Living Beyond The Ordinary 9-17-06
Series: Building Blocks of Paradox Matt. 5:43-48
Intro. This morning we’re going to begin a brand new series based on the paradoxes of scripture. Now a paradox is basically a statement that seems to be impossible, contradictory, unacceptable or even ridiculous, but it’s true. If you’ve been in the church for any length of time then I’m sure you’ve encountered some of these paradoxical statements. For instance, what did Jesus mean when he said, “the first shall be last and the last shall be first”? Hummm! What about the time he told his disciples, “if you try to keep your life you’ll lose it, but if you give your life away, you’ll actually save it”? Do you remember what Jesus said when the rich young ruler turned away? “It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God”.
What we want you to realize is that these paradoxical statements are important for us to understand because they become the building blocks of our faith. Jesus didn’t say these things just to be cool. NO! He had a distinct purpose for using these paradoxes. Jesus knew that if we understood and embraced these paradoxes then God’s people would be empowered to live beyond the ordinary. Let me show you why that makes sense. When the God of all heaven and heaven takes up residence in your life, shouldn’t you be a different person than you were before you knew God? Of course you should! That’s exactly what the bible says – if you are a xian then you are a new creation, all the old stuff is gone and a new life has begun.
Now part of the new life that’s promised to every believer is described in the paradox we’re going to look at this morning. It’s found in Matt. 5:48, which just happens to be the very heart and soul of the Sermon on the Mt. If we had time to study this whole chapter then we’d see that Jesus has been building towards this climatic statement about what it means to belong to the Kingdom of God. Now here’s the kicker – not only are we supposed to live beyond the ordinary, but according to v.48 says we’re supposed to be perfect even as our heavenly father is perfect. Perfection has become a relative term in our culture. We say things like, “Well, compared to him…I’m perfect!” We think about our own lives in these terms, “at least I’m not a murderer, I don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, I don’t steal things, I try to honor my parents and I don’t lie…very often.” According to that standard…I’m pretty good. But that’s not the standard Jesus gives us. He says we must measure up to perfection and the only way to do that is by living beyond the ordinary.
What exactly does Jesus mean when he says we’re supposed to be perfect? The OT concept of perfection came out of the sacrificial system. When a godly family offered an animal sacrifice it had to be w/o spot, blemish or defect. When that kind of sacrifice was offered it was called perfect. In the NT the word perfection is much more positive. It is the word “teleios” which means complete, fully equipped or mature. So when you put the Old and New Testament concepts together you get a standard that calls for a person to be w/o blemish and lacking in nothing. Eph.4:13 uses this word to talk about the church. Paul says, “we should be unified in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son, so that we will be MATURE/PERFECT and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.”
When Jesus calls us to be perfect, he means we’ve supposed to live beyond the ordinary. Here’s the bottom line, as a believer your life is supposed to be different from those who are still living far from God. And if it isn’t, then there’s something is wrong. Now before we go on let me make sure we’re all on the same page concerning perfection. Jesus is NOT saying that you have to be morally perfect, w/o sin before you can enter the Kingdom of God. If that were true, then none of us would ever stand a chance. What this paradox is designed to do is show us how utterly helpless we are at attaining perfection in our own strength. Our only hope for perfection is if God does something in us to change us and that’s exactly what the salvation experience is all about…the old life is gone and a new life has begun.
Another problem with paradoxes is fact that we often take them out of the context in which they were spoken. If you just took this one verse, ripped it out of context and applied to every person you know, then how many of us would make it to heaven? NONE, because none of us is perfect! So let’s put it back into its original context and see what Jesus was talking about.
READ Matt. 5:43-48 Here’s the context in a single word – LOVE. Jesus wants us to see the contrast between the ordinary love offered by this world and the perfect love demonstrated by the Heavenly Father.
I. Ordinary love stays within its own comfort zone.
If you’re serious about living a life that goes beyond the ordinary then the best place to start is with your love. It’s no coincidence that Jesus told his disciples that the world would recognize their relationship to him by the way they loved one another. In other words, love is a visible and often tangible symbol of the spiritual relationship we have with God. The problem we find in this passage is the fact that ordinary love falls short of God’s love.
In v.43 Jesus deals with 2 issues that often surround ordinary love. The first issue is omission. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day prided themselves on knowing and doing the Law of Moses. When they said you were to love your neighbor they were right, but they didn’t go far enough. Actually this is a direct quote from Lev.19:18 but with one significant omission. Moses said love your neighbor as yourself. Do you see the difference? Ordinary love is willing to love its neighbor, but only to a certain degree. We’ll do certain chores for our neighbors and we may even go out of our way for a really good neighbor. But the idea of loving my neighbor as much as I love myself is a little crazy…don’t you think? Ordinary love puts parameters on its love. For a Jewish man a neighbor was somebody who shared a common heritage, a common religious experience and probably even a common location. But that’s not what the OT actually teaches. Listen to Exodus 23:5, “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you struggling beneath a heavy load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and offer to help.” Isn’t that what you would want if you were in trouble? Of course – so a biblical neighbor is anyone who is in need.
