KING JESUS: A JOURNEY THROUGH MATTHEW'S GOSPEL (PT 4)

Introduction
In 1958, Christian missionary Elisabeth Elliot returned to the Ecuadorian rainforest to live with the Waodäni, the tribe who had killed her husband only two years earlier. Her choice to forgive, rather than retaliate, sparked a change in the Waodäni, who left behind a cycle of violence to embrace a life of love. This remarkable story rippled across the globe, inspiring millions to serve God through missions.
 
Love, God, Love Others AND Love Your Enemies!
In the Gospel of Matthew 25 Jesus is asked by an expert in religious law, “What is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”  Jesus responds with two commandments.

1. “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment.
2. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

 
His response can be simplified into a five-word phrase, “Love God and love others.”  This is the central messages of Jesus Christ.  Love God and love people.  This should be easy, shouldn’t it?  Technically, yes. Loving God is the easy part. Loving others… well, this can be challenging at times, but doable”  Earlier in the Gospel of Matthew 5:44, Jesus really complicates the command of love when he instructs his disciples and listeners to not only love, God, and love people, but to also love our enemies.  This my friends is where the water gets murky. 
 
There are some things I wish Jesus would have never had said and this is one because it is far easier to not love someone who has done us wrong, harmed us, or betrayed us in ways that sometimes feels unforgiveable, and it can be very challenging to realistically embrace this commandment from Jesus. It is easier to love those who love us and treat us with respect and dignity.  Jesus affirms this in Matthew 5:46 – 47, “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.”
 
Loving others is easy when others love you.  Even people who do not follow Christ can do this.  But it is verse 44 that can make some of us cringe, “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”
 
Romans 12: 1
In Romans 12 the Apostle Paul expands on the idea and command of loving one another and loving our enemies.  In verse 1 the Apostle Paul makes an appeal to his readers (those who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior) to present themselves as living sacrifices to God.  This means is that they are declaring themselves not their own (denying self) and belonging to God.  Denying of self-desires sets the stage for loving others and showing forgiveness because natural desire or flesh wants to hate our enemies but living according to the flesh does not entail living for God and He commands that I love those whom I deem unlovable. 
 
Romans 12: 9 - 10
Paul says, “Don’t pretend to love others.”  This means our love must be genuine, sincere, undisguised, without hypocrisy.  We are told to love one another sincerely, not so we get something but to love one another with “brotherly affection.”  This means that we have a love that has a strong bond that connects us and causes us to stand with and by one another no matter the circumstances.  It is the true “friend until the end” mindset.  Serve and love one another in ways where you can outdo one another, not for the sake of winning, but for the sake of showing genuine love, honor, and respect.  This is an amazing love, and it is the kind of love we are commanded to have for one another.  As believers we are bound together by the cross of Christ and our love and care for one another should put to shame the kind of love the world shows or defines.  My desire should be to love, honor, and respect you in such a way that will lift you up and edify this body of Christ. 
 
So far, so good…Right? Now comes the part Jesus talks about in Matthew 5 that some of us could do without.  “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. You mean I must do what Jesus said, “love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me?” How in the world do I do that?  Not in your own power my friend.  Our first response when anyone hurts us may be one of two reactions retaliate or retreat or more commonly known as fight or flight.  Usually my knee jerk reaction to someone hurting me is retaliation… I say, “They can’t get away with that, I’ll show them!”  But I am reminded of the words of Paul in Romans 12:19, “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.”  Retaliation is not my job, my job is to bless, love, and pray for that individual.  But not only am I to do that I am also called to serve or minister to my enemy in return.  WHAT!?  It’s enough I can’t retaliate now I have to minister to them.  Paul says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink;” How do I do that?  Not in your own power my friend.  When we respond the way Paul commands the result will be like “heap(ing) burning coals on his head.”  I’ve often wondered what this “heaping coals” meant.  I always thought it was an “I’ll show them” type of attitude.  However, according to John Walvoord, “The coals on the head may refer to a ritual in Egypt in which a person showed his repentance by carrying a pan of burning charcoal on his head. Helping rather than cursing an enemy may cause him to be ashamed and penitent.”  Your kindness may cause your enemy to see what he/she has done and bring him/her to repentance for his/her wrongdoing.  It is not a guarantee that this will be the end result, but this is what we are commanded to do.  
 
Does this seem hard?  Well, it should because it is.  Loving enemies, forgiving those who hurt us, and praying for those who abuse us goes against every fiber of our nature.  We cannot do this in our own strength, we need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to enable us respond accordingly.  Some here may have experiences where someone did unspeakably horrible things to you that were devastating and life changing and only the Holy Spirit was able to enable you to show love and extend forgiveness.  There are some who have sought the power of the Holy Spirit and He is working in you now to show you how to love, bless and pray for those who have hurt you.  There are some who cannot even begin to entertain the idea of forgiveness, blessing, and loving their enemy. 
 
I want to encourage you and me today in allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your life right now. The first step for all of us is to realize and accept that we cannot do this in our power we need the Holy Spirit.  When we come to this realization and start down the path of forgiveness and healing then we can truly experience the life, forgiveness, and love that Christ calls us to have.
 
 
Hope Initiative for February
Before we close out the morning, I want to take a few minutes and talk about something that I would love for everyone in this room to consider and it’s called The Hope Initiative.
According to research, 91% of church leaders have said their church needs revitalization. It was found that most churches do not actively engage in intentional opportunities to share the gospel.  The Hope Initiative is one way that we, as a congregation, can get on board with what God is doing in the church.  In the American Church we are facing declining attendance.  The median church size in America is 45 and this has left churches and pastors discouraged.  Both pastor’s and members are looking for hope and this hope is only found in Jesus.  Jesus says in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”  This neighborhood, city, and your neighborhoods are filled with people who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  I imagine every person in this room has a relationship, at the very minimum, of one individual who is not a follower of Christ. And I understand that sharing the Gospel with unbelievers can be intimidating, but we can do it with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus says in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  This is great news for us.  We can share Jesus with our unbelieving friends because God has given us the Holy Spirit to enable us to do so.
 
So, I want to issue a challenge for us all that in the next four weeks of February that we be intentional in prayer.  That we would daily or weekly walk our neighborhoods and pray for our neighbors and neighborhoods. If a someone moves into your neighborhood, then we have gift bags for you to give and invite them to Southside.  And starting in the month of March, every person starts praying for one person who is not a believer and asking God that in the remaining nine months of the year that God give you the opportunity to share the gospel with the person you are praying for.

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