirit's intervention, is so wicked that we can become this way too.

So God then, after this time, He writes this law.

Do not retaliate, do not retaliate, leave it to a judge.

And then we fast forward thousands of years later to the time of Jesus.

And by this time, the Pharisees, the religious scribes, they've taken this law that God has wrote and they've perverted it.

They've changed the meaning and they've really actually turned it around 100%.

Instead of note retaliate, they're saying, no, no, look, God says eye for an eye.

So if someone hurts you, hurt them back.

And you can see that the evilness of the human heart has twisted and even used God's law to justify sin.

Retaliate, retaliate.

You can see someone saying this, an eye for an eye, great.

God has even said it's okay that I hurt you.

And then we find ourselves in the text here, and Jesus said, You've heard that it was said an eye for an eye.

But he says this: do not resist the one who is evil.

Do not resist the one who is evil and loved ones.

This is why we need this text.

This is why Jesus is teaching this message.

Do not retaliate, don't take matters into your own hands.

Instead, don't resist the one who is evil.

When he says the one who is evil, he's not talking about Satan.

He's not talking about the evil one.

He's literally just talking about someone who would do something evil against you.

Someone who's mean to you, someone who is mean-spirited, uh, doesn't care for your dignity, says something cruel to you.

Don't push back when someone does this.

Let God take care of them.

Whether through the use of the church, the government, or whatever.

So after Jesus says this, do you see that right in the text there?

God, Jesus kind of gives four applications.

He kind of gives four different scenarios.

And so often in preaching, when you're when you're studying a text, you're trying to figure out, okay, what does the text say?

What's the truth?

Or what's the doctrine?

And then you move from the doctrine and then you kind of move it over into application.

So you go from this why or this doctrine into the what.

Why is this true?

Okay, well, what does that mean for my life?

And Jesus gives us four what's.

This is what we are to do.

And we're gonna look at those, and then we're also gonna look at the why.

Why is Jesus asking us to do these things?

So in your notes today, it might be a little confusing because those are Mike's notes, right?

In the bulletins, okay?

So just scratch those out.

I think you're getting that message next week, alright?

So but you can still use that to take notes if you wish today.

But here's our first point, all right?

Here's our first point.

To resist retaliation, I will have to humbly lose face.

I will have to humbly lose face.

And in a day when we are so concerned about saving face, Jesus instructs us to lose face.

What does it say here?

Verse, the second half of 39, it says, but if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

So I'm not talking about actually losing your face because you're getting slapped so many times, but in a in a disrespectful way.

This is what the text really means.

Um it means that um someone is disrespecting you publicly.

Someone is hurting you.

And in ancient cultures, a slap on the right cheek in Jewish cultures, it means that they were using the backhand, backside of the right hand.

And they're reaching across and slapping the person like this.

Now I'm sure you can imagine about a hundred different ways that it's better to hurt someone physically, right?

You could punch them in the stomach, you could flog them.

I mean, they even stoned people back then.

But a slap on the cheek, I mean, it'll hurt for a second, but it's not really the most painful thing because it wasn't really meant to beat someone up, all right?

It was it was more of a I disrespect you.

I slap you with the backside of my hand, means I don't find much dignity in you.

I don't care for you.

It's an insult.

That's the what.

It's a it's an insult to the other person.

And in our world today, when half of our interaction with one another is behind a screen, we use our words.

We use our words to disrespect one another quite a bit, whether in person and over different forms of social media.

We disrespect, we don't treat people well.

We we hurt them, we say something that is cutting to that person, and we do it in front of others.

Well, I hope though, that as the church, we're not those people, all right?

We're not the people causing pain to other people with our words or by slapping them per se.

And even in the text here it says, if anyone slaps you, so it's really talking about when someone does something to you, how do we react?

And Jesus says, turn the other cheek.

Turn the other cheek, let them slap you again.

I just want to sidebar here really quick just to make sure we're all on the same page, okay?

So this is not talking about abuse.

This is not talking about really a physical beating.

If there's spousal abuse at your house or something going on, it's not just turn the other cheek and allow that to continue.

Call the cops, all right?

Call the police.

But this is not what it's talking about.

This is talking about a physical, uh, not a physical, but a disrespect, uh uh uh thinking less of that person.

So let's have a look at ourselves for a second.

Because we've all been in this situation, right?

We've all been here.

Someone's disrespected you, someone's slapped you in in some way.

And um, maybe I'm speaking to myself right now, but maybe you've been in a situation where husbands, you're talking to your wife, and it doesn't matter how wrong you are, you just have to get the last word in.

