Go The Extra Mile | Nick Bodine

you you you you you everybody you ready to worship tonight I'm taking off the heaviness I'm dancing out of my regret I'm throw a caution to the wind though I am not ashamed to praise like this some would say it's foolishness but I say it's worth the risk I can't forget what Jesus did though I am not ashamed to praise like this where are those chains that once held me I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free my sin is gone, how can it be I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free look at what the Lord has done I'm never going back to the way I was I'll sing, I'll dance, I'll live I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free are you grateful for freedom tonight I found a friend that never quits the one that loves as good as this I don't care what anyone says I'll never be ashamed to praise like this where are those chains that once held me I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free my sin is gone, how can it be I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free look at what the Lord has done I'm never going back to the way I was

I'll sing, I'll dance, I'll live I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free you took the cross and you broke your body you shed your blood not to sin against you my debt is paid and my record is clean I couldn't do it so you did it for me you took the cross and you broke your body you shed your blood not to sin against you my debt is paid and my record is clean I couldn't do it so you did it for me I couldn't do it so you did it for me I couldn't do it so you did it for me I couldn't do it so you did it for me ♪ Thank you for saving me ♪ ♪ Where are those chains that once held me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, how can it be ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ Look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ Hallelujah! Come on! Come on. ♪ Oh, glorious and holy, he is merciful and powerful ♪ ♪ Who we talking about, that's my king, hey ♪ ♪ We declare the glory, give him all the honor ♪ ♪ All together worthy, who we talking about, that's my king ♪ ♪ Hey, there's no one before you, yes we will adore you ♪

♪ All of this is for you, who we talking about, that's my king ♪ ♪ Jesus, you're my king, hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ I'm not in the roster, there's no tune in the chorus ♪ ♪ There are no words to it, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no ♪ ♪ It's a song of the angels, angels, one of the angels, angels ♪ ♪ All of the earth and heaven, it's a symphony, hey ♪ ♪ He's wonderful, beautiful, glorious, holy, he is merciful ♪ ♪ Powerful, who we talking about, that's my king, hey ♪ ♪ We declare the glory, give him all the honor, hey ♪ ♪ All together worthy, who we talking about, that's my king ♪ ♪ Hey, there's no one before you, yes we will adore you ♪ ♪ All of this was mine, who we talking about, that's my king ♪ ♪ That's my king, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ That's my king, that's my God, that's my ship, come on y'all ♪ That's my king, that's my king, that's my God, that's my rock, that's my anchor, my defender, that's my king, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's my God, that's my ship, my protector, that's my king, yeah, that's my rock, yeah, that's my anchor, my defender, who we talking about, who we talking about, that's my king, we the temple, give him all the honor, who we talking about, that's my king, we the ceremony, give him all the honor, who we talking about, that's my king, there's a woman crying, yes, we will anoint her, who we talking about, that's my king, who we talking about, that's my king, who we talking about, that's my king, that's my king, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, whoo, whoo,

oh, turn around to your neighbor, give him a high five. Yeah. Yeah. ♪♪ ♪ We need You, Jesus, we cry out to You. ♪♪ ♪ I'm calling on the God of Jacob. ♪♪ ♪ Whose love endures through generations. ♪♪ ♪ I know that You will keep Your covenant. ♪♪ ♪ I'm calling on the God of Moses. ♪♪ ♪ The one who will be love of the ocean. ♪♪ ♪ I need You now to do the same thing for me. ♪♪ If you need Him tonight in a new way, would you lift your hands as we sing this? ♪ Oh God, my God, I need You. ♪♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need You now. How I need You now. ♪♪ ♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages, I'm standing on Your faithfulness. ♪♪ ♪ On Your faithfulness. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ I'm calling on the God of Mary. ♪♪ ♪ Whose faith will rest upon the lonely. ♪♪ ♪ I know with You all things are possible. ♪♪ ♪ I'm calling on the God of David. Yes, I am. ♪♪ ♪ Who made a shepherd boy courageous. ♪♪ ♪ I may not face the lion, but I've got my own giants. ♪♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need You. Oh God, my God, I need You now. How I need You now. ♪♪ ♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages, I'm standing on Your faithfulness. ♪♪ ♪ On Your faithfulness. Cry out to Him. Oh God, my God, I need You Lord. I need You right now. How I need You now. Yes. ♪♪ ♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages, I'm standing on Your faithfulness. On Your faithfulness. Thank You Jesus. Thank You Jesus. You never change. ♪♪ ♪ You heard Your children then. You hear Your children now. You are the same God. That's right. You are the same God. You answered prayers back then and You will answer now. You are the same. Do you believe that church? You are the same. That's right. ♪♪ ♪ You were providing when. You are providing now. You are the same. Yes You are, You are the same God. You moved in power with it, God, moved in power. Oh You are the same God, You are the same God. You are a healer there. ♪♪

