Living the Dream
11/12/2006 - Radical Love
This morning Valley View joins over 300,000 churches from 130 countries around the world to observe the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. And prayer is what our persecuted brothers and sisters need the most. In Hebrews 13:3 we read, Remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. And the best way we can remember them is to pray.
Today it's estimated that over 200 million believers are being persecuted simply for loving Jesus Christ. That's their only crime. One of them is a woman from North Korea who survived the horrors of prison there and then was sold several times into marriage in China. She says, "I heard about God from my brother who was in China. I was so scared to hear the word 'God' since in North Korea uttering one word about God will send you to prison."
North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam are listed as the countries where persecution is most severe. And the persecuted believers in those countries are asking believers like you and me to pray. That's their number one request. Please pray. And often their request is not to pray for the persecution to stop, but that they'd be able to love their enemies and forgive those who are persecuting them.
One persecuted leader in China said, "Stop praying for persecution in China to end. It is through persecution that the Church has grown. We, in fact, are praying that the American Church might taste the same persecution so revival would come to the American Church like we have seen revival come to China."
In Nigeria, a country that I visited last year, Christians have been driven from their homes and put to death, churches have been burned, whole villages destroyed. And yet in the face of such brutality this is their response, "Jesus said love your enemies. And that's what Christians who have been attacked across Nigeria are sincerely trying to do - to love and forgive their neighbors who have turned against them." What a response! That's radical. That's a God thing. Talk about being salt and light in this world.
This morning we continue our series called Living the Dream with a teaching that I've called "Radical Love." Today against the backdrop of the persecuted church we're going to look at how Jesus commands us to respond to our enemies, to our adversaries, to those who oppose us. And we all have them, maybe not the kind who are driving us out of our homes or throwing us in prison or threatening to kill us. But most of us have people in our lives who oppose us, or who have hurt us, or who criticize us, or who seem bent on making our life miserable. They can be bosses or teachers or classmates or coworkers. They can be neighbors or former friends. They can be family members or ex-husbands or ex-wives or ex-boyfriends or girlfriends. They can be people with opposing social or political views. Whatever, they're people for whom love comes hard.
Today we've come to what some have called the heart of the Sermon on the Mount. We're about to push out into the deep end of our faith and discover what it means to be a Christ follower and a kingdom citizen in a world that's filled with hate.
If you have a Bible meet me at Matthew 5:38. And while you're turning there let me remind that what Jesus is saying to us in his great Sermon on the Mount has nothing to with adding more rules and rituals to our life. Instead, it has everything to do with love and how God's love gets expressed through us in response to anger and to lust and to truth telling and to commitment keeping and now toward our enemies.
Look at Matthew 5:38-42 , You have heard that it was said, "Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth." 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, hand over your cloak as well.41If someone forces you to go one mile, go two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Jesus begins by quoting the oldest law on the books - an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. The law is known as the Lex Talionis, which is Latin for "the law of retaliation." And it appears in the earliest known code of law, the Code of Hammurabi, written in Babylon about 800 years before the Law of Moses.
The law of retaliation became an important part of the ethic of the Mosaic Law where it first appears in Exodus 21:23-25, But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
Now when we hear that it sounds harsh, gross even, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." I mean if we literally practiced that we'd all be stumbling around maimed. Someone has said, "An eye for an eye would make the whole world go blind."
But actually the original intent of that law was to limit retaliation. It was the first step toward mercy. The tribal code up until that point was such that if you took my eye out, I'm going to take your head off. And if you take my hand off, I'm going take out your whole family which led to what were called blood feuds between tribes where the level violence would just continue to escalate further and further and further. "You hit me and I'll hit you back even harder." It's the law of the playground.
So to avoid that escalation God lays down a law that was meant to limit vengeance and restrain violence, a law that took retaliation out of the hands of the individual, and placed it into the hands of a court of law. To this day an eye for an eye is still the basis for our whole judicial system. The degree of punishment must fit the severity of the crime.
Now there's no record in the Old Testament that this was practiced literally. People didn't go around taking out eyes and cutting off hands. Instead, early on other forms of compensation, mostly monetary, were used to repay a person who was injured. An eye was worth so much and a hand was worth so much. Just like today we talk about compensatory damages in a lawsuit that are meant to compensate a person for a loss that was suffered.
So against that backdrop here comes Jesus saying , You have heard that it was said, "Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth." 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek also.
In that culture to be struck on the right cheek by a right handed person, which most people were, meant that you had a received back handed slap across the face. And a back handed slap was considered the ultimate insult. Even today when we hear of an insult we say "that was a real slap in the face." It was said that slaves would rather be tied up and beaten on the back with a whip than to be slapped on the cheek. It was that degrading.
Now I don't believe that Jesus is saying we shouldn't defend ourselves or our families against aggression. Instead, I believe that Jesus is talking about insults and our response to them. When we get put down or criticized and our knee jerk reaction is to hit back even harder by saying something nasty in return, Jesus says, "Don't. Don't start a blood feud. In fact, don't hit back at all. If someone has insulted you, shamed you, publicly humiliated you, made you look bad, stole your dignity, harmed your reputation, absorb the blow. Resist the temptation to escalate the violence. Stop the conflict. Ignore the voices in your head that are cheering 'Rocky, Rocky, Rocky!"
The pastor of the church where Tim and I used to serve would often say, "When people speak evil of you live so that no one believes them." Over the years I've thought of that many times. Don't enter into a tug of war of words. Instead, drop the rope. Absorb the blow. Turn the other cheek and live in a way that will expose their words to be false. That's being a peacemaker and a reconciler. That's radical love, the kind of love that brings heaven to this earth.
Jesus gives another example in verse 40, And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, hand over your cloak as well.
In that culture a person would wear two pieces of clothing, an inner garment called a tunic that was worn next to the skin like a shirt and an outer garment called a cloak or a coat. And the average person might have two tunics, but usually just one coat. And their coat would serve as a jacket during the day and as a blanket at night to keep them warm.
In fact, your coat was so valuable that it was protected by law. For instance, if you gave your coat to someone as a down payment on a business deal your coat had to be returned to you by sundown so you didn't freeze to death at night. The law also said that you could sue someone for the shirt off their backs, but you couldn't sue them for their coat. It was against the law.
But Jesus says, "If someone wants to sue you for your shirt because you've done them wrong then give them your coat as well." And the crowd on the hill that day went, "What? That's a violation of my rights. My coat is protected by law."
And Jesus says, "You heard me. When your rights are violated and you're tempted to fight back, standing up for your rights is not as important as healing the relational rift that is between you and the other person. If giving up your rights will restore peace to the relationship than do it." That's radical love. That's being industrial strength salt. That's bringing heaven to earth.
But Jesus isn't done yet. Look at verse 41, If someone forces you to go one mile, go two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Jesus is talking to a crowd of Jewish people who are living in an occupied country under brutal Roman rule. Roman soldiers were scattered all over Judea and at any time, day or night, they could approach a Jew and demand that they do their laundry or feed their horse or make them a meal or carry their gear which could weigh up to 85 pounds. And the people hated them for it. It didn't matter if they were plowing, or doing business, or eating, or sleeping, or spending them with their family at any moment they could feel the blade of a Roman spear on their shoulder and have a back pack thrown in their face and someone yell, "Carry this!"
In fact, the Jews put up such a squawk about it that Rome finally passed a law that said you can't make a Jew carry your back pack more than one mile. But Jesus says, "When that happens to you, smile. Pick up the back pack and carry it gladly. And when you get to the end of the mile, don't slam the duffle bag down hoping to break something inside, or spit on the ground. Instead say, 'Hey, can I take it another mile?'"
Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? I warned you Jesus is taking us into the deep end of our faith. Being salt and light in this world means a lot more than just being nice to people. It means doing radical things and responding in outrageous ways to people who oppose us and insult us and hurt us and use us and take away our rights. That's darkness. But the darker it gets the brighter our light can shine.