You know what I'm saying?

Wives are like, yeah, I know what he's saying.

And we have to get that last word in because we want to make you sure you know I'm smart, I know what I'm talking about, I can argue, you should know this, and that me, me, me, me.

And really, we should just probably shut our mouths.

Let them hit you again with insults.

Don't have to say the last word.

That's the what.

Turn the other cheek.

That's the what.

But why?

Why, why would we do this?

What is the point?

And and I find it so so often when I'm reading through God's word, I like to know the what, but I can do it so much better if I know why I'm doing it, right?

So let's look at the why.

A common thread through all of these points that Jesus is making is this.

No matter the circumstance and how it may negatively affect you, you should always be looking for the betterment of the other person.

Do you get that?

No matter the circumstance and how it may negatively affect you, you should always be looking for the betterment of the other person.

The first thing that runs to your mind when you get slapped or when you have insults hurled at you is not, well, how can I make myself look good?

It should be the person that's doing to this, the person that's doing this to me must be hurting.

How can I make sure that they see Christ?

How can I make sure that they see Christ?

Another why is this.

Vengeance is the Lord's.

Did you know that?

Did you know that?

If you have your Bibles, flip over to Romans 12, verse 17.

Romans 12:17

Romans 12, verse 17.

Romans 12:17

It says this.

Repay no one evil for evil, 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 yourself, but leave it to the wrath of God.

For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

You see, you see, we don't need to seek vengeance.

We don't need to seek retaliation because God takes care of that.

That's God's job.

And if you if you kind of flip it the other way and you say, Well, I'm gonna put myself in the seat of retaliation against someone, you're putting yourself in the place of God.

It's not your job.

That's not what we're to do when slapped.

Let's keep moving here in Romans, the next two verses.

I see another reason, another why.

It says, to the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

You see, as we return good for the evil, we don't become the evil that we hate.

You understand that?

You see that?

You see that, right?

So two seconds ago, someone's hurling insults at you, right?

And you're like, man, I hate this world.

I hate that I live in a place where people could do this to me.

I hate what they're saying about me.

And then in about half a second, you're hurling back the same insults to them.

And now you've become the evil that you hated just a second earlier.

But instead he says, No, no, no, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Did you see that other little line in the text there?

It says, For by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head?

Anyone would be like, what does that mean?

Is that some ancient thing?

Do they heap burning coals on each other?

I don't I don't get it.

Well, I think this is what it looks like, and this has happened to me way, way too much, if I'm gonna be honest with you.

But it looks like this.

You're having an argument with someone, right?

And you're you're throwing your best insults, you're like, you know, I mean, I got this.

You your position is dumb.

And you know what?

You're dumb for believing that position, alright?

And and and it doesn't make any sense.

Let me show you why.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, alright?

These are why my arguments are so much better than yours.

Come on, what do you got?

What do you got?

And then they turn to you and they go, you know, you are an excellent debater.

Your argumentative skills are far beyond anything I've ever seen.

Can I buy you lunch?

You ever had someone so frustrating that does that to you?

And and you're there, like, come on, man, just fight back.

Like, just come on, fight me back.

And they won't.

And in that moment, they've just dumped a hot bucket of coals on your head because you've realized that you're in the wrong, that you're doing what is evil.

And and and see, we, we can we should be the people that are dumping coals.

We should be the people on that side of the argument, walking in wisdom and maturity.

And we can do this.

We can do that because we don't find our self-worth in what the other person is thinking.

You see that?

You see that?

Our value, our dignity doesn't come from someone's opinion.

Our value, our dignity, our worth comes from our Father in heaven, and he has created you, and he has endowed you with his image and value and worth.

And so when someone's hurling insults at us, we can turn the other cheek and we can dump coals on their head because we're not going to be so offended by what they think.

We're going to be thinking, how can I love this person?

How can I serve this person?

And you see what happens though, if we do retaliate in that moment, if we do, if we decide to slap back, we're saying, I care more about what you think than what God thinks.

But by loving that person, by putting our value and our worth in who God has made us and not who they think we are, we honor our Lord.

And therefore we don't need to slap back.

We can turn the other cheek and say, hey, take your best shot.

Take your best shot.

I'm not seeking your approval.

I'm I'm seeking the will of my Father.

And I'm gonna see what's best for you, even at the cost of my reputation.

When we change our perspective here, we become more like Christ.

You see that?

Like just consider our Savior for a second, okay?

He was He was mocked, ridiculed, beaten, whipped, he was hung on a cross.

He did not retaliate.

