Sermon on the Mount Luke 5

Sermon on the mount

"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. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, uand from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them". (Luke 6:27-31 ESV)

Imagine you were in a stick-up. The man with the gun demands your wallet. You calmly say, "You're welcome to take my wallet, but what do you really need?  Do you need to make a Wal-Mart run to get food for your family?  Do we need to go to the ATM and pull out several hundred bucks to pay off a loan shark? Whatever it is, I'll help you as best I can".  This would be crazy right?  Who ever tried to exceed the expectations of a robber?  

Picture the homeless guy on the side if the highway with a sign saying Will Work for Food. What if instead of giving him a dollar, you took him home, gave him a meal and a shower, and the next day dressed him up and took him to work with you. You make him your personal assistant, he helps you problem-solve and make phone calls, and at the end of the week you hire him.  Who does something like this?  

My friend Matthew had his house robbed. They got the insurance money, replaced all their things and then several weeks later they were robbed again, presumably by the same people. What if the opposite had happened. . .they were robbed the first time and Matthew tracked them down and said "Hey, we're getting new stuff on Saturday and I'm going to be gone all next week, so come take whatever you want".

Do you have an enemy? What is the kindest thing you could do for them? 

J.T.'s answer might be the greatest answer of all time: buy your enemy a fireproof jar of nutella.

It seems crazy right? The sermon on the mount us where Jesus turns on its head every notion of right and wrong and justice and "I deserve" and replaces them with redonkulous love.



Normal love is loving loveable people. Redonkulous love is loving people that everyone else hates. Love is loving dogs or kittens. Redonkulous love is loving skunks, cockroaches, or termites. If you watched the bachelor, love is loving Des - everyone does, she's a sweet, wonderful person. Redonkulous love is loving Tiara, the crazy, obnoxious, drama queen.

What if we wanted the world to actually know what Jesus is like? What if we wanted to actually spread the gospel? It would really be pretty simple, we would start practicing Redonkulous love. Nobody does this stuff, not even Christians. The world would think you are crazy, your parents would think you are crazy, and people would actually see what a Jesus is like.

This kind of love might be Redonkulous, but it is possible. When we lived in Taiwan, we had to be very careful about complimenting someone. If I said, "oh, I love your tea pot," they would give me the tea pot. Seriously. Like I complimented Heather's shoes, she would take them off and give them to me - its the same idea. In Taiwan, there was a culture norm of generosity.

In all the years I've lived in America, it has only happened to me once - I told one of my grooms that I loved his jacket, and two weeks later a jacket showed up in the mail for me. I was floored. What if this happened every day - kinda like Netflix has a queue of movies they send out to you. What if your friends an neighbors were lining up to help you with your wishes and you were doing the same for them?

What is one easy thing you could do for others that would make their lives better?

It's a crazy idea, and it's so counter cultural and counterintuitive, but it is what Jesus teaches and Jesus lives.
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. What did Jesus say as he was being nailed to the cross? "And Jesus said,  'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments'. (Luke 23:34 ESV). They are fighting over his clothes, and he is praying for them. They are mocking him and he is praying for them. No one does that. . .perhaps this is what cause the army commander who supervised the crucifixion to declare "Truly this was the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:54 ESV)

10th Avenue North - Losing (Father Forgive Them)

"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: "They hated me without a cause." (John 15:22-25 ESV). Jesus is quoting Psalm 69 - More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore? (Psalms 69:4 ESV). What an amazing thing to do - to die for those who hate you.

Perhaps the most amazing thing of all is that the Spirit which compelled Jesus is also in us: "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." John 14:16–17. The world can't understand it - there is a spirit in us? God speaks to us? God can do amazing things through us? Redonkulous! But we who know the spirit of truth know the power of the one true God and the heart of his son Jesus. His mission of crazy love is ours. His call to lay down our lives for our friends - and even our enemies - that becomes our rallying cry. The spirit of Jesus Christ, the same spirit that raised him from the dead, that spirit has also raised us from the dead and gives us the mind and heart of Christ.

How has living this out changes the world? Who are some people (famous or not) that have turned the other cheek or given to those who beg from them?

Can you think of any bible stories?

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37 NIV)

When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:54-60 NIV)

What about Old Testament precedents?

“If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it. (Exodus 23:4, 5 NIV)

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21, 22 NIV)

Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them. (Proverbs 24:17, 18 NIV)

"If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful". (Luke 6:32-36 ESV)

We do this, right? We like people who smile at us. We like people who are friendly. We like Alabama fans, we like our parents. . .but who doesn't? Even the Assads and Hitlers and Kim Jong Uns of the world do this, everyone likes people who are nice to them. That is not love, Jesus says. God causes the sun to shine and rain to fall on both good and evil people. So should we, we should love as Jesus does - the nobodies, the outcasts, the Samaritans, the lepers, the least of these, and our enemies.

Do good expecting nothin in return. What if our good deed doesn't bear fruit. What if the homeless guy buys beer with our handout money? What if our enemy still makes fun of us? That is of no concern to us - God know this happens, and he knows exactly how it feels. His entire interaction with humanity is a mess, people taking advantage of His kindness, forgetting about him, cursing him even. But yet he loves and protects and cares for both the "righteous" and evil. Mercy is how God rolls: be merciful as your Father is merciful.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8 NIV)

Martin Luther King: There is a little tree planted on a little hill and on that tree hangs the most influential character that ever came in this world. But never feel that that tree is a meaningless drama that took place on the stages of history. Oh no, it is a telescope through which we look out into the long vista of eternity, and see the love of God breaking forth into time. It is an eternal reminder to a power-drunk generation that love is the only way. It is an eternal reminder to a generation depending on nuclear and atomic energy, a generation depending on physical violence, that love is the only creative, redemptive, transforming power in the universe.

So this morning, as I look into your eyes, and into the eyes of all of my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world, I say to you, "I love you. I would rather die than hate you." And I’m foolish enough to believe that through the power of this love somewhere, men of the most recalcitrant bent will be transformed. And then we will be in God’s kingdom. We will be able to matriculate into the university of eternal life because we had the power to love our enemies, to bless those persons that cursed us, to even decide to be good to those persons who hated us, and we even prayed for those persons who despitefully used us.

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_loving_your_enemies