Reddit is a great place. You can get honest product reviews from real people. It’s full of funny videos and memes. I use it to help identify plants in my permaculture food forest.
Reddit is great. It’s also a cesspool of human misery, hatred, and rage.
If you go to the front page of Reddit on any given day you’ll find posts about politics filled with vitriolic comments about how the other side is completely evil and depraved.
You’ll find subreddits like “Boomers being fools” which is filled with hatred for older generations.
You’ll find people looking for marriage advice where most commenters advocate for scorched earth divorce or lawsuits every time.
And you’ll find all kinds of posts that mock or criticize or disparage whatever politician or celebrity happens to be getting cancelled at the moment.
In a way, Reddit is kind of a microcosm of our time. One part fun, mindless entertainment and one part hatred, disgust, tribalism, broken relationships, shattered families, and the political discord of our society. It’s a lovely place.
Now, I bring this up because today we start a new sermon series called “(un)divided,” all about Christ’s very difficult and uncomfortable call for us to love our enemies.
This has always been a countercultural idea, but I think it’s made even more astounding today, a time when hating our enemies has taken on all kinds of new and creative forms. When our online world has lit the match on a self-fueling furnace of hate and we are all being caught up in the blaze…
And I do mean all of us. Because this cultural vitriol and discord and exclusion has found its way into the Church. American Christians have allowed enemy hate to define our posture towards the world.
It raises a pretty big question: Is it even possible for Christ-followers to love our enemies in this day and age? In an election year? With what’s going on in the news this week? Is it even possible? Or was Jesus just describing an unattainable ideal?
Well, that is the question we’re going to try and answer today.
[PRAY]
PASSAGE & CONTEXT
Our passage for this whole series is going to be Luke 6:27-49, Page _______. We’re going to go through it verse by verse for the whole month of June.
Here’s what this passage is. You may be familiar with what’s called the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. It’s where Jesus lays out his vision for a very provocative new kingdom: where the poor are blessed, where the last are first, where anger is as bad as murder…
Well, Luke 6 is Luke’s version of many of the same teachings. Often called the “Sermon on the Plain.” It’s a bit shorter, but it is no less provocative. This is Jesus painting the picture of what his kingdom is like.
So let me start by reading the passage.
Luke 6:27-36
“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
“If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.
“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.”
I won’t read the rest right now, but right after that, Jesus gives a warning against judging others and then he reminds his followers how important it is to listen and obey. We’ll also cover those verses in weeks 4 & 5.
Today we’re just going to dig in to the first five verses.
WHAT IS AN ENEMY?
So let’s do that. Verse 27.
Luke 6:27
“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies!
I suppose a fair question to ask at this point is this: what is an enemy? Who does Jesus have in mind when he says this?
Well, here it’s important to remember, as always, the world behind the text. What was the cultural reality at the time when Jesus first taught this?
First, we need to think about the audience Jesus was speaking to. Most of them were lower-class peasants in Galilee. A lot would have been subsistence farmers. And, in a dog-eat-dog world, a lot of their enemies would have been… other farmers.
There are several stories in the New Testament of farmers moving the boundary markers of their field to take a bit of extra land from their neighbor, or a shady rival farmers who sneak out at night and scatter weed seeds in among the good crops of another… sometimes even praying curses on their competition.
Because, if you could knock your rival down a peg, it made your own success at the market more likely. If you’re the one getting knocked down, however… well, there’s your enemy right there.
Related to this, it was a very honor-based society, where your reputation was everything. Everybody was scrambling up the social ladder trying to win honor and influence in their community. So some would attempt to humiliate or discredit those they didn’t like through rumors or lawsuits.
If you’re the one being humiliated like this, again, your enemy is obvious. It’s the rival farmer or fisherman or neighbor out to get you.
Finally, let’s not forget that Galilee at this time was occupied territory. The Romans kept garrisons of foreign troops in the region to stamp out the very frequent Jewish revolts that happened.
And as you can imagine, living under the boot of the Roman Empire was not pleasant. High taxes, physical abuse and theft by soldiers, xenophobic taunts and threats as you’re on your way to town.
Every legionary walking the street was your enemy too.
So there’s some of the ancient context. It helps understand what Jesus means when he says,
Luke 6:27-28
Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”
Whether it’s a rival farmer or a hostile centurion, those are your enemies.
So how does this apply to us today? Because we’re not ancient Galilean substance farmers. Our country is not occupied territory.
Well, I think what Jesus is saying here goes well beyond his ancient context. People hate us, curse us, and hurt us in any era. It’s part of the human condition. The brokenness of our world.
Which is why I like to think of the definition of enemies in a way that would apply in the first century and today:
Enemy - anyone standing in the way of your joy, flourishing, and wellbeing
A rival farmer who moves the boundary markers of your field is threatening your wellbeing.
Today, it could be a neighbor who seems to hate you because of their passive aggressive behavior. Constantly reporting you to the HOA or the apartment administration… It’s tough to flourish in your home when you’ve got an “enemy” next door.
It could be someone on the other side of the political aisle that seems to be advocating for policies you think will make your life worse. Their beliefs are affecting your sense of wellbeing. They’re enemies.
An enemy could be an ex who posts lies about you online. That steals your joy.
It could be a family member who makes your life miserable. It could be a co-worker or classmate taking credit for your work. It could even be a customer service representative who is driving you crazy and wasting your time.
All of these different types of people are, in one form or another, standing in the way of your joy, flourishing, or wellbeing.
If someone’s words or actions have a negative effect on your life, I think you can safely call them your enemy.
So take just a moment and think about who in your world might fit that description. Literally get 2-3 names in your mind, or categories of people. I want you to picture them. And then let’s read again what Jesus says you should do to them.
Luke 6:27-28
Love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”
Ugh… Do I have to?
A NEW KIND OF KINGDOM
Just wait. It gets worse. Let’s keep reading.
Luke 6:29-31
If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
Ok, so I guess Jesus is saying we’re all supposed to just be doormats. We’re supposed to let our enemies walk all over us and just sit there and take it instead of fighting back. If they’re taking a little bit of our wellbeing, we’re supposed to just let them have it all.
But is that what he’s saying?
Well, let’s talk about it. Because I think the answer is no. I don’t think Jesus wants us to be doormats. I think he is describing here something I’m going to call,
Redemptive non-retribution
Let me explain what that means. Verse 29. “If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also.”
I mentioned before that this was a very honor-based society. Slapping someone, especially with a backhanded slap, was a deeply dishonoring act. It was humiliating. But Jesus is not saying, “just sit there and take it.” He’s saying, “offer the other cheek.”
What he’s describing is a bit like honor/shame jiu jitsu. You know, jiu jitsu, where you use the energy of your enemy’s attacks against them?
That’s what this is. It’s not being a doormat, but it’s also not fighting back. It’s asking your enemy to essentially put their money where their mouth is. “You want to slap me as an inferior? Well, I’m asking you to slap me as an equal.”
Suddenly you’ve turned their shaming act back on them. Because if they slap you again, they’ll look like a dishonorable bully, taking advantage of an innocent person. If they don’t slap you again, then you’ve proven yourself to have more honor. It’s active non-retribution.
The same thing is true for the person demanding your coat.
Back in that day most people had just two items of clothing. An outer cloak and a tunic - Like a shirt that went down below your knees.
If an enemy unjustly demands your cloak. And you give him your shirt as well, suddenly you’re standing there in your underwear, and he is publicly exposed for his greed.
To an onlooker, you’ve turned his shameful act back against him. People are shaking their heads, saying, “what a greedy man.”
Last example. Jesus says, “when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back.” Same thing. It’s honor/shame jiu jitsu. Their culture was built on reciprocity.
It is your right to receive something back for what you give away. If you give someone a gift, they’re now on the hook to give you one someday.
By allowing your enemies to take and take from you in that culture - by essentially gifting them the things they steal - you’re heaping them up with obligations. If they don’t reciprocate, they’re exposed as selfish. They lose honor.
It’s like what the Apostle Paul says in Romans:
Romans 12:20
If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.