♪ My God, I need You Lord. I need You now. I do, I do, yes. For a crop of ages I'm standing. ♪ ♪ Standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness, crown to Him, oh God, my God ♪ ♪ I'm destined for you, yes God, how I need you now, yes ♪ ♪ Oh rock, rock of ages, I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness, thank you Jesus, you look insane ♪ ♪ Jesus, you're the same, yesterday, today, and forever ♪ ♪ You are the same, aren't you grateful for His faithfulness tonight, church? You never change, no, no, no, no. We call on you tonight. I'm calling on the Holy Spirit. Would you lift your hands? ♪ Oh mighty river, come fill me again ♪ Would you pray that to Him? ♪ Lord, come and fill me again, thank you Jesus, come and fill me again. Thank you Jesus. Over these next few moments, we're gonna take some time in prayer. And if there's a need tonight, I want you to be bold. Just slip your hand up. If you're needing prayer, if you're needing healing, and if you're needing a touch from God tonight. Some of the team is gonna be around you praying. We're just believing that God can do the impossible, amen? Amen, Jesus, Your name is worthy. Worthy of all praise tonight. We worship You, we love You, Jesus, amen, yes Lord. I could see Your name for all my life. I could see Your name for all my life. I would give my life to love each time. Jesus be the name ever on my lips. Sweeter every time that I call on Him. There's just something about Your name. There's just something about Your name. There's just something about Your name. That makes me cry holy.

There is no other name, no, no. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, You're worthy. You have been the friend who never lets I won't forget Your faithfulness. Jesus be the name ever on my lips. Would You sing His name tonight? It's sweeter. It's sweeter every time that I call on Him. There's just something about Your name. Lift it up tonight. There's just something about Your name. There's just something about Your name. That makes me cry holy. There is no other name, no, no. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, You're worthy. Oh, You are worthy of my praise tonight, yes. Do you hear your church singing? We love You, Jesus. We love to worship You. We love to sing Your name. Jesus. ♪ Jesus, your name is like the morning light ♪ ♪ The one the darkness can't deny ♪ ♪ The resurrection and the light ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, your name can save, your name can heal ♪ ♪ Your name can make the stormy still ♪

♪ You never fail, you never will ♪ ♪ Jesus, lift it up, Jesus, the bread of life broken for us ♪ ♪ The wounded and the worthy one, the first and last to come ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, the key who overwhelmed the grave ♪ ♪ The Lord who will, he reigns, the name above all other names ♪ ♪ Jesse, lift it up, Jesus be the name, be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Your name gets the glory ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, that gives all the glory, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus be the name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Lovezhou, lovezhou, lovezhou, lovezhou, Jesus be the name, be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ And kiss on the cross, oh we love you, Jesus be the name, be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Then kiss on the cross ♪ ♪ We sing whoa ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Whoa, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-ohh ♪ Sing Jesus, we lift it up ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Whoa, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-ohh, whoa, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-ohh ♪ Say his name Jesus Jesus be the name Jesus be the name Jesus be the name That gives all the glory Jesus be the name Jesus be the name That's right Amen Jesus, we bless your name tonight. Would you give him praise tonight? Jesus we love you You can take your seat church

Well, hey central family happy father's day weekend We so appreciate all you dads and the love and the care that you show your families. We're grateful for you I also want to say a big shout out to everyone who's watching across all of our locations as well as online We want to welcome those joining us in our prison locations through our partnership with God behind bars and on the pando app Thank you for being with us Well, as we head into summer, I want to tell you about a couple apps that I use to regularly stay connected Spiritually the first app is the central church app and this is really the best way to stay connected to all things central You can find events. You can join a team. You can find opportunities to grow spiritually There's also like weekend teaching resources going back a long long way as well as devotional resources that can help you So make sure to download that app. The second app that I use regularly is the bible app In fact, I use the bible app every day to just read the bible devotionally There are hundreds of reading plans on there and devotionals And to make it really simple if you're on the move and you just need some daily inspiration They have the scripture of the day which comes up new every single day on the home screen And if you want to go deeper, you can watch a real short video explaining some of it There's also like guided prayer around it So it's an awesome way to engage the bible and listen engaging with the bible and prayer Is is actually proven as the primary way you can grow spiritually So check out the bible app. In fact, it's totally free and this year they celebrated one Billionth download around the world amazing So the central church app and the bible app help you stay connected this summer. Well this weekend. It's the last weekend of our series, Five Relationship Rules. We've been working through Jesus' longest teaching segment known as the Sermon on the Mount. So if you wanna follow along with the teaching notes, you can find those on the app. And right now, let's welcome up Pastor Nick as he brings a message of hope from God's word. Welcome, everyone. I wanna give a shout out to Central Aliante,

