MK040 Sermons
Extreme Lovers (Audio)
in their lives. You know, as I looked at the subject that we were going to take tackle this morning, my initial thought was this would be a fairly easy subject for us to for me personally to wait into. You know, sometimes there's subjects that we look at and they kind of they really hit home to me and really got challenges and can mix me and others like, well, I kind of get that. I think I understand it. It's not as maybe difficult for me personally. And so when we were going to tackle this subject of revenge, I thought, you know, or being a bully, I thought, I don't really think that really fits for me. You know, I was never usually a kid who was in a lot of conflict. And I was one of the smaller kids as kids go. And so I wasn't ever labeled the bully, if you will. But I realized, and I was usually pretty good at getting along with people, but I realized as I thought about this, I realized I had developed a trait that really wasn't very good because I was smaller than other kids. And and occasionally because of my size, because I had glasses and red hair, you can imagine the names and nicknames that kind of went along with that and kind of got picked on a little bit. And so I had to find a way to stand up for myself. And the way that I learned to find the way that I learned to stand up for myself is I learned how to bait the bigger kids. And I learned if you bait the bigger kids, they will eventually do something that they will regret. And if you can get them to do it in front of someone that's an authority, they will get in a lot of trouble. Just ask my brother. You know, when I was in fourth grade, Doug Sutherland was a kid who we didn't get along too well. We kind of, you know, had a had a few run-ins occasionally. He's a bigger kid, a little more popular kid. And I remember he kind of was got a little aggressive with me. And I don't know whether the teacher knew or I told the teacher, I don't recall that component. But I do remember that the principal said to him, one more run-in with this kid and you're done. And sadly, I remember baiting him to take a swing at me in front of the principal. And he was done. And unfortunately, I have a few other stories that I won't tell you about this morning where that happened. And I realized as I started thinking about this, you know, I was under the bull here. I wasn't the kid who tried to get revenge. But really, I did. Really, I did. Because I wanted them to face some kind of pain and discomfort and treatment that I had felt at their hands. You know, in this morning, we're going to talk about this subject. And the truth is when we all feel threatened in life, we tend to go one direction or another. And there's a slide that's going to come up that's going to show you those two options that we usually take. These are the two options that we usually take. We either fight or we fight, we run. And that's what happens when conflict comes at us. You know, one other way that I've heard is there are some individuals that are pursuers, they're the ones that kind of get into it, and others that are with the withdrawers. They're the ones that back away from it. And you know what I've discovered? I discovered it doesn't matter how you are normally in life because they are quiet and soft-spoken individuals in all aspects of their life. But when a conflict occurs, there's something that comes out in them and they will go at it with you until the sun goes down until the next morning. And there are other people that are outgoing and personal in the life of the party. But when a conflict comes and occurs, they're like a turtle in a shell and they disappear. So which one are you? Which one are you? Somebody say, "Ah, it depends on the situation." No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. You know what you are. You know? What are you? Surprisingly, in most arenas of my life, I'm the pursuer. I'm the initiator. I'm the one that takes charge and moves things forward. But in a conflict, guess which one I am? I'm the withdrawaler. I'm the one that backs away. And this morning, we're going to look at a passage of Scripture and it can be real easy as we look at this passage of Scripture if you're a withdrawaler like me, if you're someone that backs away from conflict to assume this really doesn't apply to me at all. This really isn't for me. And if you're a little more aggressive type and you're kind of the one that will be on the fight side, you kind of go at it and you're going to think, "Oh, now he's coming after me." But the truth is, this is really for all of us because we're going to look at situations that we find ourselves in and responses that take place in an alternative way that God calls us to respond. If you haven't been with us, we're spending time in the Sermon on the Mount and in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made this pronouncement that the Kingdom of Heaven was what? Was near? Wasn't here? It was near. And he's made this pronouncement. He began to talk about what life would be like in the Kingdom when he was the King. But he doesn't just add another layer of expectations on top of the Jewish people. He says, "I want to offer you a trade. I want you to trade your old way of life, the way that you've lived under the law and all the rules. I want you to trade that for a way of life that I'm going to offer you." And that's following Jesus. And that's life with Jesus as the King and as the ruler of your life. And he uses this word repent, which we think, repent, we think, say, "I'm sorry." Now that's not what Jesus did. He said, "I want you to trade your old way for my way." And so as we walk through this sermon, as we looked at all the different things Jesus has talked about, you know, at anger and lust and divorce and lastly keeping promises, we looked at all of these. Well, we've seen over and over again as Jesus is