It’s non-retribution, not being a doormat.
But earlier I called it redemptive non-retribution. What is redemptive about all this?
Well, it’s redemptive because in Jesus’ mind, this is the type of behavior that actually changes our world.
When you “do to your enemies as you would like them to do to you,” as Jesus says - when you do good to them and bless them and pray for them, even though they don’t deserve it, you are short circuiting the tit for tat cycle of abuse in our world.
Because that’s the default setting for humanity - hate your enemies. Destroy them. Burn them to the ground because once they're gone you can finally be happy. Just look at the political discourse going on around us right now. That’s what we see. Scorched earth.
There’s just one problem with this approach. It doesn’t work. It leads to more hatred, more violence, more enemies… when you get slapped and slap someone back, the world gets broken even more.
Redemptive non-retribution, however, changes the rules of the game.
That’s what Jesus is describing: an entirely different way to live. A radical new kingdom. Not fighting back. But also not lying down and taking it like a doormat.
Jesus is calling his followers to resist their enemies with active, nonviolent love.
Redemptive non-retribution.
Holding a mirror up to the shame and greed of your enemies’ actions by offering grace and mercy when it’s least expected. Why? Well, in the hopes that it will change them. That they won’t be your enemy forever. In the hope of redemption.
At the end of the American Civil War, a northern woman was very angry with Abraham Lincoln for not destroying the South. She thought that they should pay. Here’s how he responded:
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” - Abraham Lincoln
This is the vision that Jesus presents to his disciples in Luke 6. A new kind of kingdom where enemies are no more.
Not because they’ve been destroyed, but because love has conquered hate. Because our shocking actions have stunned our enemies into self-reflection and invited them to become our brothers and sisters.
There is no better example of this than Christ himself willingly going to the cross, giving his own life for his enemies, and even in his hour of death saying, “Forgive them, Father. They don’t know what they are doing.”
Jesus was not a doormat on the cross. No. He was practicing redemptive non-retribution.
He was willingly taking the hatred and shame and fear and violence of his enemies - of humanity - on himself so he could take it all down to the grave with him and rise again to offer them redemption. To redeem us.
And he invites his followers to do the same thing. To set aside our right to be right. To take the hatred and curses and humiliations of our enemies onto ourselves willingly and respond with self-giving love.
Whether your enemy is a stranger online, or a family member with repellent political views, or a neighbor suing you, or a friend who has humiliated you in public… it is your bold decision to choose love in response that can invite them into the transformation of New Creation.
It’s not guaranteed to work right away. A lot of people will probably stay jerks. But imagine if we all commit to this - the Church. If this became our default posture in a world filled with rage and tribalism and dehumanization… imagine if we modeled the self-giving love of Jesus in an election year.
Well then maybe, just maybe we could begin to show our broken world that there is another way to live.
“Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.” This is the way of Jesus for those living in the kingdom of God.
I started this sermon asking the question, “Is loving our enemies even possible?” Well, I think the answer is clear. If we want to heal this broken world, it’s not just possible, it’s essential.
LOOKING AHEAD
So there you have it. Seems simple enough. Why do we even need a sermon series?
I’m obviously kidding. Because we’ve got a lot more ground to cover.
For one thing, we’ve described the basic concept of what loving your enemies is supposed to look like, but we still haven’t answered a pretty fundamental question: How?
How do you do this, practically? How do you overcome the human reflex to lash out or seek retribution or hate those who stand in the way of your joy, flourishing, or wellbeing?
I’ll speak for myself and say that even if I want to love my enemies (which I usually don’t), it is not the kind of thing that comes naturally to me.
So how do you do it?
Well that… is what the next two weeks are all about. You’re just going to have to come back.
For now, because of the heaviness and importance of this topic (especially today), I want to spend just a bit of extra time in prayer together. I want us to prepare our hearts for the rest of this series and invite Jesus to transform us so that we can reflect his provocative love to our broken world.
[PRAY]
1) Corporate confession/ repentance
2) Spirit’s Guidance - Corporate
3) Individual reflection on enemies
4) Spirit’s Guidance - Individual
(Un)divided – June 2
Reddit is a great place. You can get honest product reviews from real people. It’s full of funny videos and memes. I use it to help identify plants in my permaculture food forest.
