1. Grace, mercy,
and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. The message from God’s Word for
us this morning is taken from Matthew 5:38-48 and it’s entitled, “Going the Extra Mile!” dear brothers
and sisters in Christ.
2. “If someone
forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” The humiliation that Jesus describes here had its
origin with the Persians. In fact, the Greek word translated “forces” is of Persian origin. The
Persians initiated a kind of Pony Express in which the mail-carrying rider
simply “borrowed” horses. He started
off with his letter riding one pony, and when that pony got tired he borrowed
another, and when that one got tired he borrowed another, and he would do this
over and over again … He sort of rustled his way across the land. During Roman
times this custom was common. Also, whenever a Roman official or soldier asked
anyone within the Empire to carry a burden a mile, that person had to do it
regardless of who he was or what the circumstances were. Almost all Jews had
been subject to this, and they hated the very mention of it.
3. This form of persecution fell upon a believer because
of his identification with Jesus. Some think that may be why Simon of Cyrene
was made to carry Christ’s cross. The Roman soldiers knew he loved Jesus so
they said, “You carry the cross!”
(See Matthew 27:32). What Jesus is
telling us here is to have a willing cheerfulness if we find ourselves under
this form of persecution. There are two ways to do any task. You can mow the
lawn with a bad attitude, like you are mowing the Mojave desert. Or you can mow
it with a good attitude and say, “There
are birds in the sky, there are clouds above, it is not raining—this is a great
day!” When you wash dishes, you can water them with your tears or you can
sing hymns. Jesus calls for a revolutionary response in a difficult situation—cheerfulness.
The kind that would cause a hardened soldier to say, “What’s with him? This person has something I don’t understand.”
Ridiculous? Impractical? I don’t think so! This is the way Rome was won!
Revolutionarily righteous people possessing revolutionary joy even when treated
unfairly call everyone’s hearts upward. This is what Jesus means when He calls us to
go the extra mile.
4. Many successful businessmen make a complete failure of
their home life. In public they appear
very friendly, but while they’re with their family they are irritable and
domineering. At home, they reveal no
nobility of character or kindness of heart.
Others are kind only to their kind.
They help only those who help them.
And we all know about getting even with those who’ve hurt us. We’ve all
done it before, and we know how good it can feel. Sadly, it comes to us all too
naturally, doesn’t it? Just think back to your childhood. You can only put up
with the class bully stealing the dessert from your lunch tray so many times
before you’ve had enough and begin to plot your revenge. Or that driver on the
freeway who cuts you off not once, but twice—you’ll teach him a lesson. We could go on, but what would be the point?
All of our plotting—sometimes calculated, oftentimes instantaneous—meets its
end in our Lord’s arresting statement, “But
I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (v
44). But how? you ask. Where’s the fairness in that? Does Jesus mean to say
that there should be no justice?
5. The philosophy of the natural heart, untouched by the
Gospel of Jesus, demands “an eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth.” “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” The Christian precept, however, asks that you
overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:31). Let’s
listen to Jesus and how He calls us to go
the extra mile.
6.
In Matthew 5:38–48—38[Jesus
says], “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth.’ 39But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone
slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if anyone would
sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41And if anyone
forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who begs
from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. 43“You have
heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45so 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.
46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the
tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what more
are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48You
therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
7.
We can’t live
peaceably with other people if we refuse to follow these Christian proverbs
Jesus lays down for us in the Sermon on the Mount. He gave five distinct commands to those who
want to get along with other people. 1) “If
anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Don’t seek revenge, but forgive. 2) “If anyone would sue you and take your tunic,
let him have your cloak as well.” Yield
rather than being stubborn and uncompromising.
3) “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” Do the extra. Give with a smile. 4) “Give to the one who begs from you.” Do not live self-centered and selfish
lives. 5) “Love
your enemies.” Show kindness to
those who are unkind. But why should we
go out of our way for those who are nasty and ugly to us? To show that we are the children of God, always willing to go the extra mile.
8. Jesus tells us that we as Christians are
different. If we’re thoughtful only to
friends and show favors only to those who show us favors, then we’re no better
than unbelievers. The gangster does
favors for his kind. Thieves protect one
another and are on good terms with their kind.
But, as Christians we go the extra
mile and show kindness to the undeserving.
We are to love our enemies and be forgiving to those who show us no
consideration. This is one way we show
the world that we’re different. This
will enable us to live successfully with difficult people.
9. But, is this possible?
Can we be as perfect as our Father in heaven? Can we really love our enemies? We can love the unlovable and show kindness
to the unkind only if we take to heart, “That
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). God reconciled a rebellious world to Himself
through His beloved Son. Countless
times, God shows mercy to us who day after day sin much. He’s always ready to forgive sin and blot out
our transgressions. If God does this for
us, shouldn’t we also ask Him for grace to do likewise with our neighbors? Remembering what God has done for us in Jesus
helps us to go the extra mile.
10. Then too, we must remember that our enemy was redeemed
by the same Savior who has loved us. As
we look at people who repulse us, we must not forget that Christ loves them as
well and gave His life for them also. If
Christ loved and redeemed them, have we a right to treat them with contempt and
arrogance? At the foot of the cross, we
learn to love disagreeable people. We
make hard lives easier as we strive to live with difficult people, knowing they
are also forgiven and forgiving children of God. This is what it means to go the extra mile with Jesus.
Please pray with me, “Heavenly
Father, You know how difficult it is for us to be kind, thoughtful, and
forgiving to those who make life hard and bitter for us. Only Your grace can create in us a forgiving
spirit and teach us to overcome evil with good.
Draw us closer to You as You forgive sin and make us gracious and
merciful in Christ Jesus, our Savior.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment