Monday, May 7, 2012,
7:12 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song “Jesus, Rescue Me” playing in my mind. I
prayed through the words to the song, especially in relation to the following passage
of scripture and how, in all practicality, it was to be applied to my life. Parts
of this Sermon on the Mount are difficult to understand, and to interpret,
especially as compared to the rest of the teachings of the New Testament as a
whole. I do so want to make sure that I am obeying the teachings of scripture
in all things, and that, above all, I am demonstrating the love of Christ in
all ways to all people. So, this is the prayer of my heart as I go into this
time of teaching from God’s word this morning:
Jesus, Rescue Me
/ An Original Work / September 18, 2011
Based off of Romans 7:7-8:39
Jesus, rescue me
today.
Listen while I bow and
pray.
I need Your help to
obey You;
Live for You always.
Meet me in my hour of
need, Lord,
As I pray to You.
Help me walk in
fellowship, Lord,
Living in Your truth.
Jesus, how I long for
You to
Change my heart anew.
Father, God, my
heart’s desire
Is to live for You
this hour
In Your Holy Spirit’s
power
Living in me now.
Teach me to walk in
Your love, Lord,
Guiding me each day.
Help me to show love
and kindness
To the lost, I pray.
Father, teach me to
love others
As You love always.
Holy Spirit come in
pow’r.
Revive our hearts in
this hour.
Change our hearts to
be like You, Lord;
Live for You each day.
Help us to forsake our
sins, Lord,
As we humbly pray.
Teach us how to live
for You, Lord,
Obey You always.
Holy Spirit come in
power,
Revive us today.
Then, the Lord put another song in my mind, “In Truth.” Speak, Lord, for your
servant is listening. I read Matthew
5:38-42 (NIV 1984):
“You have heard that
it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist
an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the
other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have
your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two
miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who
wants to borrow from you.
My Understanding: When
it comes to matters of Old Testament Law, I have to yield to the wisdom of
those who have studied such matters, and who have a greater understanding of OT
law than I do. One commentary stated that the OT law, “Eye for eye, and tooth
for tooth,” was “not given to foster vengeance,” but was “given to provide a
nation’s judicial system with a ready formula of punishment, not least because
it would decisively terminate vendettas.” [Ref: Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary]
Another commentary said this: “This law was given to protect the innocent and
to make sure retaliation did not occur beyond the offense.” [Ref: The Bible
knowledge commentary]
Yet, it appears that some of the people used the law as an
excuse for getting even with people. Thus, Jesus said, “But I tell you, Do not
resist an evil person.” From what I have read in these commentaries, that
statement of Jesus has to do with not desiring or plotting retaliation, and not
claiming one’s personal rights. And, it has more to do with demonstrating
humility and selflessness, Christian love and concern, and a godly attitude.
Four Examples
Then, Jesus gave four examples of what he was talking about,
so that we understand what he means by “Do not resist an evil person.” The first example has to do with someone
striking you on the cheek, and with your correct response. The strike on the
cheek was an insult, or it could have been, in some cultures, an invitation to
a duel. From this passage in Matthew has come a common phrase, “Turn the other
cheek.” It means to not seek revenge, and to turn from responding in like
manner. As well, it means that, by not getting even and not responding aggressively
(resisting), you open yourself up to the possibility of more bad treatment.
Jesus said that we would be persecuted for righteousness’ sake. And, we are to
rejoice when we are mistreated because of our testimony and witness for Christ.
The second
example has to do with people suing us. My Zondervan NIV commentary suggested
that this was a hyperbole (an exaggeration to make a point). In other words,
for a Jew to give up his tunic and his cloak, it would mean for him to go home
in his underwear (a loin cloth), which “no first century Jew” would do. The
underlying truth, thus, to Jesus’ words here is that we should not sue back
(seek satisfaction), but we are to willingly surrender our possessions, even to
the point of going over and above what is required. God will take care of us,
and he will make sure we have what we need to survive, so we need to trust him
to take care of us, and not try to fight our own battles with aggressive, or
with vindictive behavior.
The third example
said: “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” The word “force”
suggests that the person (or people) have some authority to do the forcing,
such as military and/or police. We are not to resist authority, even if we
think the demands are unfair or unjust. The Bible only allows for three ways in
which we are permitted to resist (peacefully) authority: 1) If we are asked to
do something sinful, 2) If we are being asked to bow to (obey; honor) another
god, and 3) If we are being commanded to stop speaking in the name of Jesus
and/or to renounce our faith and testimony for Jesus Christ. Unless we are
being commanded to do something clearly in contradiction to the teachings of
the New Testament, then we should submit ourselves to the rules of government
placed over us.
On a more personal level, though, I also saw this as love
for others engendering us toward a willingness to go that extra mile in showing
love, compassion, tenderness, and mercy toward those who persecute, misuse and
mistreat us. That is the phrase that is really jumping out at me this morning: “Be
willing to go the extra mile to show love.” It has to do with doing more than
is required, i.e. which can merely mean seeing things that need to be done that
may not be your responsibility, or that may not even be fair for you to have to
do, but doing them anyway with the right attitude and with a loving and helpful
spirit. Or it has to do certainly with not retaliating, not giving up on the
offending party, and not just ignoring or bringing to a halt working on
relationships, but deliberately working toward doing things to show love to
those who have hurt us, and those who have not hurt us, too.
