Love vs. Judgement

Luke 6:27-6:38
Dedicated to Larry Norman

Beginning last week, we have been exploring Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain,” as one commentator calls it. Jesus’ began his teaching with a series of blessings and woes. They were almost the complete opposite of what the world teaches. Blessed are the rich? No, blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Woe to the rich, for they have already received their comfort. Blessed are those who can eat anything they want? No, blessed are the hungry, for they will be satisfied. Woe to those who are well-fed now, for they will go hungry. Blessed are those who laugh? No, blessed are those who weep, for they will laugh. Woe to those who laugh, for they will weep. Blessed are those whom others speak well of? No, blessed are those who are hated, excluded, and insulted because of their faith in Jesus, for that is how they treated the prophets. Woe to those who are well-liked, because that is how they treated the false prophets.

And following these general sayings that turn the world’s wisdom upside down comes this:

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. – Luke 6:27-28

How does this square with the wisdom of the world? Upside down! You don’t love your enemies, you destroy them! Who are you supposed to love? Your family and friends! Love those who love you. Treat them right so you keep their love.

In that first sentence, the words Jesus uses are very strong words. The word for “enemies” is echthros, which can mean a personal enemy. This is someone who knows you and hates you, not someone who just hates a group you are associated with. The word for “hate” is miseo, from which our word miserable is related. This is again, a personal hatred, hatred so strong that you don’t just let them leave, but you pursue them and hunt them down. The word for “curse” is kataromai, which doesn’t just refer to someone who says “You $$##&&!" but who actually calls down the gods to curse or doom you to death or everlasting torment. The typical ancient Greek believed that gods would literally honor such curses, if you made the request with a sufficiently large sacrifice to them. And the word for “mistreat” is epereazo, which means to insult, threaten, or even abuse.

All right, so we aren’t supposed to hate our enemies or try to destroy them. So what do we do? Tolerate them? Ignore them? Give them a pleasant, if insincere, smile? No. Jesus says to love your personal enemy. The word for “love” is agapao, the same root as agape, a sacrificial love. “Do good” is poimeo kalos, to actively do things excellently, to give it your best effort. “Bless” is eulogoeo, to praise and to invoke blessings upon – while your enemy is asking his gods to curse you, you are to ask your God to bless him. And the word for “pray” is proseuchomai, continuing the same thoughts. It implies intercession, repeated ongoing prayer for this person.

Based on these words and their meanings, who is your enemy or enemies? Is it someone you don’t like or someone who doesn’t like you? It is someone who doesn’t like you. These are not good people – they can be downright evil, and yet Jesus tells us to love them, do wonderful things or them, praise them, and intercede for them.

Given this is the case, what about people we don’t like? Sometimes these are the same as the people who don’t like us, but sometimes there are other people we don’t like for other reasons. Sometimes it is impersonal. When I get to campus a little bit late and can’t find a parking place, I can get mad at the people who have made the campus master parking plan, because I think back over the years and realize that the number of faculty have increased while the number of faculty parking spaces has decreased significantly. Some of these spaces have been taken for what I would say are stupid reasons. What about the person at the checkout counter at Wal-Mart or wherever you shop who takes forever, or stops to chat, or overcharges you out of laziness to look up a code? What about the people whoever they are, who must be responsible for the fact that food and gasoline prices seem to go up every week? What about the people at the credit card company who pretend to get your check past the deadline and charge you a late fee even though you mailed your payment with plenty of time to spare? You get the idea.

If we are supposed to love our true enemies, those who want to kill us, how are we supposed to be towards the people who cause our daily irritations and frustrations? The only conclusion I can come up with is that we simply aren’t given the luxury of disliking people, not in this way. Plain and simple, this is sin. We are disobeying God when we indulge in our internal rants against those who irritate us.

Do you do this? I do. Do you know how often you do it? This week I asked God to show me how often I do this. It was depressing. Do you make your thoughts captive to Christ, as the Bible verse says? Are you even aware of what you think? God can help make you aware, but it requires that you think about Him throughout the day. You may find even doing this a great challenge, but with persistence and prayer, God will help you to see what you think. In the world of computer programming, we use something called a “debugger” to understand why a program is not working correctly. It is essentially a second program that runs on top of the first, letting you know step by step what the first is really doing. Forgive my geeky moment, but we need to ask God to be our debugger – to let us know what we are thinking. I will warn you, though, that you may not like the results.

If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. – Luke 6:29-30

Jesus’ instructions seem to only get worse. Does Jesus really mean to literally give the person who strikes you your other cheek? Although I do think Jesus is using a bit of hyperbole – an exaggeration to make a point – the message is pretty radical nonetheless. In each case, the struck cheek, the cloak, and the taken possessions, the message is do not retaliate. You are not to strike him back, or grab your cloak back, or demand back whatever it is that has not been returned.

Now I have to admit that when I was in graduate school I lived in an apartment complex that had individual balconies, and one day, the students in an apartment a few doors down climbed into our balcony and stole our hibachi grill. Now, I did not see them do it, but I know they did it, because there was our old, rusty, one-of-a-kind hibachi grill on suddenly on their balcony, the very same day ours was missing! I have to confess that I did not follow Jesus’ instructions at all. I waited until evening, and could tell they were not home by the fact their lights were off. And then I climbed from my balcony to theirs and took back my hibachi! This was not a particularly safe thing to do, particularly since holding the hibachi was difficult to do with just one hand. And I was very afraid while I did it, not of falling, but of being caught and arrested. It would be a difficult thing to explain to a policeman. And when I finished the job, I didn’t feel triumphant at all, but I felt like a thief! I am sure that was the Holy Spirit. I don’t remember if these verses or the similar verses in Matthew came to my mind at that time, but I don’t doubt it. So the message of these verses is to do exactly what I didn’t do. Don’t take back your hibachi! Or whatever it is that has been taken from you. Don’t retaliate!

There are many more ways to retaliate beyond the examples Jesus gives here. You can retaliate by telling on someone. You can retaliate by being less than helpful when the person later asks for your help. You can retaliate by simply doing nothing when you see or think of something that could have helped this person but you choose not to do it. Again, all these things are sin. And we have no idea how often we do subtle things like this unless we ask Jesus to be our “debugger.”

Do you understand this passage? Then let me quickly point out that it isn’t to be taken out of context or overly literally. This passage doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t lock up criminals, or that we shouldn’t call the police when we witness a crime, or that we should literally take the clothes off our body to give to robbers. By the way, the tunic is the inner (or under-) garment; if you lived back then and took that off, you would be very nearly naked!

Do to others as you would have them do to you. – Luke 6:31

After telling us to love our enemies and to never retaliate, Jesus says what we now know as the Golden Rule. Now, there were others, such as Rabbi Hillel, who taught what you might call the Golden Anti-Rule: Do not do to others what you would not want done to you. That is actually much tamer than what Jesus says here. I find that I often think of the Golden Rule in this milder version. But what Jesus says is much more extreme. It is not about what you don’t do, but what you do. After a long hard day’s work, would you like to have your wife fetch your slippers, bring you a hot chocolate, and massage your back? Then you should do the same for her when you come home, because her day with the kids was even more exhausting than yours!

What I find most profound about the Golden Rule is that it doesn’t say to do to others as they deserve. In this sense it really flows naturally from Jesus’ commands (and yes, these are commands, not suggestions) in the previous verses. Do to others as they deserve. Doesn’t that sound reasonable? Isn’t that fair? Oh, but you better be glad that God does not operate that way with you!

No, it says to do to others as you would have them do to you. Someone once told me that if you are trying to figure out what to give someone, take a look at what they give others. Usually that is something they want. Jesus is basically encouraging this behavior. What do you want? Give it to them! And who is “them”? See the previous verses. “Them” includes your enemies! In fact, the context is that this is the only “them” Jesus is really talking about!

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. – Luke 6:32-34

So you see what I have just said is true. The “them” in the Golden Rule does not refer to those who love you – anyone can be nice to them! But the “them” in the Golden Rule refers to those who hate you! Treat them as you wish you were treated!

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. – Luke 6:35-36

Does God follow His own rules? Absolutely! God gave us Jesus, the most precious Person to Him in the universe. And who were we? His enemies!

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

These commands of Jesus are a huge deal because they make us become like Christ! No one has ever fulfilled these commands, including the Golden Rule, in a greater way than Jesus. He has loved His enemies. He has not retaliated. He has treated us, His enemies, with the ultimate expression of agape love: the sacrifice of His own body. Jesus summarizes His commands with these three: Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend without expecting repayment.

