Well hey, good morning Peace Church. It's good to be here with you all. I love being able to open up God's Word together over at Peace Church Wayland and so I'm excited to do that with all of you here this morning. And so Matthew chapter 5 verses 38 through 48 is where we're going to be for this morning. And so we're in the middle of our summer series, It Had to be Said. Quotes from Christ that changed the world. Now what we've been talking about in Wayland is that as followers of Jesus, as followers of the way of Jesus, His words matter. Meaning, we must hear His words and they must impact the way in which we live our lives.

We don't get to hear what Jesus has to say and then think to ourselves, yeah, no. We don't get to hear the words of Jesus and then think to ourselves, oh, that's too hard. I can't do that. That's asking too much. No, we don't get to choose which of his words we want to follow. And so I must that these words this morning are difficult. Especially in light of what happened last night, these words are difficult. And the title of the message is, Get Even. Get Even. And so with these difficult words, they are going to rub us the wrong way this morning. And so if you feel as if these words are rubbing you the wrong way and you want to send an email, go ahead and do that to pastorryan at peacechurch.cc and he will take that from there.

But no, these words are going to rub us the wrong way. We're going to feel collectively, personally attacked. We're going to want to defend our actions or the way in which we've acted previously. We're going to argue with Jesus. Jesus, if you knew my situation, Jesus, if you knew the people that I have to deal with, Jesus, if you knew what they've really done to me, or Jesus, if you would have seen this go down, you would have said these words differently. But let me assure you, he would not have said this any differently. No, these words that Jesus said needed to be heard in his day, and they need to be heard in ours.

And it is my hope that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can hear these words, we can feel conviction, we can repent, which means turn the other direction and we can live a fuller freer life so

What did Jesus say that was so difficult to hear? What did Jesus say that they needed to hear in his day and we need to hear in ours? Well, I'm glad you asked we're going to read that together Matthew 5 verse 38 through 48 again picking up verse 38,

Matthew 5:38-48

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,[a] 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.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,[b] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

This is the word of God. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we come before you with grateful hearts, grateful for the words of Jesus. Lord, we trust that Christ came into this world to save us, yes, but also to lead us into the abundant life, into a full life, into a free life. So Lord, help us wrestle with these words to that end. Help us to see clearly how we are to live as followers of the way of Christ. And Lord, we ask that the Holy Spirit

would be here with us, guiding us in all of these things and understanding His words. And Lord, we ask that the Spirit would shape and mold us into the image of Christ as we wrestle with His words. And it's in His name, Jesus Christ, we pray. And all God's people said, Amen.

Amen. All right, so here's where we're going this morning.

It had to be said that followers of Jesus express their Savior's heart towards others. They do not retaliate against those who wrong us or are unkind to us.

And so to be a Christian, to be a follower of the way of Christ, this is non-negotiable. We don't get to pick and choose whether or not we are called to these actions. But how?

What does it mean to express the heart of Christ? What does it mean to not retaliate? Well, number one, we express our Savior's heart by turning the other cheek and being willing to go the extra mile.

1. We express our Savior's heart by turning the other cheek and being willing to go the extra mile.

See, in verse 38, we see Jesus gives an antithesis statement.

"'You have heard that it was said, "'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'" And so Jesus is going to take this teaching from the religious leaders and he's going to use it to teach the exact opposite meaning that they use it to teach.

Jesus says, you've heard it said, you've heard it taught. And now Jesus is about to reveal how they've heard this taught wrong and how they've misapplied this principle. So now the religious leaders get this teaching from the Old Testament law, specifically Exodus 21, Leviticus 24, and Jesus quotes directly Deuteronomy 19, 21 here. And in these Old Testament passages we see the principle which is known as Lex Talionis, which means the law of retaliation. Now the law of the retaliation is a legal remedy ensuring the just punishment for a crime regardless of one's social standing. But the religious leaders taught this and misapplied this principle and they taught this principle in much the same way we think They taught something like don't get mad get Yeah We should fight fire with fire. Mm-hmm. I want my pound of flesh.

Yeah The religious leaders taught that that was an accurate application of this principle and what Jesus is saying here is that this is not it's It's not about getting even. It's not about revenge. Jesus is telling us that this law, the purpose and meaning of this law, had been twisted to justify or affirm sinful, wicked hearts of men. And the spirit of the law had been lost on the practical application of the law. Now I know you've heard it said, you've heard of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and the way in which we use that today still misses the point of the law as God gave it. God gave the law to limit revenge, personal revenge, to limit and to control angry outbursts from men. Again, God gave this law to ensure that the punishments levied by the courts was just, that it fit the

crime, and that it would work as a deterrent, meaning that people would understand what the just penalty is to a particular action and then choose not to act in that particular way, thus limiting crime and keeping people from taking vengeance into their own hands. So why is this important? Because if we're honest, we know that the tendency of the human heart is to strike back, is to get even, is to hit them harder than they hit me.

See, and we see this in our culture, right? You hurt me, I humiliate you. You say something mean, I punch you in the nose. You take an eye, I'll take your life." And I know, I know that sounds intense, but that's how people were living in Jesus's day, and that's still our go-to condition of our heart in our day.

Now don't raise your hand, but I wonder how many of you felt similarly after news broke last night. You heard what was going on on the news and something rose up within you. Okay, all right, it's time, let's go. But Jesus is saying, that is not how we as followers of Christ are to live. We are not to seek our own justice. We are not to seek our own revenge. See, we are called by the power of the Holy Spirit to crucify our flesh. See, and our flesh will always want to hurt them for hurting me. Our flesh will always want a pound of their flesh as revenge. Oh, but Christian, we are called to something different. We are called to something better. We are called to model and display the heart of our savior.

Proverbs 20, 22 says, do not say I'll repay evil. Wait for the Lord and he will deliver you. The apostle Paul, when writing to the church in Rome said this in Romans 12, 17, he writes, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. See in our flesh, our natural desire will be to strike back, to lash out. But what Jesus and the Apostle Paul is calling us to is a greater sense of strength, a greater sense of self-control, one that is not enslaved to the actions and the behaviors of others. No, we stop. We act intentionally, not out of, not uncontrollably. And we act with kindness as Christ did. What is honorable?

I think we have to first think about in any and all situations, what would bring the most honor to God? And what would bring honor to everyone involved? I think that's a good question for us to ask. See what Peter had to contribute to this conversation here. 1st Peter 3.9. And remember, in this context, Peter is writing to Christians who have been persecuted, beaten, and killed. So much so that has driven them out of their homes into foreign lands. And this is what Peter followers of Jesus. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling. But on the contrary, bless. What? Are you serious, Peter? Bless those who do evil to me? Bless those who do evil to my family? This is too high of a calling for those who follow Jesus. But listen, I want you to hear how this verse ends.

It says, do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless. For to this you were called that you may obtain a blessing. Listen, followers of Jesus, These words are where peace, hope, and joy are found.

This is where our blessings come from. Not in being sinless, but in blessing those who have done evil against us. Blessing those who have been unkind to us. The Apostle Paul continues on in 1 Thessalonians 5 to 15. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. See, the law was given, the law was a principle given by God to ensure just punishment for a crime in a court of law. Not too harsh, not too lenient, but fair. And this allowed people to trust that revenge, vengeance, justice would be found in the courts thus not sought after personally. But therein lies the problem. See the religious leaders and the Jewish people took this principle and taught it as a practical application for personal disputes, for personal offenses, as something that be handled by them individually, not by the courts. See, and this quickly grew out of hand as a regular practice, and it became a personal duty, a matter of honor to retaliate against anyone who had wronged them.

So the principle of an eye for an eye had been misapplied and taken as license for personal revenge. And so here are these words that would have shocked those listening. These words would have just hit them extremely hard.

But notice verse 39, Jesus continues, he says, "'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.'" So I wanna pause here and make something extremely clear. This verse is in no way saying that Christians should be pacifists

or that we're to sit back and endure physical abuse. That is not what Jesus is saying here. Physical abuse is never to be tolerated. And men, we are never to be passive. Part of our role is to meet and end a physical threat to those we love and those less physically able in our communities. It's part of our job. That's not what Jesus is talking about here. No, Jesus is referencing something that would have been culturally well-known to his original audience. And verse 39 has little to do with physical violence.

Brian, can you come up here real quick? So Jesus said that if someone hits you on the right cheek, turn to them the left also. Turn to them the other also. Why so specific? Well, in Jesus's day, just like ours, the vast majority of people were right-handed. So if Brian came up and he was a threat to me,

or I wanted to just punch Brian in the face and give him some physical violence, I'm coming up and I'm squaring up like this. And so if my intention is to harm him, I'm like this, I'm right-handed, just like the majority of people.

And so if we're like this, I'm going with the jab and bam. And so my right hand hits his left, the left side of his face. That's not what Jesus is talking about here. What Jesus is talking about here

is that in our social dynamics, I am so superior in my social standing and I get to humiliate him in front of a crowd of people with no fear of retaliation, with no fear that he's going to come back at me because I am so dominant. That's what I'm trying to display, is I will actually backhand him. And so it's not a physical violence, I'm going to model and display how humiliating it is to be you in front of everybody. Does that make sense? Thanks dude. And so me, in the example as higher class than Brian, I had such little respect and disdain for him, then I would backhand him to show and model and display that disdain. Showing my position of superiority or his worthlessness to everyone present. And so culturally, this is one of the lowest forms of disrespect. And historians will tell us that slaves would choose to be whipped on their back in front of a crowd as opposed to being backhanded because of how low a form of disrespect that was. And our culture, we're familiar with this kind of thing, right, when we say that was a backhanded compliment, or when we say, oh, well, that was a slap in the face. We're not talking about somebody came at us with physical violence to harm us. No, we're saying somebody tried to humiliate me. Somebody was trying to show me their position of authority.

So what is Jesus saying here? Jesus is saying that there are gonna be people who say awful things about you. They're going to insult you. They're going to disrespect you. And Jesus is saying that the way Christians respond must be different than the way in which the world around us, around us responds. How do you respond differently? In light of what happened last night, how are you going to respond differently than the world around you?

How are you gonna model and display the heart of our Savior through your social media activity, through your prayers when you go before the King in prayer? What's going to be uttered by you? Is it going to be vengeance? Is it going to be God of peace come? How do you respond differently? See, as followers of Jesus, we cannot play into this. We must turn the other cheek. Think of all the ways Jesus was insulted.

He was called a glutton, a drunk, a blasphemer, an illegitimate son, a madman, many other scandalous things, and he didn't retaliate. In fact, 1 Peter 2 tells us that when Jesus was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. Follower of Jesus, who do you entrust yourself to? What do you do differently than the non-believing world? And how does that reflect the heart of our Savior? Jesus continues in verse 40, and if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And so here again Jesus is speaking against an Old Testament law. He's speaking against a law that said if someone sued you for your your tunic, they couldn't sue you for your cloak, but Jesus is calling the believer to hand over their cloak. What is Jesus doing? Jesus is saying disarm those who come up against you. Disarm those who come up against you. See we're told by the world's standards that if someone comes up against us, we're to make it as difficult as possible for them. That we are to meet them in a tit for tat. They sue us, we sue them. They smear us, we smear them.

But again, we do not operate as followers of Jesus. We do not operate the way in which the world operates. We operate according to the words of Jesus, trusting that it's these words that lead us to the blessings, to the abundant life that he came to give us.

See, I think we as Christians, we're far more influenced by the world around us than we care to admit. These are the ways that it comes out. And as Christians, we're to be consistently seeking reconciliation in all things.

This idea or this passion to do whatever is necessary to bring about resolution to matters of conflict, to live out the calling placed upon the Christian by the Apostle Paul in Romans 12, 18, and if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.See Jesus just continues to hammer home this point He gives two more examples of first 41 It says if anyone forces you to go one mile go with him to to which I know of many of you finally Got one got one. Whoo Thought about my My girls I have all girls in my family wife two daughters and they went to the mud girl run yesterday over in Flint.

And they got back yesterday and I sat there, I was working in the yard all day, they get home, I sit down and I listen to my wife, Jessica, tell me about her experience and all the things of the Mud Girl Run, then I listen to my oldest daughter, McKenna, tell me about her experience and all the details of the Mud Girl Run, which was very similar to what her mom just told me. And then I listen to Lila, my youngest, telling me about her experience of the Mud Girl Run and all the details which mimicked the first two and I just thought man I am killing it. I just went three extra miles listening to my wife and my daughter. I'm killing it. That's not what Jesus is talking about here. No, Jesus is speaking about a Roman law that stated that any person could be forced to assist a Roman soldier in anything they needed done, anything they deemed necessary. And so do you remember when Jesus was carrying the cross and he fell to the ground and Simon of Cyrene picked up the cross?

Have you ever thought about why he did that? A Roman soldier ordered him to. See, a common thing in this time would have been for someone to be asked by a Roman soldier to carry their armor, but not because they were tired, not because they actually needed the help. The soldier would ask the civilian to carry his armor to humiliate him, to again show place in the social hierarchy to show and display his power. They would carry the armor, they would carry it what's known as a Roman mile or about a thousand paces, which is about a half mile in our measurements here today. And again, this was simply to show their dominance or control over them. So Jesus is saying, someone forced you to go one, go two. Are you beginning to see the radical calling placed upon the life of the Christian? That to be a follower of Christ, we cannot ignore these words of Jesus.

We cannot pretend like he's not giving us these commands to follow. We can't pretend like he didn't say them. No, we see this modeled by Jesus too, don't we? That any possible offense is an opportunity to display the grace and mercy and love of God to those who don't believe in it. That for us, the believer, knowing full well that we are children of the King and he has us in his hands, we get to offer mercy and grace to those who don't believe in it.

I can't tell you how many testimonies I hear from people say something like this, like I couldn't figure out why they were so nice to me after the way that I've treated them. Or two weeks ago I heard this, it bothered me that they would forgive me when I was so nasty to them. See, what are we as followers of Jesus, what are we showing the unbelieving world? Could you imagine an arrogant Roman soldier coming up to a Christian and saying, hey, carry my armor. They walk that mile. The whole time the Roman soldiers walk in, the Christians carry in the mile, modeling and displaying to everyone who's in control, who's in power and who is to be humiliated.

Then all of a sudden the Roman mile finishes up and the Roman soldiers like, all right, you can put it down. And then the Christian says, no, let's go. Let's go another mile. How would that jack with the Roman soldier's head?

Are you serious? I'm trying to humiliate you and you can't be humiliated. Not only that, think about if the Christian actually showed a genuine interest in the life of the Roman soldier. How would that completely mess with him?

That is the calling of the Christian. That is what we are to do, that we are to show genuine care, genuine love. We are to emulate our King. We are to follow the way of Jesus. Now for time's sake, I'm gonna skip verse 42, but feel free to do your own study on this. I think you'll see it falls in line with the point Jesus is trying to make, but give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you We'll move on to point number two.

2. We express our Savior's heart by loving our enemies by loving our enemies.

We express our Savior's heart by loving our enemies by loving our enemies. So let's pick this up in verse 43 says you have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy But I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." So Jesus is not saying this is how salvation is to be achieved. He again is correcting a wrong or bad teaching from the religious leaders.

Leviticus 19, Moses writes, you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord and so the call to love your neighbor The religious leader said no problem with but then they added apart. Let's hate our Enemies and so as followers of Jesus we are we are called not only to love our our Neighbor, but we are called to pray for those who persecute us for those we disagree with.

For those who wish to do you harm. I wonder how many of you last night, again, as that news rolled in, this was your initial response to pray for those who wish you harm. So, you know, we think, how can this be possible? How can this calling be so high that we are to pray for our enemies. Well, I want you to picture this, Christian, that God loved you when you were his enemy. I know we don't like that, but it's true. I think most of us, we tend to think of ourselves prior to meeting Christ as kind of neutral in the sight of God, but that's just simply not true. I was his enemy. You were his enemy.

And what did God do? He came for us. He rescued us. He redeemed us. He adopted us as his sons and his daughters. He saved us. And so we know from our own lives and our own experience. We know that our Lord loves his enemies. As Romans 5, 8 says, but God showed his love for us that while we are still sinners, Christ died for us. See, God is a God of mercy and grace and he is kind to those who don't deserve his kindness. And we are recipients of his kindness. Amen? And this is what Paul's talking about here. This is a gape love. A love that is only possible as a reflection of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now, to be clear here, loving our enemies does not mean we agree with their sinfulness. No, it means that like the Father, because we ultimately care for their souls, we love. As Romans 2, 4 talks about, it's God's kindness, it's his forbearance, it's his patience that leads people to repentance. And we are to follow the example of Jesus as set by the Father. Amen? One last thing I want to leave you with, so we're going to skip down to verse 48.

Jesus says, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. You therefore, in light of all that we just talked about, be perfect. The word for perfect here is not about being without sin. It's the Greek word, teleos, and it means to be mature, to be complete, or to reach the goal.

And that's what we're after, maturity, to grow in our own faith, to be complete in Christ. That's how all of this is possible. You cannot do this in your own power. See, I think most people tend to believe that what makes Christianity so hard is that we're to be morally perfect. No. What makes Christianity so hard is that we're to act and respond like Jesus.

Because Jesus, when we were his enemy, chose to come and he didn't only turn the other cheek, but he gave up his entire body to be beaten. He didn't only walk with us one mile, he walked all the way up the hill to Calvary to be crucified. He didn't only give up his tunic, he gave up his cloak, he gave up his life, he gave up everything. And for followers of Christ to accurately reflect the agape love, the heart of our Savior, it had to be said that followers of Jesus express their Savior's heart toward others.

They do not retaliate against those who wrong them or are unkind to them. Amen? Amen?

Let's pray.