The Gospel Changes Loving Your Enemies

One time a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus.

“Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”

Jesus answered,

“What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

He said,

“That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

“Good answer!” said Jesus.

“Do it and you’ll live.”

Looking for a loophole, the man asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?” (Luke 10:25-29, The Message)

(Another time Jesus told his followers:)

“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then

you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

(Matt. 5:43-48, The Message)

When we think about what Jesus called the greatest commandment – loving God with everything we are and everything we have and everything we do – we know it’s often a challenge but even then we usually feel like

“I want to love God like that.”

It’s at least a stated goal for most Christians. When we think about what Jesus said was the corresponding commandment like that one – that is, loving our neighbor as ourself – it gets a little iffy sometimes. We can look for loopholes just like that religious scholar who questioned Jesus about it, but in the end we will at least admit that loving our neighbors well is a very Jesus-like thing to do, and we should probably at least try.

But man, when we think about that other thing Jesus said about loving our enemies – it’s probably one of the hardest things He ever told his followers to do. If it’s not #1 on the list of hard things, it’s way up there. I’m supposed to love and pray for somebody who’s actively causing me trouble and frustration, maybe even harm? Is that even a command? Did Jesus say it was a command? I don’t know!

That must be for the really advanced disciples – I’m just not there yet. And isn’t real love giving them the truth of God’s Word – I mean right upside the head where it’s most likely to sink in?

The amount of excuses and arguments we can come up with not to love people - and especially our enemies - is ridiculously endless. And though there are notable exceptions, I think that’s why on so many occasions in the last 2,000 years both we and this movement we’re in called the church have failed miserably at it. It seems like more often than not, we stink at loving our enemies. But hey… at least it’s not one of the greatest commandments, right? Or is it? We’ll talk more about that in a little bit.

Fair warning – I decided to use The Message translation today for all scripture readings. The late author and teacher Eugene Peterson forgot more about biblical languages than most of us will ever know, and helped create a translation of Scripture that has connected with millions of modern readers because it’s in our vernacular like it was for the original readers. And honestly I used it because I think Scripture is often more punchy and harder to get away from it or around it when we hear it in a way we’re not as used to. So if it makes you feel antsy, that’s on purpose.

Also, I want to take a minute first to say that in my opinion, the Believing for More series that we just finished last week may be the most challenging and the most vital series ever preached here both for you as a follower of Christ and for us together as CF Paris as part of the movement of God in this community - and we need to keep it all on repeat. Every message was so full of ideas and core values that we need saturated into the culture of our church family and the hearts of each one of us.

Pastor Brandon’s message talked about praying like the first church for boldness to stay on mission as a movement and not a monument – and that the goal of prayer is not just benefits and blessings but God himself. Brandon actually had a whole section in his message that he accidentally skipped over about how boldness does not equal rudeness and aggression. But in the providence of God it just so happens – I’m going to take care of that today.

For me Cory’s challenges from the message about Belonging really struck a chord. How the early church struggled with who could Belong and we still do. We have to remember that only God truly knows the heart of any person – and He accepts people that we may not want to. And Cory pointed out how we as the church must resist the three natural drifts toward insiders and away from outsiders, toward law and away from grace, and toward preserving what we have and away from advancing where God wants to go but we often don’t. And can I just tack on a thought about our Belong value to say that the welcome of God that we His people are to embody is not just for in here on days like today? The welcome of God has to go WITH the people of God OUT of the house of God and wherever we go into the world just like it did with Jesus.

And that includes the virtual world of social media posting, where more people will probably hear you than out here. Pastor Cory’s deep dive with us in Acts into each of our core values and looking at “Who Gets to Belong to God’s church?” and “Believing the Simple Message that Changes Everything” so that we are “Becoming a People that Transform the World” … there’s too much that’s too important to try to cover it all in a recap but I’m saying we all really need to plan to review this series at least a couple of times a year. So, so good. DO IT!

Now I want to be honest with you guys and tell you that today’s message started out stuck in my craw and wound up lodged in my heart. (And I’m totally fine - but the doctors could not remove it.) There have been issues and incidents in our country and more poignantly in our community as of late that have really demonstrated a glaring lack of love on both sides – and I have often had family and friends on both sides. I found myself getting really angry with the people who were really angry with each other – and I didn’t post anything or confront anyone, but that same spiteful spirit was in my heart and in my head even though the words didn’t come out.

We heard again not long ago how easy and how natural it is for those acts of the flesh to have their way in us. But Jesus commands us to live by a different way. His way. And that’s what we’re going to consider together today.

In Luke 10 Jesus affirms that the greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor – which Jesus and Paul later both state that the whole law is fulfilled in these two ideas. And when the crafty religion expert questioning Jesus tried to cause trouble by asking Him “how do you define neighbor?” – Jesus told him a story. What story, class? The Good Samaritan.

Most of us know it well. I think the fascinating thing about this story is that the man asks Jesus,

“Who counts as my neighbor? Who do I have to love - whatever that may mean?”

