Love Your Enemies, part 1

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Don Merritt

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Luke 6:27-31

Let’s not kid ourselves, of all of Jesus’ teachings, this might just be the hardest one to grab hold of; it is the poster child of counter-intuitive!

I used to say that I will be loving and forgiving when someone wrongs me, just as soon as I have retaliated massively. Of course I had my tongue inserted in cheek when I said it… mostly. Ues, this is a tough one.

It really comes together in the last verse:

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

How do we treat those who are rude, who are impolite or even hostile towards us? Mo, how do we really treat them? For most of us, there is still work to be done, for I don’t know about you, but I fall a little short on this one from time to time.

I think that this all boils down to an attitude; how to I see myself in relation to others? Am I important, am I a big shot, am I what everything is all about? Or am I a humble servant of all, a servant of God whose ego isn’t all that important when compared to my calling?

I don’t know about you, but I do quite a bit better when my thinking runs along these lines.

Jesus has more to say on this, so maybe we all should take a moment or two to ponder these things in our hearts, and then we will continue the discussion next time.

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Random Ramblings: January 17, 2017

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Don Merritt

Readers’ Advisory: This post is political, no holds barred and plainly written. If you don’t want to read such things, or if you are faint of heart, please discontinue now, and I’ll see you next time!

OK, let’s get this out of the way right now: I totally forgot to write this column last Saturday. There were no reasons, and there are no excuses, I simply forgot. Was this a “senior moment” on my part? Ha! A young kid like me? Perish the thought!

Very early this morning I was writing my normal posts on Luke for tomorrow, and the text was Luke 6:27 ff. on loving your enemies. As I was writing these posts, I couldn’t help but think of all of the noise we keep hearing from all of the Trump-haters out there. I had just been listening to the news on the radio, and they were reporting on the latest round of vitriol, hatred and ugliness, and of course, we also have the fake news stories, the protests, the Anarchists promising to stop the Inauguration of Friday with their threats of violence…

It was quite a contrast with Jesus’ teaching about loving your enemy and doing unto others as you would they should do unto you.

I couldn’t help remembering how many times some of these very same people have lectured all of us on civility and tolerance, calling us “hate-mongers” in the process… oh the hypocrisy!!

In all of this toxicity, I see one possible silver lining…

You must understand that I have spent many years in and around National politics, and I have had dealings directly and indirectly with many of these same people many times over the years: I know what they are like, and have felt personally their wrath on several occasions. This is nothing new for me or for anyone who has been in the game. Yet more than any time in my memory, they have taken off their masks publically so that everyone can see who and what they are: Vicious, mean-spirited, vitriolic, vindictive liars, the very Leadership of the Democratic Party.

There, I said it.

Yes, that is exactly what they are, and I pray for them.

Would you care to know why they are so hysterical that they are willing to let the entire world see them as they really are?

Donald Trump, a man whose fan I am not and I’ve said that here before, is a man who is known for getting things done. He has surrounded himself with non-politicians who are also known for solving problems and getting things done. They are about to go into office to get things done, and nothing is more terrifying to a politician, especially a left wing politician, than outsiders coming into town to fix problems.

Nothing!

The far left, and I’m sorry to say it, but the Democratic Party is run by the far left, never fixes problems; they preserve issues.

Oh, they are very good at making speeches about problems and promising to fix problems, but their first priority is on preserving their issues so they can use their issues to hammer the GOP every election cycle. Fix a problem? Never, at least not unless they can fix something so as to make a bigger problem. Obama care is a good example of that. Did we have a problem before? Yes we did, and now we have a bigger problem.

Of course they’ll say that obviously the bigger problem is due to Republican interference, and now they want to take your Healthcare away from you!!!

Then they send out the fundraising letters and rake in the cash. That’s how the game works. I’m sure you have heard these guys say that they are “calling attention” to something. That’s how you know they are about to drop a national solicitation for contributions; it really is that simple. Here’s an example of how this works: Let’s say you are a Veterans issue activist. If the new Administration comes in and fixed the problems Veterans have with the VA, who needs your activism anymore? The money will go away, and so will your job: A nightmare scenario!

So you get your whole bag of tricks out and scream bloody murder: Trump must be stopped… Trump is illegitimate… Trump is a Russian shill… Trump is Satan… Does that help Vets? No, but it keeps you in business if it works. You see, not only must they preserve their issues for Election Day; they must preserve their issues to stay in business.

So then, will America finally wake up to how things have been done in Washington for 50 years and put these hypocrites out of their jobs?

