What if We Took Jesus Seriously?

^{The following is the "meat" of the sermon I preached on February 10, 2013.  Since I preach with notes rather than a manuscript, this is not the exact sermon, but rather, an adaptation of it.}

Luke 6:27-28

²⁷“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

·   What would happen if we actually took the words of Jesus seriously?  What would happen if the Church actually thought Jesus meant what he said?  Would we act differently? Or, would we tell Jesus that we just don't think His way would work?

I  If we're going to believe the things we say we believe, then we need to at least give the words that Jesus said a chance.  Notice that Jesus never said we'd walk in a "rose garden" for being his disciple.  He never said we'd never suffer.  He never promised that we wouldn't even be killed for being his follower.  But, the rewards he promised us are greater than any suffering.  

I  I'll be the first to admit that when someone is an enemy to me, I don't want to "love them."  I don't want to pray for them, I don't want to be nice to them.  I don't even want to have good things happen to them in most cases. My first thought is that I want "karma" to hit them.  I want what they did unto me to be done unto them, and I want it done now!  

   But then this bothersome Jesus gets in the way and whispers in my ear - You have to love them.  I feel like a little child.  "Daddy, do I have to???"  The answer is obvious.  Yes, I do.  Yes, WE do.

   Now, let's face reality, the enemy who waves to us on the highway with less than 4 fingers (think about it...it'll come to you what I mean) is easier to love than the enemy who attacks our country.  We can love someone rushing to work, but can we love bin Laden?  Well, obviously, some people couldn't.  I admit, when I heard he was killed, I didn't mourn. But then I realized that as evil as he acted, God still loved even him.  So should I.

   The problem is that English only has 1 word for Love.  I can tell you in the same conversation that I love my car, I love my wife, I love my church family, and I love my children.  Think about that for a while, and you'll realize that my love for each has to be different.  If it's not, we have some serious problems to address.

   

   Usually when I say, "love your enemies," (or rather quote Jesus saying that), people think Jesus means there should be no justice.  But God is a God of justice.  But in this simple, yet profound statement, Jesus is calling us to re-imagine justice. Many of us have been raise to believe that justice is punishment.  Yes, sometimes there is an element of punishment in justice.  Evil cannot go unpunished.  But, Jesus is calling for justice that also rehabilitates.  In Luke 4, part of Jesus' reading of the scroll of Isaiah says, "[he has sent me to] release the captive." The people that day thought it was in reference to those captive by the Roman Empire - Jesus meant something completely different.  He meant those who were captive by oppression and sin.  Justice does not just oppress and punish the person who does evil, but it rehabilitates them as much as possible.  THAT is justice. Obviously, depending on the crime, that will take a different amount of time. A person who says something mean to you can be rehabilitated with an apology.  A person who murders will take much longer.  But all the same, Jesus tells us to love our enemies.

^{Luke 6:}

³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;

·      

  Jesus is on a roll!!! He now tells the people not to judge.  But what does that mean? Does that mean that we are to tolerate sin in our very midst?  Does that mean that anything goes?  

  Churches are great Judges...no wonder people avoid us! Let me add onto say that we do it wrongly too often.  Judging is not saying that something is a sin.  Judging is saying that we know the eternal destiny of someone.  Judging is also making the church so exclusive that only certain types of people are welcome.  Remember - the church is not a show off place for saints.  It's a hospital for sinners.

  Too often, people in the church will start off a sentence by saying "I'm not judging, but..." - stop them there if you hear those words...They are judging.  Or, there's the famous "Hate the sin, love the sinner."  Unless you've gone on to perfection, I promise there is enough sin in your own life to hate that you don't need to worry about hating someone else's sin. 

 Luke 6:

⁴¹Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴²Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

At this point, Jesus is telling us well meaning Christians in a very polite way to "know our place."  In other words, don't worry about someone else's house being a mess until your own is clean.   We must also remember Jesus was speaking to a group.  Is there division in your church? Has anyone in your church sinned today? Is everyone fully reconciled to everyone else?  Is everyone fully worshipping God to the best of their ability?  Is everyone fully loving God and Neighbor?  If not, then you have a log to deal with - let others deal with their own dust.  

BUT, if you feel led to help others deal with their problems, remember that you do it as equals and walk side by side.  One sinner cannot tell another sinner how to walk a better Christian life and be the moral compass of another.  But, any Christian can partner with another Christian and together they can help each other walk through life holding one another accountable and guiding one another through struggles. 

·      

    What is your primary label – Mom? Dad? Grandparent? Son? Daughter? Your Job? Republican? Democrat? American? Or is it CHRISTIAN? Until we can fully say that we are NOTHING but Christian, according to Jesus’ own words, we are hypocrites if we condemn others, judge others, or be anything but equals with others.  We are called to love others.

Not only will that help us in this life, but it will also help us on Judgement Day, because, we definitely do not want to hear Jesus say an adaptation of what he said in Luke 6:46 -   ⁴⁶“Why did you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and did not do what I told you?