Class Lesson February 28, 2016 Final Lesson in Series

THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE

In America today, we “love” everything. Think about all the ways you use that four-letter word during a given week. We love burgers, children, puppies, ice cream, college football, spring days, vacations, action movies, romantic movies, and gazillions of other things.



Isn’t it amazing that, with the wealth of words we have at our disposal in the English language, we use the same term to describe our feelings about a hot dog as we do to describe our relationship with our mothers? Surely we can’t feel the same way about a cat video on the Internet as we do about our own children.



Most of the time, we use the word “love” to describe anything that makes us feel good at a given moment. With that definition, it’s no wonder we fall out of love with people at about the same rate we fall out of love with certain kinds of food.



Jesus calls us to something more. As His followers, we are called to love in the way He does. That standard of love is unconditional and knows no limits.

In fact, He wants us to begin by loving our enemies!

Now that’s distinct!

 

Remember This Song?

 

 Click Here to Watch & Hear

I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart

 

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Matthew 5:43-48

43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

45 so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

...............

46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?

47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same?

.................

48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”



Perfect (v. 48)—The term can mean flawless. It can also have the sense of mature, complete, or fully developed in a moral or spiritual sense. In reference to God’s people, “mature” or “complete” is the more likely meaning. 

 

Matthew 5:43-45

Most of the world operates by a simple premise: Love those who love you. In this worldview, people only get into relationships for what they can gain from them. Every relationship is self-serving; thus, if a relationship ceases to give you what you want, you simply move onto the next one.

The kingdom of God does not operate that way.

Jesus called us to love those who feel animosity and even hatred toward us. He gave us an example from weather: when the rain falls, the evil receive the benefit in the same way the righteous do. This is God’s “common grace.” It’s “common” because He extends it to everyone. This doesn’t mean God approves of everything that happens on the earth. It only means God’s love is completely distinct from our love. He extends His love to people not because they love Him, but because it’s in His character to do so.


Jesus gave us our marching orders: love and pray. And don’t just pray for people who wish you good; also pray for those who wish you evil.

• Prayer shapes our hearts. When we pray for someone who is difficult to love, we will find our hearts being bent toward that person. The reason is simple: it’s hard to hate someone you are asking God to bless and help.

• Prayer expresses our love. Prayer is one of the best ways we have to express our love for someone. We are asking the God of the universe to exercise His power on behalf of someone else, for his or her good. That’s powerful!

Matthew 5:46-47

If we only love those who love us in return, that’s easy. Tax collectors were locals who had gone over to the side of the Romans because of their own greed. They collected taxes for Rome, plus whatever additional money they deemed fit. Needless to say, the tax collectors were despised. But even they loved those who loved them.



Similarly, the Jews looked down on the Gentiles as irreligious people, pagan in both nature and customs. Gentiles didn’t have the first idea about who God is, and their actions showed it. But Jesus maintained that even the Gentiles greeted those they called brothers.



Jesus was not validating the contempt that flowed through the community toward the tax collectors and Gentiles. Instead, He was using the people’s own self-righteousness and judgment against them. Even the tax collectors and Gentiles loved in the easy way.



Jesus calls His followers to a harder kind of love. He wants us to put ourselves out there, risk rejection and ridicule, and then do it all over again—with no thought of reciprocation.



According to Jesus, the defining mark of His true follower is love. Love is the one element of discipleship that can’t be faked. Many people might perform miracles and do all kinds of other religious deeds, but that doesn’t mean they will enter the kingdom of heaven (see Matt. 7:22-23). We can become very adept at “playing disciple” by sheer acts of will. But you can’t manufacture genuine love.



Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Let me say it again: love is the greatest defining mark of a Christian. Those who truly love demonstrate they have experienced the love of Jesus Christ and are growing in their understanding of the great love of God in Christ.

Matthew 5:48

When we see the word perfect, we tend to think of something flawless. Without error. Pristine. If that’s what Jesus meant in verse 48, it becomes an absolutely crushing statement.



Thankfully, that’s not the case. Jesus didn’t have that kind of perfection in mind. The word He used here wasn’t so much about flawlessness, but function.



Imagine you’re a young parent preparing to assemble a crib. You open the box and see a dizzying array of diagrams and parts. As you assemble the crib, you notice a set of screws that require a special tool to tighten them. Fortunately, the manufacturer included a tool that fits just right; the bed finally comes together. That tool was the perfect tool for its function. You might never use it again, but for that moment, and on that particular occasion, it fit just right. Was the tool absolutely perfect, in terms of its flawlessness? Probably not. But to do the job it was designed for, it was good and right. It was perfect.