It’s a slim hope at best, but as the new year moves on, hope springs eternal.

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Hate Speak

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Don Merritt

Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man. (Luke 6:22)

Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. (Luke 6:26)

This final paradox is an interesting one, and to be honest, I can almost see a parallel in the current news of our time. Jesus is speaking however about being rejected because of our faith in Him and His message.

It is somewhat difficult to accept that we are fortunate and should be glad to be excluded and rejected because of our faith in Christ, yet this is so because God’s message and God’s ways are counter to those of this world. This was true in the Old Testament, in Jesus’ day, and it is still true today it will be true until He returns.

For me, the really telling verse is 6:26; that one is devastating. The false prophets were accorded honor and popularity; the true prophets of God were routinely murdered. Woe to those today who are so highly regarded in this world, those who are praised by all for their views, for they have just been put into the category of false prophets.

It makes a person really think about their priorities, doesn’t it?

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Weeping and Laughter

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Don Merritt

Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh. (Luke 6:21b)

Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep. (Luke 6:25n)

Jesus was “a man of sorrows” and yet we see many times in the Gospels that He is attending a banquet or social occasion where there is probably a great deal of laughter going on; certainly some of His opponents thought He was rather too inclined to a party.

So what is He talking about?

We know that there were plenty of times when He grieved over this world and just how many of God’s children simply could not fathom the things of Heaven. Have you ever done that?

If you follow Jesus, things might not always go your way in this life. You may have dear friends or family who mock you or ridicule your beliefs; they might even turn their backs on you entirely. Surely that is a sad time for anyone. Even so, it is better to endure some of these types of sorrows now and be in relationship with God, than it is to sit proud and happy in this life without Him.

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Hunger and Plenty

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Don Merritt

Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied. (Luke 6:21)

Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry. (Luke 6:25)

Jesus continues His theme here as His remarks to his followers continued. In these two verses He makes a contrast between hunger and plenty. Note that He isn’t saying that it’s a good thing to be starving or to lack the necessities of life, but rather that it would be better for a person to lack and have an eternal relationship with God, then to have plenty in this life and perish for eternity. Again, that doesn’t mean that we should all starve ourselves as a sort of spiritual stunt, to see if God will step in.

Clearly, there is an element to this that is counter-intuitive for many of us, oriented as we are in modern Western culture to placing a high priority on comfort and ease of living. Materialism as a way of life is not the best thing for us, in spite of all we hear and see around us. Trusting in God is the place that best characterizes a Kingdom lifestyle, whether we have material means or not.

I once read an interview in which a very wealthy Christian businessman who had made and lost multiple fortunes was asked if he sometimes regretted the amount of money that he had given away to the needy in times in of plenty, and his answer really tells the story here. He replied, “No, I never lost a cent that I gave away.”

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always thought that comment was profound.

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Born of the Spirit

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Don Merritt

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 “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

John 3:6-8

Something to think about.  Beyond that, what can I say?

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Taxi to the Airport

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Don Merritt

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Yjos post was originally posted here 4 years ago, and it is worth retelling the story, so I am re-posting today. I hope you find it interesting.

Last week I was called out-of-town for a trip I wanted nothing to do with.  It all revolved around a court case that stemmed from a smart guy who made a series of terrible decisions that ruined his family, his life and resulted in his prosecution.  I had no idea what any of this had to do with me, and to tell you the truth, I’m still not quite sure.

After spending several hours around people whom this gentleman had used or abused, I was asked a few questions and then sent home.  The experience was a depressing one to be quite honest.  First there was just the sad reality of all that bad choices had caused, and then just the whole atmosphere of the day.

I was glad to be on my way to the airport.  When the cab pulled up, the driver got out and grabbed my bag and opened the door; he was very polite and friendly… but there was something more than that.  He had a certain quality about him that I know well, and without his needing to say a single word, I knew for certain that he was a mature and sincere follower of Jesus Christ; my brother in the Lord.

Other than our faith in Christ, we have nothing much in common.  He is from the east coast, I’m from the west coast.  He is  African-American, I am white; our life’s experiences are really quite different.  In spite of our apparent differences, within a minute or two we were talking as though we had known one another for years. He was telling me about a ministry problem that he was confused by in his church, and the funny thing is that even before he had gotten very far in the story, I had a complete handle on what he was going to say and what he was going to ask.  When he finished, I heard myself giving him the solution to the riddle… where had that come from? To be honest, I’m not sure that even now I could tell you exactly what the issue was or what I said to him.

His reaction was amazing: “Yes! Why didn’t I see that?  Thank you Lord!”