Reddit is great. It’s also a cesspool of human misery, hatred, and rage.
If you go to the front page of Reddit on any given day you’ll find posts about politics filled with vitriolic comments about how the other side is completely evil and depraved.
You’ll find subreddits like “Boomers being fools” which is filled with hatred for older generations.
You’ll find people looking for marriage advice where most commenters advocate for scorched earth divorce or lawsuits every time.
And you’ll find all kinds of posts that mock or criticize or disparage whatever politician or celebrity happens to be getting cancelled at the moment.
In a way, Reddit is kind of a microcosm of our time. One part fun, mindless entertainment and one part hatred, disgust, tribalism, broken relationships, shattered families, and the political discord of our society. It’s a lovely place.
Now, I bring this up because today we start a new sermon series called “(un)divided,” all about Christ’s very difficult and uncomfortable call for us to love our enemies.
This has always been a countercultural idea, but I think it’s made even more astounding today, a time when hating our enemies has taken on all kinds of new and creative forms. When our online world has lit the match on a self-fueling furnace of hate and we are all being caught up in the blaze…
And I do mean all of us. Because this cultural vitriol and discord and exclusion has found its way into the Church. American Christians have allowed enemy hate to define our posture towards the world.
It raises a pretty big question: Is it even possible for Christ-followers to love our enemies in this day and age? In an election year? With what’s going on in the news this week? Is it even possible? Or was Jesus just describing an unattainable ideal?
Well, that is the question we’re going to try and answer today.
[PRAY]
PASSAGE & CONTEXT
Our passage for this whole series is going to be Luke 6:27-49, Page _______. We’re going to go through it verse by verse for the whole month of June.
Here’s what this passage is. You may be familiar with what’s called the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. It’s where Jesus lays out his vision for a very provocative new kingdom: where the poor are blessed, where the last are first, where anger is as bad as murder…
Well, Luke 6 is Luke’s version of many of the same teachings. Often called the “Sermon on the Plain.” It’s a bit shorter, but it is no less provocative. This is Jesus painting the picture of what his kingdom is like.
So let me start by reading the passage.
Luke 6:27-36
“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
“If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.
“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.”
I won’t read the rest right now, but right after that, Jesus gives a warning against judging others and then he reminds his followers how important it is to listen and obey. We’ll also cover those verses in weeks 4 & 5.
Today we’re just going to dig in to the first five verses.
WHAT IS AN ENEMY?
So let’s do that. Verse 27.
Luke 6:27
“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies!
I suppose a fair question to ask at this point is this: what is an enemy? Who does Jesus have in mind when he says this?
Well, here it’s important to remember, as always, the world behind the text. What was the cultural reality at the time when Jesus first taught this?
First, we need to think about the audience Jesus was speaking to. Most of them were lower-class peasants in Galilee. A lot would have been subsistence farmers. And, in a dog-eat-dog world, a lot of their enemies would have been… other farmers.
There are several stories in the New Testament of farmers moving the boundary markers of their field to take a bit of extra land from their neighbor, or a shady rival farmers who sneak out at night and scatter weed seeds in among the good crops of another… sometimes even praying curses on their competition.
Because, if you could knock your rival down a peg, it made your own success at the market more likely. If you’re the one getting knocked down, however… well, there’s your enemy right there.
Related to this, it was a very honor-based society, where your reputation was everything. Everybody was scrambling up the social ladder trying to win honor and influence in their community. So some would attempt to humiliate or discredit those they didn’t like through rumors or lawsuits.
If you’re the one being humiliated like this, again, your enemy is obvious. It’s the rival farmer or fisherman or neighbor out to get you.
Finally, let’s not forget that Galilee at this time was occupied territory. The Romans kept garrisons of foreign troops in the region to stamp out the very frequent Jewish revolts that happened.
And as you can imagine, living under the boot of the Roman Empire was not pleasant. High taxes, physical abuse and theft by soldiers, xenophobic taunts and threats as you’re on your way to town.
