June 3, 2023 • 38 mins
There are no criteria to fulfill in order to become a Christian. However, once a person becomes a follower of Christ, their character must get better over time. Jesus shows some aspects of a Christian's character in the Sermon on the Mount.
https://www.anushjohn.com/post/a-disciple-s-disposition
anushjohn.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of the companies that has been the most
influential in the last 25 yearsis Google, and the head of
people operations at Google wasa man by the name of Lazlo Bok.
He was the head of operationsfor about 10 years.
In 2006, google had 10,000employees, and by 2016, when he
(00:20):
resigned from his post, they had72,000 employees, and so when
he was looking for potentialemployees, he was looking for
what he called Googliness, andhe wanted people to have
Googliness, and this was hisdescription of what a potential
employee had to have to work atGoogle.
He said they should enjoy fun.
(00:41):
He said they should have acertain dose of intellectual
humility, a strong measure ofconscientiousness, being
comfortable with ambiguity andevidence that they've taken some
courageous and interestingpaths in their lives, and so
that, for him, was Googliness,and if you had these attributes
when you came for the interview,then you had a high chance of
(01:04):
working at Google.
Every year, 3 million peopleapply to work at Google and they
accept about 20,000, depends onthe year.
This morning, in a sermonentitled A Disciple's
Disposition, we're going to lookat what are the characters that
a disciple of Jesus should have.
Obviously, it's different thanwhat Google says.
(01:25):
For Google, you need to havethose characteristics in order
to work in Google, but for theChristian faith that's not true.
Anybody can walk in.
These characteristics aredeveloped after you become a
Christian.
It's not like we have to checkoff some boxes and be holy
before we become Christian.
We come to God as we are andthen we become changed because
(01:49):
of the Holy Spirit that works inus.
Now what is the character, whatis the disposition, what should
be the disposition of adisciple?
One of the passages in theBible that clearly describes
this is that passage ofScripture called The Sermon on
the Mount.
So you can turn your Bibles toMatthew, chapter 5, and we will
look at multiple verses here.
(02:10):
The Sermon on the Mount goesfrom Matthew 5 to Matthew 7.
God's plan from the beginningwas to call people, and when he
called people, he wanted them tobe holy and different than
their neighbors, but obviouslythe people of Israel.
They didn't do it.
God wanted the people of Israelin the Old Testament to be
(02:33):
different than the Egyptians andthe Canaanites, but they were
not very different from theEgyptians and the Canaanites.
So what happened was God sentthem into exile.
And you come to the NewTestament and the same thing.
Jesus calls his disciples andthen he gives them the details
of what characteristics theyshould have.
The call is always first beforeGod tells us how we have to be
(02:57):
different.
In Matthew, chapter 5, 6, 7 isa sermon on the Mount, but
Matthew 4, jesus calls And thisis important to know, that the
call happens first.
Now the entire sermon on theMount is a contrast between
three different groups of peopleAnd once you know this, it
makes it so much easier when youread the sermon on the Mount.
(03:19):
The sermon on the Mount is acontrast between a disciple and
the religious and the discipleand the secular.
So the words used is pagan andGentile to describe the secular,
and then when it says you haveheard that it was said, he's
talking about the other Jews.
(03:40):
So the three groups of peoplethat are being contrasted here.
So Jesus was primarily talkingto the disciples, but also
secondarily with all the peoplethat were assembled there.
A few months ago I got theopportunity to go to Israel and
I stood where Jesus gave thesermon on the Mount, just
overlooking on the northwestside of the Sea of Galilee, just
(04:01):
looking down into the Sea ofGalilee.
There's a very nice slope therewhere Jesus sat and gave his
sermon on the Mount.
Now I'm going to give you a veryquick overview, or an outline,
of the sermon on the Mount.
There are thousands of suchoutlines.
I'm giving you only my outline.
You can use this outline tostudy the sermon on the Mount.
(04:25):
So the first thing is thecharacter and influence of a
disciple.
This is just the outline.
I'm not going to go throughevery single one of them, but
I'm giving you something so thatwhen you go back and want to
read up the sermon on the Mount,you can use this outline.
And, by the way, all this is onmy webpage.
You can use the QR code.
It'll take you directly to thisoutline and all the other
(04:45):
sermon notes.
First thing in the character andinfluence of a disciple is the
blessed state of a believer andthe transformative influence of
a believer.
Then, secondly, in contrastwith the secular people, the
Bible talks about prayers andworry.
And then, in contrast with thereligious people, there are
actually two differentcategories.
(05:06):
It shows the Christian moralsversus legalistic actions, and
under this are the six things,or what I call the six
antithesis.
You have heard that it was said, but this is what I tell you.
And so he goes through six ofthem, which include anger, lust,
divorce, oaths, revenge andlove, and then Christian
devotion versus hypocriticalpiety, and under this there are
(05:29):
three categories, which isgiving, prayer and fasting.
So what I'm going to do thismorning obviously there is no
time to go through every singleone of them.
I picked one from each category, so we'll do one from the
character and influence of adisciple And then one from the
secular and one from thereligious.
(05:50):
First let's look at thecharacter and influence of a
disciple.
Turn your Bibles to Matthew,chapter 5.
Matthew 5.
And here he talks about saltand light.
Salt and light And we've heardthis a thousand times about salt
and light.
Matthew 5, verse 13.
(06:12):
You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt has lost its taste,how can it be made salty again?
How shall its saltiness berestored?
It is no longer good foranything except to be thrown out
and trampled under people'sfeet.
First thing about salt is thatthere are multiple uses, and we
(06:32):
know that there are multipleuses.
In those days, because theydidn't have electricity or
refrigeration, salt was used topreserve food, just to make it
last longer.
It was also used in OldTestament sacrifices.
But light to date is also usedin seasoning food.
Any of you all cook.
What do you cook?
What kind of foods do you cook?
(06:54):
Curry Curry is very good, verygood.
What do you cook?
Everything, everything.
You are a chef here.
You saw that you were going tobe a chef here.
You are a chef here.
That's great.
Obviously you cook.
What is your specialty?
What kind of foods?
Indian food, indian food yeah,i love salt.
Go ahead.
He cooks for me.
(07:14):
Oh, you cook for weddings.
You said Wendy's.
Oh, you cook for Wendy's.
It does require a certain levelof skill.
You cook for us.
In the last five years I'vepicked up this hobby of cooking.
Initially it was just as ahobby, but now it's great fun.
(07:35):
I love cooking differentcurries.
Like you said, i'm not anofficial chef, but I cook at
home, so I cook a ton of Indianfood.
You know and you cook I don'tknow whatever.
Chicken, tikka, masala.
There are so many differentflavors and spices that go into
it.
Sometimes, as you cook, youtaste the different.
Okay, is it?
No, it doesn't taste right.
And as you're cooking, you'relike man.
(07:56):
This tastes a little bland.
It's a balance between spicesand sour And you get the sour
from the tomato and the yogurt,right, and then you get the salt
, and then you put some littlebit of sugar, you get the bitter
from the Kasuri methi, right,and so you try to do this
combination of flavors Andsometimes, after you've done all
(08:18):
the stuff, you taste it andstill a little it's not popping
up like you want it, and all youneed to do at that point is
just add a little bit of salt,because salt brings out all the
flavors and it's used forseasoning.
So it's possible that Jesus wastalking about all the multiple
uses of salt in this culture andthe way salt had influence in
(08:43):
that culture, but also he wastrying to show the
ineffectiveness of salt.
Sometimes salt can beineffective.
It's not scientificallypossible for salt to lose its
saltiness.
So what Jesus is saying here isthat it's contaminated.
The salt was contaminated andtherefore ineffective.
(09:06):
The literal reading is notsaltiness or losing saltiness.
It's about becoming foolish.
That's a literal reading.
It's moreno to become foolish.
So Jesus is saying salt hasbecome foolish.
And how can salt become foolish?
in the sense it has become lesseffective in its job.
It gets mixed in withimpurities that make it
(09:29):
ineffective.
A Christian's influence is alsoineffective if we are mixed in
with purities.
The interesting thing is, themore a Christian's character is
like the world, the less respectwe will have.
So if your church looks likethe world which there are some
churches that look like culturethe culture is reflected inside
(09:52):
the church.
If your church looks like theculture, you will have less
influence and less respect.
But if your church looksdifferent than the culture, you
will face more ridicule, but youwill have respect and have an
influence.
It is tempting for us to wantto be liked by culture, but the
(10:19):
more we try to compromise who weare, what the Bible says we are
supposed to be, and we becomemore like the world, we will
face less ridicule, but we willhave no respect and no influence
.
Second, jesus talks about light.
(10:40):
Turn to Matthew, chapter 5 andverses 14 through 16.
Matthew 5, 14 through 16.
You are the light of the world.
A city on a hill cannot behidden, nor do people light a
lamp and put it under a basket,but on a stand, and it gives
light to all in the house In thesame way.
(11:03):
Let your light shine beforeothers so that they may see your
good works and give glory toyour Father in heaven.
Jesus is assuming that we dogood works, that they're going
to see your good works.
Now let's turn to another verseabout two chapters before.
In Matthew, chapter 3, verse 8.
It says bear fruit in keepingwith repentance, which is you
(11:28):
become a Christian, you'verepented.
Bear fruit related to that,Good works are assumed.
I'm not going to go into it, butyou can read up Ephesians,
chapter 2, verse 8 through 10,which says we are God's
workmanship, created in Christfor good works.
In every other religion youhave to do good works to go to
(11:52):
heaven, but in the Christianfaith you don't need to do
anything to become a Christian.
Because of that view, sometimeswe go in the opposite direction
Where we say, okay, we don'tneed to do good works at all.
But that's not what you'resaying.
Good works are expected ifyou're a believer, not in order
(12:14):
to become a Christian, butbecause you're a Christian.
Let me ask you a question Whatgood works would we do if we
thought good works could take usto heaven?
What good works would we do ifwe thought good works would take
(12:35):
us to heaven?
We would do a lot of good worksbecause we're trying to get
into heaven.
Jesus is essentially sayingthose good works should come out
, not in order to become aChristian, but because you're a
Christian.
We need to do all kinds of goodworks.
As individuals, i need to dogood works because I'm a
(12:56):
Christian.
As families, i need to do goodworks because we are Christians.
As a church, we need to do goodworks because we are Christians
.
The church where I'm in inMaryland one of the ministries
that we have is calledDisability Ministries, where we
minister to a lot of disabledpeople, and so we have a lot of
(13:17):
people come for our weeklyweekend church meetings from far
and wide because they have adisabled child And they know
that at our Sunday morningservice there is the main
service and there is a servicefor the disabled people.
So that is the ministry, thatis the good work that our church
(13:38):
is doing.
In that setting, for each ofour churches, for each of our
families, for each of us asindividuals, we need to figure
out what is the good work that Ineed to do, not in order to
become a Christian, but becauseGod has already saved us.
Over the centuries, the churchhas done some amazing things in
(13:58):
terms of good works all theseorphanages, all these
deaddiction facilities, all theschools, all these different
things that were started becausethey were Christians.
And then Jesus talks about lightand he says that it should not
be hidden.
It should not be hidden, butactively engaged.
(14:19):
Sometimes we can focus on oneand not the other, which is we
focus on inner quality.
I want to become the strongChristian.
That's great, but we forgetabout the outward effect.
We are so focused on beinginner, have inner great
(14:39):
Christian quality, that weforget about the outward effect
that God wants us to have.
Many times we are hiddenChristians.
We are great in our familyprayers, we are great in our
churches, but we are hidden.
Nobody else knows it.
Turn your Bible to John, chapter17, verse 15, verses 15 through
(15:04):
18.
John 17, 15 through 18.
This is called the highpriestly prayer of Jesus, where
Jesus is praying and in thispart of the prayer he's praying
for his disciples.
And this is what he's prayingto his father for his disciples
He says I do not ask that youtake them out of the world, but
that you keep them from the evilone.
(15:25):
They are not of the world, as Iam not of the world.
So we are not of the world, butwe need to have an effect in
the world.
Holiness has to do withseparation, but many times we
think it has to do with physicalseparation.
It's not physical separation,it's moral separation.
(15:47):
We need to be morally separatedfrom the world around us, not
physical separation Other thanmoral separation.
Every Christian needs to beconnected to the world.
Every Christian needs to beconnected to the world.
In fact, the more we look atculture and we see culture going
(16:12):
down, there is a tendency topull back and say, okay, i'm
going to stay in my little shelland avoid culture.
But that is the exact oppositething that the church needs to
do.
The more culture becomes evil,the more the church needs to
engage with culture and shinethe light.
(16:37):
Otherwise, we are hiding thelight.
And the purpose of all this,the purpose of good works, is so
that God would be glorified,and that's what Jesus says there
.
Second, let's look at thecontrast with the secular,
contrast with the secular.
