The Real Values Of The Kingdom: Real Kingdom Goodness 3.0 Matthew 5:38-48

- We've been exploring for the last month what the goodness of the kingdom of God looks like in a person's heart and we've been looking at some ways that we can get our hearts into that condition.

- We've explored how to move out of being angry, having contempt for others, and dealing with selfish desires. We have been reminded in the words of Jesus that a good heart is a heart that repents, a heart and life that turns away from what we know and learn to be wrong and commits to doing what is right, that's repentance.

- As we go to the last 10 verses of Matthew chapter 5, I want to ask a question for us to keep in our minds that I believe Jesus answers: what did Jesus tell his listeners is the best response when others hurt them? And what is Jesus telling us is the best response when others hurt us?

- A university professor awoke from a deep sleep to the sound of his telephone ringing off the hook at three o'clock in the morning. The voice on the other end of the phone said, "This is your neighbour Mr. Smith. Your dog is barking and keeping me awake." The professor thanked him kindly, hung up the phone and returned to bed. 24 hours later, Mr. Smith's telephone rang at exactly 3 o'clock in the morning. "This is the professor," said the voice, "I just wanted you to know that I don't have a dog!" (Paul Lee Tan, 7700).

- A very religious but cranky old woman was very annoyed because her neighbours forgot to ask her to go on a picnic they were having. On the morning of their picnic they realized how they had offended her and so they sent their young son to invite her to come along. "It's too late now," she snapped at the boy, "I've already prayed for rain." (Paul Lee Tan, 7700).

- What is the best response when others hurt us? The professor's return call at three o'clock in the morning and the old woman's prayer for rain remind us of the importance of Jesus words to us this morning. It is never right to get even because revenge does not come from a loving heart.

- When we are getting even with someone, love is the furthest thing from our minds. Revenge and love are opposites. The two simply cannot go together. Like oil and water, they do not mix.

- Jesus paints a very simple picture of what someone who has a kingdom heart does when they are wounded or hurt by others: "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also...If someone tries to take your shirt, give him your coat as well. If someone forces you to go 1 mile, go with him 2 miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."

- For the sake of the ones who hurt us we need to: stay vulnerable; help the one who sues us for our shirt; do more than others ask of us by going above and beyond; and give to those who have no claim on our money.

- Does it mean doing these things no matter what? No, it means freely deciding to do them in the moment. It means we do them for the greater good because we are keeping in mind God's eye view of our situation and the situation of the one who hurt us. 

- On a tall ship who has the better view, someone standing on the deck or someone perched in the crow's nest? The answer is obvious the one perched in the crow's nest, but God has the greatest point of view.  If we can keep God's eye view in mind, then we will be able to choose what is best.

-And why would we want to do these things? We do them because they show to others that the kingdom of God is present in our hearts and lives. We do them because the God of love lives in us and calls us to love others.

- If we love God and love others and if God lives in us, then we will respond to others in noticeably different ways than the cranky old woman responded to being left out of the picnic and we will respond differently than the professor to his early-morning caller.

- We will respond as Jesus responded. What did Jesus say about his murderers? Father, forgive them for they don't know what they are doing.

- I wonder how often though we need to pray that prayer of Jesus only turn it around on ourselves like this, "Father, forgive me for I don't know what I'm doing."

- Jesus always kept a God's eye view of everyone around him. He was always able to see people through the eyes of his heavenly Father. How do we keep a God's eye view of people? There really is only one way to do that and that is to look at others in the same way that we expect God to look at us. God has not just made himself available to you and to me, but God has made himself available to the people who hurt us and even to our enemies.

- Speaking of enemies, Jesus said, ⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons 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. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

- A person who has the goodness of the kingdom of God in his or her heart is a person who is able to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors. How is that person able to do that? The kingdom hearted person is able to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors because they are able to keep up a God's eye view.

- Now, does this all mean that we will act like we are doormats and allow people to walk all over us matter what, being passive all the time merely accepting whatever comes our way? No, what it means is that we will knowingly choose to act out of love.

- You know, even terrorists, motorcycle gangs, the Mafia, and other criminals love those who love them, but the highest demonstration of love is loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you.

- Why would we want to do that? Well, we would do that because God does it. In his love, God causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall for both the evil and the good. His love is perfect, it is total, complete and he calls each one of us to learn to love as he loves. As Jesus said, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

- The response of love and prayer for enemies and persecutors is the opposite of how we would normally respond. Our natural response for those who hate us, persecute us and who would call themselves our enemies would be to pray and wish for God to wipe them off the face of the earth and maybe even to lay plans for that to happen.

- That is the response of Islamic fundamentalism. Certain fundamentalist Muslims hate the United States of America so they laid plans to bring the powerful country to financial ruin through the destruction of the twin towers and to cripple the government through the attempted destruction of the Pentagon.

- People who belong to the kingdom of God are not to behave this way, but are to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them.

- The message of Jesus is a message of love.  If we want to become the kind of person that Jesus is talking about, then we need to learn to love.

- God's love is the right response to all of life's harmful forces.

- Remember the Pharisees. It was a Pharisee's goal in life to keep the law rather than become the kind of person whose actions naturally show that godly love fulfills the law. - How do we become the kind of person who responds with godly love when the harmful forces of life press in on us and hurt us? How do we do that?

- I believe Jesus gives us at least two disciplines that we can practice in our Scripture lesson today. The first spiritual discipline I want to mention is the discipline of service, doing something that needs doing for someone else. If we are going to learn to turn the other cheek, give up our coat as well as our shirt, go the extra mile, and give to those who ask of us, then we are going to have to serve people that we don't particularly like or that we think don't particularly like us. At the very least, for service to be a spiritual discipline, we need to choose to do some things we either don't like doing or would not ordinarily do, and we need to do them out of love. If we can learn to serve others as an act of submitting our life to God, keeping his eye view in mind, and knowing he loves them as much as he loves us, then we can learn to love as he loves. Not only that, but we will start becoming the kind of people God wants us to be.

- The second spiritual discipline I want to mention is prayer. When we pray for people who don't like us, who have it in for us, or whom we feel are out to get us, then we are disciplining ourselves to exercise godly love.  When people hate us for whatever reason and we choose to respond by praying for them, by forgiving them, by asking God to remove any bitterness or resentment from our hearts, by praying for God to show up and show off in their life and show them that he is real, and that they would come to know the Lord Jesus, then there is no greater prayer, no more loving prayer than that.

- God's love is the right response to all of life's harmful forces.