Week 5 | What If Love Meant More Than You Thought?

This was 1954, Brown versus Board of Education, in my sleepy little rural town in southwestern Ohio, we had some significant racial strife. I had racist attitudes from my childhood. We did not trust Martin Luther King. We thought he was up to no good. And until I was 30, I was a bootstraps kind of person. Back then, you would read a newspaper, you know. I remember reading Clarence Page, Associated Press, a black gentleman that really talked about racial issues. I was glued to that. It really started speaking to me. God was using that because it was like, wow, I didn't know this stuff, you know. The experiences that people of color were experiencing, it was just like the scales were falling off my eyes. Me being a white person, I was never treated poorly by police or anything. But then I started to understand what it means to be pulled over for driving while black or whatever, you know, and just the things that they've experienced. When you see people in those types of situations, it just breaks your heart, so. And one of the real impactful things for me is when I work with people who are marginalized, who are going through difficult circumstances, I learn from them. A couple years ago, I really felt a strong sense from God that I needed to start a compassion and justice group. And so I started that at Willow Huntley. This was focused on a jail and prison ministry. I brought in a Christian psychologist that talked about mental health, different things that people suffer from, how they're impacted by trauma, and just the devastating effect that has on people. We had a couple people talk to us about food insecurity. And really this particular group, it really had an impact on me because it just brought to mind the so many ways that people can help with this, with these issues.

And just they can use their unique talents and gifts and creative ways to make life better for people, to give people relief and to help them. For me, it really comes down to being appreciative and understanding, being in relationship with people who think real differently from me. Whether it's people I'm working with, I'm volunteering with, they'll look at things entirely different ways. And it's really coming to appreciate their perspective, not me trying to get my way. We need everybody's perspective, and we really do. No one group or party has everything right. So there's so many ways to solve the world's problems, and we really need to respect and listen to each other. If I really don't love well, I'm really not living effectively. God designed me to love others. And that's the thing that I'm really letting the Holy Spirit live through me when I do that. Wow. And with that, good morning across all of Willow, especially North Shore. Shout out to you all. Love you all. I miss you. Happy Black History Month. Thanks, Mike. Way to kick that video off. Fantastic. Somebody protect our brother over there. He is doing the Lord's work for sure. But seriously, happy Black History Month. This year marks a century, a century of national commemorations for black history. From the struggles to the success, from the tears to the testimonies, we get the opportunity to celebrate all that this culture has done and how it's influenced and shaped our American

culture. In fact, Willow, I want to invite you to be curious, not just today or this month, but be curious every day with your brother and sisters from different ethnic backgrounds. Lean in with curiosity to see how God has been moving in their life and hear their stories. And I can promise you, it will open your eyes and bless you in ways you couldn't think or imagine. Because seriously, did you hear our brother speak? I mean, I took a direct quote from him. He says, if I really don't love well, I'm not living effectively. God designed me to love others. And that's the thing. I am really letting the Holy Spirit live through me when I do that. This is it. That's the Jesus way. That's the kingdom that Jesus announced was arriving. That's the mission of the church. Love God, love people, and change the world. And that is exactly what we see in the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon, as we have been going through it, was a challenging message to all who heard. So for the religious of Jesus's day especially, this would have challenged the established oral traditions and the written laws that they had, that they've practiced and upheld for years. For the non-religious, this would have provided a very different experience from what they've experienced from religious folks prior. So we look at the close of chapter five in the gospel of Matthew, and we find ourselves wrestling with Jesus's words once again.

And this is such a powerful packed section. I wanna ask you to read this along with me, whether you're on your Bibles or on the screen, I'm gonna read it, but you can read along to yourself. We're gonna read the entirety of the verses here though. Matthew five, starting at verse 38. You've heard that it was said, eye for an eye and tooth for tooth. But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt hand over your coat as well, if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asked you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good. He sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? If you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Don't even the pagans do that? Be perfect therefore as your heavenly father is perfect.

Perfect. Allow me to say a short prayer as we go to begin. Dear heavenly father, as we dive into your word, may your spirit that's already been at work, continue to move, soften our hearts, have our minds open to listen to you and speak father as you always do. And when you do, our lives are forever changed. We love you and we thank you. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Wow on the passage. I mean, thanks pastor Sean for leaving me this one. Man, there's a lot right here. We can jump right in and you'll see that Jesus is dealing with this dynamic where when you are in opposition with someone, when someone is trying to dismantle your dignity, when someone's trying to place themselves in a position of power over you, we as the children of God have a way in which we're called to respond. In fact, we see Jesus setting up for us that when we are harmed, the expectation is not to respond in kind. Or if we could say it to you this way, I'd say, we have to refuse to mirror the harm. We have to refuse to mirror the harm. This section is so packed with power. There's so many things in it. But the reality is these verses

have actually been used to manipulate harm. These verses have been misused. And so while we need to talk about what Jesus meant, I think it's worth seeing what has happened. So the first misuse, as verse 38 says, you've heard it said, eye for an eye and tooth for tooth. That has led us to this first misuse we often see where people believe vengeance equals justice. That's a misuse by the way, that is incorrect. Some will even believe that Jesus is rejecting justice altogether, wrong. This is wrong. In fact, let's do a little context. Eye for an eye, when that was originally given, it was a vengeance limiting principle, not a revenge command. It restrained the escalation and it protected the vulnerable. Jesus isn't critiquing justice. He's confronting the way people use justice language to justify their revenge. On another note, this command affirmed that harm required justice. An eye for an eye ensured the victims and their families received justice. Jesus is saying, don't turn God's justice into your excuse for revenge. The error is assuming that Jesus doesn't care about justice when the truth is Jesus wants a justice that heals, not one that multiplies harm.

So allow me a moment to distinguish the difference between justice and vengeance. See, justice is the understanding that all humans are created. be equal before God and have the right to be treated with dignity and fairness no matter who you are. Biblical justice is both what we call retributive and restorative. It seeks to provide a proportional consequence for the committed offense. It doesn't go too far, and it seeks to advocate for the vulnerable, which may include changing a social structure to prevent this injustice. The bottom line with biblical justice is the goal is accountability, the protection of peoples in society, and ideally, the repair and seeking of reconciliation whenever possible. That's what Jesus ushers in. Vengeance, on the other hand, is about payback, personal revenge. It's personally and emotionally driven, often fueled by anger and pain or a sense of humiliation. The goal is satisfaction or relief for the wrong person. You know what I mean. You hurt me, so now I hurt you. There's no built-in limit. Vengeance tends to escalate pain because it doesn't naturally create closure. A simple way to frame this church, justice asks, what is the fair and appropriate response? Vengeance says, how can I make them suffer like I did? And one last nuance I think that will help us, vengeance often feels like justice when we are emotionally raw, when we are emotionally charged. That's human of all of us, but the difference shows up in the outcomes. Justice aims to end the cycle of harm, while vengeance usually keeps it spinning. Keeps it spinning.

That leads us actually to the next verse here, verse 39. But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek, also. This goes to misuse number two, that Jesus is commanding a passive acceptance of abuse. By the way, this is one of the most harmful misuses of this text. Because when people here turn the other cheek, this is absolutely wrong. This is one of the most harmful uses. When people here turn the other cheek, they assume Jesus is telling the victims to stay in abusive relationships, tolerate violence, never set boundaries, submit to the oppression. And that's not what Jesus is saying. Context here is king. In Jesus' day, hitting a person on the cheek was a forceful insult, not a violent assault. This isn't like a one-punch man hit to the face. No, this is Jesus specifying that if they were struck on the right cheek, which for them actually indicated a backhand slap. Jesus isn't suggesting his followers should stand and take abuse, but rather he's first telling them to take bold rejection of what occurred. When being slapped, when being insulted, they were to challenge the aggressor to repeat the offense. They're requiring the regressor to strike them again now with an open hand, which, by the way, you only would have done if you've seen the individual as an equal, not a lesser. Jesus is bringing in a different way in which to ensure your dignity stays intact. I'll admit this isn't easy. Turning the other cheek strongly declared that one in opposition did not hold any power against you.

It also reminded them that our honor, the victim's honor did not come with their approval but was given by God. This kind of action reshapes the relationship and it pushes the adversary to either back down or treat us as equals. Not easy, not easy at all. Whether we talk about civil rights movement or movements today, many individuals who practice this nonviolent resistance would find themselves not just threatened but denied services, and not just denied services, but denied rights as American citizens. And time and time again, Jesus is saying, there's another way. This leads us to another misuse that we often see. Do not resist an evil person. We'll take this as not resisting evil at all. This is a theological problem that leads to theological confusion. This is absolutely incorrect, wrong. The wording actually implies resistant from violent retaliation, not refusing forms of resistance at all. I mean, you got to think about it, right? Jesus confronted religious leaders. He overturned tables. He spoke hard truth to the powers that be, and he walked away from threats when necessary. But remember, Jesus flipped tables, not people. Jesus recognized who his actual enemy was, and he always treated people with dignity. He's not banning resistance. He's banning retaliatory violence and vengeance. This isn't about if we resist. It's about how we resist. Verse 40 continues on.

