Matthew 5:38-48 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Under the Sun Summer Worship Series Sunday, August 2, 2020 “The Sun Rises Over Good and Evil”
One week ago, Pastor Koehler preached from this pulpit about the experience of Jonah when the sun beat down on him after a plant that had been providing him some shade died. Perhaps you were reminded of that sermon and that account at some point during the past week here in the Tucson area. I know that I have come to appreciate Jonah’s plight more in the years I have been here in Tucson than I ever did when I was growing up in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We know around here how powerful the sun can be as it beats down on us in the heat of the summer and how crucial even a little bit of shade can be. But the sun is certainly not all bad, is it? You know that’s true. The same sun that makes some of our summer days almost unbearable also warms our winters so that they are the envy of many. The sun provides energy for plants, energy for electricity, light for us to see, and so much more. The sun is vitally important for our lives. And Jesus uses that fact to drive home another point. Jesus reminds us that it is God who causes the sun to rise day after day and to shine on the earth. He tells us that God does not discriminate in the way he does that. The sun rises for everyone. People all over the world benefit from its light and heat and energy. Jesus says, “[God] makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” And he uses that to drive home his point that our attitudes should reflect what God does, his attitude if you will. Our sermon text from Matthew chapter five is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus preached that sermon to many of his disciples who gathered around him, and in it he explained and described ways that believers would put their faith into practice. In other words, he told them how they should live their lives as Christians. And in our text, as in some other parts of the sermon, Jesus uses passages or teachings that the people thought they knew, but explains them in a new and different way. He corrects false notions that people had about what it meant to be a good person. There are two examples of that in front of us today. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,’” and also went on to say, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’” Both of those expressions sound like they make good sense. In fact, you can find a good degree of biblical support for them. “Eye for and eye” is really a biblical expression. In Exodus 21 we read how God directed the Israelite courts to decide punishment in a way fitting the crime. If someone had been injured, the penalty was “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth,” and so on. The problem, though, as Jesus addressed, was that some people had taken that to mean that this was the way any wrong should be handled. If someone harmed you, you should harm them back. But Jesus was teaching something different: turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, if someone sues you for your shirt, give them your coat as well. Don’t respond with vengeance, but with kindness and love. And that love is to extend even to enemies. Jesus explains another misperception. The Bible clearly tells people to love their neighbors, but the Pharisees and others had come to understand that they were to love their neighbors and hate their enemies. Instead, Jesus explained, we are called to love all people, even our enemies. After all, it’s not difficult to love people who love you. It’s not hard to be kind when people are kind to you. Jesus explained, “Indeed if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even tax collectors do that, don’t they? If you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the unbelievers do that?” There is nothing particularly noteworthy about being good to people who are good to you. What is noteworthy is to respond to persecution with love and to show kindness to enemies. The directions that Jesus gives his followers really do run counter to their expectations and to their actions. Can you imagine what the people listening to Jesus speak must have thought? Wouldn’t Jesus’ words have devastated them? Turn the other cheek? Walk with them an extra mile? Give away your coat? Love your enemy? They must have thought, “I have never done that.”
Human nature has not changed, and God’s will has not changed. How do you react when you hear Jesus’ sermon? Think about a time when someone was mean or cruel to you. What was your reaction: let them do it again or get even? When you feel persecuted or hated, how do you respond? Do you stop and pray for the person who made you feel this way? I know that far too often that has not been my response. Even if I don’t necessarily do something in response, I certainly want to. It’s often the farthest thing from my mind to let someone harm me more or to be devoted to loving them. And I am fairly certain that I am not alone in this. I have seen the way that political discourse goes, and I know that people are not treating their political enemies with love. I have been able to see debates roll out on social issues, and the discussion very much reflects a “love your neighbor, but hate your enemy” mentality. And sad to say, I have been involved in Bible studies and discussions about how we as Christians ought to be different from the rest of the world in the way that we speak and act toward others, perhaps even and especially on social media, only to be shocked by the way some who have been a part of those studies and discussions have lashed out at others on Facebook. Nor is this only an adult problem. If you spend any time with children, you probably hear them say, “He did it first” or “She started it!” And that sounds painfully close to “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” or “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” That’s how we handle things. But look at how God handles things. He causes the sun to rise day after day. He causes the rain to fall. And he doesn’t divide up this world into those who are his enemies and should be left in darkness or drought and on the other hand those who are his friends who enjoy the sunlight and the needed rain. Not to mention the fact that we’ve already seen that everyone ought to fall in the enemy of God category at least from time to time. “[God] makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” And he does even more than that, too. He looks at a world full of enemies, full of opposition, full of disobedience, and he loves that world. And he humbles himself to be born into that world where he faces not just strikes against the cheek, but beatings and whippings. And he doesn’t stop and call down vengeance. He doesn’t strike back. He gives his love, just as he always had. He feeds; he heals. He walks every extra mile that it takes until it takes him to the cross of pain and torture. Even as nails are driven into his hands, he doesn’t fight back. He loves the people who do that to him and says, “Father forgive them.” Jesus did not preach the Sermon on the Mount in order to tell us how we can save ourselves. His point is not that if we just fix our relationship with our neighbors, God will love us, and if we are humble and selfless enough, that will earn us heaven. No, his sermon far too powerfully shows how we have fallen short. Jesus’ sermon should drive us to look to him. He lived the way that he describes in these words and in so many more. He earned eternal life and salvation but suffered for our sins instead. He forgives us. And because of that, we can be motivated to live for him and to live like him. We can make it our attitude that we weigh our words and our actions not according to how we feel or what we think, but against God’s standards. We can hold our tongue or not click the share button but instead turn the other cheek and allow others to hurt us instead of doing what we know will hurt them. We can look at our enemies and pray for them and love them. You heard already how Jesus’ apostle gave similar encouragement to Christians about how they should live their lives, “Do not pay anyone back evil for evil. Focus on those things that everyone considers noble. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, maintain peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay,’ says the Lord. But: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17-21). God makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and he invites his children to imitate that sort of love. May every sunrise remind us to live humbly out of love for others, and to love even our enemies in the name of him who loves and forgives us.
The Text: Matthew 5:38–48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evildoer. If someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you to take away your shirt, give him your coat too. 41 Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 Indeed if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even tax collectors do that, don’t they? 47 If you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the unbelievers do that? 48 So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 43