Shadowing Jesus the Pioneer
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enemy territory, imitation is the sincerest compliment mediocrity can pay to greatness. Oscar Wilde Chapter One One of my teenaged friends was coming unhinged his struggle with his older brother had pushed him 1/10 of a mile past the exit to sanity, I said to him, how did Jesus say to treat your enemies? He said, love him. So I said exactly. So let's look at the ways Jesus said to do that. We read the concluding verses in Matthew five, you have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be Children of your father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that. And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans, do that Be perfect. Therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect, Matthew 543-48 first we note that Jesus assumed that his followers would have enemies. If we claim that we have none, then what does that mean? Does that mean? We're not following our we just clueless about reality or are we aware but in denial. For now let's just leave it where Jesus left it? We have enemies. That probably means more than one. I asked the kid, how did jesus say you should treat your enemy who happens to be your brother? Focus on the perfect example. I told him that the first thing he needed to focus on was God. I mentioned that he could concentrate on his brother's bad behavior, let his anger burn and allow the scope of his brothers betrayals to grow in his mind. He could plot revenge. He could even go beyond revenge and plan a way to escalate the situation. But Jesus urged us to look above and beyond those who persecute and abuse us. Rather than thinking about their evil behavior, we have permission to focus on the father and his perfect ways. The whole point of looking at the father might be to help us see past our enemies and frame the situation on a larger scale above everything and everyone else, There is a father in heaven, we should look at him as our ultimate example. What is God like God has enemies? Even a cursory look at the Bible indicates that God has more adversaries than anyone else, Paul makes this point in Romans 5 10, for if while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son. How much more having been reconciled shall we be saved through his life? Every human starts in enemy territory, theologians argue whether or not depravity is inherited regardless. Eventually we all turn against God. There is no difference between jew and gentile for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by christ, jesus Romans 3 23-24 maybe it's our awareness of the enormous gap between God's perfection and our own flaws that cause us to resent or be suspicious of God. The accuser works on our suspicions and resentments to drive a wedge between the creator and humanity. His strategy is remarkably effective, some of God's enemies say, because there is so much suffering in the world, God must not be good. They point to tornadoes, floods, plagues, famines, and volcanic eruptions. Surely if God were good, they say then he would not allow any of it. Or they say if he is good, then he must be powerless to change things. They conclude that God cannot be both good and all powerful because a good God who is omnipotent would surely fix all that is broken and do it immediately since he does not do this. The reason he will not or cannot, I reconnected with my father. After a separation of 21 years, alcoholism ripped him out of our extended family network. When we finally found him, we flew him out from Los Angeles to Dayton Ohio. During the visit, I took him to the fossil beds at caesar's Creek, a large reservoir east of Dayton during our outing, I mentioned how God created all the diversity we observed in the fossil deposits. My father said, I can't believe in a God who allows so much suffering in the world. I said, So, you think you could do things better than God, he replied. I sure wouldn't allow all the pain and evil to keep going on. I said, do you see the clock on the dash? Yes, I see it. Okay, in two minutes at two p.m. We will give you all of God's power. Then? I said, deal! He said, I am suspicious. We fell silent as time passed. That may have been the longest two minutes of my life. When the clock showed two pm, I said, Okay, give the word what word we gave you all of God's power. Give the edict that evil and all of its manifestations should cease to exist, he said, This is a trick, isn't it? That is what you believe will fix everything, isn't it? I said, Are you going to do it? He hesitated, but eventually said, Okay, I said, way to go, dad. Because evil is not just out there. We are all participants in it. When you obliterated evil, you wiped out me and the entire human race. He snorted. Maybe, I said, that's why God deals with evil. One person at a time through faith in jesus, like my father, we can focus on all that is wrong with the world. We can accuse God without acknowledging a remarkable reality, Jesus pointed out that God sends rain and sunshine. He does this irrespective of any allegiance or hostility on our part. Blue skies, sunrises, sunsets, rainbows and flowers pour out of his generosity. Beauty is around every corner. God does this routinely and lavishly. He scatters these blessings, profligate lee, regardless of our attitudes or expressions of appreciation. Whether we love God or not, he sends the same rain to us as he does to our neighbors, God grants these blessings to every living human being, regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender, academic achievement, social status or net worth. All of us get handed a fresh new 24 hours. Everyone every day, right up until our last day, taken as a whole. Far more good than evil, exists in the world, more light than darkness, and every good gift is from God's open hands, disdainful agnostics and atheists like richard dawkins and Bill Maher are just as blessed as any believer in some ways, they are even more blessed than the mass of humanity. They are rich and famous. It's as if they are sitting at the banquet table of God's blessings complaining about God's goodness with prime rib between their teeth. They hate God, even the idea of