And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go with them one mile, go with them two. Give to the one who asked you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Another misuse we see with these verses is that we can reduce these teachings to private morality only. This is more than just about being nice to people, or more about resolving personal conflicts. You gotta remember, Jesus is speaking into the social power dynamics that exist. He's talking about lawsuits if someone sues you. He talks about going a mile, which actually referred to the Roman occupation, and public humiliation. These examples Jesus gives were deeply personal, but deeply communal. The teaching challenges how communities function, not how individuals just manage their temper. The mistake is shrinking kingdom vision into mere politeness. Jesus teaches that even generosity can be used to demonstrate dignity and worth. Jesus says, offer your cloak to the person who takes your shirt off your back, exposes their darkness. I mean, for a moment, think about it, kind of.

You have your shirt, you're in court, they sue you. They weren't supposed to take your coat. But Jesus says, offer it. Appear naked in court. By the way, who signs up for that? Nobody. But Jesus is making a point. Jesus is making a point. They think they can humiliate you. You offer even more and expose them. They can't justify their unfair treatment to you at this point. Like turning their over cheek, you see the same thing with going an extra mile. It makes it clear we aren't cowards here. We're choosing grace. We're meek. We're not weak. And God honors us for it. If you remember earlier in Matthew, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Many political, zealous Christians, many Christian nationalists will say that they are fiercely defending their rights, but then they're so easily given to anger. Not the Jesus way. In fact, in Jesus' time, the Romans were brutal rulers who regularly treated the people of Israel and other nations they conquered unjustly. It was natural for them, for the Israelites,

to see Rome as the enemy rather than seeing their individuality, their personhood. That would have been a challenge. But God is calling us to recognize everyone is created in his image. Members of Rome, by the way, of the Roman military could demand forced labor on the spot, including forcing you to carry their items one mile, but only one mile. What does Jesus say? Go two. This is where that phrase, go the extra mile, comes from, by the way. As with giving the shirt off your back, going the extra mile is shockingly unselfish. When we willingly offer more than is asked of us, the authority over us, or the one trying to assume authority over us, loses power and loses the ability to humiliate. But Jesus continues to go, and in verse 42, we see this. Give to the one who asks you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Radical generosity, Jesus paints the picture of. We are to lend to people who cannot repay us. We don't demand I for an I payback. Why? Because God is so radically generous with us. We, in turn, are radically generous to others. How then can we demand repayment?

Church, we must. must, we must refuse to mirror the harm. Have you ever been in a situation where you want your lick back, where you want it to get even, where you want it to make them pay, where you want it to show them? I'm reminded when my wife and I were younger and my daughter was extremely tiny, two years old, and we were moving from one apartment. Actually, we were getting ready to move out of state and I was away doing something, but my wife was home with my father-in-law and they were preparing to move. Well, I get a call, my wife's crying. She's crying because as my father-in-law was backing up the U-Haul truck, the neighbors started to scream at him because my father-in-law was speaking Spanish to his daughter and the neighbors started screaming at him, go back where you're from, speak English here. And I'll admit, as a young preacher then, I cared nothing about preaching at that moment. I'll admit, my maturity wasn't where it is today because in that moment, I was rushing home. I wanted to get back so bad and do what my mother often would say is give them a piece of my mind. Or what about when you're driving on 90? Yeah, I see some folks here,

I bet you have on other campuses, you get on 90, you get on 94, and you in the left lane, and you know that person that shouldn't be in the left lane is in the left lane. Or maybe you're that person. Car violently swerves out the way, then looks at you like you're crazy. They have dignity, they have worth. So this is a reminder that God and his plan moves us from seeking out our own ideas of justice and seek out the wellbeing of everyone involved. We are to refuse to mirror the harm, but in that in itself is challenging. You cannot do this on your own. You don't do this off your own strength and your own accord. This is a God-sized problem. We see the same if we continue in the verses. Verse 43, you've heard it said, "'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy, "'but I tell you, love your enemies "'and pray for those who persecute you.'" How, Jesus? Pray for those who persecute you. Resentment blocks love. I need to say it again. Resentment blocks love. We believe that holding a grudge will protect us from being hurt and it will preserve our happiness.

