Blessed to Bless: Loving Enemies and Giving Freely

And he says that blessing is not a one way gift from God. It is a lived reflection of God's intent toward us. Love, do good, give freely. Here's an example. He finally restates these one last time, More concisely, he says, but love your enemies, do good and lend, give freely, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great. [00:30:23] (34 seconds)  #LiveTheBlessing

The final image of a good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over is a picture of God's generosity. It's not trying to skimp you on what I give you, but giving you a good portion, whether of wheat or of forgiveness. I'm gonna make sure as much grain gets into that measure as possible, shaking it and packing it down. And even then, I'm not going to stop, but I'm gonna let it flow over the top. [00:33:14] (28 seconds)  #GenerosityOverflow

Break the pattern of the world, Jesus says. Don't measure your actions, thoughts, and feelings by those of other human beings. He hasn't gotten there yet, but we sense it. Measure your actions, your thoughts, and your feelings by those you have received from God through Jesus. As you love God, you will find yourself loving others. This is a practical outworking of that great commandment. [00:29:27] (29 seconds)  #MeasureByGod

So and so was not generous to me. In fact, he took advantage of me, stole from me. But Jesus says, be generous. Give them another chance. Don't give them just as good or bad as they gave you. Do better than that. Be generous and open handed. I can't help but think of the old stories of the Hatfields and the McCoys, the feuds, the old gangs of New York, or even out here in California, the Bloods and the Cribs. There's just this perpetual cycle of revenge payback, and it never ends. [00:28:00] (34 seconds)  #BreakTheRevengeCycle

Each statement follows a similar pattern. If you only do these things for people who will do them for you, what's the credit to that? Even sinners do that much, if you bless only those who bless you. If you love those who love you, if you do good to those who do good to you, if you lend or give to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that? Even sinners do such things. [00:29:02] (24 seconds)  #BeyondReciprocity

We looked last week at reward, and it's not some kind of extra bonus in heaven, but it's living and being God's blessing in God's realm right here and now. He says it here. He says, you will be children, that is, inheritors, heirs of the most high, not because God rewards good behavior, but because God's grace, love, and salvation is the very blessing being described here. [00:30:58] (28 seconds)  #BlessingIsInheritance

Rather than dodging trouble by denying Christ with our words or actions, Jesus is teaching us how to lean into our faith and honor him in the midst of that trouble. Said again in Jeremiah's words, go the extra mile to bless those who are against you, and you will experience the blessing that you yourself seek as you see them encounter God. [00:32:48] (26 seconds)  #BlessToEncounterGod

Blessing gets at the heart of it. We are to seek God's best for the other first. This is going to be the common theme of this whole text throughout the day. Give freely to the thief. Finally, Jesus speaks of lending even to those who have taken from us, even giving freely when someone has not been as generous. This might be where the rubber hits the road for us. [00:27:33] (27 seconds)  #GiveFreelyEvenToThieves

Similarly, Jesus tells us to do good to those who hate us. He offers several actions that are sort of keyed in large part to the trouble we were told to expect. So he tells us, do good to those who hate you, and bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. All are in some ways similar to the challenge presented to us in Love Your Enemies. But Jesus fleshes out for us here some of the range of what that might look like. It can involve doing good or praying for the other. [00:27:00] (33 seconds)  #PrayAndDoGood

In fact, he'll circle through each of those responses three times, but it's clear that the blessing comes through responding as Jesus will respond, showing the grace that God has shown. If you want specific instruction on how to be blessed, Jesus gives it here, giving much the same message that Jeremiah gave the Jewish exiles about a thousand years before this. Seek the blessing of your enemies and you will come to experience God's blessing yourself. [00:23:55] (32 seconds)  #RespondLikeJesus

It is an outworking of God's covenant promise. It says, I will bless you that you might be a blessing in the world to others. It's a surprise because we're not used to thinking that way. We're used to me first or what's in it for me or I've gotta protect myself or that's not fair. Those are all the things Jesus set aside to come live and teach, and make a home among us. [00:29:55] (28 seconds)  #BeABlessing

So today, we move beyond those pairs of blessed are you with this and woe are you with that of last week. This week, we have a different style of teaching coming from Jesus. Last week, he was speaking, you you might recall, he was talking to the disciples, the inner circle, though the crowd did still hear his sermon. This week, Luke says that this sermon is addressed not to some select inner circle, but to all who would listen. By the way, that kind of means watch out. Some of this is gonna be hard to hear. [00:21:43] (36 seconds)  #HardTruthsForAll

He is still talking blessing, though. And in this instance, he is actually really remarkably direct for him. He says outright what he means. So much of the time, we see Jesus asking questions or telling parables. But in today's text, he just very outright says, do this, and he says several things. But it is still in the context of blessing. Interestingly, we tend to think of blessing as something we receive. But here, Jesus links it with a way of living, with a way of being. [00:22:20] (39 seconds)  #BlessingIsLifestyle

Not only is Jesus being pretty simple and directive here, he begins with, but I say to you who hear. That's the kind of thing teachers or parents might say to children, turn your listening ears on. And remember the context. Jesus has just said that blessed are those who are hated, ostracized, insulted, and scorned for the sake of the son of man, Jesus. In fact, we also learned in Colossians, whatever you do, do it heartily as for the Lord. So now Jesus is going to give some examples of what that looks like, especially in the context of the kind of trouble those who serve him might face. [00:24:34] (44 seconds)  #ListenAndLive

one thing we have here is love your enemies. These may be the very ones who hated, hurt, and came against you. It's the last thing we'd want to do. I get that. I think Jesus understood it too, and he completely got it, completely understood. [00:25:27] (19 seconds)  #LoveYourEnemies

He's already said that following him is gonna make enemies of some people. So what sense does it make them to stop following Christ when they stir up trouble? Because you know what? If you stop following Christ when they stir up trouble, that just serves their cause. They've won. If I trouble you for serving Jesus and your response is to stop serving Jesus and declare me your enemy, then I've already succeeded. [00:25:47] (31 seconds)  #StandFirmInFaith

Remember the lesson of Jeremiah. He told God's people who were so desperate for God's blessing, seek the shalom blessing of the city, and in their peace, you will know peace. As we participate in God's family and following Christ, we realize a blessing that we already have in him. [00:31:26] (21 seconds)  #SeekShalom

So whether kindness, mercy, judging, condemning, pardoning, or giving, our pattern is set by God, and our measure is set by God. Again, all this began with Jesus saying, blessed are you if you run into trouble on my account, and woe to you if you merely live for the approval of others. [00:32:15] (25 seconds)  #GodSetsTheMeasure

But as he did when Jesus entered the world, he offers a way to break that pattern. Love, do good, give freely. Then he repeats those three commands again in a different kind of format. This one sounds more like Jesus. There's a question with each one, and it kind of something to make you think. He turns our expectations on their heads, and I call this part the surprise. [00:28:34] (28 seconds)  #FlipExpectations