Brian McLaren in his comments on this passage writes, "Jesus is calling for reconciliation and not revenge. Turning the other cheek exposes the violent person that your oppressor really is. Giving away your coat exposes the naked greed and cruelty of your enemy. Carrying the back pack for a second mile allows you to walk free and demonstrates that you are a generous human being, strong, self-controlled, dignified, and not dominated."
"These are not simple rules Jesus is setting up. Instead, they are examples of the active, creative, transforming ways of the kingdom of God. We overcome violence, not with violence but with creativity and generosity."
So Jesus continues in verses 43-48, You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy." 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect (or the word might better be translated mature), therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (mature).
"It's easy," Jesus says, "to love people who love you and are fond of you and are kind to you. People do that all the time. There's nothing radical about that. You don't need to be a follower of mine to do that."
"But I'm giving you the capacity to do just the opposite, a heart to love your enemies because that's how my Father loves you. Have noticed that it doesn't just rain on the fields of the righteous? The wicked get bumper crops too. And you may say, 'Yeah, I've noticed that. And I don't get it. It's not fair.'"
And Jesus says, "You're right, it's not fair. But it's not about being fair. It's about being gracious and kind and loving and treating people, all people well, even our enemies because that's how my heavenly Father treats you."
Why should we be radical lovers? Because that's how we reflect God in this world. God is good and gracious and loving to people that hate him and curse him and have no time for him and don't believe in him. He prospers them too. In that agrarian society prosperity looked like plenty of rain and sun for their fields. Today God gives even his enemies health and wealth and talents and education and all kinds of blessings. Why do the wicked prosper? Because God is a God of love and he lavishes his love on all those who rebel and resist him. And Jesus says he wants us to do the same. That's what it means to be like our heavenly Father. That's radical love. God's circle of friendship has no boundaries!
This is the passage of Scripture that inspired courageous people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela to change whole societies. These are the words of Jesus that can change our lives and set us free to love people in radical, outrageous ways that we never thought possible.
There's no record in human history of any other religious leader ever articulating such a clear cut, straight forward command for his followers to love to their enemies. Others have said, "Love your neighbor as yourself or do unto others what you would have them do unto you." But only Jesus said love your enemy. This is the target on the wall for the persecuted church worldwide. And this is the target on the wall for all of us who deal everyday with our own set of adversaries.
Perhaps no one in recent memory lived out these passages more powerfully than Martin Luther King, Jr. If anyone knew what it meant to suffer for a just cause it was King. His house was bombed. He was maliciously accused of being a communist, falsely accused of being insincere, stabbed by a member of his own race, slugged in a hotel lobby, jailed over twenty times, deeply hurt by friends who betrayed him, lived for thirteen years with constant threats on his life. Yet those who knew him well said he carried no bitterness in his heart, no rancor in his soul, no revenge in his mind. But instead he went up and down the length and breadth of this country preaching nonviolence and the redemptive power of love fueled by these very words of Jesus. And amazing things happened!
This week I read his sermon called "Loving Your Enemies" that was delivered on Christmas Day, 1957, in Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. And in it he gave three reasons why we must love our enemies as Jesus commanded.
First, because it will help us develop the capacity to forgive, which is at the heart of the teachings of Christ. "Those who are devoid of the power to forgive," he said, "are devoid of the power to love. Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship."
Second, loving our enemies helps us realize that there is something good even in our worst enemy. "A persistent civil war rages within all our lives," King said. "That simply means that there is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. And when we discover this it will help us to see them in a new light and realize that they are not beyond the reach of God's redemptive love."
And third, we love our enemies because love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. "We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate," he said. "We get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity."
And so I want to conclude our teaching today with the words that King used to conclude his teaching that day. And when I read this quote it might help you to pull up the image of the enemy that you may have been thinking about this whole time.
"To our most bitter opponents we say, 'We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as cooperation with good. Throw us in jail and we shall still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we shall still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you. But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process and our victory will be a double victory.'" That's radical love. That's living the dream. That's bringing heaven to this world.