Central Summerlin, Central Sunrise Mountain, Central Kingman. We're so glad you guys are all joining us. Can we give it up for all the dads at our different locations? It being Father's Day weekend. I'm a dad to three girls and I absolutely love it. I love being a dad. And one of my favorite things about being a dad is getting a front row seat to how quickly culture changes. I should say how quickly the English language changes because my girls are constantly teaching me, introducing me to new words, to new phrases, something that they'll say or if I read over their text messages to me, I'm like trying to make out what does this abbreviation mean? What does this word mean? One of the words recently that I learned is this word op. Does anybody know what an op is? An op is a noun, an op is a person. Yeah, not many of us, right? I'm gonna teach you. An op is basically short for opposition. Basically someone who's against you. It's your enemy. It's someone who's not your friend. They're your op. And every once in a while, I'll hear one of them say like, dad, I'm not hanging out with them anymore.

They're my op now. And I'm like, they're your op. This is a bad thing. We don't like them anymore. We're not talking. Okay, I'll stop talking to them too. They're our op. You know, you and I, we might not use that word but we've all got ops, right? We've all got those people that are hard to love in our lives. Maybe for you, it's a coworker, a family member, a neighbor. Maybe it's an ex. Maybe it's someone at school or someone who hurt you or someone who just simply annoys you. Every time they walk into the room, you're just like, ah, I can't stand them. You don't even know why. It's just something about them. But here's the thing. Culture has become really good at teaching us what to do with these people, these hard to love individuals. Culture tries to tell us if they hurt you, we'll just hurt them right back. If they annoy you, annoy them back. If they gossip about you, you say whatever you want about them right back. If they make your life difficult, you make their life difficult.

In other words, treat people the way that they treat you. And I don't think we even need culture to teach us that. I think we just naturally start to drift there on our own. And that's why, exactly why Jesus is gonna address what he is going to address today in the passage of the Bible we're gonna be in. We're finishing that series, five relationship rules. And so far we've looked at four rules from Matthew chapter five. Week one, rule one, Judd talked all about how we can fight for peace in our relationships. Week two is all about honoring each other in our relationships. Week three was about keeping marriage sacred. Week four was keeping your word in your relationships. And today we arrive at one of the hardest ones, I think. And that is to go the extra mile. Not hard because it's gonna be hard to teach, hard because it's gonna be hard to practice. Go the extra mile. Now it's a phrase I think that we're all familiar with, just not in the context of relationships. Normally when we hear go the extra mile, it has something to do with like maybe sports, like if you play sports, you go the extra mile. You practice extra hard, you train extra hard. Or in school, you go the extra mile if you wanna get into a good college. You go the extra mile in your job if you want a promotion. You go the extra mile in your health

if you wanna live longer. Go the extra mile as a parent because we're told our kids are worth it, right? It's all gonna be worth it. But we usually hear that phrase connected to performance or achievement or success. But Jesus takes that phrase and attaches it to something completely different. He attaches it to relationships. Go the extra mile in the relationships in your life. Specifically the relationships with the people who are hardest to love. And what he's gonna do, what I wanna unpack with you today is he's gonna teach us how to respond when we have to deal with those difficult people. Those people that disappoint us, those people that hurt us. Jesus is gonna teach us how we respond when we're dealing with our. our ops, with our ops. So get ready for this. We're gonna read the whole passage together right now. We're gonna be in Matthew chapter five, if you're following along in your Bible, and we're gonna be in verses 38 through 48. So we have 11 verses to read together. And why am I gonna read the whole passage at once for you right now? It's because I think it's incredibly important

to set us up that we lean into Jesus's words here. We lean into Jesus's teaching here. I can say a lot, he can say it the best. So let's listen to what he has to say here. He says this, he says, "'You have heard the law that says "'that the punishment must match the injury, "'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. "'But I say, do not resist an evil person. "'If someone slaps you on the right cheek, "'offer the other cheek also. "'If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, "'give them your coat too. "'If a soldier demands you to carry his gear for a mile, "'carry it two miles. "'Give to those who ask "'and don't turn away from those who want to borrow. "'You have heard the law that says, "'love your neighbor and hate your enemy. "'But I say, love your enemies. "'Pray for those who persecute you. "'And that way you will be acting "'as a true children of your father in heaven. "'For he gives sunlight to both the evil and the good, "'and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. "'If you love only those who love you, "'what reward is there for that? "'Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. "'If you are kind only to your friends, "'how are you different from anyone else?

