Sermon Video: Matthew 5:43-48
17 Friday Jul 2020
Posted Teaching/Preaching, Uncategorized
in17 Friday Jul 2020
Posted Teaching/Preaching, Uncategorized
in17 Friday Jul 2020
Posted Teaching/Preaching, Uncategorized
inWith our text today we come to the end of the second major portion of the Sermon on the Mount.
We have been calling these the antitheses: “You have heard it said…But I say to you…”
And we have said repeatedly that Jesus is not undoing the law, but offering his disciples a true interpretation of the law.
The law cannot be so easily undone. In fact, Jesus says that the law will remain until heaven and earth pass away.
The law cannot be undone because the law comes from God. The law reflects who God is and the law gives us the principles necessary to live in God’s world.
We’ve discussed this many times.
But the reason that this keeps coming up in our sermons is that our hearts are hearts are always leading us astray.
Our hearts tempt and entice us with the things of this world.
You see, for the followers of Jesus, there are two truths that are in conflict with one another. And our text today brings this reality before us in a very clear way.
The two competing truths are these:
The day-by-day, moment-by-moment challenge of the Christian is to take off the flesh and put on Christ. To live in the reality that we are IN CHRIST.
Being “in Christ” is not some goal to reach, or some future reality once we get to Heaven. Instead, we are currently, at every moment, “in Christ.”
He is “in us.”
Our text today will challenge us explicitly to be like be like God the Father.
But this is not something that WE accomplish.
For even though in these antitheses, Jesus has given us very practical ways to obey his commands, our obedience to the law of Christ does not come through our efforts, us trying harder.
Growing in sanctification is not about us becoming better people or better disciples of Christ.
Too often we think of sanctification as something that WE do.
We say to ourselves, “Oh, I’ve got to get this sin out of my life and I’ve got to get better at this and that.”
This is not what sanctification is about.
Sanctification is about the Holy Spirit conforming us more into the image of the Son. Sanctification is about the Holy Spirit taking hold of us and making the reality that we are “in Christ” – that it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives “in us” – and making this reality a lived-out reality.
Our text today will challenge us to be like our father, but we must remember that that process is done through the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives.
Our text today will clearly command you to be like God…to be perfect, even. But even though Jesus commands us to be perfect, you response should be one of prayer, submission, and obedience to what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life. But even this desired response cannot come from yourself, but rather comes from God.
This is important for you to hear, because our text is particularly challenging.
Let me tell it to you clearly: “Be perfect in love.”
That’s it. That’s the point of our text today. It will require some work to understand a bit more of what this means, but that’s the point, that’s the challenge.
“Be perfect in love.”
Let me now read our text today. We’ll begin in Matthew 5:17 and read to the end of the chapter:
Christ Came to Fulfill the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Anger
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Lust
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
Divorce
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Oaths
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Retaliation
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 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. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Love Your Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Let me re-read that last verse:
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
What Jesus means here is “perfect in love.”
There are plenty verses all over the Bible about God’s people needing to be like Him in all sorts of ways.
Just two weeks ago we looked at the issue of taking oaths. Christians are to be faithful and steadfast, just as God himself is. That was our focus.
But here, the command is to be perfect in love.
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
And as we look more deeply at this text, we will address three key concerns.
WHO should we love?
HOW should we love them?
WHY should we love them that way?
Answering these questions will help us to understand what it means to be perfect in love…to love the way God does.
Look back at the text,
Verse 43: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
This was the attitude and teaching of the religious leaders. This is what was taught to the people.
But on top of this, the people, we might say, would have been happy to receive this teaching. This is one of those commands that’s easy to follow.
This can be rephrased this way: love the people that are like you and hate the people that aren’t.
Or, love the people that you like and hate the people that don’t like you.
Or, love the people that are nice to you but hate the people that aren’t.
Can we all agree that these ideas come naturally to us?
Can we all agree that we don’t have to be taught to love the people that give us something, do something for us, or provide us with something we want?
But for Jesus’s audience, this idea of loving your neighbor and hating your enemy was being explicitly taught to them by their leaders.
And this teaching was rooted in a misunderstanding and misapplication of God’s law.
Leviticus 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
It’s clear from this verse that God is talking about how to live among God’s people.
The reference to “neighbor” here is obviously about people within the community of Israel.
In this verse, “love you neighbor” means “love your fellow Jew.”
But in the Gospels we see that the example the religious leaders are giving to the people this concept of “love your neighbor as yourself” is applied in an even more restrictive way.
Do you remember all those dinner parties where the Pharisees grumble about Jesus. “Doesn’t he know that she’s a sinner.” “Why does he like to eat with sinners and tax collectors?”
The problem with the sinners and tax collectors wasn’t that they weren’t Israelites, it’s that they weren’t like the Pharisees.
On top of this, you also had the natural exclusionary tendency of Jews. Israel was the people of God and no one else. In their mind, it was Israel and goyim, “the nations.”
This confronts the Jewish exclusionary attitudes.
This is why in Luke 10, a teacher of the law tries to test Jesus by asking him to define the word “neighbor.”
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But [the lawyer], desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
This teacher of the law wants to define who his neighbor is in a way that suits his selfishness.
He wants to see as his neighbor those people that he WANTS to love.
This is why Jesus answers his question by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Jesus wants to shatter his understanding of who his neighbor is.
