Mercy is messy and painful
Matthew 5:38–42 (ESV)
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Before we start!
· The law can’t save us, only Jesus can!
o The bible is Good, we are bad.
o We cannot do enough good works to enter into the Kingdom.
o The religious folks think it's a manual, it's a revealing of Gods greatness and our wickedness.
Matthew 5:38 (ESV) “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
Jesus was referring to the old Civil Laws of Moses
Deuteronomy 19:21 (ESV)
21 Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
· This law, like divorce certificates, was originally intended to deal with a societal problem by attempting to limit personal revenge.
· It did not allow individuals or families to take revenge, but was a guideline for the court.
· It was often reduced to monetary equivalents by the Jewish judges. However, the principle of limited personal revenge remains.
· Our court system and civil laws are based on these laws.
· It was not intended for revenge, it was intended to stop civil unrest and keep the peace in a fallen world.
· IT'S NOT Your CALL, that’s the biggest thing here; it's not your call! Paul says it best!
Romans 13:1–2 (ESV)
13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
If we just followed God's rules, there would be no need for laws!
God, through Moses, put these systems in place because we could not follow His 10 commands. In Matthew, Jesus tells us toward the end of his ministry on earth when asked what the most important commands were:
Matthew 22:37–40 (ESV)
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
It is a heart issue! We live in a fallen world, God's law should be sufficient. But because we live in a fallen world, we have to enact civil law. Because God's laws aren’t followed, and the devil has come to steal, kill and destroy! Jesus is showing us how true Christians are to live, out of love, not anger and revenge!
Matthew 5:39–42 (ESV)
39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
A fair warning, I am not a pacifist! I do not condone abuse of any kind!
· That’s not what Jesus is talking about here
· He talking about Mercy, Grace and living by a different standard than the world
· He’s talking about taking the High road
o You have to take the bible in its totality to understand Jesus
o He was not just thinking about the then and there (that’s how most bible scholars dismiss this teaching), He was talking about then and generations to come.
· JESUS SAID IT BEST!
Matthew 7:13–14 (ESV)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Mercy is messy!
· Being Jesus with skin on sometimes means “turning the other cheek”.
· Being Jesus with skin on sometimes means letting go of your stuff, so you can reach someone else.
· And sometimes it means giving your time when you don’t have it to give!
· And sometimes it means giving money, or stuff, or a ride even when you know the likelihood is, it won’t change the person.
Taking the high road means
· Sometimes taking an insult.
· Sometimes showing mercy where society calls for justice.
· Sometimes giving when you know you won’t get it back.
Are you Different?
1 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)
7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
· So if you’re truly a child of God, does anyone see anything different in you than they see in the world?
· Are you changing from the inside out, are you becoming Jesus with skin on?
· We must be Jesus with skin on. We must sometimes suffer an insult or lose a possession, or give tell it hurts to be Jesus, to a world that needs Him desperately.
Jesus paid the ultimate price, He turned the other cheek, and they beat Him even harder, He gave them His coat, and they gave Him a crown of thorns. He walked the extra mile, and they hung Him on a cross.
He did it all for you, so you could have eternal live not separated from the one true Holy God. He paid the ultimate price, He turned the ultimate cheek. So, I ask you again, will you be Jesus with skin on?
Closing:
Learning to forgive, showing mercy, even when it's messy is a choice. We choose to carry hate, we choose not to love, or we choose to show mercy, love and grace. After all isn’t that what Jesus did? He chose to forgive you, and save you a spot in Heaven!
Jesus loved you so much that even when you were a sinner, He suffered for you, He even died for you! He knew your life, my life, everybody’s life was going to be messy and so in His greatest sermon, He tells us to:
· Look past peoples faults (like He does)
· Give passionately even when it hurts (like He does)
· Suffer often (because He did)
· Always Forgive (because He still does for us)
· And to Love others as He Himself loves us, so we can go and multiply His Church!
You see it's not about your feelings, or you being inconvenienced, it's about His Glory, and your eternal soul. It's about trying to live the life He lived, so we don’t have to die the death He died. It's about glorifying the one who sacrificed for us all!
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