Sermon for Sunday, March 16th, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[Lev 19:17-18 ESV] 17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 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.
New Testament Reading:
[Rom 12:14-21 ESV] 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Gospel Reading:
[Luk 6:27-36 ESV] 27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 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. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Sermon Text:
[Mat 5:43-48 ESV] 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, 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.
Introduction
Jesus has said a lot of difficult things in the Sermon on the Mount.
Anger is sin that deserves condemnation.
Lust is also sin that deserves condemnation.
Turn the other cheek when you are insulted.
Give to those who ask of you.
Endure evil without retaliation.
Now he adds two more commands. And we go from difficult to “difficulter” to “difficultest.” Or, if you are a grammarian I suppose you would says “more difficult” and “most difficult.”
The more difficult task: Love your enemies. [REPEAT : LOVE YOUR ENEMIES] Whew, that’s a hard one.
Then, if you’re not already reeling from the difficulty of following these commands, we have Jesus saying the most difficult task of all: “Be PERFECT, as your heavenly father is perfect.”
These are the two commands.
Love your enemies.
And,
Be Perfect.
Let’s look at each of these two in turn.
First, Love your enemies.
I. Love your enemies. (v. 43-47)
We find again the idea that the Old Testament gave the law, but the Pharisees are misinterpreting it. That is why Jesus says “”You have heard that it was said.”
This time, however, the quote Jesus gives isn’t itself completely an Old Testament verse, but a corrupted version of it that the Pharisees are pronouncing.
“You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”
The Pharisees here have two errors.
First they left out “as thyself” from the statement “Love they neighbor as thyself.” (Leviticus 19:18) And without saying “as thyself” it seems they are weakening or minimizing the requirement of love. It is dragging the requirement down from a “full love” to a “lesser love.” Consider it like this: if you see someone hungry (and you consider yourself in that situation) what will you do? Feed them. Buy them some food. BUT, if you remove the “as thyself” then you only have to show some love. Then you can get away with just tossing a penny or a nickel their way. That’s love, right??? Hardly. So that is the first error. They omitted “as thyself” from the statement “Love they neighbor as thyself.”
Then, even worse, they made a distinction between neighbor and enemy, saying love thy neighbor but HATE thy enemy. This is a horrible perversion of the Old Testament law. Love wasn’t just for your neighbor, or your brother, or your clansman, but for all. And the Law certainly never said “hate thine enemy.”
We have powerful verses to the contrary:
[Pro 25:21-22 ESV] 21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, 22 for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.
Show love to your enemy. Then: regarding foreigners (not just neighbors):
[Deu 23:7 ESV] 7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land.
So we are to love all, both those who are close to us and those who are enemies.
Jesus says:
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Love them.
Even PRAY for them.
Prayer is one way that we can love them.
So I want to pause here and ask: When was the last time you prayed for an enemy? When was the last time your prayed for a person who has been difficult to you? Or is opposite of you politically? Or has caused you harm? Remember them in your prayers.
And a purpose for our loving other is noted: so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. (v. 45) This is not teaching that we are saved BY loving others. Rather it is saying that BY SUCH ACTIONS we show that we are children of God. The King James says “That ye may BE the children of your Father which is heaven.” Another version (the NLT) says “In this way, you will be acting as the true children of your Father in heaven.” It is (and should be) our desire to live in such a way that we are seen to be children of God.
Jesus then explains the connection. When you bless others, you are reflecting the character of God who blesses all people.
“For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
God gives good gifts to all. The sun, which bring warmth and light to us, and give energy to our gardens and fields, that comes to all people. And the rain which is necessary for our survival also comes to all men. It is a funny thing that today we think of rain as a nuisance and we take out an umbrella. So don’t be mistaken in thinking that “the rain falling on the just and the unjust” is like one of those depressing storm clouds in a cartoon that hovers over the head of a character. Rain is a good thing! God’s blessings come to all.
[Psa 145:9 ESV] 9 The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.
This isn’t teaching that God brings salvation to all men. Indeed some always remain His enemies. And some will always remain our enemies. But we are called to do good to them just like God does good to all.
So we have the first command of this section. Love your enemy.
In another place Paul teaches the same message Jesus teaches:
[Rom 12:14-21 ESV] 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. … “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink …
Love your enemy. And isn’t this the greatest commandment. Or the second part of it? Love the Lord your God with all your heat, all your soul, and all your might, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Each of us has different experiences in life in regards to who have been our enemies. And these might range from fairly mild in their trouble to full-out evil that has come against you. I’m glad Jesus said “love your enemies,” but IF I HAD said that you’d discard the saying. I have no authority to say “love your enemies.” I don’t know how bad you’ve had it. But Jesus has that authority, and he says “love your enemies.”