confronting the way they had been living. You have heard it said, not the Scriptures. It is written, which is what Jesus said when he was tempted. He said, "It is written to Satan." He said, "You have heard that it was said." This is the oral tradition. This is what everybody's talking about. And he says, "But I say unto you a different way, a different way." He says, "No more rules, not more guilt, but trading places, trading the old way of life for a new way of life." And last week we tackled a subject and that's going to give you a hint. It's going to come up on the next screen. We said, "That what?" We said, "Make a what?" Make a what? Anybody remember from last week? Make a promise and keep it. Make a promise and keep it. If you weren't here with us last week, I encourage you to go on the website and listen to the message. But I gave you a sheet like this and I challenge you. I said, "Look at one area in your life where God is calling you to make a commitment this year. And will you pick that one thing and will you do it?" And I don't know if you've had an opportunity to think about that and think, "What is that one thing that God's calling you to do?" If you haven't, I want to encourage you to do that. I encourage you in your small groups to pull that sheet out and say, "Let's talk about what's that one thing God's calling us to do and for me to commit to do that this year." This morning we're going to look at something a subject that if practiced by Christ followers, I'm pretty confident that it would stand out like a mud puddle in the midst of a street covered with new fallen snow. It would stand out like a hot fire on a bitter cold night. It would be such a sharp contrast that you would be drawn to look at it and try to understand why and what is going on here. If you're not a Christ following, you're exploring Christianity or someone drug you here this morning and you're wondering what this is all about. What we're going to talk about this morning, if you see this in people, you want to find out more about them because what we're going to talk about may be one of the most difficult but one of the most challenging things for people who claim to follow Jesus. If you have your Bibles, if you would turn with me this morning to Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 5 is where we're going to be at and the Bibles that the guys are passing out is page 786. Some of you may have noticed recently that occasionally the words on the back of the the insert or the words on the screen might not match the words that I'm reading and I want to just explain real quickly what the reason for that is. In 2011, there's a group of individuals that translate the Bible from the original language as it was written in Hebrew and Greek. They created a new translation simply to update it with a lot of current language, no theological changes and so much of my Bibles and a lot of the Bibles that we have are considered NIV 1984 which is the last time this translation was done and so this was done in 2011. So the Bibles that the guys are distributing are the ones that are done in 2011. The verses you'll see on the screen, the verses you'll hear me read, those will all match but if you're wondering why are sometimes maybe the words in your Bible a little bit different, that's a brief explanation for you on that. To get us started this morning, let's read through this passage in Matthew chapter 5 and then we'll spend some time talking through it. Let's begin in verse 38, Matthew chapter 5 verse 38. You've heard that it was said, "I for an eye and tooth for a tooth, but I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to them on the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you, take your shirt and hand over your coat as well. If anyone forced you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You've heard that it was said, "Love your enemies, love your neighbor and hate your enemies, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Then you may be children of your father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends 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? And if you greet your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the pagans do that. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect." Jesus begins with another. You have heard it said there in verse 38. You have heard it said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." And what Jesus is saying is he's taking some words that actually were there in the Old Testament, but he's talking about how those words were slightly distorted. If you would look at the verses on the screen from Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse 20 and 21, it says this, "The rest of the people will hear this and be afraid and never again will such an evil be done. Show no pity, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." You know that phrase, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth that came out of Hammurabi's code in the ancient near east." And what is happening in the book of Deuteronomy is there's a list of all these rules about how this new community of people that were called the Israelites were supposed to function. And one of the rules is how would the court system function when someone committed something that was wrong? And in this passage, they're talking about someone who literally lies on the witness stand. And they said, "When someone lies on the witness stand, they should get the same punishment as the person who committed the crime." Why? Because they wanted the rest of the people hear it and be afraid. Never again do something like this. Don't show them any mercy, any pity. Give them exactly, exactly what they deserved. And so in the Old Testament, this passage was being talked about in relationship to how you were supposed to treat someone who had lied on the witness stand. And