"'Even pagans do that. "'But you are to be perfect, "'even as your father in heaven is perfect.'" So we have a lot to unpack right there. And the reason I believe this is such a difficult teaching is because at first glance, it almost sounds like Jesus is asking us to become pushovers, to just let people walk all over us. Like if someone slaps me on the cheek, I'm supposed to just offer them to slap me on the other cheek? Or if somebody robs me, if they steal from me, I'm supposed to call them up and say, hey, you forgot some stuff? If someone persecutes me, I'm to pray for them. If someone hates me, I'm to love them. And if we're not careful, we can walk away from these verses and think Jesus just wants people to walk all over me. He wants me to be a pushover, but that's not what he's saying. Jesus isn't teaching weakness in these verses. What he's teaching is a completely different way to live. Jesus says his followers are supposed to be different. We're supposed to look different. We're supposed to stand out. We're supposed to act different. He's not asking us to become pushovers, but he is asking us to love people differently,

even when they're extremely hard to love. So that's the challenge in front of us today because the world is gonna teach us to go the extra mile in revenge. The world's gonna teach us to settle the score. The world's gonna teach us that we're allowed to get even, but Jesus teaches us to go the extra mile in love. And over the next little bit, I wanna just show us three practical ways we can actually do that. And the first way that Jesus is gonna teach us to go the extra mile for those that are hard to love in our lives is to release the need to get even. We gotta release the need to get even. Well, another thing that I love about being a dad is all the things that are left around my house from my kids just to remind me that they're still there, that they still live there. They haven't left the house yet. I was getting ready the other day. I was getting, or no, it was today. I was getting ready to leave today. And on the kitchen floor, I took a picture of it because I practiced this sermon, walked inside and this was on my kitchen floor. Now it might not look like much. You're like, it just looks like a little bit of trash on the floor. Yeah, that's exactly what that is.

It's just some bougie bandaid. I don't even know what it is, but just ripped open and the trash left on the floor. And you might be thinking, well, the trash must be right behind that cabinet right there. And you would be wrong. The trash is 12 feet away from there. There is no reason the trash should have just been thrown on the floor. But that's where one of my kids just decided it should go. It drives me crazy. Have you ever seen these videos of these parents that they go to their kids' houses, like their first house after they move out, after they get married, and they just start doing everything to that home that the kids did growing up. I'm definitely doing this. Once my girls buy their first home, just I'm walking in, I'm kicking my shoes off, just wherever they land, hopefully in the most trafficked part of the house, throw my bag down on the floor. I'm gonna go upstairs. I'm gonna start a whole load of laundry. I'm gonna leave it in the washer. for three days so it smells like mildew. I'm gonna take every remote in the house. I'm just gonna throw it away because I don't even know where our remotes go.

They're not even in the cushions anymore. Just gonna trash their remotes. I'm gonna leave two Stanleys in every room of the house, just half-drink water bottles. I'm gonna take Band-Aid wrappers. I'm just gonna make it rain. I'm just gonna walk around with the Band-Aid wrappers and just trash the place. It's payback, it's my turn. Turn on every light in the house and leave it on. Gonna get you to settle the score. But we're not always so playful with our revenge, are we? I mean, we naturally keep score because our human nature, it doesn't want just fairness. What our human nature wants is payback. We want payback. And that's exactly where Jesus steps in in verses 38 and 39. He says, you have heard the law that says, the punishment must match the injury. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Keep that verse up there real quick. This law, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, this law was set in place not to give permission to people to get even. It was to give restrictions on people going too far. Because what our natural human tendency to do is if you poke out my one eye, well, I wanna poke out both of your eyes. So this law was put into place.