Then something else happened that was surprising; he knew exactly where I was at that moment and offered the exact sort of encouragement that I need.

Now that I have had a few days to process all of this, it seems clear to me why I had to go on that little trip.  A brother in Christ needed help from someone outside of his regular circle and so did I.  We all know that the church is much bigger and more profound than our own little community of believers, and yet sometimes we lose sight of this in the day-to-day routine.  It makes no difference what our differences might appear to be, for whether they are cultural, ethnic, geographical or whatever, these are only earthly things.  The Body of Christ has no such limitations, and when believers will be still long enough to let the Holy Spirit work in their lives, powerful things can take place to advance the cause of Jesus Christ!

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Poor and Rich

Posted on January 14, 2017 by Don Merritt

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God. (Luke 6:20b)

“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort. (Luke 6:24)

I should begin by mentioning that the word “blessed” means fortunate or joyous, while the word “woe” is used to indicate an approaching disaster in Scripture. Thus in this paradox we can see that the poor who follow Christ are fortunate, joyous, which the rich face disaster.

Looking more closely, we can see the reason for both of these: The poor Luke is speaking of, and remember in 6:20a He is addressing “disciples”, will receive the Kingdom of God, so their eternal future is assured. Yet even now, they receive the blessings of the fullness of Christ in this life; joyous indeed!

The rich, those who have so much, who are not His disciple; what of them?

They will have a problem when the Kingdom comes, for they have placed their hope in their wealth. They might find comfort in the present, but when the time comes, what will their money buy them?

Not a thing.

Is this to say that nobody of means can be saved?

I highly doubt it, even though some will assert that it does. Rather it seems to me that Jesus is continuing here the long pattern of Jewish wisdom which states a general principle or value. In this case, I think we all know that very rich people often have a hard time coming to Christ, simply because they are so comfortable with their own status quo. While this may be true generally, it is not an absolute as we also know. While we’re at it, being poor doesn’t mean a person is interested in giving their life to Christ, even though a higher percentage of the poor might lean that way than with the rich. The real principle in all of this is that we cannot depend upon earthly wealth to secure our future, particularly our eternal future, and it is better to be poor now and inherit eternity, than to be rich now and miss out.

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Jesus Teaches His Followers

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Don Merritt

Luke 6:17-46: Introduction

In these 29 verses, Luke tells of teachings that are directly parallel to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Is Luke reporting the same occasion? Are they still on a mountain? Scholars argue over these and other questions, and in all of these years, they haven’t settled the issues, so let’s not worry too much about them here.

As I wrote back when we covered Matthew’s Gospel, the Sermon on the Mount may very well be a summary of Jesus’ Kingdom teachings, a compilation of His major themes about what it means to be a citizen of the Kingdom, rather than a transcript of one particular event. I would suggest that the same is likely the case with Luke’s account in chapter six.  Either way, both are content rich to say the least.

Notice that the scene begins with Jesus, who has been up on a mountain in prayer, coming down “with them” (the Twelve) to a level place where lots of people are gathered to hear His teaching. There is “a large crowd of His disciples” as well as many others there. Clearly at this point Jesus had a great many “disciples” (followers) in addition to the Twelve, and had also created a great deal of interest among others who weren’t yet “disciples”.

Like in Matthew 5, Luke begins the presentation with a list of beatitudes which clearly parallel some of those in Matthew, but Luke only lists four, and with each one, Luke adds a “woe” to match up with them, which is a very interesting distinction between the approaches of the two men. When we studied Matthew, I wrote about each beatitude separately, and here, I propose to do so again, only this time, I’ll do so alongside its corresponding woe so we can get the clear picture of each one.

One thing you will notice as we continue through these is that Luke seems to have a bias for the poor, the hungry, the sorrowful and the persecuted. In this, he almost makes it sound as though one must be all of these things in order to enter the Kingdom, and as his narrative continues, we will see two instances where Jesus tells a rich person to liquidate their portfolios. Before we draw this conclusion however, we need to remind ourselves of who He was addressing. Notice the full range and extent of the crowd that Luke mentions in 6:17-19, and then note how these beatitudes begin: “Looking at the disciples, he said” (6:20).

As we’ve already seen, these are people who have already left everything behind; homes, families, jobs, businesses… Thus it seems, at least to me, more likely that Jesus is trying to encourage them, than stating strict legal requirements for discipleship.

In any case, we are ready to begin our look at His words, and we’ll get started next time; see you then!

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A Thought for Today

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Don Merritt
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