Common question - who is my neighbor?
What about “who is my friend?”
“Who
is my enemy?”
Sometimes it isn’t that easy to tell
our friends from our enemies.
Sometimes it isn’t easy to tell if we
are a friend or foe.
How
badly do I want my way?
What
kind of sin will I enter into in order to get it?
What
kind of sin will I enter into if I don’t get it?
anger
backbiting
slander
gossip
physical
harm
Let’s make it more concrete.
Last Saturday night, a number of
militant Islamists rounded up about a hundred known Christians in a
town in Nigeria. They forced them into the town square and executed
all who didn’t manage to run away. They then tried to find anyone
they had missed.
Those people were enemies. It was
clear.
In Matthew 5:44, those are the people
the Christians are commanded to love and to pray for. Jesus uses the
word “persecute.” He uses the word for being attacked for your
Christian faith in such a way that you die.
We’re pushed toward care for those
who would hate us, who would despise us, who are willing to sin
against us to get what they want, even if that sin against us causes
our death.
Heavy words.
What is the unbeliever’s attitude
toward God?
don’t
care about his commands
don’t
care about his values
think
he might be some sort of a hoax
don’t
treat him like a real person
eventually
despise and reject him
How has God loved us?
While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).
Christ,
the just, suffered for us, the unjust (1 Peter 3:18).
Why would he do that?
to
bring us to God 1 Peter 3:18
so
that we might not perish John 3:16
God loves us even when we don’t love
him, even when we wish he was dead, even when with our attitudes we
try to kill God.
disobedience
ignoring
his Word
trusting
in ourselves, our possessions, other people and things
But he loves us.
Jesus
is seated at the right hand of the Father praying for us (Romans
8:34).
Even though we were just the kind of
people who would pursue him to death, he gave his life for us.
In Jesus we find forgiveness.
In Jesus we find life.
In Jesus we find hope.
The Lord has given his life so as to
forgive us our sins. As we pray that he will forgive our sins we also
receive the power, as his children, to live that life of forgiveness,
giving hope to those around us.
Who do you know that is in need of the
grace of God?
Who is your enemy?
Who is God’s enemy?
How do we confront those people?
concrete
and tangible
abstract
and intangible
proclaiming
the Gospel
Jesus
loved you and came so as to present you to God, forgiven.
Jesus
loves you and has given his word and his people, the Church, to show
his love for you.
Jesus
loves you and can use you as his instrument to love the world.
Maybe you’re God’s enemy?
What’s the Gospel message for you?
forgiveness,
grace, life, salvation, now and forever
Come,
believe, receive, and live.
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