Even when he was on the cross, he's up there like this, and the Roman soldiers are saying, If you really are the Son of God, come down from there.

Retaliate.

Bring it on.

And instead, he prayed for them.

You see, Jesus didn't get up on the mount and just say these things.

This was his life.

He led by example.

He is our perfect example.

And look at the result of his humility.

And now we can be reconciled to our Father in heaven because of it.

Alright, let's keep moving in the text, alright?

Verse 40 in our second point says this and if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

And so this is our point to resist retaliation.

I will have to willingly give the shirt off my back.

Willingly give the shirt off my back.

Alright, so what is the what?

What is going on here?

Well, the point here is that you have done something wrong.

Alright, you can see that in the text.

It says, if anyone would sue you and take your tunic.

So someone sued you and they've won in court, and the court has deemed that you owe them in this case a tunic.

And Jesus is saying is, give them that, but be willing to give them even more.

Give them more than what they are entitled.

The significance of the tunic and the cloak come from Exodus 22.

And basically what the text says there, that if you were to take a man's cloak, by law, you have to give it back to him before the sun goes down.

Alright?

And it literally says, well, if you if you take his cloak, what's he going to sleep in?

That's kind of what the text says.

And so it was a Jewish law that you could sue a man for all he's worth, but you could never take his cloak.

That was his right.

That was the law.

You couldn't take that.

And Jesus here is saying, think of the significance of this.

If someone sues you for your tunic, give them your cloak.

Give them what is lawfully and rightfully yours.

And this really looks similar today as it did back then, because perhaps you're being sued.

Maybe lots of people in here, maybe you've been sued before, personally or in business.

And we have to take an honest look at ourselves in the situation and with integrity determine, okay, did I actually do something wrong here?

Okay, and if I did, be honest with yourself.

Don't try to justify like the Pharisees did with Scripture.

Don't try to justify, no, did I actually do something wrong?

Okay.

And then go above and beyond what is required of me to make sure that that relationship is stable, that amends are made.

So that's the what, but why?

Why would I do that, right?

That's a good question, really.

I mean, why would I why would I give more than the courts have told me to give?

That's a good question.

Like, that's a third party.

Like, I didn't determine the payment.

I didn't determine the punishment for what I did.

The courts did, and they know it's fair, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.

They said$10,000.

I gave him$10,000.

What is wrong with this?

I'll tell you why.

I'll tell you why we give more.

This is so important, alright?

Because of Christ's glory in your life and witness.

Because of Christ's glory in your life and witness.

If somebody sues you, right?

If somebody sues you, say you're an employer and someone in your company sues you, and you give them more than what the courts decide, you'll be able to do this.

Sit down one day, take them out for a coffee, look them square in the eye, and say, Jesus loves you.

He has a plan for you.

He's changed my life, he can change your life.

The word of God is true.

I follow it.

And I want that for you.

Now, can one person in this room tell me?

One person, please, tell me, if you got sued and you lawyered up and and and you found every single loophole in every system, and you dragged someone for months and years through court systems, and I At the end of all of that, you paid them what was told to be paid, and then you'd said to them, Hey, Jesus loves you.

They'd be like, Yeah, right, buddy.

If your Jesus is anything like you, I don't want anything to do with him.

You see, when someone sues you for your tunic, give them your cloak as well, because then you can look at them and say, I love you.

Don't let your actions because of money ruin your witness for Jesus Christ.

This is why.

This is why we we begin to act more like Christ who gave up everything and way more than we could ever deserve.

I want to go a little deeper in the application here because I'm sure this affects many people.

And maybe maybe you're here and sometime in your life, maybe you had like an ex-an ex-spouse, and there was lawsuits going back and forth.

And um, it was hard.

I get that.

It was hard.

And it was years of counseling and pain, and and and you said things that you regret and you words that should have never come out of your mouth, and things were said to you that hurt so deep that you don't think you could ever forgive, and then you go through this divorce proceeding, and it is hard, and there's kids involved, and a house, and it is bitter.

But if you were to write now, I don't know, maybe you're in the middle of this right now, but if you were if you were right now to look back and just put your emotions on the shelf for one second, through the eyes of Jesus Christ, look at the situation and ask, did I take too much?

Did I take too much?

Was I unfair?

Have I ruined my witness to even someone who may never forgive me?

And maybe that's you, or maybe it's in business, and maybe it's five years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago, some person you don't even know anymore, but through the eyes of what Jesus Christ is saying here, you did not give your cloak as well.

And would you be able to sit down with them and share the gospel?

Would you be able to share the gospel with them?

