Radical Love
Scripture Reading: Luke 6: 27 - 38 (NIV)
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34And 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. 35But 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 children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, 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.”
Message: Radical Love
Blessed, and now what?
This follows last week’s message, where the theme of being blessed
Last week with all the snow… we asked the question what it means to be blessed?
We took a look at the Beatitudes and reflected on what Jesus said it means to be blessed
And we concluded that being blessed is all about aligning your life with God
The idea that blessing is to be found in living your life in line with God’s will
Jesus continues his sermon on the mount (Luke version), after the beatitudes by describing what radical love looks like
He gives us direct examples of what it looks like when we align our lives with God
Jesus gives us the example of radical love
Before we go into theses examples, let’s just make this mental note: there is a connection between being blessed and loving radically
If you want to intentionally align your life with God, you have to keep working hard at loving in a radical way
The choice of loving radically
This is Jesus giving very practical advice on how to live, aligned with the God of love:
(And when we discuss these examples Jesus gives, I want to invite you to think of a person who represents that example in your life)
Love your enemy - your enemy is the one who’s on the other side (USA on Thursday’s game?)… but even more than that - those who oppose you… those who think you are wrong… those who want to conquer you… put you down to be victorious over you - you need to love them
Bless those who curse you - those who do not have a good word for you… those who insult you… those who talk behind your back… those who insult you… you need to bless them!
Pray for those who mistreat you - those who have done you short… those who take advantage of you… those who exploit you… those who disrespect you… those who treat you the wrong way… Pray for them
Turn the other cheek - do not retaliate… fight the urge to get even… leave it in the hands of God… We read in Romans 12: 19, 20 “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Don’t hold back - do not save some for later… be passionate in the way you love… be genuine… be unreserved… spontaneous… in Proverbs 3: 27, 28 se read: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbour, ‘Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you’—when you already have it with you.”
Forgive debts - don’t keep the score… Love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor 13: 5)… learning to forget… really forgot, not saying “it’s ok” and then carrying resentment in your heart
Do to others as you would have them do to you - when we remember that life is not just about me, and that I am not just here for myself, my behaviour towards others will change… I will make the expectation I have to be treated the way I treat others
Love against the odds, be merciful - be merciful with the people crossing your path… know that everyone has a story that you are probably not aware of, even though they are different… even the most aggressive person has a story… be merciful because you don’t know the full story…
Don’t judge - and with that, do not judge… Not only you don’t know the full story, but it is not your place to cast judgement… Remember what Jesus said about the plank in your own eye? Stop looking for a speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye…
Forgive - This is one aspect of radical love we probably struggle the most with… but Jesus feels strongly about forgiveness… we will struggle to get an understanding of God’s love for us when we struggle to forgive…
Be generous - Do not be slow to share to share… Everything you have has been given to you… even everything you feel you have earned in life…
Radical Love as a response
This is a tough list to do! I struggle with this a lot!
What do we do when we struggle with practicing radical love?
I think seeing the words of Jesus in the context of the rest of his sermon helps…
The Radical love He proposes is not a response to a situation (or that person you were thinking of when we reflected on the meaning of radical love)
Radical love is a choice to love in response to Jesus
We are able to accomplish radical love because we have been loved first
When we struggle to love in this way, we might do well to turn our focus on God’s love for us… reminding ourselves of our connection with Jesus and that we are connected to Jesus because of God’s great love for us….
We respond to this love by being followers of Jesus in this world
And Jesus is calling us to practice this kind of radical love
So, let us respond to Him, and go out and love radically!
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