But the question I could ask you is, how many of your deeply held resentments have ever brought you joy? How many of those deeply personal vendettas have brought you a sense of peace and clarity in life? I'd imagine none of them. Resentment often hardens into bitterness and bitterness taints all it touches, all of our relationships. Mistrust, cynicism block us from receiving the love we desperately desire. By the way, there's a cost for keeping resentment. I know we say things like, well, they live rent-free in my mind. No, they're paying. You're paying for it. Your joy is gone. You're paying for it. You're unable to love well. You're paying for it. This doesn't sound like a formula for peace and joy. We need to believe sometimes that the other person has changed before we will grant them forgiveness or before we will love them. Jesus, I think, understands how difficult of what he's asking us is, but he doesn't wait for us to love him. He loves us first. He died for us. That passage in Romans, while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us. You know, Pastor Sean and I were talking about this passage and he shared this quote with me that he saw and it was so profound and so simple and so clear. He said, the test of loving like Christ isn't loving Jesus. It's loving Judas. Let me say that again because some of y'all didn't hear that one. The test for loving like Christ is not loving Jesus. It's not the devotion that you sing on Sundays with the hand raised or the arms in the pockets. It's not you loving Jesus more, it's you loving the Judas. But if we're honest, we got to keep wrestling with, okay, I'm hearing the verses, but how, but how, but how? Verse 44, "'But I tell you, love your enemies "'and pray for those who persecute you.'" Jesus is saying, you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. To do this, you have to recognize, I've got to draw closer to the one that loved me first. I have draw closer to the Father. And we do that in one way in particular, through prayer. So I want to encourage you, not only do we refuse to mirror the harm, but we let prayer cleanse our hearts. Who's on that enemy list for you? Who, where is that resentment built up? What continues to occupy the space in your mind? Who's wronged you?

What are the circumstances that are going on in our country right now that just get you so angry? You stop seeing the dignity in people. You start labeling people. Have you prayed for them? Have you asked God to give you a heart of empathy so you can see their humanity? Have you asked God to help you move past your position to provide grace? See, this isn't about whether someone repents or not. It's not about if someone gets on the same page with you or not. It's not about if someone agrees with you or not. This is about being a child of the King. And as kingdom children, the King declares everyone should be treated equally in his kingdom. So how do we get there? Well, we let prayer cleanse our hearts. Now, listen, we know scientifically that the brain can reorganize itself, that it can be affected by changing our habits, about what we think about. I'm talking neuroplasticity. We know God has created our minds to do amazing and wonderful things, but I'm not talking about rethinking. I'm talking about rewiring of your heart. That's a God move. That's a God job. That's a God problem.

And we need a God-sized solution. And that solution is found in prayer. Because right now, he's the only one that changes hearts. Here's what I mean. I want you to think of the situation we have going on right now in Chicago, in Chicago Lane, in the neighboring states. I want you to think of what you've seen and what you've heard. I'm not gonna tell you to turn off the news, although some of you could turn off from scrolling and pick up some scriptures and read that. But I'm not saying turn off the news. I'm gonna tell you to pray through the news. See, what I actually want you doing, and when I say pray through the news, I don't mean you pray that they get it right. You pray they think just like you. That's not praying God's will, that's praying your will. We don't need none of that. What I wanna encourage you is to pray God's will as a reminder that God loved first. So then therefore, how do I love first? When you find yourself so frustrated, instead of demanding to be right or wanting to get your way, go to God and ask, Lord, help me love, because I don't understand it. I think we take that part for granted, by the way. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I think we take that part for granted,

that we were once at odds with God. We were once enemies of God. The challenge is when we forget who we were and we forget who we are as believers today, as children of the King, it's easy to view people as you've always been in the position you are. It's easy to look down on people as if you didn't grow and you didn't mature. I don't care if you grew up in church or today's your first Sunday. At some point, you have to make a decision to follow Jesus, and it's that decision that changed us. Another aspect, by the way, of praying for our enemies is that you're not just wishing them well, you're taking steps, you're asking God to help you take steps to accomplish that. One of my favorite passages from 1 Peter, do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. Let me ask you this, Willow. What if your blessings were connected to how you blessed others? What if your blessings were connected with how you blessed others? See, Christians are called by God to live this non-retaliatory way of life, which actually offers a blessing to people. maintaining their humanity and their dignity

