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The Message for Feb 19, 2017
Matthew 5:38-48
3G Church - Growing
Rob Miller, Pastor
We are in week two of a three-week series on the parts of a church. We gather regularly, to grow spiritually, and togo faithfully.
Last week we talked about the gathering part. Next week we’ll consider the going part. Today we look at the growing part. We grow in faith, hope, and love…
Prayer
Question: If someone wrongs you, or insults you, or steals from you, what should you do? The normal thing that most people do is to make sure the other person pay for what they did… Jesus says – not so fast. He teaches us to consider a different way.
Are we willing to go the “extra mile” for Jesus?
Story:
One cold winter day Frank went shopping at the mall. When he returned to his car, he noticed a rather foul smellin the engine compartment. So he opened the hood and discovered a mutilated dead cat on the engine that got caught in the fan belt. The cat obviouslysought shelter from the cold and didn’t realize the dangers of resting on the engine.
Frank took one of his plastic shopping bags and emptied its contents on the seat of his car. Then proceeded to scrape, and pull, and push the dead cat into the plastic bag. He slammed the hood closed and walked off to wash his hands, leaving the bag on the hood of the car.
On his way back he noticed a woman near the front of his car, lookingaround suspiciously. She grabbed the bag off the hoodand headedinto the mall.
“Well this was too good to be true!” Frank thought as he laughed at her. He decided to follow her and see what would happen next.
She went to a restaurant, sat down at a table, and then looked into the bag. She screamed and fell over. Of course, the manager was alarmed and called 911.
The EMTs arrived, strapped the woman to a cart, and loaded her into the ambulance. Frank couldn’t resist. “Hey lady!” he shouted, “You forget something!” Then he gently laid the bag with the dead cat in it on the cart beside her, just as the ambulance doors were closing!
That’sa funny story because it reflects the, “She got what she deserved” lesson.
We love it when people get what they deserve – don’t we? We probably all have a story or two about a time when we “got even” with someone who did something wrong to us.
We humans love revenge… It feels so good -- in an evil sort of way…
A lot of people live by the phrase, “I don’t get mad, I get even.” Or “I don’t get mad or even, I get ahead.”
Oh, the stories we could tell about the mean things we’ve done to geteven with someone. By the way - this desire for revenge comes naturally toall of us.
When people wrong us, insult us, or steal from us, we want to see them pay. The question is, Are we willing to go the “extra mile” for Jesus? Or to put it differently - Will we allow faith, and hope, and love to guide our lives no matter what?
When it comes to revenge Jesus expectssomething different. Let’s see what Jesus says.
Matthew 5:38-48
Jesus is quoting from Exodus 21:24 and Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy 19:21. This was not about revenge – this was a way to carry out justice. Aneye for an eye and a tooth for a toothwas the guideline for a judgeto use when trying to decide the appropriate payment for a wrong that had been done to someone.
Of course,an eye for an eye and tooth for a toothwas notalways practiced literally in Jesus’ day. People would pay a fine with money – like we do today.
The eye for an eye and tooth for a toothwas to make sure that judgments were fair. That justice was served.
Imagine if we literally practiced this standard today? If you kill someone, your sentence is to be killed in the same manner that you killed that person.
- If you stabbed them to death, you would be stabbed to death.
- If you smothered someone, you would be smothered.
- If you drown them, you would be drowned.
- And so on and so forth.
Unfortunately, this type of punishment borders on getting revenge - not justice.
Revenge happens when we feel that justice wasn’t served, soan eye for an eye and a tooth for a toothwas to ensure that people would not seek revenge. Nevertheless - people started using thisstandard as a way to take out their own justice. Theeye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth was for the courts to exercise justice –not forpersonal revenge.
Story
A farmer was constantly being pestered by a carload of people who would climb over his orchard fence and take his apples without asking permission. One day, as he walked up to them, one of them smiled sheepishly and said, "We hope you don’t mind that we took some of your apples."
"No, not at all," said the farmer. "I hope you don’t mind that I took the air out of some of your tires."
Ethics in the Old Testament were based on the law of balance and fairness -- this for that.
- Itwas a law of mercy.
- It was a law for judgesto use, not for private individual to use.
- It was not literally carried out.
Jesus exposed the misuse of this law, because retaliation has no place in the Christian life.
The eye for an eye and a tooth for a toothcaused people to be what God did not want them to be -- vengeful. Vengeance belongs to God not us.
We read in Hebrews 10:30
For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
That’s why Jesus replaced thiseye for an eye and a tooth for a toothapproach to our relationships with a higher standard of conduct. The question is -- how far are we willing to go with Jesus? Are you willing to trust him and do what he says?
Thisnew standard that Jesus sets is the “extra mile” standard. That means…Christians have a higher calling in life than seeking revenge.
This is why we gather regularly as a church to learn how to live our lives the Jesus way… to be reminded weekly of this higher calling in Christ.
We can spenda lot of time demanding our rightslike many people do, or we can live by a higher standard. We can be a testimony to God’s mercy.
Point of clarification -- Jesus does not say that we shouldn’t protect ourselves or our families from harm. We should. Jesus is not saying that we should not resist evil or not resist those who want to do us harm. We should. Jesus is saying that we should not retaliate or take matters into our own hands, as if justice depends on us.
