I Love When I Risk!

7th Sunday after Epiphany, 2/24/19
Luke 6:27-38


I Love When I Risk!
I. Love your enemies.
II. Love without expecting anything.
III. Love by forgiving others.


Perhaps you’ve been wondering what the next 15 minutes or so will be all about. You read the sermon theme and a bit of unclarity occurred. “So what’s pastor saying? Does he have some problem with gambling? Does he get a thrill out of bungee jumping from extremely high bridges? Is he announcing a sky-diving fellowship event for our congregation?”

Rest assured, none of those risk-taking activities will be under consideration this morning. Instead, let’s consider the risks that Jesus not only encourages us to take, but elevates to the outward marks of those who follow him and profess to love him.

This morning’s sermon text is a small portion of one of Jesus’ sermons that Luke preserved for us. It has many similarities to his familiar Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel. In this portion of his sermon Jesus gives his followers the command to love others. Few people—even those who don’t profess to follow Jesus—would argue with the desirable trait of being a loving person. But the type of love that Jesus requires here exceeds all boundaries. Jesus kicks those man-made boundaries down and encourages us to do what only he can motivate us to do.

He tells us to take risks—huge risks—all in an effort to love all people as he loves them. Let’s make his encouragement to us personal, individual. In fact, let’s internalize it now before we go any further.

As followers of Jesus and as those who trust in him as their only Savior from sin, I want you to agree with this truth: I love when I risk. If you’re not quite certain yet what I mean by that, follow along with me.

Part I.

There’s a good bit of wisdom to the saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” It’s a way of saying that you need to be aware at all times of what your enemies are doing. If you don’t heed that advice, you make yourself an easy target for them and you might not be around much longer. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

I don’t know who coined that phrase, but I know it wasn’t Jesus. But he does tell us, in a way, to keep our enemies close to us. His reason for doing so, however, flies in the face of worldly wisdom. Listen to what he says, “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.” I’m going to guess that you’re familiar with those words, but do you realize how difficult it is to put them into practice?

That’s because we try to set limits to everything in our lives. That way we minimize the potential to be hurt by the people we intend to love. We’ll go this far in extending our heart to someone, but no further until they give us some tangible assurance that it’s not going to cost us anything.

But the love Jesus calls for knows no bounds. In fact, it starts on one end of the extreme and keeps going out farther. “Love your enemies…do good to them…bless them…and pray for them.” A life coach or clinical counselor might cringe at those behavioral suggestions. They’re far too risky. The potential for physical, financial, psychological and emotional damage is dangerously high. Is this one of those times in which Jesus is using some figure of speech? One of those times when his words don’t mean what they say on the surface? Not this time.

Before we go any further, realize that Jesus is not telling you to encourage people to abuse you or others. He also gives you the command to protect your life and the lives of others. But that’s not what he’s addressing here. He’s asking you to take risks when it comes to loving others.

He wants you to be able to say with confidence, “I love when I risk.” Love your enemies.

We get what Jesus is saying, but how, Jesus? How can we risk loving our enemies? Take a look at the way Jesus loved his enemies. Recall his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before his death. Peter was ready to defend Jesus with a sword and with lightning speed he pulled it from his side and maimed one of the men who were there to arrest Jesus. And what does Jesus do? The Great Physician touches the man’s ear and immediately restores it—fully functional—as if it had never happened. Love your enemies. Do good to them. And then he followed his enemies, bound like a criminal, and remained silent while they lied about him and brutally abused him. He loved his enemies. And then he allowed them to nail him to Calvary’s cross, because he loved his enemies, he loves all people, he loves you enough to die for you. When love for Jesus fills our hearts and we ponder his perfect example of risking love for all, we can love when we risk.

Part II.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and state that none of us would characterize ourselves as self-centered. In general, we try to think about others. We go out of our way to help and serve others. But, let’s be honest. We’re prone to wondering what’s in it for me no matter what the situation. Even when we agree to do something for someone else, in the back of our minds we’re banking points in our favor that we can use when it’s to our advantage. Since we’ve done something for them, we’ll feel much more at ease asking them to do so something for us. That’s the way things work.

But not with Jesus. Listen to his words once again, “If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.”

That’s a tall order. In fact, it’s so far from “normal” that his words would be easy for us to dismiss without another thought. But listen again to how Jesus closes this section about loving without expecting anything in return, “Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Are you a little confused? First Jesus speaks about doing things for others without expecting anything in return, and then he goes right into speaking about a reward from God. What’s the deal? Jesus is not speaking about anything good that we deserve from God. He’s speaking about God’s grace—his undeserved favor. God gives us his blessings because of who he is and not because of who we are or what good we’ve done. In fact, he gives them to wicked people as he determines. So, go ahead, fellow Christians, and risk it. Love to risk by loving without expecting anything in return.

Love without expecting anything in return? Now that’s risky. How can we do that, Jesus? Look again at the life that Jesus lived for you. He knew exactly where his life was headed—to a hill called Calvary. And he knew exactly what would happen to him there. He risked everything so that we could enjoy eternal bliss with him. He gave everything he had so that we could belong to him forever. And now he ass us to risk loving without expecting anything in return. How can we do that? We can when we know that our future is eternally certain. None of us knows for certain what will happen to us tomorrow, but we do know what happens to us eternally. Our life with Jesus is guaranteed by his death and resurrection. So what does it matter now if we risk loving others and get nothing in return? When we do, then it’s true of us that we love when we risk.

Part III.

Jesus closes this morning’s text with what I consider to be the most misquoted words in the Bible. Listen to them again. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.” Have you had these words used against you? Have you spoken them against others?

Let’s be sure we understand what Jesus is saying. He is not saying that we should never point out to someone that what they said or did was wrong, was sinful. In fact, repeatedly Jesus gave us the responsibility to help others by pointing out their sin in a loving way.

So what is Jesus forbidding here? Hypocritical judging of others. Condemning the sins of others in order to make yourself look better. Being quick to point out what others are doing wrong, before confessing your own wrong-doing.

Instead of judging others, Jesus tells us, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.” What’s so risky about forgiving others? Because by forgiving them, they might think they have the license to sin against you in the same way again. They might be tempted to take advantage of your forgiving spirit.

So, Jesus, how can we love to risk by forgiving others freely? By once again recalling the forgiving love of Jesus. His first words from the cross were, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” He forgave the very ones who nailed him to that cross and added their mockery of him to his unimaginable misery. But rather than condemn and curse them, he showed his love for them and forgave them.

It’s easy for us to forgive people who are known for loving us and being kind to us, but how about taking a risk this week? How about forgiving someone who has repeatedly sinned against you in the past and thinks nothing of doing it again? That’s risky, because they will likely take advantage of your forgiving spirit. But that’s what love does. It’s what Jesus did from a heart full of love for you. And it’s his love for you that empowers you to love others, to take the risk of forgiving others.

I love when I risk. That’s not a gamble; that’s the Christian way of life. May your Lord Jesus empower you to love—to love when you risk. Amen.