The natural way is the opposite. The natural way is to hate your enemy. But God calls us to a greater way, a great ethic. Love your enemies.
And thanks be to God that He loves us, even while we were enemies.
III. Be Perfect. (v. 48)
Then, we have in our passage the most demanding of all statements.
“48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
For many years my favorite sport to watch has been college football. And it is a sport where the fans have a high expectation. It is not like the pro leagues where a season with a 51% winning percentage is a good year. In college you football a team needs to win every single game for it to be considered a good year. That is very difficult. But the sort of perfection Jesus is calling for is even higher. It is not just winning all the games, but not allowing the other team to even score a point! And the requirement to be perfect even would require that your team scores a touchdown every time it touches the ball. That’s perfect. A season was be 14 wins and 0 losses, and each game would be 500 to 0.
There is debate on this verse, “48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” but this statement is almost certainly a summary and conclusion of what has come before. Ever since Matthew 5:21 Jesus has been explaining the fact that the law is not done away with by in fact explaining the depths of the law, and our need to follow it precisely, not only in outward action but in our mind’s thoughts as well. He goes through various laws, doubling down on them, requiring greater obedience. And then he says “Be perfect.”
This is not a new requirement. It is in the Old Testament. God says “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)
And God requires that we fulfill that commandment. Be perfect. Be holy.
Yet, since Adam and Eve man has not been fulfilling this commandment. The corruption of sin has broken our relationship with God.
We cannot be perfect in this life, though there is the promise of perfection in day of the Lord. So then, why does God tell us to be holy? IT IS NOT SO THAT WE WILL DESPAIR (THOUGH WE MIGHT DESPAIR IN OUR SELVES), IT IS NOT SO THAT WE WILL DESPAIR, BUT SO THAT WE WILL FLEE TO CHRIST.
Thus to see this commandment of God fulfilled, we must not look downward to pulling up our bootstraps, but we must look upward to Christ.
Christ fulfills this command to be perfect. He alone lived out all of the commandments in this chapter.
And from him alone are we credited with righteousness through faith.
His is the perfect love.
And we, though we were his enemies, he died for us and called us his friends.
In his death for us on the cross we see “Christ’s Perfect Love.”
Not a love in response to good things we have done for him.
But a love that is out of his very nature, and his eternal plan to bring glory to God through the salvation of His people.
Christ has a Perfect Love because He Himself is perfect. That is his nature, and He acts according to it.
We are to see Christ’s Perfect love as an example for us, but even more as a fulfillment of that law for our sakes. For he came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.
I want to look at three applications of this text. We often hear about love. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But how do we put this into practice? Of course there are many ways, but I want to emphasize two of them.
Application: Loving the overlooked
First,
“Loving the overlooked.”
Let us love those whom no one else seems to love.
These aren’t exactly “enemies.” But the overlooked person is often virtually treated as if they are an enemy, or a pariah.
So LOOK at the overlooked, and love them through communication and friendship.
Jesus says:
47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
On a practical level, I heard one pastor say this:
“Many churches seem cold and unwelcoming to visitors, but almost every church thinks its friendly. Why? Because members are friendly with their friends. They greet everyone who greets them. This is not noteworthy. Genuine love keeps an eye open for the quiet, the awkward, and the friendless and seeks them out.”
I’ve seen this play out in organizations of various sorts. The in-group is so busy with others they already know, that they leave little or no space for anyone else.
Let us not be like that. But let us greet all with friendship.
Application: Pray for those who persecute you.
Second, pray for those who persecute you.
This is directly from the text. Pray for those who persecute you.
If by chance you don’t have someone directly persecuting you, it doesn’t take long in looking at the world to see various forces bent on your destruction. Internationally there are many that would rather all American’s were dead. Within our country, there are those whose policies are directly contrary to your interest. We might not know who all these people are, but both domestically and worldwide there are enemies that we should pray for.
We pray for our political leaders because the Scriptures tell us to do so. For some of these leaders it is difficult to pray. But we should pray for them nevertheless.
Application: Appreciate the Lord’s love for you.
Then, finally, as an application from this text, appreciate the Lord’s love for you.
Thank you for loving me. (That is a Bon Jovi song)
We often talk of God’s relationship to us under the term “grace.” And that is a good Biblical term. “Mercy” is another term. But “love” seems more personally. And to think that God LOVES you, is a wonderful thought. It is heart-warming and encouraging.
We should appreciate that love, not taking it for granted but thanking the Lord for his great and perfect love for us shown in Jesus Christ.