The fourth
example has to do with giving to those who ask of us and lending freely to
those who want to borrow. Certainly this must be coupled with much wisdom and
discernment, while not ignoring true needs. In other words, not all homeless
people are drug addicts and alcoholics, but many are, and they do seek
financial help from others sometimes to support bad (harmful) habits. As good
ministers for Jesus Christ and the gospel, and as good stewards of all God has entrusted
to us, and as those who truly love people, and are genuinely concerned about
loving others and doing no harm to our neighbor, we must use discretion with
our giving. We should not be selfish and unwilling to help others, but we must
also try to determine what true needs are, and what are just wants, especially
if those wants can be harmful to the individual, or if giving in to the wants
can encourage sin habits.
If we discern that someone might be asking for money for
drugs or alcohol while stating that he or she is hungry, the wise thing to do
is not to ignore the person, if at all possible, but to go the extra mile in
offering to get the person something to eat, or to buy him or her some
groceries. That is where the “rubber meets the road” in many cases in showing
the other person’s true intentions. If the person is truly hungry, he or she
will accept your offer of food. We should not assist others to sin or to do
what is harmful to themselves. We should not neglect our own family’s
legitimate needs (not wants), and we should not cease to pay our own financial
obligations (our monthly bills), i.e. we should not cease to provide for our
own family’s needs in order to give to others. This does not negate sacrificial
giving. We can certainly do without much we call “needs” in order to help meet
legitimate needs of others, but the Bible teaches that we should take care of
the needs of our own families first.
Heart Attitude
Sin begins in the heart before it ever is acted out in our behavior.
The same applies to righteousness. If Christ’s righteousness (holiness) is not well
rooted in our hearts, and we have allowed wrong attitudes to take a foothold, wrong
attitudes will come out in our words and actions when pressure is applied. Yet,
if we have right attitudes deeply rooted in our hearts through changed lives, through
confession and turning from sin, through drinking in the word of God, and through
habitual right responses to wrong situations, then right heart attitudes should
produce right behavior. So, at the root of right responses in these types of
situations is right heart attitude. We must be loving, self-less, and have a
servant heart. If we have the correct heart attitude, then it should engender
the correct response.
Teach me to Love
“Bear with each other
and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as
the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them
all together in perfect unity” (Col. 3:13-14 NIV ’84).
Another key element in all of this, besides heart attitude,
is to ask oneself, “What is the loving thing to do in this situation?” The best
example I know for how to love others is to look at how Jesus Christ loved
people in his life on the earth, in his death and resurrection, in dying on the
cross for our sins so we could go free, and in his coming back one day to receive
us to himself, and to reign and rule on the earth.
Jesus Christ gave up his position and rights as God in
heaven, humbled himself, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer, was tempted
as we are tempted, yet without sin, was despised, rejected, ridiculed, mocked,
beaten and hung on a cross to die. He died for our sins so that we could go
free from the judgment of sin against us (eternity in hell) and so we could go
free from daily bondage to (and control of) sin over our lives. He did this
because he loves us, he doesn’t want us to go to hell, he doesn’t want us bound
in sin, and because he wants us to have a loving and pure relationship with him
and his Father. And, we need to be willing to give up our rights, and to give
of ourselves to meet the legitimate needs of others, too (though not
necessarily their wants).
Jesus spoke the truth in love. He had the advantage of
knowing people’s hearts, which we do not possess, though to some extent we can
discern (carefully), without judging falsely, the attitudes of others. He was
willing to have others hate him in order to tell them the truth about
themselves, and to tell them the truth about their future without God, and to
call them to repentance. The prophets before him were hated for this, Jesus was
hated by the religious people (leaders, mainly) of his day for this reason -
the disciples, too - and Jesus said we would be hated for righteousness’ sake, as
well. If a fellow believer is clearly sinning without repentance, or is sinning
against us in some way, we have a responsibility to the unrepentant sinner to
turn the sinner back to God in repentance, and to help restore him back to a
right relationship with God. So, love sometimes means “tough love.”
Jesus did not placate sin, especially in his followers. He
did not enable his followers to sin. Evil people are going to do evil things to
us, and we are not to retaliate (get even) or run away from confrontation in
hopes that we won’t get hit again. We are to go the extra mile in showing love,
kindness, compassion and mercy. Yet, we must balance this, especially in
relation to those who profess to be our brothers and sisters in Christ, with
godly standards for how to address sin issues in sinful man, particularly within
the body of Christ. We do not want to be guilty of leading others to sin, and
we want to make sure we are teaching the right Biblical principles in
everything that we do, because we have the responsibility to set the right example
in life, love and purity to our fellow believers, and to the people of the
world. So, go the extra mile in showing love and kindness, but always balance
this with wisdom, discernment, a correct understanding of true love, and with
truth (in love).
In Truth / An
Original Work / January 10, 2012
Fellowshipping with my
Lord, Savior, King.
He is Lord of all;
Lord of ev’rything.
He is with me through
ev’ry hour of day,
List’ning to me speak,
as I humbly pray.
He cares for my needs,
and He intercedes for
me,
‘cause He loves me in
ev’ry way.
Obey His commands, and
do all He says.
Sitting at His feet,
daily in His word,
Let His word speak to
me in ev’ry way,
Giving comfort and
healing through each day.
Oh, how Jesus loves,
And He cares for you,
Which is why He died
for our sins, in truth.
Love our Lord God,
Savior, and King of kings.
Worship Him in truth,
for He reigns supreme.
He created us with a
plan in mind
For us to be His
servants, and Him mind.
Follow Him in truth;
Go where’er He leads.
Share His love with
others, and their needs meet.
Others: their needs
meet.
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