And Jesus’ answer to the man at the end of the story was for him to go BE a loving neighbor like the Samaritan in the story – to intentionally come near even to those you despise or that despise you, and to take action and to sacrifice for their good. Jesus not only clarified what love for our neighbor should look like, but he also clarified that even people who are culturally, ethnically, politically, geographically, philosophically, spiritually, and indubitably different from you are entitled to this kind of love –so if that’s the case then in our Lord’s view your neighbor is essentially whom? (Everyone.)

And if everyone is your neighbor, that would make your enemy a neighbor with whom you currently have conflict. And if your enemy is also your neighbor … well, here we are back at the greatest commandments again: Love God. Love your neighbor. Even if it’s your enemy.

But what about the people who are flaunting their life living like what God called evil is really good? What about criminals? Or vagrants? What about those whackos in the other political party that are trying to ruin the country? Or…“those people” who are all about (whatever you think the #1 worst sin is)?

We struggle because if we’re honest we already know the answer from Jesus is “Yes, those people too.” What other answer would you expect from the one whose prayer for his own personal mob of executioners was “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.”

I read a quote on this subject from the editor of a Gospel-centered news source recently that said:

“Right now, I’m wrestling with how difficult it is to apply this to specific people I think are obviously celebrating evil. But I keep coming back to Jesus’s command to love my enemies. And if an enemy feels too evil to love, I shouldn’t assume love must mean something different; I should assume I just didn’t appreciate how difficult the command would be to follow. - Jason Woodruff

It’s hard to follow the command to love our enemies when our news is constantly bringing stories of terrible things being done by people around the world. It’s maybe even a little harder to follow when the stories happen in our country or somewhere in this big ‘ol state of Texas.

And man … when the story comes to our own doorstep and the enemy shows up in the quaint, quiet community that we want to stay just the way we like it … it feels practically impossible and … if we’re honest, irresponsible, to consider loving our enemy.

“But people are deceived, Pastor G, and they’re trying to deceive others! We’ve got to speak the truth!”

Now that could be civic truth – concerned citizens, a moral majority, just speaking up about what they believe the most (or at least the loudest) part of our community does and does not tolerate. Even though we obviously don’t all agree or we wouldn’t be having a discussion/fight about it. Or it could be religious truth – the truth of God’s Word, brought by God’s people who are commissioned in Matthew 28 to make disciples and teach everything Jesus commanded us (which includes “love your enemies,” interestingly). And again, even God’s people don’t all agree on how to understand everything in God’s Word.

“But people need the truth!”

I absolutely agree that we should speak truth and call out sin/evil, leaving no doubt in people’s minds where we as Christ followers stand, or what we believe is right and noble and true. But we are called to do that in love. Ephesians 4:15 says:

God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do (Eph. 4:15 MSG)

And if you and I are going to tell people – especially our enemies – the truth in love, that means doing so with kindness and patience, just to start. This is not my definition of love; it’s the definition given to us in Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 the apostle Paul wrote:

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut,

Doesn’t have a swelled head,

Doesn’t force itself on others,

Isn’t always “me first,”

Doesn’t fly off the handle,

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn’t revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

(1 Cor. 13:4-7)

In maybe more familiar Bible vernacular “Love is patient, love is kind… love is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.”

If we speak what is true in an unkind way or out of irritation, then it is not loving — it can’t be, because love is the opposite of those things. So how do we love enemies? Apparently in part by being patient, kind, and unirritated with them.

Remember that both your stance and how you take your stance reflect on Christ. And also remember as Pastor Cory wanted us all to get last week that you, as His church, have influence – and influence is a stewardship. Our community is watching and listening to us – both the part that is in the church and the part that is not. I can’t tell you exactly what loving your enemy will look like for you in every situation. But I can point you to the life of Jesus as we experience it in the Gospels where we can clearly see four principles of how he consistently loved others he encountered – even when he did not agree with all their life choices.

On that note before we get to principles 1-4, can I just quickly point out “principle 0” to keep in mind as we look at the others, because it’s something everybody but Jesus seems to struggle with?

Association does not equal Agreement.

The Gospels are packed with stories of Jesus seeking out and spending time with known sinners – the woman at the well, Zacchaeus the thieving tax collector, prostitutes and women caught in the act of adultery, Roman soldiers - he even picked a tax collector and a military rebel as part of his inner circle! But there’s no evidence in the life of Jesus that when he was spending time with these people he was indicating that he was ok with everything they were doing. Many times he told them not to do it anymore. Jesus wasn’t affirming all their life choices – he was affirming them. He was letting them know they Belong in his presence.

And that’s what we’re supposed to do with people now as those who represent him. We can extend the welcome of God and even share the truth of God in a manner like Jesus did. Sure – you may get called a friend of drunkards or sinner’s pal – by religious people, maybe even other Christians – but so did Jesus. And he didn’t seem to mind. And the people he spent time with did seem to be changed by it.

Every list of sins in Scripture that God hates is just that - the sins. Nowhere does it say that God hates the person sinning. In fact it repeatedly says just the opposite – and thank God for that, or you and I would be done for.

