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#Post#: 297--------------------------------------------------
SERMONS FROM STUDENTS [COMMENTS WANTED}
By: alphaomega Date: March 18, 2013, 9:48 pm
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Luke 6:27-38 ( Sermon for the week of February 18th )Luke
6:27-38 (New King James Version)
Love Your Enemies27 �But I say to you who hear: Love your
enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse
you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who
strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him
who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30
Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away
your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to
do to you, you also do to them likewise.
32 �But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to
you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do
good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?
For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from
whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For
even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But
love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in
return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of
the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36
Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
Do Not Judge37 �Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn
not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be
forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure,
pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into
your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be
measured back to you.�
SERMON:
Reading Jesus' words this week and allowing these words to soak
into your mind is more important than anything I will say.
However, I will mention some of the thoughts and insights that I
came to as a primer. There are life changing, mood altering,
powerful, actions that this weeks reading encompasses. I must
admit that I do not fully live the words of Jesus. I am
strivingto change and do my best. We all must look, learn and
change. Why are Jesus' statements in this reading so hard? They
are principles of God...the way things really work...and they go
against everything we know. Mankind is ingrained in ways
different from God's. Let's look at an example. The Code of
Hammurabi (18Th Century BC) specified, "an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth". This principal existed before the Jews
received the 10 Commandments. The Code of Hammurabi is simple
justice, but it is not God's justice. Jesus ends this
"reciprocity". It is not the way of God but the way of man.
Reciprocity is a commonsense,logical way to live one's life.
This principal does not seek to inflict injury except in cases
where injury is deserved. It is FAIR. The bad person suffers and
the good person prospers. Yet, Jesus tells us that reciprocity
is not the behavior we should live by. God goes beyond justice
and shows mercy and we must do the same. It is unnatural, and
goes against our "instincts". To move beyond seeking justice and
instead show mercy is an act of God's Grace and is an
instruction to the followers of Jesus Christ. It is the way the
Kingdom of God operates, which means it is totally opposite from
the ways that the majority of mankind thinks and lives!
Lets look at the reading....
�But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those
who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one
cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your
cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone
who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not
ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you
also do to them likewise."
Jesus begins with the Truth..."love your enemies" and then gives
concrete examples of what He means. In the first set of examples
He says:
1) do good to those who hate you
2) bless those who curse you
3) pray for those who abuse you
These three examples are general in nature: hatred, cursing, and
abuse. These can manifest themselves in a myriad of ways.
The next three examples, Jesus gets specific:
1) If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other
2) and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold
your shirt
3) give to everyone who begs from you and if anyone takes your
good, do not ask for them
These three examples are specific: striking a cheek, taking a
coat, taking goods.
Jesus is providing us with an array of examples so that we think
about the thousands of ways this principal of God can be
applied. The principal is simple in words, "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES".
I do not think that this means that we will always feel great
about turning our cheek to get hit again. We are called to
action. Faith is an action. We turn our cheek. We turn in faith.
We are not happy about it, but we do it out of faith. Why? We
are Jesus' disciples and we are not to allow the other person to
control us and the situation. We are to seize the principal of
God and to use it effectively. This may seem weak, to turn our
cheek in the face of hatred and violence...but we see how
powerful it is when Jesus is crucified. We are to seize the
opportunity by loving...on the cross Jesus did not curse His
enemies but prayed for their forgiveness. Love conquers ALL!
Look at St. Francis of Assisi and Dr. Martin Luther King...they
end of reciprocal and the beginning of love shown through the
action of carrying on by turning the other cheek...it is seizing
the opportunity to control the situation through love...and once
again love conquers all.
"Do unto others as you would have them do to you"
We know this as the "Golden Rule". This rule is often misstated
and is usually found in a negative form. For example, Philo said
"What you hate to suffer, do not do to any other". Jesus changes
this to a proactive statement. We are to expand and go further
with this principal. Not only are we to practice behavior that
we would want done to us, but to avoid the behavior we would not
like to experience. This is a proactive statement. We act in
faith BEFORE we act, not after.
But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good
to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For
even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom
you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even
sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love
your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return;
and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most
High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be
merciful,just as your Father also is merciful.
Jesus gives us three examples:
1) If you love those
2) If you do good to those
3) If you lend to those
Jesus instructed us earlier on how to respond to people who
treat us badly or take advantage of us. Jesus also instructs us
on how to respond to those who treat us well. Jesus wants us to
good do at all times. We receive no special rewards for doing
good. Doing good works for the sake of good is reciprocity and
is not the way of God. Keep in mind that people who are not
Christians do good for the sake of good. As followers of Jesus
we are to do good whether we receive good OR bad in return. We
do not do good and keep track of who has done us wrong and who
has treated us well. Jesus is calling for us to stop keeping
score and do good---PERIOD! End reciprocity-- end the ways of
thinking like mankind and follow the instructions of Our Lord.