Let me say a bit more about lending and not expecting repayment. Back in Jesus’ day, and even up to 19th century England, there was something called debtor’s prison. Do you know what this is? This is where you go if your lender chooses to go to the authorities after you are unable to repay your debt according to the terms agreed upon. It may seem strange to send a debtor to jail, because while he is there he cannot work. But this was not a nice place to be. Even basic necessities were not provided unless your family paid for them. Your loved ones would go to everyone they knew to try to collect enough money to settle your debt and get you out. After you were released, now you would owe the money to those who had helped you get out. Jesus says to the lender don’t do this – don’t demand, or even expect, repayment! Are you willing to lend to someone under these terms?

Again, this is a huge deal because it is like us and Christ. Can we repay our debt to Him? Of course not! He gave Himself on the cross so that we could have eternal life with Him. There is absolutely no way to repay this, and Jesus does not even want us to try. He wants us to love Him for it.

How about you? Do you love your enemies? Do you never grumble against others? Do you seek to do good to those who hate you or those who don’t care or those who cannot repay? Are you living like Christ? These are not meant to be instructions that we gloss over and say, “Oh, I could never do that.” We give lip service all the time to wanting to be like Christ. Well, do you really want to do it or not? Do you really want to know Him? Then you must try to be like Him. We must learn to be agape lovers – unconditional, sacrificial lovers of those who don’t love us back. We must learn to be radical mercy showers, debt forgivers, like Christ.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." – Luke 6:37-38

Four commands, each with a consequence. Here is the negative side: If you judge, you will be judged. If you condemn, you will be condemned. If you don’t forgive, you won’t be forgiven. If you don’t give generously, things will not be given generously to you.

Do you judge? Do you condemn? What do these mean? Many in the world say that this means that we can never call something sin, or say anything bad about something someone is doing. Is this what Jesus means?

I don’t think so. Perhaps a better translation might be “Do not prejudge.” What English word is closely related to “prejudge”? Prejudice. To prejudge is to decide someone is doing something sinful based on your own ideas of what is sin, rather than on God’s Word. We have already seen examples of this in Luke. The Pharisees prejudged when they saw Jesus at the party with tax collectors and sinners. They prejudged when Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath. They prejudged when Jesus picked grain on the Sabbath. They prejudged when Jesus’ disciples didn’t seem to be fasting enough.

Do we prejudge? When we think less of someone because they have a beer or a glass of wine, we prejudge. When we look down on someone because of how someone spends the rest of their Sunday, we prejudge. When we think less of someone because of clothing styles, movie choices, or any other gray area that is subject to individual interpretation, we prejudge. That doesn’t mean we may have different convictions for ourselves on these matters, and it doesn’t even mean that we cannot discuss these things – it just means we should not do them in a prejudging way. And any discussions we have on these matters should be based on an existing healthy two-way relationship, bathed in prayer, and covered with love.

There is another way we can prejudge: through gossip. Gossip is all about prejudging. If no prejudging went on in gossip, gossip would be so boring that nobody would do it! When we think of gossip, I think we see the heart attitude problems that were present with the Pharisees: there is present a smug superiority, that “How can she do that? I would never allow that!” attitude. At this point we move from prejudging to what Jesus calls condemning. Condemning is like you have been judge, jury, and jail. When you move to condemning, you not only have judged, but your judgment is final, and it significantly affects your relationship with that person. You either avoid them, or you have to use “southern manners” to hide your true feelings.

Once again, we should not assume that we never do this! In work environments, with extended family, and other relationships, it is very easy to prejudge and even condemn without even noticing that you are doing it! If we really want to live for Jesus, and be like Him, we need to ask God to expose our sin to us, to be our debugger.

David did this. Here is his prayer:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. – Psalm 139:23-24

In a sense, the opposite of judging and condemning is forgiving and giving. In these Jesus says to be generous, and God will be generous. I love the description: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. Probably the picture here is that of flour, which can be compressed down so as to get more in the measure, and then also shaken, to press get out all the air bubbles, and then filled to overflowing. If you try this with flour, you can probably get two cups into a single measuring cup. (By the way, the Greek word for measure is metron from which we get the word metric.) But I have to confess – when I think of this verse, there is something I like to think about much more than flour: ice cream! Have you ever been to a place to get two scoops of ice cream and they do this? First they press it down to get more in the scoop, and then they fill the scoop to overflowing, and then they press it down tightly into the cone so there is room for even more! Yum!