Every legionary walking the street was your enemy too.
So there’s some of the ancient context. It helps understand what Jesus means when he says,
Luke 6:27-28
Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”
Whether it’s a rival farmer or a hostile centurion, those are your enemies.
So how does this apply to us today? Because we’re not ancient Galilean substance farmers. Our country is not occupied territory.
Well, I think what Jesus is saying here goes well beyond his ancient context. People hate us, curse us, and hurt us in any era. It’s part of the human condition. The brokenness of our world.
Which is why I like to think of the definition of enemies in a way that would apply in the first century and today:
Enemy - anyone standing in the way of your joy, flourishing, and wellbeing
A rival farmer who moves the boundary markers of your field is threatening your wellbeing.
Today, it could be a neighbor who seems to hate you because of their passive aggressive behavior. Constantly reporting you to the HOA or the apartment administration… It’s tough to flourish in your home when you’ve got an “enemy” next door.
It could be someone on the other side of the political aisle that seems to be advocating for policies you think will make your life worse. Their beliefs are affecting your sense of wellbeing. They’re enemies.
An enemy could be an ex who posts lies about you online. That steals your joy.
It could be a family member who makes your life miserable. It could be a co-worker or classmate taking credit for your work. It could even be a customer service representative who is driving you crazy and wasting your time.
All of these different types of people are, in one form or another, standing in the way of your joy, flourishing, or wellbeing.
If someone’s words or actions have a negative effect on your life, I think you can safely call them your enemy.
So take just a moment and think about who in your world might fit that description. Literally get 2-3 names in your mind, or categories of people. I want you to picture them. And then let’s read again what Jesus says you should do to them.
Luke 6:27-28
Love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”
Ugh… Do I have to?
A NEW KIND OF KINGDOM
Just wait. It gets worse. Let’s keep reading.
Luke 6:29-31
If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
Ok, so I guess Jesus is saying we’re all supposed to just be doormats. We’re supposed to let our enemies walk all over us and just sit there and take it instead of fighting back. If they’re taking a little bit of our wellbeing, we’re supposed to just let them have it all.
But is that what he’s saying?
Well, let’s talk about it. Because I think the answer is no. I don’t think Jesus wants us to be doormats. I think he is describing here something I’m going to call,
Redemptive non-retribution
Let me explain what that means. Verse 29. “If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also.”
I mentioned before that this was a very honor-based society. Slapping someone, especially with a backhanded slap, was a deeply dishonoring act. It was humiliating. But Jesus is not saying, “just sit there and take it.” He’s saying, “offer the other cheek.”
What he’s describing is a bit like honor/shame jiu jitsu. You know, jiu jitsu, where you use the energy of your enemy’s attacks against them?
That’s what this is. It’s not being a doormat, but it’s also not fighting back. It’s asking your enemy to essentially put their money where their mouth is. “You want to slap me as an inferior? Well, I’m asking you to slap me as an equal.”
Suddenly you’ve turned their shaming act back on them. Because if they slap you again, they’ll look like a dishonorable bully, taking advantage of an innocent person. If they don’t slap you again, then you’ve proven yourself to have more honor. It’s active non-retribution.
The same thing is true for the person demanding your coat.
Back in that day most people had just two items of clothing. An outer cloak and a tunic - Like a shirt that went down below your knees.
If an enemy unjustly demands your cloak. And you give him your shirt as well, suddenly you’re standing there in your underwear, and he is publicly exposed for his greed.
To an onlooker, you’ve turned his shameful act back against him. People are shaking their heads, saying, “what a greedy man.”
Last example. Jesus says, “when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back.” Same thing. It’s honor/shame jiu jitsu. Their culture was built on reciprocity.
It is your right to receive something back for what you give away. If you give someone a gift, they’re now on the hook to give you one someday.
By allowing your enemies to take and take from you in that culture - by essentially gifting them the things they steal - you’re heaping them up with obligations. If they don’t reciprocate, they’re exposed as selfish. They lose honor.
It’s like what the Apostle Paul says in Romans:
Romans 12:20
If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.