So it's like, if you get poked in the eye, you can only poke one eye. But I say, do not what? Resist. Resist an evil person. So the main idea here is that when culture said to get even, Jesus said, no, no, no, no. I'm raising the bar. I don't even care that there's a law that gives you permission one eye for one eye. I'm raising you, I'm keeping you, I'm holding you to a higher standard. He's saying, this isn't about how you should be allowed to retaliate. This is about your heart. This is about you being a reflection of me. Now that line, do not resist an evil person. At first glance, that almost sounds wrong, right? Like we read it like at face value, we think Jesus is saying that we're just to let evil win, to never stand up for ourself, to not have boundaries, to not confront evil, just to let people walk all over us. But that's not what he's saying. We know that because all throughout scripture, we're told to stand against evil, to protect and pursue justice, to protect the vulnerable. Even Jesus himself, he stood against evil. So what does he mean when he says, do not resist an evil person? What Jesus is saying there is he's saying,

don't become the very thing that you're fighting against. Don't allow someone else's behavior to determine your character. Don't allow their ugliness to become your ugliness. Now don't allow their actions to dictate your reactions because that's exactly what retaliation does. Retaliation reproduces the very thing that hurt us. And Jesus is essentially saying, you don't have to answer every insult. You don't have to get the last word. You don't have to make sure everybody knows your side of the story or that you win the argument. You don't have to settle the score. Because every time we do that, we're allowing someone else's choices to control our responses. And Jesus is saying, I'm teaching you a better way. He's inviting us to move beyond justice and into grace. Now don't misunderstand me. Justice is still important. It matters. Truth matters. Boundaries matter. Consequences still matter. But personal retaliation, we have to let that go. We have to turn that back over to God because God can do something we can't. We have to let him be in control of justice. Otherwise it will destroy our hearts. I almost wonder if in these verses,

Jesus isn't also saying, don't let evil multiply through you because that's what happens, right? Someone hurts me and then I have to do something and I have to hurt them back. My tendency is to hurt them back at least a little bit more than they hurt me. And then they want payback. And then others get involved. And before you know it, it's just this big cycle of evil moving through all of us. And the cycle just keeps going. And Jesus says, stop, stop the cycle. He's calling us to end it. And I know that might seem easier said than done. I think this might be one of the hardest things that we ever have to do because the world is gonna constantly put pressure on us or try to teach us to get even. The world's gonna say, when someone hurts your feelings, you hurt them back. But we have to release the need to retaliate. The world's gonna tell you. When someone offends you, just cut them off. Stop talking to them. Move them out of your life. But Jesus says, start with grace, lead with grace, forgive them. The world's gonna tell you that you need to get the last word,

but Jesus says, no, forget the last word. Protect your peace. The world's gonna say you need to win the argument, but Jesus says, guard your heart. So maybe the extra mile step for some of us this week isn't to start doing something, maybe it's to release something. Because the heaviest weight that you're ever going to carry is a backpack full of grudges. The heaviest weight you're ever going to carry is a backpack full of grudges, a backpack full of offenses. You see, sometimes our ops, those hard to love, our enemies, they don't actually become our ops because of something they did. Our ops become our ops because we keep replaying in our minds what they did. We keep replaying the offense. We keep replaying it, and that's what puts them in that position. Jesus isn't asking us to win the cycle, he's asking us to break the cycle. Don't become what hurts you. So if we're gonna receive Jesus's teaching, the first thing he's teaching us is he's teaching us in these verses that we have to release the need to get even. And then the second point in his teaching is gonna be all about replacing something. It's gonna be replacing that need to get even

with something even better. Jesus doesn't just tell us what to stop doing, he tells us what to start doing. Because here's the reality, if all we do is just release the need to get even, what that's gonna do is it could still leave us very bitter people, very cold people, very distant people in our relationships. We're just gonna start avoiding people. If all we do is just release the need to get even, we'll just start tolerating people, we'll just start surviving people. But Jesus is teaching us, I've got something better for you than that, I've got something bigger in mind than that. The second way we go the extra mile is Jesus teaches us to respond with grace. Release the need to get even and then respond with grace. Now I've talked about some of the things I love about being a dad, but one of the things that's most frustrating about being a dad to me is just trying to figure out which one of my kids started the argument. Like which one is to blame in the fight? Which one is the main character in the disagreement? Because all I wanna do is I just want resolution immediately. I actually don't even care how it started, like I just want it stopped,

like everyone just stop. And so I'll hear them say something like, dad, she was rude to me. And then the other one's like, well, the reason I was rude is because she took my phone charger. And then another one from another room will be like, that's my phone charger. Then they're like, well, the whole reason I took the phone charger is because they borrowed my sweatshirt yesterday without asking. And she's like, the whole reason I borrowed her sweatshirt is because she turned the thermostat down and it was extra cold. And I'm like, all right, everyone just stop, stop for a second. My brain immediately goes in to fix it mode. I'm like, first of all, you don't be rude. Second, you give her the phone charger back or is it your phone charger? Or whose phone charger is this? Give them that phone charger back. You give the sweatshirt back. And none of you, none of you ever touched the thermostat. Again, it's Father's Day weekend. Can I get an amen from the dads? We'll handle the thermostat. We got it. Two things about dads.