Here is a hard question. Does Jesus mean there are consequences here on earth with regards to our judging, condemning, forgiving and giving, or eternal consequences in heaven? First of all, I am sure they cannot cancel salvation – this is a free gift, based not on our righteousness, but on Christ’s and our simple faith to accept it. But that being said, I think there can be consequences both in this world an in eternity! In Matthew, Jesus talks about laying up treasure in heaven. Whatever that treasure is, God’s generosity, it would seem, can be affected by our generosity, or our lack of it. A sobering thought!

In fact, I find all of Jesus’ words we have gone through today quite sobering. The truth is that at different times I have done every single sin Jesus has mentioned here. And I continue to do them!

I want to spend the last 15 or so minutes today reading something written by Larry Norman. Are you familiar with this name? Larry Norman was a Christian rock-and-roll singer before there were Christian rock-and-roll singers. He began way back in the 60s. His first band was called “People!” because it was an answer to all the animal groups like the Monkeys, Beatles, etc.. He had a severe heart attack in 1992 and was told he had only days to live. He lived, miraculously, and although he battled severe complications of that heart attack from then on, he continued to write music and sing. You can find a good number of his videos online, and the best way I can describe him is to say that he had a sweet spirit, and it “smelled” of Christ. He died last weekend, finally succumbing to his many medical problems. In memory of him, and because it fits today’s message so well, here is a portion of his 2007 Christmas letter. I have edited out some sections for flow and length.

[After a Christmas greeting, he goes on to talk about how some sins are visible, social sins, like smoking or drinking. He also mentions how dancing is seen by a sin in some groups. He talks about how they are cultural – for example, in the past, nothing was seen wrong with smoking (C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton smoked and drank), and how different cultures even today have radically different standards about these things. And then he goes on:]

"So let us put away all of these thoughts of the visible and obvious sins, the debatable habits, the social and cultural sins. This is all baby stuff. These sins are easy to kill compared to the hidden, deeply rooted sins that are controlling your will and destroying your joy. And that's all I'm concerned with discussing.

"Once you have begun dying the daily death, and this can only be done by asking God where to begin, how can you locate the Inner Door which leads to the Hidden Landscape and Winding Road on the long, Shadowed Journey from Ignorance to Righteousness?

"The last series of self-murders are far beyond [the visible sins]. They are the bloody murders of your soul life, when you take in hand and put away your Favorite Sins. These are the ones that seem so hard to root out, to cut off, and to burn. Are you prepared to take the leap and ask God to help you destroy your most secret sins?

"Take a minute and say this out loud, but quietly. "I will never [lust], ever again. I will never lie or exaggerate, ever again. I will never hold a grudge, ever again. I will totally forgive those who have harmed me or offended me and never hold any judgmental thought about them, ever again. I will only feel love for them."

"How do you feel so far? Is this going to be easy for you? Will you have victory over even these few basic secret sins? And make no mistake: "Never [lust] again" would also mean never looking at any salacious graphic material on your computer, and never stopping in the media aisle at the grocery store or a magazine stand, leafing through some magazine while your conscience burns and your guilt weighs heavily upon you. It also means never again letting your eyes dart to a girl’s [body], at church, at work, while shopping. It means you will ask God to help you PURIFY THY HEART and CLEANSE THY EYES.

"Some of you men are thinking, "well it sounds very idealistic, but it's just not possible. I know I can't really do it, and I doubt if anyone else can either."

"But you'd be wrong. Because yes, it can be done. You can kill off your favorite sins. You can destroy your secret sins.

"Give It Up"

"You can hit it or choke it.

It will not cry.

The only way to kill it is to give it up

You can stab it or shoot it.

It will not die.

The only way to kill it is to give it up

And yes. This song reveals the secret. Give it up.

"If someone comes to me and says "I have a terrible problem with this or that. And I have prayed, gone forward for prayer. I've fasted and I've done everything I can think of. But I still have the problem? What can I do?"

"Then I will tell them. "There is only one real solution. God will help you in this and you'll be free forever. And this is the singular principle.  Never do it again. That's the secret formula for absolute victory. Go and sin no more. Knock it off. Don't do it anymore". Basically, it is sin that is the ultimate war within ourselves.  As Paul indicated about the battle within his own conscious observation of faith versus flesh, "For the good that I would do, I do not; but the evil which I would not do, that I do." (Romans 5:18-19)

"Picture a pyramid, upside down, balancing on the pointed end. Is this the most solid way to balance a pyramid or balance a triangle? No. And yet in Matters of Spirit, things often work in the exact opposite construct as we have become familiar with in our material world.  Do you want to be a follower of God? Then plan no grand accomplishment for you are not volunteering to do great things for God. You are submitting so that God might do great things within you.

"So at the bottom of the triangle is this admonition: "Root out your secret sins."  And once you have managed to do this then you can move up by increment and meter which eventually leads you to the Solid Foundation. And that is this: "You must die daily unto self and live unto God".

"And next is this revelation: "When you have allowed God to help you cut at the roots and die to the self, then you are ready to begin Listening. And at first you will most likely hear nothing. For God shall not speak to you loudly enough to drown out street traffic and television. But as you listen solely for His voice, you will notice that the other voices in your world have begun to be more silent.

"And as you begin this new journey you will discover that: "When you hear the Still, Small Voice, you must obey it Without Hesitation."  And next is this: "Be not Conformed to the world but be Transformed by the Renewing of your Mind."  And then begins this: "Let this mind be in you that is in Christ Jesus."  And next you will be instructed: "The double minded man is unstable in all his ways." So stand firm, and unmoved by any force except God.

"Now you are some distance away from where you began, the sharp point of the promontory - and your personal life will appear to be closer to the upended base.  But when you allow God to lead you upward you will find that the solid rock you are standing on was all the time balanced on its foundation and that it was your veiled, sin-sodden mind that perceived the world in a wrong way.  Now forget about this picture of a high promontory above the solid foundation God has helped you stand upon, because this journey really begins with the sound of a door and a faint knocking and then the opening of that door and the revelation of light from Christ Jesus which illuminates your very soul, and all the secret sins growing in the shadows of your crooked heart.  And that is why you must begin any intention for a deeper relationship with God and any liberated walk with Christ by the dying to these dark things first.

"What Christians tend to do, is what non-believers also tend to do: they add on layers of righteousness and social propriety, decency and generosity on the outside without first killing that which is within.  If you had spiritual eyes you would see yourselves as whitewashed sepulchers. Filthy rotting things which bring forth death and avoid the life that God has for us, yet on the outside seem to be clean and commendable. This process of self-deception is the same for both "Christians" and for "unbeliever".  We are content to go to church, learn people's first names, give them our winning smile, or join committees, make donations, give our time and energy to some political idea that brings civic pride to us.

"And it is SO VERY DIFFICULT to get Christians to give up this comfortable, socially supported, malaise so they can finally enter into the difficult process of daily death.  I've got nothing else to say about this right now. When you are ready to know more and understand what you've just read, God will instruct you personally through His Holy Spirit. […]

"It is crucial that you Die - so that you might Live.  "For unless a seed is buried in the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit." The revelation of righteous, spiritual life comes only with the thorough destruction of your self and selfishness, through a spiritual death.  If you're still trying to improve yourself or add something to you, it cannot happen. Without your death you will not follow after Him. You will simply try to use the mystery of God for your own self-realization.  There is perhaps no greater deception than this: that being in Christ is a benefit to us. Do you want to partake in the new creation? Leave YOU behind. […]

"God became flesh and inhabited this world, walking among us. Love and Faith demonstrated Holiness and Healing. Then Jesus, the Christ, lifted himself up as a sacrifice for us, so that through His death might come new life for every man and woman, be it boy and girl, or those about to leave this world for the next. Jesus died so that we might live. He killed sin and the darkness so that we may walk in liberty within the light. […] 

"The gifts were those which came out of Christ's crucifixion. Salvation. Sanctification. Confession. Repentance. Restoration. Resurrection. [The gospel] is about Death. And Resurrection. And Hope. And Faith. And Love.  He who puts himself first shall be last, but he who puts himself last will be first.  To find the beginning of spiritual life you have to start at the beginning of spiritual death.  One person completely yielded to God is the most powerful human force on the face of the earth.  Your strengths shall be your weakness, but your weaknesses shall become your strengths, in Christ. So open your heart to the mysteries of God and watch and pray.  Happy dying my brothers and sisters." – Larry Norman

Here are some of Larry’s last words: “I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God’s hand reaching down to pick me up. […] I am ready to fly home. […] Goodbye, farewell, we’ll meet again, somewhere beyond the sky. I pray that you will stay with God; goodbye, my friends, goodbye.”