Listen to the Lord of Love!

7th Sunday after Epiphany, 2/20/11
Matthew 5:38-48


Listen to the Lord of Love!
I. Let love replace revenge.
II. Let love overwhelm your enemies.


What parent hasn’t used this line with their child, “I don’t care what they say. This is what I’m saying to you!”? Such a parent is clearly stating who the authority is. And like it or not, that’s the way it is. And the child would do well to listen. Rebellion won’t get them anywhere good. The child can vent and fume all they want. The sooner the child realizes that this is the way things are going to be, the better off they’ll be.

As children of God we have a child-parent relationship with the one true God. And as such, the Lord has much to say to us. As in our human child-parent relationships, rebellion isn’t going to get us anywhere good. We’ll only end up in trouble, eternal trouble. And with our God, there’s absolutely no good reason to challenge his authority. First, because there is no higher authority. Second, because he’s infallible. He can’t be wrong about anything. But for us as his children, most importantly, the reason he speaks to us at all is because her perfectly loves us. He showed that perfect love to us in his Son, Jesus.

That makes Jesus the Lord of love. And this morning he has some important things to say to us. They might sound difficult, even impossible to do. In some cases what he says flies in the face of conventional human wisdom. But he can’t be wrong, and what he says to us always flows from his heart full of love for us.

So listen to him. Listen to the Lord of love. May God’s Spirit open not only our ears to his word, but our minds and hearts as well.

Part I.

From the very beginning of time there have been those who twist what God says. The very first to do so was Satan in the Garden of Eden as he tempted our first parents into sin. He took some of what God said and then slightly changed it into a lie, into saying something that God never intended. And that’s still going on today. Many people do so unknowingly. They think they know what God says but in reality he doesn’t say it. And there are also those who know fully what he says and twist it anyway to suit their own needs and purposes.

The religious experts of Jesus days on earth did the very same thing. Jesus points it out with these words, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’” Indeed God did say that, twice even, in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. But the Pharisees twisted it. God spoke these words as part of Israel’s civil law. In other words, he was stating the legal principle that the punishment should fit the crime. It shouldn’t be lenient nor abusive.

The Pharisees took these words and twisted them into God’s moral law. They used these words as a justification for personal revenge in any and every situation. So, if someone wronged you the Pharisees would contend that you had a right to repay them in kind.

But that violates the clear words of God. The Lord has stated in no uncertain terms, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay” (Dt. 32:10). God does not permit acts of revenge. He even forbids a spirit of vengeance. He alone has that authority. We can rest assured that he is a just and holy God and he will carry out vengeance in a perfect way. But he doesn’t allow us to participate in it.

Instead, God commands us to love others. Jesus said, “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” Our thoughts, words and actions are always to be filled with love for others. But don’t misapply these words. Taken to the ridiculous, some would say these words mean we have to let other abuse us and even take all our possessions and endanger the lives of our family members. Not so. God’s word also speaks clearly that we are to protect the life he gave us and our families. He also expects us to protect and keep the possessions he has given us. So how do these seemingly contradictory words of God find a solution?

In love. When someone wrongs us, our God calls on us as his children to look for the best way to show that person Christian love. That may mean in one instance we let things go. For instance, someone steals one of your possessions and you figure, “I guess they needed it more than I do.” And you let it go. On the other hand, it may mean confronting them with a heart full of love that wants them to realize the error of their ways and to repent and to make amends. Every situation needs to be evaluated individually. But the most important thing is to check your own heart first. If thoughts and feelings of revenge are brewing there, then repent and let Christ’s love for you fill your heart with love for them and then decide what to do about your situation.

Feelings of revenge are only natural for us. We’re sinners who have a sinful nature that refuses to back down to anyone, that won’t let us be taken advantage of, that screams for payback or what is owed us.

So what’s wrong with that? That mindset is as far away from God’s mindset as possible. If anyone has the right to revenge, it’s God. It belongs to him as does everything else. So, ask yourself what God owes you and the answer is not, “A pot of gold.” The answer is, “An eternity in hell.” That’s the punishment for a little white lie (as if such a thing exists), for selfishness, for impatience, for laziness, for impure thoughts and words. But that’s not what we’re getting. Instead, we have been and still are the unworthy recipients of God’s faithful, eternal love. In that love God’s Son died for us and removed the punishment for our sins. In that love he has made us members of his eternal family of love. He wants nothing more than for you to experience his holy love forever. And that love from God moves us to love others instead of seeking and demanding revenge. Listen to the Lord of love and let love replace revenge.

Part II.

When you first get into a relationship with someone, do you ever wonder what you’re really getting into? Most of us have felt that way at one time or another. We wonder what the person is really like. Will we find things we don’t like, some so much so that we determine we’ll have to end the relationship?

Jesus goes on in this morning’s text and states some things that might be very difficult for us. It’s a good thing we’re examining these things now, well after we’ve come to know him so well as our Savior, because if these were the first words we ever heard Jesus speak, we might have ended the relationship with him right then and there.

So what am I talking about? Listen again to your Lord of love. He says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” Wait a minute! Love our enemies? That may sound strange to us. It was strange, once again, to the Pharisees of Jesus’ days on earth. They twisted God’s word to say that it was OK to hate anyone deemed to be your enemy. Jesus states the exact opposite. But how are we going to do that?

Well, first realize that Jesus doesn’t say, “You must be in love with your enemies.” He isn’t demanding that we completely block out of our minds what they have done to us and begin being bosom buddies with our enemies, forcing ourselves to be in love with them.

So, what is he saying? He’s telling us to love them the way God loves them. The word used here in the Greek is the highest form of love. It’s the love God showed to the whole world when he sent his one and only Son to us. The sinful world hadn’t duped God into thinking it was entirely lovable and, being unaware, God sent a Savior. No, God knew exactly the kind of sinners we were and still are. He knows our sins better than we do. And yet he loves us. He sent us a savior from sin. In fact, that love has the highest purpose in mind for us. He loved us and showed us that love so that we could share in eternal life with him.

That’s the kind of love Jesus is calling for us to show even to our enemies. It’s the kind of love that wants them to turn from their sinful and even vicious ways. Some call it killing them with kindness. We’re so genuinely loving toward them that finally their icy hearts melt and their wicked ways disappear. Ultimately, our love for them leads them to see Christ’s saving love for them. In other words, they see Jesus in us.

We dare never forget that our God loves our enemies as much as he loves us. That’s why he blesses them with earthly things just as he blesses us. What’s more, as Jesus points out, just loving those who love us is nothing special at all. Even society’s worst people do that. Jesus has given us the power to rise far above that. He gives us the power even to love our enemies.

Listen to the Lord of love. Let love overwhelm your enemies.

It won’t be long now before we enter the Lenten season. In Lent we see our Savior’s love for us more clearly, perhaps, than at any other time during the church year. And if you ask me, some of the most loving words Jesus ever spoke were these words from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34). In love Jesus forgave the very people who tortured him to death. You and I know that love. Really, it was also our sins that made his death necessary. We nailed him there too. But he forgives us. Completely. Freely. That’s what he wants to do with all his heart! Indeed, he’s the Lord of love. And now he asks us to overwhelm our enemies with that love. May his love empower you to do even that to the glory of the Lord of love! Amen.