What was going on inside of Matthew Eddy?
On May 31…just a few weeks ago, while attending his daughter’s graduation from Baraboo HS in Baraboo, WI, Eddy jumped up as his daughter crossed the platform to receive her diploma and confronted Superintendent of schools Rainey Briggs. Eddy pushed him saying “you are not going to shake my daughter’s hand”.
It caused a commotion which led to Rainey’s arrest. What was going on inside Matthew Eddy?
• Some suggested racism
• Eddy claimed it was due to an incident in which his daughter was being disciplined and Briggs treated her unfairly.
Briggs told investigators he “feared for his safety”.
• We know what happened
• We know what they said
• But what was going on inside of Matthew Eddy???
What was going on inside of Mary Morrisey?
Morrisey was caught pouring water into the tote bag of fellow state lawmaker, Rep. Jim Carroll. She had been soaking his belongings with water, almost daily, for weeks.
Carrol said “it was torment”. He had no idea who would harass him so much, until he set up the camera and caught Morrisey in the act. He had suspected her, as she had been nasty and publicly demeaning to him for some time.
Strangely, Morrisey and Carrol had known each other since childhood and even had attended the same church.
Morrisey, once caught, apologized but never explained her actions.
What was going on inside of Mary Morrisey?
What’s going on inside of you?
• What are you capable of doing, saying or thinking about your enemies?
• What is the condition of your heart?
• Do you have a good heart?
The condition of your heart will determine whether you are able to do the impossible…love your enemy.
It has been a month of impossible things in this sermon series. Here’s what we have heard:
Love your enemy.
Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.
Pray for those who hurt you.
Practice redemptive non-retribution.
Do not retaliate.
Resist your enemy with active nonviolent love.
Shock your enemy with unexpected mercy.
Do not judge others.
This is a problem. We are thoroughly saturated with in our broken, angry, furious, bitter, malicious world.
Outrageous but not surprising is Matthew Eddy
Outrageous but not surprising Mary Morrisey
Outrageous but not surprising are road rage incidents
Outrageous but not surprising are families, churches and communities torn apart with political hostility.
Outrageous but not surprising are the profane tirades of politicians, celebrities and influencers.
What a mess. And so, love your enemy is a bridge too far. Redemptive non-retribution is simply inconceivable.
Something much bigger…much deeper has to change if anybody has a chance of following Jesus’ grace, mercy and love of enemies.
So…Jesus wraps up this impossible checklist by taking us deeper…into our hearts…into our core motivations.
Analogy 1 – fruit trees
Analogy 2 – overflowing buckets
An Accusation – Are you a fraud?
Analogy 3 – building a house
Each one of these analogies and the accusation is designed to make us look deep inside. To do some soul searching. Because…
The condition of your heart will determine whether you are able to do the impossible…love your enemy.
Analogy 1 – Like 6:43
A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. Luke 6:43-44
• Good fruit comes from good trees. What are the good fruits he’s referencing?
o Good fruit are the impossible commands he’s laid out.
Your fruit is your signature, it, more than anything else tells us who you really are.
IL – Ever been in a conflict with someone and your detractor does or says something that is vile, mean, hurtful to you. Later they circle back and give you that half-baked apology … “I don’t know what got into me…that’s not me…”
What Jesus is implying is that apology is bogus…because that very much IS like you…you have demonstrated what kind of tree you are.
• Good fruit comes from good trees – bad fruit comes from bad trees.
2nd analogy… Vs. 45
A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. Luke 6:45
• “Treasury of” = Abundance, overflow or spillover. Imagine a bucket.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. KJV
Do you have a good heart?
• look at what comes out of your mouth…what spills over?
• What do you say and retweet, repost
• F… Joe Biden? F…Donald Trump?
IL – again how many times have you heard someone justifying an angry attack saying…”he has a good heart”. No, he doesn’t.
IL – a confession…I yell at the television from time to time. That’s indicative of a bad heart.
The condition of your heart will determine whether you are able to do the impossible…love your enemy.
Finally…Jesus takes the gloves off and levels an accusation. He moves away from analogy and speaks bluntly…
And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say? Luke 6:46
• Lord/Lord twice…I believe is imitating what he hears…almost mocking.
• You claim to follow me. You claim allegiance. You say you are loyal. Yet you do not love your enemies.
• Are you a fraud? Are you a hypocrite? Are you a poser?
And to drive this accusation home he shares his final analogy…
Whoever comes to Me and hears and does what I say, I will show you who he is like. He is like a man who built a house. He dug deep to put the building on rock. When the water came up and the river beat against the house, the building could not be shaken because it was built on rock. But he who hears and does not do what I say, is like a man who built a house on nothing but earth. The water beat against the house. At once it fell and was destroyed.” Luke 6:47-49
Friends…here’s what’s going to happen if you are not able to love your enemies…something big will go down…a storm… and so will your life.
The storm will come…the flood will rise…and you will be left with no foundation to hold you up. You are doomed.
The condition of your heart will determine whether you are able to do the impossible…love your enemy.
• Do you have a good heart? How does one get a good heart?
Something groundbreaking has to happen. Something more pervasive must occur for hearts to transform from bad to good.
Elsewhere Jesus uses mystical language
• Born again
o Take it from the top
o Old life replaced with a new one saturated by the Spirit.
o You say…I did that…who says it needs to happen only once?
• New wineskin
o In Luke 5 – can’t put new wine in old wineskins…
Love your enemy is new wine…needs a new container.
• Walk the plank – Richard Rohr/Brene Brown – new life begins when we step off the ship we’ve sailed on forever and plunge into another life.
You don’t change the condition of your heart in increments. You start over, you abandon the old life…you begin anew.
And if this is what you want to do…good news…we have way for you to do that – communion.
And soon and even more powerful symbol – Baptism.