First, we don't wanna spend money on the house heating or cooling to some unreasonable attempt just because you won't put the right clothing on. But two, we're also fixers. We love solutions. We love to problem solve. The problem is that life isn't always that easy because eventually we have to walk out of the house and the problem is no longer our sisters. The problem is no longer our daughters. Now it's our coworker. Now it's our neighbor. Now it's our boss. Now it's that parent on the other sports team. And those people, they don't have to listen to us. Those people don't always apologize. They don't always see their mistakes. Sometimes they don't even think they did anything wrong. And Jesus, he's stepping in and he's saying, what if you didn't just stop retaliating? What if you also started surprising the people in your life with unexpected grace? Look at these next few verses here. Jesus says this. He says, if someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it how many?

Miles? Two miles. Now these examples to us, they can seem really strange, right? Because we're reading them with like 20, 26 eyes. But Jesus, his audience, they immediately knew what he was talking about. That slap on the cheek, that was less about a street fight. That's more about like a backhanded slap. This is like an insult. Someone's attacked your dignity or your character. So Jesus is saying, if somebody insults you, turn and let them throw another insult at you. You don't have to insult them back. Or that line, if you're sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give them your coat too. What did Jesus mean here? This one's actually fascinating because in Jesus's day, when people could, they could be sued for their debts, just like that we can today. But as payment for those debts, when somebody didn't have the money, possessions could be taken instead. And so their inner shirt, their garment, like literally the shirt off your back, it could be taken as payment.

But somebody's coat that was protected, that was different. Their coat was protected under Jewish law. Because for many people, their coat was like their blanket, their protection, their shelter. It was considered essential. So when Jesus is saying, give your coat too, he's actually saying something very extreme, very shocking to those that are listening. He's saying, go beyond what's required. Go beyond what's protected. Don't worry about being obsessed with protecting every right, every possession, every offense, because as followers of Jesus, we shouldn't be asking like what's protected or what am I entitled to? We're called to ask, how can I show God's grace? How can I make this interaction look like Jesus? And I think that's a challenge for a lot of us because our culture has become really good at just protecting our rights, like protecting what we feel like should be ours. And once again, don't hear me wrong. Rights matter, boundaries matter, truth matters. I just think sometimes we're so busy protecting everything that's ours that we forget to display the heart of Jesus. And the heart of Jesus is radical love.

He gets to this phrase at the last part of those verses that he talks about, if a soldier demands that you carry his gear for an extra mile, then carry it too. The people listening to this immediately knew what that meant because the Roman soldiers were extremely hard on the Jewish people. It was their legal right that if they were walking by, they could force civilians to carry their equipment. So if they had to go a mile, can you imagine that? Like you think you have your day all set. You think that you've got your plans for the day. You're just walking along. And then a Roman soldier says, hey, carry my stuff. You're gonna carry it for a mile. I don't care what you have going on. You have no choice. You didn't sign up for it. You didn't volunteer. But now you're carrying this Roman soldier stuff for a mile because you're required to, it's the law. What Jesus is saying is if that happens to you, carry it an extra mile, go one more than you're required. And why? Why is Jesus saying such radical things? Because once again, Jesus is teaching us something bigger than the task itself. He's teaching us that as followers of Jesus, we aren't called to do the bare minimum.

We're called to be different. We're called to be set apart. We're called to stand out. And the reason this is so hard to practice is because our default setting is what is the least that I'm required to do. And Jesus is saying, what if you loved by just doing a little more? What if you surprise people with unexpected grace? That person who doesn't deserve any encouragement from you, what if you spent some time just over-encouraging? That person that's frustrating you so badly, what if you served them? What if you served them twice? What if you did something to serve them three times? That person who is rude to you, spoke such rude and mean things to you, what if you spoke extra kindly to them back? What if you became known for your grace instead of just blending in with all the negative reactions? Listen, anybody can match somebody else's mood. Anybody can match somebody else's attitude or somebody else's energy, but what Jesus is asking us to do is to change the atmosphere, to change the environment, to change our surroundings with love. Because the world's gonna say, do the bare minimum, and Jesus says, go a little bit further.