It seems therefore, that Matthew wants us to see the selfish motives of the religious leaders and the teachers of the law who interpret and apply God’s law for their own convenience.
No wonder then that Jesus will say in Matthew 23:13:
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
They shut the doors of heaven in the faces of those who desire to go in. “It is sick people that need a doctor,” Jesus says. It is these sick people that Jesus came to heal, and it is these sick people that the scribes and the Pharisees don’t want anything to do with.
In response to this kind of exclusionism, Jesus says, “No. Love your neighbor and love your enemy.”
It doesn’t really matter how you define neighbor. Love your neighbor and love your enemy.
The parable of the Good Samaritan shatters the definition that people had in Jesus’s day…it shatters the definition that the teachers of the law were teaching to Israel.
But for our text here in Matthew 5, it doesn’t really matter who you define as your “neighbor.”
Is your neighbor your fellow Jew, people like you, people you like?
Jesus sweeps all that away and says, love your neighbor and love your enemy.
But let me ask you, was this radically different than what God intended in His law?
Of course, the answer is no.
In fact, back in Leviticus 19, just before Israelites are commanded to love their neighbors, we find these words:
9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.
What is this command?
Farmers and wine growers are told to leave grain and fruit available for the poor and for the outsiders.
This verse fits in with the rest of the Bible that gives dignity to all people …
Prov. 22:2 – The rich and the poor meet together;
the LORD is the Maker of them all.
Prov 29:13 – The poor man and the oppressor meet together;
the LORD gives light to the eyes of both.
The poor and the outsiders are to be loved.
This was God’s design. And this is what Jesus is pointing out to his disciples and to us.
So the answer to our question “Who should we love” is EVERYONE.
No matter who they are, we need to be pouring out love toward them.
So what does that look like?
To answer this question I’m going to point out four principles from the text, but all of them can be put under the heading of what is called the Golden Rule.
Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus will present to his disciples the principle for life in the Kingdom of God known as the Golden Rule.
He says in Matthew 7:12, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
So if you want to keep the law, if you want to be obedient to God, treat all people the way that you would like to be treated.
This Golden rule is so important to understanding our text today that in Luke’s gospel, he actually makes the connection explicit. In Luke’s version of our text today, there are three sections that are separate in Matthew’s Gospel are put together in Luke’s Gospel.
In Luke’s Gospel, the text from last week, the text from this week, and the Golden Rule from Matthew 7 are all combined into one section on loving enemies.
So let me just say, that as we look at Jesus’s words today, the Golden Rule should be in the back of our head.
And these are the principles of HOW to love both our neighbors and our enemies.
First,
And here’s the next principle:
But keep in mind, and this is a third principle of HOW to love like God loves:
Finally,
Let’s now turn to the final question.
Jesus is clear on this account:
Look back at our text where He says in verse 44, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Have you ever heard of a little child that didn’t want to walk in his dad’s footsteps?
This is the point.
If we are God’s children then we will naturally want to be like him.
Do you remember from the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Since God is a god of peace, we too will want to make peace?
Do you want to be a child of God?
Do you want to be like God?
Then be a peacemaker.
Why should you love your enemies? Because your heavenly father loves his enemies.
Jesus is not saying that loving our neighbors makes us become the children of God. Jesus is speaking to followers who already call themselves children of God.
Jesus is telling them that if they call themselves children of God then they better act like it.
Our heavenly father gives us the example of what it means to love without giving a thought for getting anything in return.
He pours out his rain and he causes the sun to shine on his whole creation. He sustains his creation. He gives and gives and gives.
He gives of himself without measure.
He gives us an example that we should follow.
Let me quickly address the important question of Why does God give of himself?
Why does God pour out? We’ve talked about why we pour out, but why does God pour out?
He doesn’t need to, but He chooses to in order to be in relationship with his creation and, in particular, with us.
But finally, how can WE be like our heavenly father?
How can we, like God, pour out love on our enemies?
How can we have the strength to give without measure?
How can we be perfect in love like God?
The answer is that we can’t. We honestly can’t?
But that is a problem with a lot of Christians. Too often Christians think that sanctification is a journey that we have to do. God saved us and gave us the Holy Spirit, now its our turn to put in the hard work to be more Godly.
But that’s not what sanctification is about.
Sanctification and the Christian walk is about dying to ourselves.
It’s about dying, not trying harder. It’s not about having the right techniques or reading the right books or anything.
It is about dying to the world. It’s about dying to ourselves.
Listen to the words of Paul in Gal 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
It is not about what YOU or anyone else can DO to become more like Christ. We must die to ourselves and by the power of the Holy Spirit to live in Christ.
Humble submission to the Holy Spirit is the way to do this.
Only then, when it is no longer up to you to love your enemies, but Christ who is doing it, can you pour out continually and be perfect in love.
Christ already loves your enemies and died for them.
When we die to ourselves and live our lives “in Christ” then we can love perfectly, because it is not our love that is flowing through us, but rather God’s love.
Do you get it? Let’s not misunderstand the Christian journey. It’s common for Christians like us to think that we are saved by Grace through Faith, but then to practically live as though now that we’re saved we have to stay saved by living by works.
We are not sanctified by works after we are saved by Grace.
We are saved by grace, by grace we were sealed by the Holy Spirit, and by God’s grace we are sanctified by daily dying to ourselves and living out the reality that we are “in Christ.”
11 Tuesday Nov 2014
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