the ruling prevailing code of the ancient near east was that if you committed a crime, there had to be retribution. But the prevailing Old Testament law was equal consequence and equal retribution. Equal consequence, equal retribution. You accidentally hit someone's cow and kill it. Guess what? You got to give up a cow, you know? You actually caused someone to lose an arm. Guess what? You have to lose an arm. And that's where this concept, that's where this principle came from. And as you read a lot of the Old Testament law, a lot of it is taken from the culture in which these people lived. Because what God didn't say in the Old Testament, he didn't say, "Well, this is the culture that you've been living. Now I want you to do something completely." No, he said, "I want you to follow me as your God." But a lot of the same ways that you were living, we're going to carry a lot of those things over. So if you were to read the Old Testament and then read the way the ancient civilizations lived, you would see a lot of parallel. And so this was normal. This was expected. This is the way everybody lived. The difference is that this was what was designed for governing authorities to do, to make, to punish a crime that took place. This is for the courts, for the legal system. This was not designed for personal retribution, for me to personally pay back the individual who did wrong to me. You see what Jesus wanted people to do is what it says in Leviticus 19 verse 18. If we can put that verse up on the screen there, it says, "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." Do you kind of get the picture here? God had set up these are the rules that you live by. When you commit a crime, this is the way the courts will function. Justice equal retribution. But for you personally, in your relationships, in the world that you live in, this is the way I want you to live. Not in a revengeful way, but in a loving and a gracious way. What was it like in the day that Jesus lived when he was telling the people this? You may recall from reading other parts of the Bible or studying history that the Romans were the ruling power of that day. And for the most part, the Romans set up these small rulers. There was five of them in the time of Jesus to rule over certain areas of the Roman kingdom. But those rulers had complete power in those areas. They could do whatever they wanted to do. And in other parts of the Gospels, Jesus records the writers of the Gospel, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John. They record this individual Herod who was very nervous about people trying to take his throne. And so you may recall the story when Jesus was just two years old. And there was this rumor being passed about a child that was born, that was going to be a king. Do you remember what Herod did? He killed all the boys, baby boys, under the age of two. And that's why Jesus and his parents fled to Egypt. So this was the kind of ruler that was in place when Jesus was in a position of authority. He was called Herod the Fox. He was sly. He was deceptive. But he didn't trust anyone killing number of his own family members because he thought they were going to take his throne and his power. So if you stayed on the guy's good side, you were okay. But if you ruffled his feathers, your life was in jeopardy. And so the military presence was there. It roamed the streets. It sometimes was involved in legal matters. It sometimes could be oppressive, but sometimes it just ignored the situation and left the Jewish leaders to take care of it. In the midst of all of this, Jesus confronts those who I think were legally living by Hammurabi's code. When I am wrong, I will retaliate. When someone mistreats me, I will get even. And Jesus says, I don't think that's the way that I want you to live. He said, when you are wrong, I want you to resist retaliation and lovingly serve them, resist retaliation and lovingly serve them. And then what he does is he goes on to give us four examples, four examples. And it's important for us to understand that in these next couple verses going to read, these are examples for us to learn from. These are not commandments for us to follow. Examples for us to learn from, not commandments for us to follow. And so one of the very first ones, if we go to verse 39, one of the very first ones that he tells us there, as he says, do not resist an evil person, if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn him the other also. Now, is this a command or an example? Okay, everybody, up here. Is this a command or an example? Example, right? It's an example. It is not a command in the Bible to turn the other cheek. It's an example of how we are supposed to live. It's an example of how we are supposed to live. So let's talk about this. What is he talking about there? He's talking about in that culture what is viewed as a public insult. It was considered publicly insulting for you to come up and slap someone on the cheek like that. It was a way of confronting someone's dignity and honor. Often, it was military personnel who did this to civilians. We've seen this, haven't we? In some of the movies that depict the culture of that day, the military can do whatever they want. They would come up and they would mistreat people. And the people would be paralyzed because they didn't want to be punished. What Jesus calls them to do is not to retaliate, not to run and hide, not to fight and defend yourself, but to turn the other cheek. So we're not scratching our heads if you're saying, John, if you're telling me that that's not a command that God says I'm supposed to do this, what is this saying? What does this mean? I think what Jesus is saying is he's saying, I want you to be secure enough in who you are that you do not need to return evil for evil to that same person. Remember my story that I told you about Kid in fourth grade? I didn't turn