Double that. The world's gonna say, give people what they deserve, and Jesus is gonna say, give people grace. The world's gonna say, protect your pride, and Jesus is gonna say, I want you to protect your witness. The world's gonna ask, what's required? And Jesus is gonna tell us to ask, what's possible? Because every extra mile moment is an opportunity to show people Jesus. And I think that's the most important challenge. Most people, they won't ever remember what arguments that we got in, but they will remember our reactions in the arguments. Most people, as time passes on, they won't even remember what the fight was about, but they'll remember our reactions in the fight, in the argument, how we responded. So what if your op became your opportunity to practice and learn grace? And grace is refusing to become what hurts you. So we've learned two things. We've learned that we need to release the need to get even, and then we've learned that we need to respond with unexpected grace. But then a question naturally comes up, which is, how do I do that? How do I keep doing that? Because after we leave here, after we step into the real world,

after we step into our day-to-day, it's that the church Nick isn't really the same Nick anymore, right? I like to think like, yeah, I'm gonna go do it. I'm gonna go love people. I'm gonna go show people grace. I'm gonna release the need to get even. But then I get in a tense moment. I'm not that same guy that I was sitting in here. As we look back at our own reactions, none of this is natural. Even our grace runs thin, it runs out. Nobody wakes up in the morning just ready to love difficult people. I mean, have any of you done that? Like, I just hope I run into my ex today so that we can get into another argument. I hope that coworker's extra hard on me today. Nobody wakes up thinking anything like that. So how do we sustain that kind of love? Well, Jesus gives us the answer. The third way we go the extra mile is just to keep praying. Don't stop praying. Look again at what Jesus says in this next set of verses. He says this, he says, you have heard the law that says, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies. Do what? Pray.

Pray for those who persecute you. And that way you will be acting as true children of your father in heaven. It's really easy to read that. That is incredibly hard to practice, right? Because it's one thing to love people and pray for people that love you. It's one thing for me to love and pray for everyone who agrees with me. Yeah, I'll do that. It's one thing to love and pray for people who are kind to you. It's one thing to love and pray for that coworker that brings you Starbucks every Tuesday. Like you love them. You'll keep praying, God bless them. Bless them with provision. Maybe they'll start bringing it on Wednesday too. I love that person. I'll pray for them. But Jesus wants us to love differently. And maybe the secret isn't trying to love harder. Maybe the secret is praying more. Because it's really hard to hate someone you're consistently praying for. It is really hard to hate someone that you're consistently praying for. And I don't know who that person is for you. I know who it is for me. Now, there's a few.

But I don't know who it is for you. I don't know if it's a coworker. I don't know if it's a family member. I don't know if it's that ex. I don't know if it's that person that betrayed your trust. That person that just gets under your skin every time they walk into the room. But I guarantee you this, someone is coming to your mind right now. There is a name or a face that is coming to most of our minds right now. And here's what I'm gonna ask. Every time that name, every time that face pops into your head and it starts to stir your heart and you start to get a little angry or a little bit bitter, just stop and pray for them. Pray for them. And don't pray like, God, go get them. God, go strike them down. God, teach them a lesson. Let their AC break down this summer, God, and then have no choice but to suffer through it. No. Jesus says, pray, like pray, God, bless my coworker with unexpected blessings, blessings that can only come from you. God, bless my ex. God, bless that difficult family member. God, bless that friend that betrayed me. God, speak to them.

Soften their heart. Even better, God, soften my heart. Because prayer has a funny way of. of changing us. And I think for some of us, our prayer list has become a list of all the things that we need from God. I do it too. And he wants us to bring those requests to him. But Jesus says, what if prayer also became the very thing that transformed how you love people? Because prayer sustains what feelings can't. Our feelings, they're gonna come and go, but prayer changes us. Prayer protects our heart from becoming what hurt us. What if God used your op, used your enemy, used that person that's hard to love to shape you into becoming more like Jesus? I'm gonna say it again. It is really hard to hate someone that you're consistently praying for. So pray for your enemies. Pray for those hard to love. Pray for those people coming to your mind that just start to put a negative stirring in your heart. Then Jesus closes this entire teaching with one of the most intimidating verses in the Bible. We read it earlier. It says this. It says, but you are to be what?