The second problem found in this verse is an addition to what was called God’s word. The Law of Moses did say to love your neighbor, but it definitely DID NOT say to hate your enemies. That little phrase was an add-on, a perversion to God’s word. You can search the OT high and low but you’ll never find this commandment. God never commands his people to hate others. That’s how you can always tell the crazies out there in the world – if they preach hate then they are not from God! So ordinary love stays in the comfort zone by omitting the truth about the breadth and depth of our love of others. And it makes itself feel good by claiming God’s authority to hate our enemies.
Now listen to me carefully – that’s just plain, ordinary, natural love. You don’t have to do much of anything to have that kind of love…it just comes naturally. Look at how Jesus identifies this kind of love in v.46-47. Ordinary love loves those who love it back. It’s the mutual admiration society kind of love…if you love me and treat me right, then I’ll love you back. V.47 says this ordinary love is a love among friends. That’s why it’s so comfortable! We all look alike, talk alike, dress alike, think alive and vote alike…so what’s not to love? It takes no effort at all to love those who fit into your comfort zone. But listen to me well – that’s not the kind of love that believers are called to exhibit. There’s nothing wrong with loving your neighbors and your friends. Jesus is simply saying – that’s not enough to distinguish you from the world.
II. Extra-Ordinary love ventures out beyond its comfort zone.
When Jesus said, “love your enemies” there must have been a collective gasp that went up from the crowd. No one, no religious teacher, no rabbi had ever put this truth so forcefully before God’s people. The religious leaders must have thought – this guy’s a nut! No one can possibly do what he’s asking. And you know what? That’s true! Loving your enemies isn’t something that comes naturally and it’s not even something you can work up if you try hard enough. What Jesus was asking them and us to do is IMPOSSIBLE w/o God doing something in our hearts first. But if you have the spirit of God living in you, then guess what? You’re supposed to live above the ordinary and love your enemies.
Perhaps you already know this, but it bears repeating. The GK language had 4 different words for love. So knowing which one Jesus chose to use here is pretty important. The first term is philia, which gives us the name Philadelphia and it means a brotherly kind of love. The second kind of love is storge or the love of family and kinship. The next term is eros, which gives us the term erotic or sexual love. And then finally we come to agape love, which means a love that seeks to meet someone else’s needs. In the Gk language it is the highest form of love and it’s the only term ever used to describe God’s love for you and me. I’ll give you one guess what kind of love we’re supposed to have for our enemies – it’s agape!
I read a story the other week about Peter Miller, a pastor who lived during the American Revolution. Due to some unusual circumstances he became good friends with General George Washington. In the town where Peter lived he had one man, named Michael Wittman who seemed to oppose everything this pastor tried to do. One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to death. He was taken to Philadelphia for his execution. But before that could happen the old pastor walked the 70 miles to Philadelphia to plead for his life. Because of his friendship he was admitted in to Washington’s presence. But the General said, “Peter I can’t grant you your friend’s life.” The old pastor said, “what do you mean, he’s not my friend, he’s my worse enemy.” Washington stepped back and said – “you walked 70 miles to save your enemy’s life? Then that puts a different light on the matter and in that case I’ll grant his pardon.” That day began with Peter Miller and Michael Wittman as bitter enemies, but it ended with their friendship.
The kind of love that goes beyond the ordinary doesn’t necessarily have to have the warm fuzzies or the “I like you, do you like me” attitude in effect. This agape love is a volitional love; it’s a choice you have to make. It’s not determined by the actions, attitudes, looks or abilities of the one you are called to love. This kind of love is the result of experience. You can love your enemies because you’ve experienced the love of God, while you were his enemy. Rom.5:8 says, Christ died for us even while we were yet sinners, his love was poured out for us in the midst of our rebellion. Now let’s put that in the context of v.48. According to Jesus we are to perfectly love our friends, neighbors and even our enemies, just as our Heavenly Father perfectly loves us.
You know, the real question here isn’t who are we are to love, but how do we love? What does perfect love look like? Jesus gives us an example. He says perfect love is the kind that prays for those who persecute you. In other words, perfect love moves way beyond the comfort zone! This kind of love is willing to ask God to bless the lives of the very people who seek to harm us. Whether we’re talking about terrorists, ACLU lawyers, our boss, a co-worker, a neighbor or even a family member…this love acts like God’s love by repaying evil with good. When the world sees this kind of love manifested in the church, that’s the time they’ll finally realize, there is a difference between religion and a life-changing faith.
I want you to notice one final thing in v.45. Jesus says, when you love this way, in this fashion then you are acting like real children of God. In other words, loving as the Father loves us does not save you; it simply reveals that you are already saved. This call to perfection isn’t another means of getting to heaven. It’s just another way of showing that you are on your way.
If you really understand how much God loves you, in spite of your sin and rebellion, don’t you think its time for you to show that same kind of love to those who surround you now? Imagine the change in your family, in our church and in our community if we’d get serious about living beyond the ordinary. Jesus commands us to do it, but it’s impossible unless you first have a saving relationship with him. You will never understand this kind of love until you’ve experienced it through God’s grace and forgiveness. Let’s pray and ask Him to reveal that kind of love to us right now.