Alright, that wasn’t too quick after all but here we go with four principles of loving others from the life of Jesus.

Number one, Love is intentional. It does not happen naturally for anyone but Jesus - and love never happens by accident. The whole Bible from cover to cover is a story of God’s intentional love for us. Father, Son and Holy Spirit existed in perfect love and unity, without needing anyone or anything else at all – and yet God chose to create humanity and place us here in order to share His love with us. When we rebelled against God, he promised to one day make it right and bring us home. He kept that covenant through Noah, and through Abraham, and through David despite their huge failures and times of judgment and discipline for his people. God’s covenant love remained intentionally focused on the good of his people and ultimately all people.

In Isaiah 54:10 God told his people,

“For even if the mountains walk away and the hills fall to pieces, My love won’t walk away from you, my covenant commitment of peace won’t fall apart.” The God who has compassion on you says so. (Isa. 54:10 MSG)

And Jesus himself told his disciples that His life and death and resurrection was the inauguration of a new and even better covenant – that God’s intentional commitment of love to his people would someday bring them into his very presence to be loved by God for all eternity. Love is committed to the good of the one who is loved. It is a choice we make to interact with people as Jesus did - and not making that choice will never accidentally lead us to loving someone. Love is intentional.

Second, Love takes action. True commitment to the good of another can not exist without doing something to bring it about. For God so loved the world that he did what? He gave.

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. (John 3:16 MSG)

God took action. He wasn’t just committed to our good in his heart – he did something about it. And Scripture says God did it while still his enemies. Try this sometime as an exercise in love – take your favorite translation of John 3:16 and when you get to “the world,” just replace that with the name of an enemy or the person or the group that you struggle most with loving.

If God loves them – you really have no excuse not to, right?

The late Pastor Tim Keller wrote,

“Love is the effort and desire to make someone else everything they were created to be."

Intention and action. You can’t do less than that and call it love. That is the absolute minimum for love: desire and effort. But loving like Jesus did requires more from us than just the minimum. It goes farther, and includes two more critical qualities. (Just like Jesus - always pushing the envelope.)

Jesus shows us that his kind of Love requires proximity. Jesus came near those he loved. He touched and spoke to and spent time with people he was “not supposed to associate with.” So much so that he was regularly accused of being a friend of sinners – which is exactly what he is, fortunately for me and for you. After his intimate dinner in the home of notorious tax collector Zacchaeus and the miraculous life change that resulted in that man, Jesus declared

“For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.” (Luke 19:10 MSG)

How can you restore what’s lost if you never find it? And how can you find the lost if you never go looking for them? And where do you have to look? Where the lost are.

This Gospel we believe changes everything - and try to inspire others to believe that also - is built on the truth that the unapproachable holiness of God came near to a world of sinful people in the person of Jesus Christ. God wanted the best for us and he was it! And he took action to give us his best by joining us and entering the mess and confusion and violence and heartbreak of our lives through the humanity of Jesus. And when Jesus returned to his father he sent the one person just as loving as him but who could be even closer at all times to all of us - the Holy Spirit.

We read several times in Acts about the Spirit’s arrival in the hearts of all who choose to follow Jesus. Christ did not love people from a distance. He went to find them. He came near them. Not one person he encountered deserved his love – in fact most looked more deserving of his judgment. Proximity can be messy, and that mess will get on you. Other people may start to think you’re part of the mess, too. But we dare not forget that it was all of our mess that Jesus took with him to the cross, and that when we follow our Lord’s command to take up our cross daily and follow him it may be into messy lives and places where only love that comes near will ever display its power to change everything.

Lastly, Christlike love is intentional, takes action and requires proximity – but also His Love demands sacrifice. Giving up my comfort. Giving up my rights. Giving up the right to be right. Giving up my status. Giving up thinking more about what others may think of me than what God thinks of me. Giving. Giving. Giving. Putting the good of someone else who clearly does not deserve it before my own? Especially my enemy? Oh, but it’s so hard sometimes for us to lower ourselves that much, isn’t it? That’s what it feels like, at least. Which is likely why Paul wrote this in Philippians 2:

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave,

became human!

Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. (Phil. 2:5-8 MSG)

None of us will ever lower ourselves that much, and none of us will ever give up that much. But Jesus is our example of what it means to sacrifice our own good for love of another. Even an enemy. So if we are to love God with all we are, or love our neighbor as ourself, or certainly if we are to love our enemies – who are just neighbors in conflict with us – we must love with intention, with action, with proximity and with sacrifice, if our goal is to love like Jesus.

We are going to need each other’s understanding and support and grace and love if all of us are going to rise to the challenge of loving our enemies like Jesus did, and inspiring others to believe and live like the gospel changes everything. I want to leave you with one final quote that I read last week to consider as you grow in integrating the commands of Jesus into your daily life:

“The danger for any follower of Christ is not that we do not believe, but that what we believe does not make any difference, for the church or the world.” (Charles E. Moore)

I believe we can make a difference for both – and even for our enemies – and inspire others to do so, when we live and love like Jesus. God bless you guys, have a great week!