You are to be perfect? Even as your father in heaven is perfect? Is that possible? I mean, I read that and I think like, that's impossible. Why even try? Because none of us are perfect, right? And that's true, we're not. But this verse, that word perfect, something gets lost in translation because the Greek word Jesus used is for that word perfect is the word telios. And telios means complete. Perfect as in complete. Perfect as in mature. Telios means fully developed. It means becoming what you were created to become. So Jesus isn't saying like be flawless, be without mistake. No, what he's saying here is become mature. And one of the biggest misconceptions we have about spiritual maturity is we think spiritual maturity just looks like knowing the Bible more, praying more, driving around, listening to worship music. Maybe it's following more pastors or Christian accounts on social media. Maybe it's watching more of the chosen. We think spiritual maturity is these things. And none of those things are bad. They all help us grow. But Jesus is saying, here's how you know you're growing.

You begin loving people differently. You begin loving the people that are difficult to love. You begin loving people who don't deserve it. You begin loving people the way your heavenly father loves people. You see church, that's the bar, that's maturity, that's spiritual growth. Because anybody can love people who love them back. But mature followers of Jesus love differently. And so maybe the next time you hear that word up, I promise you're gonna hear it at some point. Just don't automatically finish it with opponent. Don't automatically finish it with opposition. What if we started finishing it with opportunity? Because every person who frustrates you, every person who annoys you, every person who disagrees with you, every person who's difficult to love is an opportunity. It's an opportunity to show grace. It's an opportunity to show patience. It's an opportunity to show kindness, an opportunity to show someone the same love that Jesus first showed you. Church, the people we often label as our opposition may actually be God's greatest opportunity for us to look more like him, for us to look more like Jesus. So this week, when you encounter an op, don't ask them, how do I, don't ask, how do I avoid them? Don't look at them and try to just run the other way

and act like they didn't see you. That makes everything more awkward anyway. Just ask, how can I love them? How can I love them? Because loving your enemies isn't weakness. It's one of the clearest signs that Jesus is changing you from the inside out. Because here's the truth, every single one of us, we've all disappointed someone. We've all hurt someone. We've all fallen short. We've all needed grace. And the beautiful thing about Jesus is he looked at every single one of us and instead of treating us like an enemy, instead of treating us like opposition, Jesus treated us like a son. Jesus treated us like a daughter. He treated us like one of his own. That's the gospel. The gospel isn't that we finally got our lives together and God accepted us. No, the gospel is that while we were still broken, God came after us. He chased after us. Jesus didn't just teach us about going the extra mile. He went the extra mile all the way to the cross for us when we didn't deserve it. And maybe that's why we're here. That's why you're here today.

Maybe you needed to hear that today. Maybe for you, Jesus isn't simply teaching you how to improve your relationships. Maybe he's showing you how he first loved you, how he went the extra mile for you, how he pursued you, how he forgave you, how he loved you when you didn't deserve it. And now he's inviting you into a relationship with him. And maybe for some of you today, this whole message has revealed something because you've spent your whole life just trying to figure it out, maybe trying to fix yourself, maybe trying to become a better person. Maybe you've spent your whole life just trying to resist God, trying to resist church, trying to deny it. You thought you could do this on your own, but that's not how this all works. You can't earn God's love, but you can receive it. And if you've never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I wanna give you that opportunity right now. I wanna lead you through a prayer to do just that. So if I could ask everybody to bow their heads and close their eyes. You're just gonna pray this prayer after me, but it's important to understand, repeat the words, but you say them to Jesus. Don't just say the words that I'm saying. Say that you say them to God.

Just pray, God, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know you sent Jesus to forgive me of those sins. I believe he died on that cross, but I also believe that he rose from the grave. And that gives me the opportunity to spend eternity with you, God. So forgive me of my sins. I name Jesus, my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you for going the extra mile for me, God. If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. With every head bowed and every eye closed, no matter what location you're at, if you're online, if you're in a prison facility, what I'm gonna ask you to do is just to boldly put your hand in the air. This just makes this moment real between you and God. Just reach out to him saying, today, I'm giving you my life. Today, I'm turning it all over to you. Thank you for those hands. Thank you for that faith. Thank you for that decision, the best decision you're ever gonna make. God, for every hand right now reaching out to you, I pray you draw close. I pray you just pour out your love on them, God, as you promised to do, as you've done for all of us. For all of us, God, thank you. Thank you for your grace.

Thank you for your love. Thank you for setting the standard and how we should live, how we should love. God, it won't be easy, but we wanna love people the way that you love people. So continue to teach us grace, fill us with grace. Let us turn justice over to you. Let us turn the score over to you. Let us turn getting even over to you. Let us just show people your love, your grace, and offer forgiveness. We pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen.