Sunday Sermon … Love Your Enemies, Do Good to Those Who Hate You
Week three of our Get Serious About Following Jesus! series as we continue to look at radical Christianity in everyday life…
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Stand up and Give Him the Praise – I love this song!
There are no Orphans of God! – awesome!!! … and here’s a ballet routine to it.
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Are we really forbidden to defend oursleves? Should we really give anything to everyone who asks us for someting?
Francis of Assisi and the Mennonites beilieve this passage in a litteral sense. … Meaning we can’t defend ourselves at all and if someone asks to have your kid to keep, you must give the kid to that person.
The Roman Catholic Church only applies it to the clergy
Martin Luther broke it into two sectors.
Schofield Referance Bible says it’s for the future.
Gerhard Kittel claims it to be unatainable.
Wilhelm Hermann believes it’s a matter of the hesrt, an attitude.
The pastor at our church. . . . He believes that yes, it is unatainable. And yes, it is a matter of the heart. But he also believes that this message is meant to mean more (as do I). … Jeus is using shocking language to shock us into radical Christianity!
Jesus is telling us to the opposite of human nature. Human nature is retalliation and vengance. Human nature is sin! … It’s Jesus telling us, in His own radical way, that we must be different from the world.
This does not neccesarily mean that we cannot or should not defend ourselves. There are times when we have to. … Nor does this mean that we should litteraly give whatever anybody asks for to them.
How can you love your enemies in everyday life?
- Do not retaliate. … Break the cycle of evil! Vengance is in God’s hand and He will pour it out when the time is right.
- Pray for them. … This might be the biggest thing you can do for your enemy. You might not like the person at all, but you don’t have to like them to love them. Praying for someone, especially an enemy, is a great act of love. Love is not a feeling. “Like” and “hate” are feelings. … Don’t let your feelings dictate your prsayers.
- Do good to them. … For me this is somewhat difficult to do with a sincere heart, but I’m learning. … Do some sort of tangible action that will show this person how different you really are. … Don’t just do it to tease them, but do it fully and with a sincere heart.
What a great message.
Especially that practical list of how to love in everyday life.