the other cheek and let him swing at the other one, but I got back at him in a pretty devastating way. What Jesus is not calling us to do is move into a defensive posture, but to put ourself in a place of vulnerability to someone who does something unkind to us. Now, there's some important clarifications that I don't believe Jesus is saying here. I don't believe what he's saying is if someone is harming your life, if someone is about to take your life, you let them kill you. Okay? He's doing something that's uncomfortable, that's embarrassing, that's humiliating. That's the scenario here. Jesus is not talking about if a husband is mistreating his wife that she should stay in there and do that. She should not. That's not what he's saying. He's not saying men, if someone's mistreating your wife and your children, that you step back and let them do that and you don't stand up and protect them. That's not what he's saying. Okay? That's why I turned the other cheek is not a command. It's what? An example. The example here is when someone does something that's embarrassing, it's humiliating to us, which is what the slap on the cheek was in the first cent in the ancient Near Eastern culture. How do I respond? How do I respond? How do people embarrass and humiliate us today? How do they do that? With a slap on the cheek rarely, that's not something that happens in our culture, but what do we do? We do it with our what? Our words, right? Our words. And what do you hope you have when someone does that to you? You hope you have what? Good comeback to go right at them. And some of you are quick with your tongue and you're really, really, really good at it. And others of you are not and you're like, "Oh, I wish I could think of something to say and I can't." You kind of get the picture? This is the scenario that Jesus is painting for us. And he's saying, "If you're a follower of me, there's times in your life when someone's going to say or do something that's going to leave you embarrassed or humiliated. And what will you do in that moment? Will you find a way to get even with them? With your words, with something embarrassing that you post online about them? You know? What will you do? Jesus says, "I'm not telling." Jesus says, "I'm not going to tell you to aggressively go after them. I'm also not going to tell you to passively avoid them." Will you put yourself in a position while you would be willing to lovingly serve someone who just did that to you? You're starting to get the picture of why I said this might be one of the most distinctive ways followers of Jesus would stand out because that's not what our culture does. That's not what our world does. That's not what we do in our families. Some of you in your family context, that's the way you relate to one another. One person says a dig at them and then the other person comes back and then you got to come back and then that's the only way you know how to relate to each other. Jesus said this is not the way Christ followers relate to one another. Let's go to the next, not commandment, example. He says, "If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well." You're like, "Okay, John, that's kind of interesting, but I don't have a tunic and I don't have a cloak, so I guess I'm off the hook on this one." Remember, it's not a command. It's a what? Example. Example. What was a cloak and tunic? Well, look at this next picture here. Let's see if I get this right. The cloak is what's underneath. It's a long gown that's closer to the... No, I got that backward. That's the tunic. That's the tunic. There we go. I got that right. Sorry about that. I kept practicing. I knew I was going to mess it up. So that's the cloak. What's underneath the tunic is the lighter that's on the outside and sometimes you would have multiples of them. The tunic was incredibly important because when you would go to sleep, that could be folded up and be a pillow. It could be laid over top of you and be a blanket. It was very, very important. And so back to the passage. Let's go back to the verse there on where Jesus is talking about this. He says, "Someone wants to sue you and take what's most meaningful to you. What's important." I mean, the tunic is what you wear. It's kind of like, they basically compare it to underwear. They're taking everything, including your underwear. It's suing you for everything you've got. It's what he's talking about. He says, "They can I give you anything else? Can I give you anything else?" This is a tough one. This is a tough one because Jesus shocks the people who, instead of defending themselves, are urged to give more than what they were asked for. We've been living a culture where we have to protect ourselves. We have to guard against everybody else. And Jesus says to his followers, he says, "Will you live in such a vulnerable way that when someone tries to take advantage of you, will you say, 'Is there a way I can serve you?'" Now, what Jesus is not saying is you shouldn't have insurance. He's not saying you shouldn't draw legal contracts where that's necessary. That's not what he's saying. Okay? Remember, this is not instructions. It's examples. And the example here is when someone takes advantage of you regarding your possessions. Do you fight for everything that's yours? Do you fight for everything that's yours? Say, "John, does that mean that if I'm in a lawsuit and I'm in a court that I shouldn't defend myself?" I don't know. I don't know. Remember, these are not commands. These are examples. If they're threatening to take from you what you need to provide for your family's well-being, I think you stand up and you defend that because that's what, especially for, you know, if you're the head of the household you're required to do. But we have this thing in our culture in the litigious community called what? Pain and what? Suffering, right? It's not just enough for us to get what was taken. We have to get more because of what this cost us emotionally. And that's become normal. It's become normal. And Jesus says, "Instead of trying to take more, will you give more?" And maybe that's the example for us to learn from. Instead of trying to take more, would I be willing to give to someone who is trying to take from me? Not very easy at all. Look at the next example. Verse 41. "If someone forces you to go to one mob, go with him too." What's Jesus talking about here? Well, it wasn't uncommon in those days for the military to be on some type of activity and they are moving something, they're transporting something, they're taking someone, and they go by someone who's actually doing their job and say, "Hey, you, I need you to come do this. Stop what you're doing and do this." Can you remember a scenario where that happened when Jesus was taking his cross and carrying it from the place he was beaten to the place he was crucified? Do you remember what happened? They grabbed a man out of the crowd and said, "He can't carry us cross anymore. You carry it right now for him." Let that image roll in your mind about everyday living. That when a Roman garrison rolled through the town, everybody knew, "Oh no, what are they going to ask me to do?" Here it comes. Here it comes. And Jesus says, "When they ask you to do something, say, "Is there anything more I can do?" Is there anything more I can do? Some of you are naturally wired to do this. Some of you are gifted servants. And one thing I know about people that are gifted and serving is you always see a need and step in and offer to serve before anybody else sees it. There's a bunch of us. We don't even see it. Don't even recognize it. Don't even pay attention to it. My wife and I had this conversation about the dishes and she said, "Did you notice the thing was full of dishes?" I was like, "You know what, hun? Didn't even see it. Did you put something in there?" I think I did, but I didn't even see it. How could you not see it? This is one of our common conversations in our home. Some of that's the difference in the way that we are wired. Am I not willing to do it? No. Do I do it on occasion? On occasion, yes. But some of us are just not wired like that. But what Jesus is saying is when you are asked to do something, will you offer to do more? Will you offer to do more? Not a command, but an example for us to follow. And the truth is likely it's going to be inconvenient. It's not going to fit in your schedule. You're not going to want to do it. And it may be hard. Maybe hard. When someone asks you to do something, will you be willing to do more? I know when this happens and I'm on the receiving end of someone doing this, I usually take a step back and like, "Oh, wow. Really? I only needed this and you're offering this." I mean, that just kind of takes me by surprise. Parents, when I'm assuming it might occasionally in the life of your teen's lifespan have that happen, they say, "Can I offer to do anything more?" You're probably pretty shocked because likely that's not something that happens on a daily basis. But students, what if that was something that you were challenged about this morning and said, "That's what I want to be true of me." Whether it's a coach, whether it's a classmate, whether it's a teacher, whether it's my parents, when asked to do something, I'm willing to do a little more. Knowing it's not going to be convenient, not going to fit in my schedule, and probably not going to be very easy. Jesus has one more force in verse 42. Look what he says there. He said, "Give to the one who asks and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." It's interesting in this passage, the word "ask" is a word that's also used in Matthew in another place when it's speaking to a beggar asking something from you. So the picture here is someone is asking something from you and they likely do not have the capacity to pay it back. The word "borrow" here is a word used in Luke 6 for someone not able to repay you. So he says, "Will you give to the person who likely can't pay you back? And will you not avoid the person who always wants something from you?" We all know people like that, don't we? No, no. What are they going to ask me for? It's their phone number. I know who it is. Can I just put, can't talk now, push that, you know, click at the voicemail. We all have those people in our lives. We all do. We all do. People who just ask and ask and ask. Jesus is pretty pointed. He says, "And don't turn away from the person who keeps asking of things from you. We all have family members like that, don't we?" You know? Oh no, what do they want this time? You know? And that's all they do is they ask and ask and ask and they're like this life sucking leech, you know? I mean, that's what they are in. And again, remember, these are not commands for us to follow, but they're examples for us to learn from. And I think the example that Jesus is pushing us towards and inviting us into is, "Am I with all that I have going to hold it with open hands for whoever is in need of it?" Jesus is constantly calling us to look at how loosely we hold our things. How loosely we hold them. He says, "Give to the one who asks. Someone has to ask you to borrow it. He doesn't say for you to list on, you know, Facebook or Instagram. I have all these things. If anybody wants to borrow them, let me know." That's not what he says. You know? He says, "When asked, regardless of the past, regardless of the history, regardless of your assumptions about what they might do with it, are you willing to hold your things loosely?" And so really the challenge for us in each one of these is to face the fact that our first priority is often to protect ourselves, to avoid pain, to avoid discomfort, to avoid difficulty. But Jesus calls us to do something different. He said, "Will you look out for the needs of other people above your needs?" And then he goes into this last section that I want us to, that really, I think sums it up starting in verse 43. He goes on to say this. He said, "You've heard it said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'" That's another oral tradition. Love your neighbor. That sounds like a good one. Hate your enemy. Is that what God said? Did God say to hate your enemy? God never said to hate your enemy. You know what God said to hate? He said to hate evil, to hate wicked. And you know what the people said? Well, evil is only done by people. Evil doesn't just randomly exist. So that must mean that I'm supposed to hate evil people. But what does he say here? He says in the next verse, "I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Verse 45, he describes it a little bit more. He says, "He causes the sun to rise in the good and sends rain on the unrighteous and righteous. Everybody faces good and everybody faces bad." Look at verse 46, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?" Aren't the tax collectors even doing that? What Jesus is saying here, and I think it connects to this previous section where we're looking at these examples of how we're supposed to treat people who are looking to take advantage of us. He says, "Will you be willing to serve them? Will you be willing to even love them?" [Silence] Tough thing is for us, this is really hard to figure these things out. It's not as black and white as it seems. You know, if you own a store and someone steals from you, Jesus isn't saying, "Hey, anything else you want from the store while you're at it?" You know, just come and tell that what he's saying, saying there's consequences for their actions. You know, if you're in law enforcement or in the military, he's not saying to allow people to break the law or to hurt others. What Jesus is saying is he's saying, "Will you pray for those people who take advantage of you? Will you find ways to love them? And will you find ways to serve them?" Listen to what Peter has to say about how Jesus did this. He says this in 1 Peter 2, "But how is it to your credit if you get a beating for doing wrong and you endure it? If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable to God. To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving what? An example that you should follow." He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate when he suffered. He made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. You know, Peter's referring to when Jesus was beaten. When he was hung on the cross, he said, "Jesus didn't threaten the people who did that." He trusted himself to God and said, "God will take care of them. My job is to love them." And what did he say on the cross? He said, "Father, what? Forgive them?" Because what? They don't know what they're doing. They don't know what they're doing. And when you think about people who mistreat you and you think about people who take advantage of you and you think about people who are takers and takers and takers, the reality is if you personally take a step back and you look at their lives and you realize they don't realize what they're doing, they don't understand the pain that they're causing. And this is the only way they can find some sense of soothe for their aching soul. Peter goes on to say he himself, referring to Jesus, took our sins and his body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. For you were like sheep gone astray, but now you've been returned to the shepherd and the overseer of your soul. You know, as I thought about this and I thought, what does it take for a person to be able to treat other people this way? What does it take? Is it just, well, you know, I really know I should do that. I have a lot of people that say that to me. Yeah, I really should do that. I don't know why they say it to me and maybe it's because of my job, but you know, I know, John, I really should do that. You know, I think to myself, well, why don't you? You know, I don't say that to you, but I'm thinking that when you tell me that. But the truth is, we have these things we know we should do and we don't do them. And so we have to peel a layer back and say, why don't I do them? Why don't I do them? Why don't I treat people the way Jesus treated people when they take advantage of and they mistreat me? Why don't I do that? Why don't I do that? Because I think if I pulled this room, I think most of you sitting here this morning would probably say, you know, I would like to treat people in a loving way. Yeah, if we took, I would like to do that. I would like to be able to treat people, not just that love me and that do the nice things for me, but even people that don't treat me well, I would like to do that. So how? How do I do that? As I thought about it, I thought what makes someone a loving person? And I think what God says and what I'm learning is the only way for me to express that kind of love to someone who takes advantage of and mistreats me is I have to have a sense that I have been treated in the same way. That I was taking advantage of and I was mistreating and I was ignoring and I was rejecting a God who created me and a God who made me and a God who gave me life and a God who gave his one and only son so that I could have a relationship with the creator of the heavens when I wanted nothing to do with him. He loved me. And when that love so consumes my soul and fills my life up, then I'm faced with others who do the same to me and I recall what was what I did to him. See, as Lewis talks about, he said, we have to literally come back to the cross every single day. I think every day I have to remind myself of that song we sang early about, oh, how he loves me. And sadly, I think that I find myself drifting to the point of thinking, you know, I'm a pretty good person and God's kind of, you know, he's probably glad