Jesus offers a solution when it comes to retaliation. Turn the other cheek, give more than is required, go the extra mile, show mercy to the less fortunate, love others…
We will take a look at all five of these… But first consider this story…
One summer evening in Broken Bow, Nebraska, a weary truck driver pulled his rig into an all-night truck stop. He was tired and hungry. The waitress had just served three tough looking, leather jacketed motorcyclists - of the Hell’s Angel’s type - who decided to give the truck driver a hard time.
They verbally abuse him, one grabbed the hamburger off his plate, another took a handful of his French Fries, and the third picked up his coffee and began to drink it.
How do you thinkthis trucker responded? How would you respond?
Well, this truck driver didn’t respond as one might expect. Instead, he calmly got up, picked up his check, walked to the register, put the check and his money on the counter, and walked out the front door.
The waitress stood watching out the window as the big truck drove away into the night. When she returned, one of the motorcyclists said to her, “Well, he’s not much of a man, is he?”
She replied, “I don’t know about that, but he sure isn’t much of a truck driver. He just ran over three motorcycles on his way out of the parking lot.”
Why do stories like that make us feel good? One word - Revenge.
Jesus teaches us to grow in five ways. First…
Going the extra mile means taking it on the cheek. Jesus says -if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also…
Let me explain… Most people were right handed or forced to be right-handed in those day… so for a person to get slapped on the right cheek, a right handed person would have to do it with the back of their hand. Jesus is speaking more about taking an insult here than about getting beat up.
According to the law - to hit with the back of the hand was twice as insulting as to hit with the flat side of the hand. Jesus is saying, “Even if someone should direct at you the most deadly and calculated insult, do not retaliate, and do not resent it.”
Turn the other cheek is to suggest a slap of endearment… with the open hand… Back handed - insult, open handed - endearment… By law you could not be hit twice. By turning the other cheek you diffuse the situation.
In those days and in that culture -- getting slapped with the back of the hand was the ultimate insult. That was okay by law – one time.
Jesus was not saying that we should passively allow ourselves to be beaten up. Jesus was struck by a Jewish officer in John 18:23, he asked –“why did you do that?”
Point is -- we are not to take it upon ourselves to retaliate when insulted. We are to use that as an opportunity to witness the love of Christ to those who insult us. Now… It takes a huge amount of disciplined to do that, does it not? And yet, that is our higher calling in Christ…
Second thing Jesus teaches us…
Going the extra mile means giving up your outer garment. Jesus says, if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well…
The law did not allow the outer garment (called a cloak)to be taken from a person -- since it protected them from the cold. A tunic (or a coat), was a long, sack-like inner garment made of cotton or linen. Even the poorest person would have an extra tunic. The cloak was a blanket-like outer garment -- wore as a robe by day, and used as a blanket at night. People would only have one cloak.
The law said you could take a man’s tunic if they owed you something, but you could not his cloak and keep it.
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall restore it before the sun goes down;for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? (Exodus 22:26-27)
The point is…a cloak could not be taken away from someone permanently. Jesus says give him your coat and your cloak… By law he is to give it back to you by sundown…
Does this mean we should allow people to take our stuff? No, the point is we ought not allow material things to get in the way of our witness for Christ. We are not to be selfish like the world is. We are to be different.
We are to use opportunities to witness the love of Christ to those who take from us. Now… It takes a huge amount of disciplined to do that, does it not? And yet that is our higher calling in Christ.
The third thing Jesus teaches us…
Going the extra mile means going the extra mile. Jesus says,if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.
In Jesus’ day, a Roman Soldier could force you carry his equipment for one mile but no further. It would have been humiliating to serve a Roman Soldier in this way. And yet - Jesus was telling the people to joyfully do what was repulsive to them, helping out the Romans who dominated them.
Jesus says go the extra mile – a solder could not force you to go more than a mile. Jesus invites his followers to volunteer for extended service. To do more than what is expected --doing more than what the law requires.
We are to use opportunities like that to witness the love of Christ by doing good for others. Now… It takes a huge amount of disciplined to do that, does it not? And yet, that is our higher calling in Christ.
The fourth thing Jesus teaches us.
Going the extra mile means being generous. Jesus says,give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.
Plain and simple… when we have the opportunity to help someone, we should. That does not mean that we give money to an alcoholic for booze or money to a gambler to gamble with. It means -- that if we recognize a real need, we should do what we can to help address that need.
Jesus is calling for a generous spirit that refuses to put personal possessions or personal needs above the needs of others. Now… It takes a huge amount of discipline to do that, does it not? And yet, that is our higher calling in Christ.
Question: Will we trust God enough to go the extra mile and help people when we have the opportunity to do so or will we selfishly hoard what God has blessed us with? How far are you willing to go with Jesus?
The fifth thing Jesus teaches us…
Going the extra mile means loving everyone. Jesus says, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…
Why – because that’s what God’s children do. They’ll know we are Christians by our love… by our love… Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
We are to love others no matter what…friend or foe. Now… It takes a huge amount of discipline to do that, does it not? And yet, that is our higher calling in Christ.
Jesus calls us to live by a different standard - a different lifestyle – a higher calling. It’s something we grow into every time we gather…
Jesus expects something different from us. He says,Turn the other cheek, give more than what is required, go the extra mile, show mercy to the less fortunate, love others…
So be it! Amen.
Next week we will consider the going part of church.