Sermon for Epiphany 7: "Love Your Enemies" (Luke 6:27-38)

 

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

“Can’t we all just get along?”

“Can’t we all just coexist?”

          “It’s all a matter of opinion anyway.”

How many of you have heard statements like those?

Yes, it is good to get along when it comes to matters of no real importance. Yes, it may be good to coexist when the issue at hand isn’t life or death. Yes, we all have our opinions.

But, when is it good to compromise when matters are of the most importance? When is it good to coexist when the issue is a matter of life or death?

[Love Your Enemies]

Last week, Jesus spoke to us the Beatitudes and Woes, or the blessings and curses. Today, Jesus continues His sermon as He speaks to us about loving our enemies and about judging others. Throughout our text this morning, beginning with the Beatitudes and Woes last week, Jesus is teaching us the goodness of the third use of the Law: our guide.

Today’s Gospel lesson is not to be read out of context, but is to be read as Christ continuing right where He left off.

Last week, Jesus said everyone who trusts in Him as Lord is given immense blessings in the life to come, but those who trust in man, they receive the curse of eternal death once they die.

Jesus also said that Christians will face hate and persecution by the sinful world, but in the end everyone who trusts in Jesus rejoices, because our reward is great in heaven. So, that is the context leading up to today’s Gospel lesson.

Jesus continues today saying, “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28).

So, as a follower of Christ, we are to love our enemies.

Now, what kind of teaching is this?

When someone wrongs you, don’t you just want to take out revenge on that person?

This is our natural instinct. We want to return the favor to our enemy.

And, do not be mistaken, each person here this morning at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Glencoe has an enemy.

You may think you could not possibly have an enemy. After all, you don’t do anything that could offend another person.

But, because of my faith and trust in Jesus as my savior, I know that I have enemies. Within my own extended family, I have family who look down upon me since I left the ELCA for the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod for the truth of God’s Word.

When I grew up in the ELCA, I was told that the Missouri Synod Lutherans were weird. I never understood why, but that is what I was told. I was told that those LCMS people were weird.

It turns out that the reason why the LCMS was so weird is because the LCMS trusts that God’s Word is true. And now, I’m a Missouri Synod pastor, an under-shepherd of Christ.

We all do have enemies. You may have family, like me, who dislike you because of your faith in Jesus. You may have coworkers or classmates who believe you are stupid and ignorant for trusting in Jesus.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus had countless enemies. He had enemies precisely because of what He spoke in last week’s Gospel lesson and this week’s Gospel lesson. Everything Jesus spoke caused more enemies to appear.

You see, our sinful flesh doesn’t like God teaching us right from wrong. Our sinful flesh likes being in control. Our sinful flesh wants to be its own god. Our sinful flesh wants to get back at our enemies.

But Jesus says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28).

Today’s cultural definition of love is to let everyone do what they want without any consequence. This is not what Jesus is teaching.

Jesus is not endorsing or accepting any evil. Jesus is not telling His followers to compromise with God’s Truth. Jesus is not saying that we should look with favor to things that are contrary to His saving Word.

Instead, Christians are to love our enemies by doing good to them and making our enemy aware in the kindest way that they have transgressed from God’s Word.

And, do not be mistaken, all oppositions of the world are God’s enemies. This includes sin, death, Satan, wickedness and perpetrators.

[The World Calls Christians the Enemy]

Now, how does the sinful culture respond to Jesus and His followers? The world calls Jesus and Christians the enemy.

The sinful world says:

·        “How can you be loving if you say homosexuality is a sin?”

·        “How can you be loving if you say abortion is a sin?”

·        “How can you be loving if you say gender-change surgery is a sin?”

·        “How can you be loving if you say only those who trust in Jesus are saved and all others are damned?”

·        “How can you be loving if you won’t let me believe anything I want about God?”

·        “How can you be loving if you won’t let me do what I want?”

This is the world we live in. This is the context Jesus was speaking our Gospel text. Here, Jesus is describing how Christians should act when we are hated and persecuted.

This is our foreseeable consequence of being a baptized believer in Christ. The world hates us, because the world hated Jesus. We are hated and persecuted “on account of the Son of Man” (Luke 6:22).

But, like our Lord Jesus, we do not react in violence, but we trust that God will act. We trust that God will defend us from all our adversaries.

So, we are to do good to those who hate us. We are to bless those who curse us. We are to pray for those who abuse us.

If this wasn’t enough, Jesus continues. “To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either” (Luke 6:29).

So when we are physically abused and assaulted for our faith in Jesus, we are to take the punishment. When our enemy strikes one cheek, we are to offer the other cheek. When our enemy steals from us, we are to give them all we have.

This is what Jesus calls love.

The hope is that our enemy’s conscience would realize the evil they had done and repent and follow Jesus.

As Christians, we are to love everyone. We are to love those who love us and love those who hate us. We love all people, because Jesus loves all people and desires all people to be saved.