that he's got me on his team, you know. And he didn't have to give up a whole lot. He had to give up a little. He had to give up a lot more for other people, but not as much for me. How do you think, John, how foolish is that? But if I can't extend love to people that don't treat me in a loving way, have I not forgotten where I was at when Jesus rescued me? And if I don't view myself every day as totally helpless before God in need of a savior who'd love me and gave up everything for me, I'll be able to love people who are nice to me, but I won't be able to do much to people who take advantage of me. So I think the first thing that has to happen in my life is I have to daily be aware of how much God has loved me. I think another thing that has to happen in my life is I have to be aware of what's going on inside of me when I'm being mistreated. You know, one thing I've started to learn recently, I've had some people kind of coaching me in this, is that when situations happen in my life, we all have a natural bent, like I was talking about, that fight or flight option. My natural bent is to move away from conflict. That's what I want. That's what John wants to do. That's what John thinks will make the situation feel safe and be the best thing, but likely what God wants me to do is move into it, move towards it, stay engaged in it as difficult as that is. When the Bible talks about walking in the spirit versus walking in the flesh, the flesh is my natural bent, would feel safe and easy and secure in what I want to run to. And God says I put my spirit in you and my spirit is going to lead you and pull you away from what feels comfortable, away from what feels natural, away from what you want to do towards something that you know that you can only do this with God's help. And if you're bent to go at it and you're ready to go at it with them and that's your natural bent, God's spirit probably is tugging at you and saying you need to take a step back. You need to pause. You need to think about how can I love this person? How can I serve this person and recognize they might not have any idea what they are doing at this moment in time? You know, some of you may have someone in mind this morning as we entered this subject who's been mistreating you, who's been taking advantage of you. Maybe you've got a boss that doesn't value the work that you do is only in it for themselves. I don't know what your situation is and maybe you've taken one of those two approaches. Maybe you've just been going toe to toe with them probably not because your job would be in jeopardy but you've backed away and so you've taken the flight option because that's the safest way but maybe God is saying how do you need to love and serve that person who is taking advantage of you? You know, some of you are avoiding a situation that you need to walk back into and say, "God, what do you want me to do?" Maybe you know you've blown it. Maybe you've blown up at somebody, told them off or just got off communication. God's calling you. He's saying, "You need to love and serve them." He's saying, "God, I don't know how and I don't really want to. I want to challenge you to spend some time this afternoon. Go off by yourself and just spend some time remembering what God has done for you through His Son, Jesus." You know, really what I thought about this, I thought what God's calling us to do is really to be loving people. It's really what He's calling us to do. And I found myself wondering if I asked a group of people that knew me really, really well, what would be three words that you would use to describe John? Would loving be in that mix? Would it be? Because that's really what Jesus is calling us to do. Towards people that mistreat us, towards people that take advantage of us, towards people that ask things from us that we know we're never going to get it back towards even our enemies. As I think about our church and I think about our church moving forward, I think, "What do I want our church to be known as?" I want our church to be known as a church that loves people. And the only way I know that's possible is for us to be consumed with God's love for us. It's the only way it is possible. Would you bow your heads with me as we close? I just want to give you some time to meet with God. Maybe you've got a situation where these examples have kind of hit a nail right on the head for you and you're like, "Yeah, this person's been really taken advantage in mistreating me and God's challenged you about how to love them." I mean, there's not something specific, but you're sitting there wondering what I be described as a loving person. Could I pray for radical Muslims if I lived in France today? People who mistreat me who might even take my life. Could I pray for my enemies? What would that look like? God, when we think about this challenge of an extreme kind of love, of a love that isn't about what I get, isn't about protecting, isn't about guarding, isn't about holding tightly to, but it's a love that follows your example of serving and putting the needs of others way above my own. That's a pretty big exchange, God. It's a pretty big exchange. God, some of us this morning, we have situations that are fresh on our minds, that are right in front of our face, and we may have to deal with this when we go home or later today or tomorrow when we show up at the workplace or when I show up at school or my next family gathering. But others aren't in those situations, Lord, and the question for them to ask themselves is, is this true of me? Does my life reflect us? God, I pray that each day you would remind us, amaze us, overwhelm us with your incredible love for us. And God, may that be something that can then spill out and pour over into every relationship in our lives, even the very, very difficult ones. Help us to do this, God, can't do this on our own in your name. Amen, Jeremy.