We need to look at Jesus’ call to be perfect in terms of our function. Verse 48 reminds us that we are distinct among God’s creation. We were created in His image to relate to Him in a unique way.



To be created in God’s image means we were made to display God’s character and glory in every part of our lives. We should strive to be the kind of parent God is. And we should love like God does:

• God loves those who don’t acknowledge Him.
• God is generous to those who don’t recognize or reciprocate His generosity.
• God provides for those who are ungrateful.
• And we are to be like Him.

That’s what makes us distinct.

LIVE IT OUT

Showing love the way God loves is what makes us truly distinct. Let’s look for opportunities to stand apart from the rest of the world.

• Pray. Commit to pray every day for one person in your life who is difficult to love. Pray that God would bless that person. Notice how your heart softens toward that person.

• Thank. Have you ever been difficult to love? Think of someone who loved you during a time when you were hard to love. Make a call and express your thanks for the way his or her love reminded you of the way God loves all the time. 

• Sacrifice. Jesus loves us sacrificially. What is one practical way you can sacrificially love someone else this week?

It’s OK to love ice cream. And puppies. And college football. But don’t confuse all that love with God’s love—the love He calls you to walk in. God loves you. Now go and do likewise.


Our Lesson Today:

Video: Remember the Titans

Click Here to Watch




Jesus has been asking us to be and do some very abnormal things:

• Be more righteous than the religious of the day.
• Turn the other cheek
• Go the extra mile

This morning He wants us to Love everyone unconditionally – even our enemies!



I. Love Your Enemies - Matthew 5:43-45
43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.


Your lesson this week said that most of the world operates by a simple premise: Love those who love you. That people only get into relationships for what they can gain from them. So, that makes every relationship self-serving; thus, if a relationship ceases to give you what you want, you simply move onto the next one. Jesus says that’s not the way the kingdom of God operates!



Jesus called us to love those who feel animosity and even hatred toward us. He gave us an example from weather: when the rain falls, the evil receive the benefit in the same way the righteous do. This is God’s “common grace.” It’s “common” because He extends it to everyone. This doesn’t mean God approves of everything that happens on the earth. It only means God’s love is completely distinct from our love. He extends His love to people not because they love Him, but because it’s in His character to do so.



An old fellow was being interviewed by a reporter because he had just reached his 100th birthday. “Yes sir,” said the centenarian, “I’m 100 years old today and I don’t have an enemy in the world.” “That’s wonderful,” replied the reporter, “you must be proud of yourself.” “Yes,” the old man said, “my last enemy died about a year ago.”



How would you define an enemy in your life?

The possibilities of having enemies on this earth are pretty good. We will have personality conflicts, the clashing of egos, will, philosophies, or goals, inevitably put us at odds—sometimes viciously with someone else. The fact is we probably wouldn’t be much of a person at all if we didn’t have some enemies.

The Muslims, Islam, ISSIS, Russians, Syrians???

Jesus had His enemies. He wasn’t crucified because He talked about the lilies of the field or the birds of the air. He was killed because His goodness and righteousness were a threat to those with mean and prideful spirits, the religious hypocrites, and unjust authorities. Again and again we see Jesus’ enemies trying to trap Him in debate, to humiliate Him, and destroy His credibility. When Jesus out-debated them and avoided their malicious schemes, they began to plot His death. They could not stand the light of His truth so they hoped to get rid of Him once and for all.



Jesus says to Love your enemies!


How do you love someone you don’t like?

Martin Luther King says, in order to love your enemies, you must begin by analyzing self. “How is it that you see the splinter in your brother’s eye and fail to see the plank in your own eye?"

Discover the element of good in your enemy, and every time you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points. Each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality. There is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life. And this simply means this: That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls "the image of God," you begin to love him in spite of. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there and there is your element of goodness.

When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.

Only with an agape kind of love. Agape is more than eros; agape is more than philia; agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men. And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love men, not because they are likeable, but because God loves them. You look at every man, and you love him because you know God loves him.

It’s significant that Jesus does not say, "Like your enemy." Like is a sentimental something, an affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I find it difficult to like. I don’t like what they do to me. I don’t like what they say about me and other people. I don’t like their attitudes. I don’t like some of the things they’re doing. I don’t like them. But Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says, "Love your enemy." This is the way to do it. When the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your enemy, you must not do it.




Jesus said to: love and pray. And don’t just pray for people who wish you good; also pray for those who wish you evil. Why pray? (One changes them & one changes you!)

• Prayer shapes our hearts. When we pray for someone who is difficult to love, we will find our hearts being bent toward that person. The reason is simple: it’s hard to hate someone you are asking God to bless and help.
• Prayer expresses our love. Prayer is one of the best ways we have to express our love for someone. We are asking the God of the universe to exercise His power on behalf of someone else, for his or her good. That’s powerful!