You see, if we're not putting our witness, our integrity, our our love for Jesus Christ, and let that sink through and filter through all the aspects of our lives, we have to reevaluate, do I truly love Jesus?

Is he everything to me?

Is he everything to me?

And this leads us again into our next point here.

Verse 41.

You see that in your text?

Verse 41, it says, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

And so our point is this to resist retaliation, I will have to gladly volunteer my liberties.

Gladly volunteer my liberties, or gladly go the extra mile.

I wasn't clever enough to come up with that in time, but gladly go the extra mile.

Gladly volunteer my liberties.

Has anyone forced you to go a mile before?

I'm not talking about gym class.

Anyone forced you to go a mile?

Probably not.

Probably not.

I mean, if you if you're born, raised in Canada or any sort of democratic country, like you have rights.

Like someone can't force you to do something.

You have rights.

I mean, I checked it in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada.

Point number seven, I believe, it says that you have the right to liberty.

You have the right to your own will and doings.

No one can enslave you.

You might not have a job anymore, but no one can make you do something.

Alright?

And maybe for us, this is a good reminder for any like teenagers or people still living at home with their parents.

And they've asked you to cut the lawn.

And then, oh, I'm not whippersnippering.

Maybe this word's for you.

I think it's for all of us, but maybe this word is especially for you, 14-year-old boy.

So the what?

What's going on here, alright?

So there's this, there's this Roman law in place at the time, right?

So they passed this law, and what it said is that any Roman soldier, if he was walking about, he could pull anybody.

I could just pull you out and say, carry my equipment for a mile.

And by law, whoever they pulled aside would have to do that for one mile.

So that's the what.

That's really what's going on here.

But you can all you can see that people wouldn't like that very much, right?

So the Romans are oppressing all these people, and then they pass this law that makes the people they're oppressing carry the equipment that is oppressing them.

So they're not big fans of this law.

You can imagine that they would not be too happy about it.

And what Jesus is saying here is that when your liberties are taken away, when you are forced to go one mile and you hate it even, go two.

Some people even say that what it's saying is go an extra two, so three miles, three times the amount of work than what is required of you.

But why?

But why?

Why would I do this?

Jesus, why are you asking me to do this?

Jesus is giving the other option, right?

So you could retaliate in this moment, right?

Got some athletes in the room, you're fast.

Roman soldier comes up, he's all dressed in gear, and he says, here, carry this.

You could be like, no, and you're gone, right?

You just run.

This is retaliation against the law.

You could do that.

Or you could retaliate another way, you know.

You do it, but the whole time you're like, man, you're dumb.

These Roman soldiers always telling us what to do, and you're you're carrying it, and you know, and then you got your Fitbit on, you're like, that's one mile, right there.

Boom.

I'm not taking one step further, I've done my duty.

And then you take it off, you throw it at him, and you're like, pfft.

And your heart gets filled with malice and hatred towards that person.

And if you could, if you had the power to, you'd make him do the same for you.

You retaliate in your heart.

You say something like, I deserve better.

I'm not doing this.

How dare you do this to me?

You see, when you choose retaliation, like I said, the bitterness, the hatred, the malice towards someone, it fills your heart and you become the person that you hate.

You become the thing that you hate.

You become filled with pride and you don't follow the example of Jesus Christ.

In the midst of being sinned against, you have now become the sinner.

We are gladly to give up our liberties.

We are gladly to go the extra mile.

So let's go back to that 14-year-old.

All right, he's asked to cut the lawn.

How should that look?

Hey, would you would you please cut the lawn?

Sure, of course, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

And I'll fertilize and I'll do the whipper and put down some soil and seed it, make sure that the grass is really thick and healthy for the time you know July comes around.

Everyone else's grass is gonna be dead, but dad, your grass is going to rock.

A lot of parents are teenagers.

Yeah, right.

But that's what that looks like.

Maybe we can't expect that from a 14-year-old, but how can we?

How can we go that extra mile?

How can we do more to show the love of Christ as he did so much for us?

Verse 42 says this: give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

And our so our fourth point is this generously part with my property.

Generously part with my property.

You want to resist retaliation?

You want to be more like Christ?

You gotta generously part with your property.

And I'm sure you've been in this position before.

All of us have been, someone begged for something or asked to borrow something.

I mean, who can say that hasn't happened to them?

But don't you love how it doesn't matter what part of history you find yourself in, the scripture is super applicable.

So what's going on here?

What's going on here?

What's the what?

What's the what?

Well, it's pretty clear.

I mean, it doesn't really get much clearer than that.

If someone asks you for something, give it to them.