§  We love by sharing the Good News of Christ in how we live our daily lives.

§  We love by being content with what we have.

§  We love when enemies ask us about why we are the way we are.

§  We love when we respond to the enemy saying, “I love you, because Jesus loves you.”

[Judging Others]

Jesus does not end His sermon there, but continues. He says, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:37-38).

You may remember Pope Francis saying: “Who am I to judge?” when it came to sexual sins.

Is Jesus teaching us not to judge? Is Jesus telling us not to condemn?

Well, yes and no.

Jesus is teaching all Christians to not judge and condemn using their own reason. We are not to judge and condemn using our opinions.

At the same time, Jesus is teaching all Christians to never compromise with God’s Truth. So, when God says something is pleasing, it is pleasing. And when God says a particular act is a sin, it is a sin.

For when we compromise with God’s Word, this is not loving. This is not loving your enemies. This is not blessing those who curse you. This is not praying for those who abuse you.

Yes, Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, but He never urged them to remain in their sinful ways, but to repent of their sin and thus be forgiven.

You see, the Triune God does not change and thus as Christians we are not to change His Word as to better fit with today’s sinful culture.

[God is Merciful]

So, as Christians, why do we love our enemies? Do we do this because Jesus said so? Yes, but there is more than that.

You see, Jesus wasn’t just some ordinary teacher. If He was, then His words would have been forgotten centuries ago.

Jesus is far from ordinary. Jesus is the incarnate Son of God. Jesus is God in the flesh.

Jesus tells us, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

You see, while we were yet still enemies of God, God the Father sent His one and only begotten Son into our world and took on our flesh and our sins upon Himself, so that through His atoning death and glorious resurrection, all who believe and trust in Jesus are given life, forgiveness and salvation.

Jesus came to put all His enemies under His feet. He came to destroy the last enemy of God: death. (1 Corinthians 15:25-26)

So, through Christ’s death and resurrection, all who believe and trust in Jesus are given forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation.

Everyone in Christ is no longer God’s enemy, but is His precious child.

So, in Christ, we love our enemies because there is something greater coming up in the future – the resurrection of the body. Since Christ has been raised from the dead, all who trust in Him will be raised when Christ comes again on the Last Day.

As Paul writes in our Epistle reading, “So it is with the resurrection of the dead, what is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:42).

As followers of Christ, we love our enemies, because we have a merciful God who has forgiven us through Christ and He has given us an imperishable salvation, which is guaranteed for us, by grace through faith in Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

 

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

Sermon for Epiphany 6: "Blessings and Curses" (Luke 6:17-26)

 

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

Who here doesn’t like being puffed up? All of us love it when people speak well of ourselves. This makes us feel good. This makes us feel great.

But, when a person speaks ill of you, how do you feel? Do you still feel puffed up? No. We feel in the dumps. We feel depressed.

We oftentimes listen to what our fellow man says about us – for better or for worse.

For everyone on Facebook, when you see the thumbs up to your post, who doesn’t feel joyous?

But, when you see the angry face along with negative comments attacking you – who doesn’t feel depressed?

In our Old Testament and Gospel readings this morning, the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – reminds us on who we should trust in – and it’s not our fellow man.

If we place our trust in man, we turn into a shrub in the desert that withers and dies, as Jeremiah says (Jeremiah 17:5-6). But, if we place our trust in the Lord, we will never wither, but remain luscious and alive. (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

[Our Daily Bread]

As 21^st century Americans, we hear that and we likely agree that it is better to trust God, rather than man. But, we often forget that. Pastors even forget that from time to time.

We like to put our trust in fellow man. As Americans, we like to think about personal responsibility. We go to work or school and we receive payment for what we have done, either with money or a grade. We think we earned this or earned that. How many of us forget to give thanks to God for His daily bread given to us – with our food, lodging, transportation?

Instead, we thank and praise ourselves. Now, everyone receives the temporal blessings of daily bread. It doesn’t matter if you place your trust in God, in government, or in yourself. Everyone receives daily bread.

But, not everyone receives eternal blessings. For non-believers, their blessings end with their death. For believers, their blessings continue to eternity.

[The Christian Life]

This is what Jesus is talking about with His disciples and the great multitude of people from Judea and Jerusalem, Tyre and Sidon. He is telling the crowd of what is to come, rather than the present.

As we all know, being a Christian – a follower of Christ – is not easy. We are not guaranteed an easy life now. There is no promised prosperity as a disciple of Christ. We are not going to become millionaires by just posting a picture of a million dollars on the wall and praying for it. We are not promised the “best life now.” These are not promises of Jesus.

But, Jesus does promise that all followers of Him will be excluded, reviled, spurned as evil, on account of Jesus.

This is Satan fighting back at Jesus. You see, Satan knows how to use the English language into making good into evil and evil look good. We often forget that it is Satan who is the prince of this temporal world. This is why the world hated Jesus. This is why the world hates Christians.

A few weeks ago, I attended the MCCL March for Life in St. Paul. This was a great event. Everyone was smiling. People were praying. We all came for a common good – to preserve life from conception to natural death.

Following the rally, I turned on WCCO-TV and I knew what they were going to say about the pro-life rally. After all, I used to be a journalist. I know the Associated Press Style Book from cover to cover.

Instead of saying “thousands attended a pro-life rally”, they said “thousands attended an anti-abortion rally.” I knew that this was going to be said, for they are using the AP Style, but we are having a battle over words: good is bad and bad is good.

The entire news media has put a negative spin on pro-life. They say that anyone at the March for Life is extreme in their views. But, what is so extreme about life? What is so extreme about children? What is so extreme about the elderly? They find abortion – the murder of innocent, healthy babies – as normal. They find physician-assisted suicide – the murder of adults by doctors – as normal. According to God, this is far from normal.

Sadly, the report on New York legalizing abortion to just prior to birth is already yesterday’s news. The same goes for Virginia proposing abortion to even after birth, so the mother can choose with her doctor if she wants the child to live or die. All yesterday’s news.

Besides life issues, there is a battle brewing on our Christian faith in general.

It seems that every other month, there is a hearing in Washington, D.C. about approving another federal judge. For the past few years, more and more politicians have placed religious tests upon approving or disapproving a judge. So, our Christian faith and our morals based on Jesus’ teachings are under attack by the same people who swore an oath to defend our right of worship.

This is what Jesus warns His followers. We will be hated on account of following Jesus.

But this is the temporal world; we have eternity to look forward to.

[Sermon on the Plain: The Beatitudes]

So, Jesus tells us: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you…on account of the Son of Man! For behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets” (Luke 6:20b-23).

• ·        As Christians in the temporal world, we are poor now, but later we will be blessed.
• ·        As Christians in the temporal world, we will be hungry, but later we will be satisfied.
• ·        As Christians in the temporal world, we will weep, but later we will laugh.
• ·        As Christians in the temporal world, we will be hated for following Jesus, but later our reward will be great in heaven.

You see, our blessings are eternal, not temporal. We rejoice in tribulation, because through Jesus our faith is not in vain. And, when trouble comes, the faithful in Christ survive.

These beatitudes that Jesus describes are the Gospel gifts that every believer receives. The beatitudes function like a Gospel invitation, in which the blessings of the Gospel are held out as enticements to bring or keep the hearer in God’s kingdom.

The beatitudes promise a future joy, but its effect is a present comfort, because of the certainty of the promise of Christ.

[Christological]

The most important feature of the beatitudes is that they are Christological. You see, all of God’s blessings are found in Christ, and Christ is the source of every blessing.

Each beatitude does not suggest principles or guidelines on which to live, but instead shows us what has already been given to us through Christ. When we believe and trust in Christ, the life of Christ becomes the life of the Christian, and by grace the blessings of Christ become the inheritance of the Christian. In that way, the beatitudes come to describe each and every person in Christ.

Now, the blessings are not rewards for a Christian’s supposed accomplishments, but rather are consequences of election in Christ. They are rewards that properly belong to Christ for His accomplishments in His perfect life, atoning death, and resurrection.

All of God’s blessings are in Christ, and every believer receives all these blessings by virtue of being in Christ. There is no degree of blessedness for all who believe and trust in Jesus alone are blessed.

As I have already noted, being a believer in Christ gives us no guarantee of success in the temporal world. But, the Christian is guaranteed immense blessings in the world to come.

[Woes]

As for the unbeliever, they may enjoy temporal blessings now, but they have no positives in their future after death.

Here Jesus speaks of the woes, or curses upon the unbelievers:

“Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” (Luke 6:24-26).

The future is not bright for the unbeliever and scoffer. Instead of receiving blessings, they receive eternal death apart from God. They will be poor, they will be hungry, they will mourn and weep, they will be all alone.

[Blessing or Curse?]

Our Triune God desires everyone to be saved, but some people want to go about life on their own. They want to go about life trusting in man, rather than God. This only leads to a desert wilderness.

But, for those who trust in the Lord, we are blessed.

We are reminded of how blessed we are when we remember of Baptism. We are reminded of how blessed we are when we hear the Word of God and that Word rightly preached. We are reminded of how blessed we are when we are forgiven of our sins at the beginning of each Divine Service. We are reminded of how blessed we are when we receive Christ’s very body and His very blood, which forgives our sins and strengthens our weak faith.

God gives us a freedom of the will. We can choose to trust in man apart from God and receive curses. But for everyone who remains in the Lord, we receive blessings from Christ, who is the source of every blessing. By His grace through faith, we receive what we do not deserve: eternal life, forgiveness of sins and salvation. And, we know that the Triune God never breaks His promises. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

 

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T