Why should we love our enemies?

1. Hate for hate only intensifies hate. Martin Luther King says, the first reason that we should love our enemies, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, it just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. Hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. Last week’s lesson when I spoke of Jackie Robinson’s exchange with the club manager: “You want a player who doesn’t have the guts to fight back? No, I want a player who’s got the guts NOT to fight back.”

2. Hate distorts the personality of the hater. Your enemy really loses. We usually think of what hate does for the individual(s) hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic to the individual who hates. You begin hating somebody, and you begin to do irrational things. You can’t see straight, can’t walk straight, can’t stand upright, and your vision is distorted. There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart is filled with hate. He comes to the point that he becomes a pathological case. The person who hates sees a person that’s beautiful, and will call them ugly. For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater. Hate at any point is a cancer that gnaws away at the very vital center of your life and your existence. It is like eroding acid that eats away the best and the objective center of your life. So Jesus says love, because hate destroys the hater as well as the hated.

3. Love is the only redemptive response. Jesus says, "Love your enemies." Love has within it a redemptive power. It represents God’s love and there is a power there that transforms. If you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem or to transform. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. Just keep loving people, even though they’re mistreating you. There is a person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you. Just keep being friendly to that person - keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says to love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.

Story of Redemptive Love: When Abraham Lincoln was running for president of the United States; there was a man who ran all around the country talking about Lincoln. He said a lot of bad things about Lincoln, a lot of unkind things. And sometimes he would get to the point that he would even talk about his looks, saying, "You don’t want a tall, lanky, ignorant man like this as the president of the United States." He went on and on and on and went around with that type of attitude and even wrote about it. Finally, Abraham Lincoln was elected president, and had to choose a Cabinet. When time came for him to choose a Secretary of War, he looked across the nation, and decided to choose a man by the name of Mr. Stanton. And when Abraham Lincoln stood around his advisors and mentioned his choice, they said to him: "Mr. Lincoln, are you a fool? Do you know what Mr. Stanton has been saying about you? Do you know what he has done, and tried to do to you? Do you know that he has tried to defeat you on every hand? Do you know that, Mr. Lincoln? Did you read all of those derogatory statements that he made about you?" Abraham Lincoln stood before his advisors and said: "Oh yes, I know about it; I read about it; I’ve heard him myself. But after looking over the country, I find that he is the best man for the job."



Mr. Stanton became Secretary of War, and a few months later, Lincoln was assassinated. And if you go to Washington, you will discover that one of the greatest words or statements ever made about Abraham Lincoln was made by Stanton. As Lincoln came to the end of his life, Stanton stood up and said: "Now he belongs to the ages." He went on to make a beautiful statement concerning the character and the stature of Lincoln. If Abraham Lincoln had hated Stanton, if Abraham Lincoln had answered everything Stanton said, Abraham Lincoln would have not transformed and redeemed Stanton. Stanton would have gone to his grave hating Lincoln, and Lincoln would have gone to his grave hating Stanton. But through the power of love Abraham Lincoln was able to redeem Stanton. That’s it.



There is a power in love that our world has not discovered yet. Jesus discovered it centuries ago. Gandhi of India discovered it a few years ago, but most men and most women never discover it. For they believe in hitting for hitting; they believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; they believe in hating for hating; but Jesus comes to us and says, "This isn’t the way."




II. Love as a Witness - Matthew 5:46-47
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same?


How does Jesus differentiate love as a witness? (There is an easy love and a hard love!)

If we only love those who love us in return, that’s easy. Tax collectors were locals who had gone over to the side of the Romans because of their own greed. They collected taxes for Rome, plus whatever additional money they deemed fit. Needless to say, the tax collectors were despised. But even they loved those who loved them. Similarly, the Jews looked down on the Gentiles as irreligious people, pagan in both nature and customs. Gentiles didn’t have the first idea about who God is, and their actions showed it. But Jesus maintained that even the Gentiles greeted those they called brothers. Jesus was not validating the contempt that flowed through the community toward the tax collectors and Gentiles. Instead, He was using the people’s own self-righteousness and judgment against them. Even the tax collectors and Gentiles loved in the easy way.



Jesus calls His followers to a harder kind of love. He wants us to put ourselves out there, risk rejection and ridicule, and then do it all over again—with no thought of reciprocation. According to Jesus, the defining mark of His true follower is love. Love is the one element of discipleship that can’t be faked. Many people might perform miracles and do all kinds of other religious deeds, but that doesn’t mean they will enter the kingdom of heaven (see Matt. 7:22-23). We can become very adept at “playing disciple” by sheer acts of will. But you can’t manufacture genuine love. Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Let me say it again: love is the greatest defining mark of a Christian. Those who truly love demonstrate they have experienced the love of Jesus Christ and are growing in their understanding of the great love of God in Christ.