God, but God loves them. They cannot stomach the idea of there being a God God. Not only tolerates them, he blesses them over and over and over again. God's treatment of his enemies is a fantastic lesson. God is perfect. He is not just flawless, but mature and evenhanded, even with his most ardent opponents, their attacks and tantrums do not change his determination to bless them. That's what our ultimate example is like. So how can we love a person who opposes or attacks us? What can we do to them in the shadow of the Almighty? Ask God to bless them. Everyone needs prayer. My friend Jeff Sloan taught me this reality one Tuesday. We were having lunch at a restaurant in an industrial neighborhood. When the server brought our meal, Jeff said, we're going to thank God for the food, how could we pray for you today? She was a little taken aback by the question, but she didn't hesitate to ask for prayer for her kids, Jeff asked about their names. Then we prayed. Years later I was at a chili's restaurant with my wife. The server came with our meal so I popped the question, We're going to pray and thank God for this beautiful meal. How could we pray for you? He smiled and said, oh I don't need any prayer. I'm perfect. With a chuckle and a grin I said, well then I'll pray for a little reality in your life. He laughed and went about his work. We were back at chili's a couple of months later, the man we had prayed for came and sat at our table with a huge smile. He asked, are you going to pray for me again today Lynetta and I had both forgotten the previous exchange, but I immediately agreed that we would pray. He hadn't forgotten, he said, I went home and told my wife what you said, she said. Amen. We've noticed that usually after agreeing to pray for a server in a restaurant immediately, the quality of service goes up. Sometimes the server will even write us a thank you note. There is one warning though. Having aligned ourselves with God who blesses even his adversaries, we feel a heavy responsibility to tip generously, so it usually costs us something extra. Not only do we have to take the risk of people thinking us quaint or odd or worse, but we also feel obligated to put more money on the table. Doing so makes us feel like we're in a conspiracy with jesus. I don't suppose the servers object to that either. I wonder if it gives God a good chuckle to bless atheists, agnostics and uptight religious people lavishly. The good news is that in the hundreds of times we followed Jeff's example, no one has ever been offended. Almost every one of them has thanked us, Jesus said, pray for those who persecute you. I'm pretty sure Jesus was talking about prayers of blessing and not in preparatory prayers. David seems to have prayed some of those Let death take my enemies by surprise. Let them go down alive to the grave some 55 15. Here's how Jesus prayed for his enemies when they came to the place called the skull. They crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on his right, the other on his left, jesus said, Father forgive them for they do not know what they're doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots Luke 23 33- 34. They were in the process of killing jesus and he prayed for their forgiveness. That's amazing. This prayer doesn't indicate that jesus naively assumed that his opponents had accidentally fallen into conspiracy to end his life. I think maybe he meant that his enemies were blind to the implications of their actions. When I'm in the car, I'm working on praying prayers of forgiveness for aggressive and obnoxious drivers like those who half a mile back saw the same lane ends sign I saw then try to crowd in my lane. I used to pray Lord May. The fleas of 1000 camels infest their armpits. I'm sure God prefers my recent prayers of forgiveness for them. I think he answers those prayers in the affirmative when Stephen was martyred, he prayed a prayer that could only have come from a heart full of love. Lord Do not hold this sin against them. Acts 7 60 I asked the young man who was struggling with his brother. What's one way you can love your brother? I could pray for him, I guess was his response. Great idea. I said, love does good stuff. After talking about praying for my young friend's brother? I pointed out that Jesus said that God does good for everyone. So what good thing could you do for your brother? Without hesitation. He said, well, I could give him that box of fruit loops I have in my room. I know he loves those excellent idea. I said, God sends rain and sun on everyone and generously grants all of us a daily allotment of time. It makes sense that we would seek to imitate the goodness of God in our own lives. We could be doing good deeds, not random acts of kindness, but doing intentional and deliberate actions. Being intentional is a way we can reflect God's goodness. I told the teenager about steve chagrin, chagrin wrote a great book called conspiracy of kindness. It's filled with ideas about what churches and individuals can do to practice doing good deeds. Children's Church in Ohio has a favorite fall activity called rake and run. Church members are encouraged to go out into the community as small groups. They go armed with plastic bags and rakes, they swoop into a neighborhood, rake up and bagged the leaves and leave a note on the door. We came, we saw we raked on the other side of the card are the church name and contact information jesus said love your neighbor as yourself. So the things recommended by show grand like rake and run are great examples of how to love a neighbor. By the way, let's not engage in the nonsense so prevalent in our culture, Jesus did not say, you must love yourself before you love your neighbor. Jesus wasn't talking about feeling good about our neighbors. He was talking about doing good for them, just like we do for ourselves. If we loved our neighbors as much as we love ourselves, wouldn't we be just as careful that our neighbors have the comforts we enjoy when hungry, we would make a trip to the grocery store to restock our pantry and make sure that the neighbors had groceries when our lawn needs mowing, we could trim the neighbor's yard. Jesus did many good deeds. Sometimes they were