Preferences or obedience? Our challenge from a short sermon
By Dean Collins
Jesus went up the mountain, sat down and preached one sermon. It was his longest that we find in the Gospels. He gave the crowds a lot to think about. If you read it out loud it will take you about 17 minutes. It will take all of our lives to obey it, and we will fall short.
On another occasion Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, and he prayed all night. He called his disciples and from them chose 12 he named apostles. Then he came down the mountain, stood on a level place with his disciples and a large crowd, and preached a sermon. This one found in Luke 6 takes about 7 minutes to read out loud if you do it thoughtfully and don’t rush.
Agree?
Most of us have trouble listening to people talk for very long without being distracted, so we might like the shorter version. However the content is just as challenging as the longer sermon of Jesus—and equally difficult to obey. Most of us struggle with obedience. We prefer to modify and justify our behaviors and attempt to sanctify them. It’s a good thing God is merciful.
The essence of the gospel is that Jesus came down from Heaven to live on a level place and experience life as we do. From this level place he looked at his creation eye to eye. He stood shoulder to shoulder. He experienced the same cruelty and pain and was impacted by the sin that is pervasive in all of mankind. And he preached on that level plane to us just as he did to those who lived in the first century. He called us to live a new way in the kingdom of God, which he described many times during his three-year ministry.
If we are honest about our preferences and biases, we would likely admit we don’t really agree with Jesus’ teachings in this sermon. We might argue that they are unrealistic, idealistic, and out of touch. We can’t imagine that anyone from the right side or the left side of the political aisle would actually follow these teachings. And we have a tendency to assume that one must switch their political party to obediently follow this sermon from Jesus
Love?
In our current cultural moment, we seem to believe someone who doesn’t agree with us is not just our enemy but also an enemy of Jesus. We may find it very unattractive and seemingly impossible to actually love our enemies and do good to the people who may actually hate us. I might help out someone who agrees with me, but I am not usually first in line to lift up and help someone who is abusive to me or people I love. We also don’t usually give or lend money to our enemies. Our loans and gifts are reserved for the ones we know the best and trust the most. That’s just good business practice and common sense. What in the world was Jesus thinking when he said otherwise?
Nothing?
There are a couple of lines in this sermon that make me stop and evaluate the goodness of God and my obedience. The first is found in verses 35 and 36:
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Here Jesus repeats some of what he already said in earlier verses. It isn’t any easier in the second hearing than in the first to love our enemies and to do good, even lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Expecting nothing back includes that they would ever change their opinions to be the same as yours or mine. The last phrase of verse 35 and all of verse 36 is where we might want both to get on our knees and repent and also determine to live more like our Father in Heaven. “For he (God) is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” How very many times has this been us?! And then the challenge for our obedience: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” That’s a high and holy standard of behavior, yet it is what we are called to do.
Lord?
The other verse that should make us stop and think, pray, and answer is the beginning of verse 46:
“Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you”?
Jesus asked this of his disciples 2,000 years ago and he keeps asking his followers today. He gives us some assurance that if we will meet him on his terms and choose to do his work and not just talk or argue about it, then we will not only be on a level plain with him but the foundation of our lives will be so strong that no storm will be able to ruin our lives. We will stand firm for eternity.
Lord, forgive us for making our living based more on our preferences than on obedience. We have been ungrateful and have often ignored your words. Forgive us. Change us from the inside out so that we would be able to love others, even our enemies, with the love of Christ. Thank you for being merciful and gracious to us. Change our hearts so that we would offer grace and mercy to those around us. Amen.
Your time with God’s Word
Luke 6:17, 27-36, 47-49 ESV
Photo by Alex Shute at unsplash.com
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