What’s the risk’s to embrace Jesus’ definition of love?

• We risk a good look at ourselves. Loving others begins with introspection.

What is the reward for loving others—even the unlovely?

• So that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
• God expands your boundaries – prayer of Jabez
• It identifies us as God’s people. Testifies to our Father. It shows the world our heart.

Jesus got specific on how we are to express this extraordinary response of love. If we consider Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, ““But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28 ESV).



Christians should express their love toward their enemies in 3 ways:

1. Christians love their enemies through deeds that surprise. “Do good to those who hate you.” To love our enemies is a surprise because it goes against the grain of society. This love is active not sentiment; it is service not syrupy. Alfred Plummer wrote, “To return evil for good is devilish; to return good for good is human; to return good for evil is divine.”



2. Christians love their enemies through words that uplift. “Bless those who curse you.” Though your enemies may curse you, you respond by calling down heaven’s blessings on them.



3. Christians love their enemies through prayers that care. “Pray for those who abuse you.” Dietrich Bonheoffer said, “This is the supreme command. Through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy, stand by his side, and plead for him to God.” It is impossible to pray for someone without loving them, and it is impossible to go on praying for them, without discovering that our love for them grows and matures. Here we heed Jesus’ example. As his executioners were driving the iron spikes through his hands and feet, Jesus prayed for them. It was the supreme act of love.





Who do you need to show God’s love to? 

Followers of Jesus are to love all people unconditionally and behave differently than unbelievers.  This is distinct love - there is nothing unusual about loving someone who loves us.





III. Love Like God - Matthew 5:48
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”


Perfect (v. 48)—The term can mean flawless. It can also have the sense of mature, complete, or fully developed in a moral or spiritual sense. In reference to God’s people, “mature” or “complete” is the more likely meaning.




How do we love like God?

• He extends His love to people not because they love Him, but because it’s in His character to do so.
• Loving others is measured by God’s standard. (Agape Unconditional Love)
• Pay it Forward (Random Acts of Kindness)
• To be created in God’s image means we were made to display God’s character and glory in every part of our lives. We should strive to be the kind of parent God is.
• God loves those who don’t acknowledge Him.
• God is generous to those who don’t recognize or reciprocate His generosity.
• God provides for those who are ungrateful.

That’s what makes us distinct.



What are some opportunities we have as individuals to express unconditional love? What are some opportunities we have as a group?

“One day as Napoleon came toward the end of his career and looked back across the years—the great Napoleon that at a very early age had all but conquered the world. He stood back and looked across the years, and said: "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have built great empires. But on what did they depend? They depended on force. But long ago Jesus started an empire that depended on love, and even to this day millions will die for him."

Jesus shall reign wherever sun,

Does his successive journeys run;

His kingdom spreads from shore to shore,

Till moon shall wane and wax no more.

We can hear another chorus singing: "All hail the power of Jesus name!"

We can hear another chorus singing: "Hallelujah, hallelujah! He’s King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah, hallelujah!"

We can hear another choir singing:

In Christ there is no East or West.

In Him no North or South,

But one great Fellowship of Love

Throughout the whole wide world.

This is the only way.

LIVE IT OUT
Loving those who oppose you is not easy. Though you may not actually feel love initially, you can still express love through how you act and your attitude. Your love will continue to develop as you pray for your enemies. Even if your enemy’s attitude never changes, yours will, and that is the only attitude for which you are responsible. When you pray, be open to hearing God’s solution for reconciliation, and be prepared to take the first steps. God loved you when you were still His enemy. He expressed that love when He sent Jesus to make reconciliation possible. As you surrender to God, He can give you power to love your enemies, too.



When you realize how much God has forgiven you, it becomes easier to forgive others. God can give you a forgiving spirit toward others. Your attitude toward your enemies should be the same as Jesus’ attitude. He said, “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matt. 5:39). He also said that we should give more than what is asked of us (Matt. 5:41). No matter how much someone has offended you, God still asks you to forgive your enemies and even pray for them (Matt. 5:44).

Maybe you should just call someone to say I love you

Maybe you should just call someone to say how much you care

Maybe you should just call someone to say I love you

And mean it from the bottom of your heart

Prayer of Commitment
Father, help me to love others as You love - without any conditions. Amen.


Hope to see all of you on Sunday!


In His Love,


David & Susan