conspicuous. For example, in Mark five, Jesus healed Gyros daughter. This miracle is remarkable not only because it showed jesus power over death, but it seems to be an example of doing good for an enemy. Gyros was a ruler in the synagogue at Capernaum. Um who was it that opposed jesus when he healed on the sabbath, it was synagogue rulers like Gyros, they said things like, but the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her a disabled woman on the sabbath day, There are six days of the week for working, he said to the crowd, come on those days to be healed. Not on the Sabbath Luke. 1314. We don't know for sure that gyros ever opposed Jesus healing on the Sabbath. However, it would be so like Jesus if he healed the daughter of a fierce opponent, wouldn't it? In Matthew eight, Jesus healed the servant of a Roman centurion. Usually when we look at this miracle of jesus, we focus on the centurions faith, that's where Jesus and Matthew directed our attention, but for a moment look at Jesus, he healed the employee of a hated enemy Occupier and an agent of a brutal occupying empire. The centurion was in Israel to enforce pax romana latin for roman peace. Rome's idea of peace looked a lot like brutal subjugation. Jesus blessed him and then applauded his new friends remarkable faith. I wonder if Jesus knew that a centurion would supervise his crucifixion. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he did know. I'm not sure that this next story is about jesus helping an enemy, but I wonder In Mark five, Jesus cast out a legion of demons from a garrison. The fact that the garrison was a gentile and was looked down upon by most jews might not qualify him as an enemy, but there was open hostility between jews and gentiles. However, the demons surely qualify as enemies. While Jesus was in the process of driving demons out of the Garrison man. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs instead of sending them to the Abyss? Jesus granted their request, he first asked for their name was granting their request to kindness. Was it done? Because Jesus was practicing what he preached. I don't really know, but I would not be surprised to learn that it was circle them in A typical response to an opponent is to draw a circle that excludes rather than includes them. When angry at my wife, I've done that. I've turned my back or slammed the door when upset with someone else. I've sometimes avoided or ignored them. And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Matthew 547. When I read what Jesus said about greeting only my friends. I feel like a pagan. My own people are those people, I include us and them are familiar categories. Jesus doesn't see people that way. I asked the teenager, how could you circle your brother in? Well, I could stop talking rude to him, he replied, I said, that would be awesome. Jesus did good. two centurions, gentiles, prostitutes and lepers. In some of his parables, he made a hero of a person typically regarded as an alien rather than the expected rabbi or priest At the well and sick are in John four. The Samaritan woman was stunned when Jesus asked her for a drink of water. She had firmly fixed categories. You're part of them, I am part of us, You can't talk to me like that. Jesus included her in his circle. Not only in conversation, but he also confided something to her that he would not reveal to the 12 for months. When she mentioned the messiah, jesus said, I the one speaking to you. I am. He By doing so. He included this woman in his mission to reach the world. She became the first evangelist and brought her whole village to Jesus. Jesus even included judas. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them. The one I kiss is the man arrest him going at once to jesus, judas said, greetings Rabbi and kissed him. Jesus replied. Do what you came for A friend. Matthew 26 48- 50, Jesus was just like his father. Perfect. He even called his betrayer friend, Jesus promised rewards to those who imitated his father by including enemies, Nonbelievers, strangers and foreigners. He challenged his followers to reject the pagan categories of us and them. A couple of years ago I met Rashid not his real name through the refugee team at our church. Rashid is from Iraq. A former resident of Baghdad. His home was destroyed by the US military in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. His wife died of a broken heart. We were at lunch at our home one day, Rashid shared with my wife and me his story of painful losses. What amazes me is that he could have rejected us because we are followers of jesus. Our Iraqi guests could have been bitter toward us because we're americans. Instead. He was at our home to help me repair my 1979 fiat spider, it always needed something fixed. We reached out to help a refugee instead of it costing us? We've been rewarded with a dear friend, Jesus promised rewards to those who walked in his footsteps, shadowing jesus is the most rewarding life. A person could live conclusion. A couple of weeks later, I saw my teenage friend, How's it going with your brother? Really? Well, I said, really, tell me about it. We're friends now. I was stunned. What did you do? Oh, I stopped bringing up the past. This jesus stuff really works, doesn't it? He smiled and nodded. How does it feel to conquer your enemy? This way his face lit up like a carnival. It feels really good food for thought one. When jesus prayed, Father forgive them. Did God forgive those who executed jesus? Why do you think so or not? To? What about Stephen's prayer? Did God wipe the slate clean for his murderers? Three Romans 3 22-24 says, this righteousness is given through faith, in Jesus Christ, to all who believe there is no difference between jew and gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace! Through the redemption that came by Christ, Jesus? When you read this passage as written as a single sentence. What bearing does that have on your answers to? Question one and 2 four First, John 19 says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all in righteousness. Would God ever forgive someone who did not confess? Would god forgive your enemies on your behalf, even if they did not confess?