as the condition by way which we ourselves receive blessings from God. Put it another way. You yourself won't get a blessing until you can be a blessing. And Howard Marshall says it this way. A blessing from God will not be granted unless you're willing to share his blessing with other people. This is why Jesus will go on and clarify in verse 45 that you may be children of your father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends the rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? If you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Don't even the pagans do that. This is why he says be perfect, therefore as your heavenly father is perfect. God blesses all people with sun and rain. Like sunshine, rain is essential for the agricultural society Jesus would have lived in that we have around our world today. And God doesn't withhold good things from evil people. Instead, he uses kindness to draw them in. He loves the unlovable. He approaches and invites everyone to the table. And however, these actions, these verses, excuse me,

and Jesus's actions show us we can too as children of the father. So how do you define your people? Is it different than how the world does? How do you see your group? Is it the same criteria the world uses? Do you exhibit this extraordinary inclusive love of God or do you mainly spend time with people who look like you, who think like you in the echo chamber? Do you hang out with people who are not like you and maybe helps you expand your horizon or do you stay with folks and pigeonhole other people for not being like who you are? When we do this, it forces us to see everyone as enemies and label people rather than dissolving this collective enemy mindset. Church, we have to refuse to mirror the harm that's done to us. We can't see it and say this is good if we are not restoring dignity to others. And then we have to let prayer cleanse our hearts, go to the father, asking him to help us see what he sees in his people and love like he loves his children, all in his creation. And then the final piece of this is we have to then choose to mirror the father. See like scripture, when you see the put off and put on principles, if you just put off the evil things and don't put anything else on, you'll just find a new way to hate people,

to hurt people and to not be loving. But when you can choose to mirror the father, you disrupt going back to the pattern. When you can choose to mirror the father. So although you must refuse to mirror the harm, if you don't choose something else, inevitably you will go back. So church, how do we do things like love our enemies and ratchet down the conflict? That's maturity by the way. That's as you grow in your faith. God is our moral standard. The sermon on the mountain is the sermon on the mountain. The sermon on the mountain is what sets the bar for his children. We cannot currently achieve this standard on our own. We will fall short every time. But when we fall short, take comfort that we serve a God who forgives, who loves deeply. And in one day we will be perfect. We strive for it today. In the meantime, we get to rely on the perfection of Jesus and what all God has done through him. Listen, on the surface, these teachings seem real impractical, difficult, impossible, okay. To the point where some have misused these and stretched these in ways that have been so unhelpful or use them to condemn and shame others. This is not Jesus's intention. This is not the Jesus way.

Now, these statements foreshadow the kingdom of God because in the kingdom of God, where there's no hate, no arguments, no intimidation, no exploitation, in the kingdom of God, there are no lawsuits and cliques and violence. When we do the hard work of turning the other cheek. And praying blessings from our enemies, we get a glimpse of the beautiful, generous love that categorizes the kingdom we are a part of. We are working towards becoming perfect like our father. So here's what I want you to do. All across Willow, I want you to write down a name. If you're a pen and pad kind of person, do it there. Grab your phone if you want to write down a name. I want you to pull a name up in your mind of that person, that sting, that incident. I want you to pray for them. When I go to close in prayer, I want you to pray for them. I want you to pray that God will help us love in such a way that would actually draw people closer to him. I want you to pray that your encounters with people will actually point them to look more like Jesus rather than more American, or more whatever culture you want to put in there. I want you to pray that instead of fighting what our government should or shouldn't do, what our authorities should or shouldn't do, I want you to pray that the church would be the church, that we would be the ones to take up the mantle of loving people, that we would be the ones

that usher in God's kingdom, because it was never up to government. It was always up to God's children. I guess what I'm saying, church, is I want you to pray that the gospel message, the message of peace and love, and that Christ is Lord of all, may that message be first and foremost on your lips, and may that message, by the power of God, change everyone we encounter as it's changed us. Refuse to mirror the harm. Let your heart be cleansed through prayer, and choose to mirror the Father. And that is how we can love and pray for those who persecute us. I want you to join me in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I don't like this passage, Pops. This is hard. I've got babies to protect. I've got people I love, and I hate seeing them harmed. I hate seeing the evil in this world. But I'm reminded you, you must hate it even more. It must break your heart even more to watch your children fight amongst each other. Let alone fight those who don't know you. Those we're supposed to be loving. So Father, would you help me? Would you help me as I think of so-and-so? As I have this name in mind,

would you help us pray your will? Would you help us continue to know you and seek you, and then take you everywhere we go? Would you help us restore dignity to everyone around us? Would you help us, Father, to be perfect like you are, complete and mature as we grow up in you? And Father, when harm comes our way, give us the wisdom not to stay in abuse, but to stand firm in dignity. To remind all those around us that you and you alone are our God. And we both, we all deserve dignity. It's in Jesus' precious name we pray, amen.