If someone begs from you, give it to them.

Case closed, plain and plain and simple.

Um, but there's some smart people in here, I'm sure.

And you're saying, yeah, but there's been so many times when I knew I shouldn't give it to a person that's asking for something.

Alright, so let's just give a couple examples, alright?

So we're on the same page here, okay?

So what if that 14-year-old boy who just finished the lawn, right?

He comes up to you and he's like, hey, can I have your car keys?

Please, please.

The Bible says that if I beg for it, you have to give it to me.

You don't want to upset Jesus.

Alright?

No, don't give him your car keys.

Don't give him your car keys.

You have a very clever kid, though.

Reward him in a different way for cutting the lawn.

How about this?

Uh, what if uh you know someone who's an alcoholic or a or a drug addict, okay?

And and they could ask you to come over their house and like, hey man, can I get can I get some cash?

And you know exactly, you've been down this road before, you know exactly where that money's going.

And so you say, no, no, you I I can't I can't do that for you.

I can stay here with you.

And and usually they don't want that.

They're like, no, I want you to leave and your money to stay, but you're gonna give them the opposite of what they ask for.

Or how about how about this?

Maybe maybe there's someone in need, right?

And and you've been saving up to, you know, maybe there's a single mother in the church who's struggling and you know, she can't make rent that month, and you're like, hey, I could save up, I could save up some money this month, and I could pay her rent.

And so you have your you know, 800 bucks and you're and you're gonna go take it to her.

I just got that money, and then someone comes up to you and they're like, hey, can I borrow 800 bucks to fix my car?

You're like, well, what do I do?

That's not evil.

Okay, so Jesus here is not asking you to throw out, throw judgment out the window or to stop using sound wisdom when applying this principle, okay?

He's saying this knowing that sometimes you're going to have to make a decision.

You're gonna have to be led by the Spirit.

But the point of this text is, the point of this text is that when someone is truly, when someone is truly in need, be generous.

Be generous.

Don't hoard your belongings.

Or as Matthew 6.19 says, it says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth eats and and rust destroys, but and where thieves break in and steal.

Right?

Don't, don't, don't just hoard your stuff.

Be generous.

If there's a need, fill it.

And don't just wait for someone to ask you, maybe go out and say, who needs this?

How can I how can I help?

Jesus is simply calling us to be generous, to part with our property, give it away.

But why?

But why?

Maybe you know what's coming, but why?

But why?

Why would I do this?

Why be overly generous?

Like, after all, this is my hard-earned cash, right?

Like this is this is difficult.

I don't have much to begin with.

Here's the big why.

See, as we open up our hands and we and we're loose with the things that we have on this earth, we show that we don't worship our property.

You get that?

We show that we're not gonna hold on so tight to things.

And sometimes, in these moments, we have an opportunity to show God that we love him more than our stuff.

God, I believe that you will provide for me.

God, I believe that you've given this to me so that I can love someone else, so that I can show the love of Christ.

And even yet, some of you aren't convinced.

You're like, yeah, that applies to some people, but you know, me and my wife, things are tight, and every month we work really hard to not spend much, and we're saving, and every year we can save this tiny little bit, and and you know, for the last five years we've been really disciplined and working really, really hard, and now we have this little bit of money here.

Are you asking me to give that away if there's a need?

Yes.

Yes.

And not me, Jesus.

Yes.

Because even when it's hard, principles that Jesus gives us still apply.

And do you not think that he will bless you in that moment?

Do you not think that he will provide for you?

Has he not provided already?

Has he not given you all things, but then also has he not given you salvation?

How can we fill the need?

I mean, and we're looking at this, you know, we live in a pretty affluent society, and we're looking at this as if people are begging us, but what we need to remember is that we truly are the beggars.

We're the ones begging.

Oh God, please, please, the creator of all things, save me.

Oh Lord, please work things all together for my good because I love you.

Please.

We are truly the beggars, so how can we turn around and not be generous after God has been so generous with us?

So resist retaliation.

Being more like Christ requires this of us.

But this is a hard topic for a lot of us because we don't want to part with our reputation.

We don't want to part with our stuff, we don't want to be more generous than we have to be.

But I remind you: the gospel, what Christ has done for you, how he gave everything for you, how he humbled himself, and now you have the opportunity to show his love.

Maybe this is the first time you've heard of this kind of radical, really, way of living.

But you can repent of your sin, you can trust in Jesus Christ, you can now not live for the approval of man, you can now not live based on the comforts of this world that have never been able to satisfy.

You can live with true purpose and dignity and honor and respect that comes from your Father in heaven.