"But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in
return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of
the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as Your Father is merciful"
Jesus gives us the reason for doing good at all times no matter
what the circumstances. We are to do good, to love, and act in
mercy because of a fact. The fact is that we are the Children of
God. We are His representatives here on Earth. The Lord is our
boss and employer. Our job is to follow our job description.
Forget the insubordinate co-workers or rude customers. We have a
job to do and we do it. We are the heirs to the kingdom of God.
We are blessed with the opportunity to enter into the presence
and to enjoy the protection, love, and care of the Lord. Our
reward is great! We are the King's representatives and must act
and do the works as representatives of royalty. If your ears and
eyes have been opened to the Truth of Jesus Christ...you have
received a gift and a privilege...act like it.
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and
you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;
give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, running over, will be put in your lap; for the
measure you give will be the measure you get back"
To judge is to form either a negative or positive opinion. To
condemn is to pronounce guilt. We are sometimes quick to
pronounce what we think God would pronounce. We are not God. We
assume what to be true and pass judgement or condemnation, but
God judges not us. That is His job, not ours. Who becomes a goat
or a sheep is the Lord's job and not ours. Our job is to be His
sheep and act like sheep. We as Christians can go around and do
good, pray intently, and seek Jesus...but then we pass
judgement..."Oh, he is a Catholic and full of it...or he is a
fundamentalist and thus must be off his rocker". White people
can be quick to discount a person of another race as
unintelligent or of a lower social class, and Colored races are
quick to call White people racists. These are the circular traps
of this world and are not found in the Kingdom of God. We as
royal employees of the King are not obeying the King by acting
in these manners. It is the poison of mankind. Remember this,
"for the measure you give will be the measure you get back". We
are granted a good measure for not engaging in this behavior. As
followers and representatives of Christ, we must acknowledge the
reality of evil and be followers who will stand up for what is
right. We must be able to identify what is good and what is evil
and the Lord directs us by studying His Word and by faith"ing"
in Him. We must make decisions and decisions based in Christ.
Living faithfully includes making discerning decisions as
representatives of the Kingdom of God.
We are not to allow people to set the agenda...we are not to
wait to see what the other person will do before we decide what
we will do. Nor are we to be trapped in a vicious cycle someone
else starts. We are to seize the opportunity to love. How are we
to do that when we act out of our own self will and judge
others? To judge is not to love. If you have been
harmed...showing mercy is an act of love. Will you do it? What
do you lose by not doing it? Are we are not the heirs to the
Kingdom of God? If so, what will you lose by showing mercy??
Another example: to judge a person who has or has not done us
harm as an unbeliever worthy of hell is to judge and
condemn...and a year down the road..the Lord may open their eyes
and they will become your brother or sister in Christ.
What will you say then? What would you tell the Lord if He asked
you why you acted the way you did?
The fear of God seems to have left Western civilization. Look
around. Keep in mind that the fear of God is not one of control
or negativity...but one of direction and hope. I have a healthy
fear of God that I will somehow fall back into and repeat the
unloving acts from my past which directly contributed to my
horrible state of being and He will not be there to open my eyes
and lead me to change! I fear that! I fear losing His presence
in my life that is dear to me.
I fear that I do not have enough faith and I am unworthy. This
fear is one big factor that keeps me focused on Him. There is a
lot of learning that I still have to do and a lot of change to
come.
Progress not perfection, however I seek His guidance as I
progress. In a world that judges "Christians" when they
themselves are not Christians, it is hard to love sometimes. But
love is the Truth. We are scting like sheep when we have reached
this level. Loving your enemy will never happen unless you love
God. Dr. King reached this level and we need to reach it. We
will if we continue to walk the path of faith. We will have to
rely on it when the Lord places His Good Works in front of us
and we may be targeted by many unloving people and evil that can
be staring you straight in the eyes. May we all call upon the
Lord to help us be better stewards of His Kingdom and continue
to walk at a steady pace on the narrow path. AMEN.
God bless and peace be upon you.
#Post#: 298--------------------------------------------------
Re: SERMONS FROM STUDENTS [COMMENTS WANTED}
By: beancounter Date: March 19, 2013, 8:52 am
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I for one, find it difficult to read longer posts, and small
print posts even more so. Not everyones eyes are as strong as
others. Thats my comment. :D
#Post#: 299--------------------------------------------------
Re: SERMONS FROM STUDENTS [COMMENTS WANTED}
By: alphaomega Date: March 19, 2013, 12:30 pm
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[quote author=beancounter link=topic=69.msg298#msg298
date=1363701163]
I for one, find it difficult to read longer posts, and small
print posts even more so. Not everyones eyes are as strong as
others. Thats my comment. :D
[/quote]
i will pass the comment along
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