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7th Sunday after Epiphany, 02/24/2019
Sermon on Luke 6:27-38, by Water W. Harms
Luke 6:27-38 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
[Jesus said:] 27 “But I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. 31 And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return;[a] and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
ARE YOU SERIOUS, JESUS?
I would think that most of us here this morning takes Jesus quite seriously. We believe that his words and actions giving us forgiveness for all our faults, sins and failures are extremely precious and life giving to us. There is no other way that we can have forgiveness for all of that, but then he says that whoever, and I mean whoever, believes in him will have eternal life. That means quite simply that we will go to heaven when he brings this whole mess, we call this world to its final conclusion. What comforting words they are to all of us.
We have been assured that there is nothing we need to do or, for that matter, can do to gain that assurance. It is a free gift of God, otherwise many of us would go around boasting about all the good we have done or, on the other hand, worried that we had not done enough good to gain his thumbs up when we stand before the “pearly” gates. People who call themselves Lutheran belief this most strongly. Well, at least they are supposed to believe that.
Then comes these words from Jesus in the Good News reading for today. They seem to be in stark contrast to the message of salvation by God’s undeserved kindness to us in and through Jesus Christ and our faith in him. Jesus certainly is not seriously telling us that we have to do these things, is he?
Just listen to what he tells us to do: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you, give to everyone who begs, don’t judge, don’t condemn people, forgive people, give and it will be given to you. He is not seriously telling us that we have to do all of that, is he?
Anyone here today who does or knows anyone who performs all of those prescriptions for the person who believes in Jesus? And just what does it mean, to each of us, if we fail in one or all of those words of Jesus? Doesn’t that put us right back where a person is who doesn’t believe in Jesus or worse who has never believed in him?
Jesus certainly isn’t serious, when he tells us these things, is he?
There are two parts in explaining what Jesus is telling us. The first part is he is not telling us not to defend ourselves when we are attacked. This is not a prescription from him about passivism. He is not telling that we have to lie down and let others run willy-nilly over us. He is not telling us we should let people steal from us whatever they want to take. He is not telling us that when we see gross or minor abuse, we should not do something about it, just pass it off and let it go. None of that is implied in these words of Jesus. That is something we should understand when we hear the words of Jesus.
Then on the other hand, there is the story of the Pharisee and the publican worshiping together in the church. The Pharisee is one who stick with doing all the right things. The publican, a notorious cheating tax collector back then, is the other party. The Pharisee is proud of all that he has done, particularly in comparison with that obvious sinner there in back of the church (no offense to you back there). Jesus says the publican when home justified. Why? Because he knew what he was and could not get right with God through doing good. The Pharisee thought he was good enough to stand before God on the merits of how good he was.
Jesus is indeed serious about the words he spoke to the people back then. He is speaking to people who know the deep, deep love of Jesus for them. He is speaking to us who are baptized children of God. He is speaking to us who know that all our righteousness is life a filthy rag we would present to him.
He is telling us clearly how we, his children and heirs of heaven should live our lives. How quick are we judging others—their actions, their situations, their behaviors? It has often been said that unless we walk in the other person’s shoes, we cannot really understand what they are going through.
How generous are we in helping others, even in our giving to church? Do we believe that as we give, so it will be given to us? Do we believe that as we give it will be given to us, pressed down shaken together, overflowing to us? In a society and country that is consumed with money, we are likely to fall into the same trap and forget that as we given, it will be given to us.
In all of these matters, we need to remember that we are to be different from others, not in what we wear or what we eat, but in our behavior toward others. The early Christians were looked upon by others and it was said of them how they loved each other. Will that we said of us who call ourselves by the name of Christ?
As a pastor early in my ministry, I was not too well compensated (may that not be said of your pastor). I was always aware of what I wore and the car I drove. I neither wanted to be looked upon as outdate or spending too much on clothes or cars. My mission was not to set an example of poverty or wealth but to bring people the message of God’s love for them in Jesus.
I remember somehow getting a well-known business paper and saw all the opportunities for making lots of money. It bothered me that I had to miss all the opportunities for being wealthy. Then one day I said to myself, this is nonsense. I never read that paper again and turned it over to the Lord. I cannot tell you how the God of all blessed me and my family. I am shocked by the goodness of the Lord to this day. This will not be everyone’ story, but it means that God will take care of you. As Jesus himself said “Are you not worth more that the flowers of the field and the birds of the air?
The picture is to look not at what we have, but how much we have received from the bountiful hands of our gracious loving God. Behold the cross of Jesus. See there the generosity of God to you. See there is no condemnation to us who, because of our sinful nature, continue to live all too often as people who are in a far country who have no understanding of where we will end up.
I do not condemn anyone here today. I point out that we as God’s people headed for eternal life with him are to be different from those heading to the opposite place. Jesus said someplace: “by their deeds, you will know them.”
God is serious alright about our behavior. We are to be different. These words of the man who went to the cross for us are to be taking seriously by all. May his Spirit guide us always. Amen.