Love Your Enemies

Sermon February 23, 2014

Love Your Enemies

Lev. 19:1-2, 9-18

YOU shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy….

As he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written:
“Be holy, because I am holy.” (I Peter 1:15-16)

We have the power of Choice. We are not forced to obey in the Christian life. WE obey because we Love Him.

We have that power within  us to reject god’s instruction – but where else shall we go?

If we refuse His words, which way will we turn.

If we turn away from the authority of God’s Word, to whose authority do we yield.

Our mistaken so often is that we generally turn to a human leader.

The word holiness occurs 650 times in the Bible  If we added similar words that mean the same such as sanctify or sanctified the number would go upwards of over 1000.

It is said that heaven is a holy place where nothing unclean can enter.  God himself is described by the adjective Holy – Holy Spirit, Holy Lord and Holy Lord God Almighty.

The bible also points out that “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14)

What does the word holiness mean? When the scriptures declare God to be holy, they mean that He is kind, merciful, pure and blameless with a white heat intensity of degree.

Holiness when referring to humans can be compared to the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galations 5:22 ----the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…….

This is the essence of this passage:   You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Psalm 119:33-40  UMH 842

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe them.

The psalmist acknowledges that life according to God’s law, while entirely dependent upon God, requires participation and reorientation on the part of the faithful.

The psalmist prays, “Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain” (v.36)  God provides the law and the understanding, but the psalmist has to follow the law and act with understanding.

Turning to God often means turning away from something else.  The speaker cries, “turn my eyes from looking at vanities,” which also can be translated as “worthless things” (v. 37.)

As we seek to discern God’s ways in the midst of complicated and troublesome situations, we would do well to echo the psalmist’s prayer for understanding,  seeking god’s gift of abundant life not only for ourselves and those who are close to us, but for the whole world.

I Corinthians 3:10-11, and 16-23

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ…

You are God’s holy temple and Gods Spirit dwells in you. God’s temple is holy and you are that temple.

You can be implied to an individual as well as to the “Church Community”.

Paul reminds the early Christians at Corinth to remain unified, to remember that they have only one true leader – Jesus Christ.

While Paul was writing, of course, to the people of the first-century church, division and misdirected priorities are not Unfamiliar to contemporary Christians of today.

It is easy to get mired down in quarrels over who is right, who is the most faithful, who is the best suited to be a leader in the church.

Paul has something different to say: a timeless reminder to the church to place God at the center of everything they do together.

Paul is urging intentionality, with a deep awareness that we build on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

Any other foundation will be tried by fire.

V. 12 and 13 ¹² Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

¹³ Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

The ultimate test for our ministerial work is the test of fire, the test of endurance in times of difficulty and challenge.

Paul further points out that we are the temple of God.  God dwells in the temple, but the temple is not a building, it is a community of believers. 

Community is what we are called to build, knowing that the holy spirit dwells in the people of God.

Matthew 5:38-48

Don’t be mad but be glad and turn the other cheek. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Jacob Damkani a Jew that accepted Jesus and has an Evangelistic ministry to the Jews faces this persecution daily in Israel. 

This sermon seems to push us to the limit.  But when we think of Jesus and the persecution he suffered it becomes clear….We are called to Love as God Loves.  It is a plan of action rooted in the promise to be made “children of your Father in heaven” (v.45).

The sermon here and elsewhere is a portrait of the very heart of God, one who loves the unlovable, comes among us in Christ, suffers our worst, and rises to forgive us.

Turn the cheek, give the cloak, go another mile, lend, love the enemy – because that is how God loves.

What do we get for loving, forgiving, being kind and gracious, and offering generosity?  Some of us are too suspicious of the outcome and may resist living the values of God’s realm.  We are more intent on making sure no one has a chance to abuse or tyrannize us again. Some of us are so stubborn we would rather be right than be in a relationship with others.

Some of us may shrug our shoulders and declare, “ I’m only human,” as a way to justify the failure we are unable to overcome on our own.

God’s community is filled with people who think of others first.  Every decision and action is carried out for the common good.  Each person is a sister or brother to the other and acts out of love.

The capacity for this kind of love is due to the empowering love given by God, who is love.  We are able to be gracious, forgiving, hospitable, and generous because we are children of the God who showers us with abundant grace, mercy, love, and protection.

John Wesley preached holiness and perfection. A hallmark of John Wesley’s Methodist revival and the variety of Holiness movements he spurred (Nazarene, Holiness, Assemblies of God) was the great seriousness with which they took Jesus’ command in 5:48 (Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Why would Jesus command such a thing if it were not possible?

Perfection does ot mean always choosing the right fork at the dinner table, nor does it mean attaining to such divine attributes as omniscience.  IT means loving as God Loves, with every breath God gives us.

“Be Perfect,” is not an indictment; it is a promise that carries the possibility that we may love the world as God has loved us – fully, richly, abundantly, and completely.

That is how we can love our enemies. Amen.