It’s non-retribution, not being a doormat.
But earlier I called it redemptive non-retribution. What is redemptive about all this?
Well, it’s redemptive because in Jesus’ mind, this is the type of behavior that actually changes our world.
When you “do to your enemies as you would like them to do to you,” as Jesus says - when you do good to them and bless them and pray for them, even though they don’t deserve it, you are short circuiting the tit for tat cycle of abuse in our world.
Because that’s the default setting for humanity - hate your enemies. Destroy them. Burn them to the ground because once they're gone you can finally be happy. Just look at the political discourse going on around us right now. That’s what we see. Scorched earth.
There’s just one problem with this approach. It doesn’t work. It leads to more hatred, more violence, more enemies… when you get slapped and slap someone back, the world gets broken even more.
Redemptive non-retribution, however, changes the rules of the game.
That’s what Jesus is describing: an entirely different way to live. A radical new kingdom. Not fighting back. But also not lying down and taking it like a doormat.
Jesus is calling his followers to resist their enemies with active, nonviolent love.
Redemptive non-retribution.
Holding a mirror up to the shame and greed of your enemies’ actions by offering grace and mercy when it’s least expected. Why? Well, in the hopes that it will change them. That they won’t be your enemy forever. In the hope of redemption.
At the end of the American Civil War, a northern woman was very angry with Abraham Lincoln for not destroying the South. She thought that they should pay. Here’s how he responded:
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” - Abraham Lincoln
This is the vision that Jesus presents to his disciples in Luke 6. A new kind of kingdom where enemies are no more.
Not because they’ve been destroyed, but because love has conquered hate. Because our shocking actions have stunned our enemies into self-reflection and invited them to become our brothers and sisters.
There is no better example of this than Christ himself willingly going to the cross, giving his own life for his enemies, and even in his hour of death saying, “Forgive them, Father. They don’t know what they are doing.”
Jesus was not a doormat on the cross. No. He was practicing redemptive non-retribution.
He was willingly taking the hatred and shame and fear and violence of his enemies - of humanity - on himself so he could take it all down to the grave with him and rise again to offer them redemption. To redeem us.
And he invites his followers to do the same thing. To set aside our right to be right. To take the hatred and curses and humiliations of our enemies onto ourselves willingly and respond with self-giving love.
Whether your enemy is a stranger online, or a family member with repellent political views, or a neighbor suing you, or a friend who has humiliated you in public… it is your bold decision to choose love in response that can invite them into the transformation of New Creation.
It’s not guaranteed to work right away. A lot of people will probably stay jerks. But imagine if we all commit to this - the Church. If this became our default posture in a world filled with rage and tribalism and dehumanization… imagine if we modeled the self-giving love of Jesus in an election year.
Well then maybe, just maybe we could begin to show our broken world that there is another way to live.
“Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.” This is the way of Jesus for those living in the kingdom of God.
I started this sermon asking the question, “Is loving our enemies even possible?” Well, I think the answer is clear. If we want to heal this broken world, it’s not just possible, it’s essential.
LOOKING AHEAD
So there you have it. Seems simple enough. Why do we even need a sermon series?
I’m obviously kidding. Because we’ve got a lot more ground to cover.
For one thing, we’ve described the basic concept of what loving your enemies is supposed to look like, but we still haven’t answered a pretty fundamental question: How?
How do you do this, practically? How do you overcome the human reflex to lash out or seek retribution or hate those who stand in the way of your joy, flourishing, or wellbeing?
I’ll speak for myself and say that even if I want to love my enemies (which I usually don’t), it is not the kind of thing that comes naturally to me.
So how do you do it?
Well that… is what the next two weeks are all about. You’re just going to have to come back.
For now, because of the heaviness and importance of this topic (especially today), I want to spend just a bit of extra time in prayer together. I want us to prepare our hearts for the rest of this series and invite Jesus to transform us so that we can reflect his provocative love to our broken world.
[PRAY]
1) Corporate confession/ repentance
2) Spirit’s Guidance - Corporate
3) Individual reflection on enemies
4) Spirit’s Guidance - Individual