So first we looked at thecharacter and influence of a
disciple and second we will lookat the contrast with the
(16:59):
secular.
Turn to Matthew, chapter 6 andverses 25 to 34.
Matthew 6, 25 to 34.
This is a passage that we'veall read.
There are several verses thatwe know from memory.
(17:20):
Therefore, i tell you, do notbe anxious about life, what you
will eat, what you will drink,or about your body, what you
will put on.
Is not life more important thanfood and the body more
important than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air.
They neither so, nor reap, norgather into bonds, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value thanthey?
(17:40):
And which of you, by beinganxious, can add a single hour
to his span of life?
And why are you anxious aboutclothing?
Consider the lilies of thefield, how they grow.
They neither toil nor spin.
Yet I tell you, even Solomon inall his glory was not a raid
like one of these.
But if God saw clothes of grassof the field, which today is
(18:01):
alive and tomorrow is throwninto the oven, will he not much
more cloth you or you of littlefaith?
Therefore, don't be anxioussaying what shall we eat or what
shall we drink or what shall wewear, for the Gentiles seek
after all these things, andwhether you are Gentiles, he's
talking in contrast with thesecular.
The Gentiles seek after allthese things, and your heavenly
(18:22):
Father knows that you need them,but seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness andall these things will be added
to you as well.
Therefore, do not be anxiousabout tomorrow, for tomorrow
will be anxious for itself.
Sufficient, for the day is itsown trouble.
Now this passage is talkingabout anxiety and worry.
You know what it's not saying.
(18:43):
It's not saying don't thinkabout the future.
It's not saying don't planabout the future.
It's saying don't be worriedabout the future.
This is where the King JamesVersion translation is not
accurate.
If you read the King JamesVersion translation, or maybe
even the New King James, it saysdon't think about the future,
and that's not the actual word.
(19:05):
It's worry.
Do not be anxious.
We have to think about thefuture, we have to plan about
the future, but we don't need tobe anxious about the future,
because worrying doesn't changeanything.
What are we worried about?
What are the different thingsthat we worry about?
Parents worry about theirchildren.
(19:25):
What, and when you become aparent, you'll know the
different things that you worryabout your children.
The more you see culture goingdownhill morally, the more you
worry about your children.
What are they now going tolearn in fifth grade that you
know I didn't learn in tenthgrade?
You're worried about the future.
(19:49):
You're worried about your job.
Some of you are studying incolleges.
You want the job market tostill be there when you leave
the college, not just when youstart.
We worry about our jobs, oureducation, our finances, our
taxes and children.
I mean there's so many things.
(20:09):
The essential problem withworrying this is what Jesus is
trying to show here is adistrust of God.
We distrust God.
Let's say that.
You know, when we were drivingyesterday from Toronto up here
to Bank of 3 Hour Drive asyou're driving, let's say that
(20:30):
your three-year-old child is inthe backseat.
Okay, if your three-year-oldchild is in the backseat and
constantly gripping the sides ofhis little chair and wondering
if there's going to be anaccident or not, what does that
tell you?
It tells you that that kid doesnot trust his father who's
driving, or the mother who'sdriving.
Right, it's a question ofdistrust.
(20:52):
But usually three-year-oldsdon't care.
You know why?
Because they know that theirparent is going to take them.
They have complete faith in theperson who's driving the car.
Worry is essentially a distrustof God.
It is almost practical atheismwhere you think that you need to
(21:12):
drive the bus yourself Fornon-Christians.
Why should they trust God?
Why should non-Christians trustGod?
In Hinduism and Buddhism, thereis no personal God.
In the Jnana Marga, the way ofknowledge, brahman, is this
(21:33):
indescribable non-being.
It's not a personal God.
In the karmic system there isno.
So in the karmic system, if youdo good deeds, you get good
rewards.
If you do bad things, you getbad rewards.
But who is giving the reward Orwho is giving the blessing?
(21:54):
There is no person there.
It is an impersonal karmicsystem.
In the Islamic faith, allah isa non-personal God.
In atheism and secular humanism, there is no God.
So why should a non-christiantrust God?
(22:15):
In fact, a non-christian shouldworry Because they don't know
who is driving that car.
They should hold on to thesides of the seat and wonder
what's going to happen next,because it's an impersonal being
that's driving the car, or theythemselves are driving the car.
(22:36):
So they have to be worried.
But for a Christian, whose Godis a personal, omniscient,
omnipotent being, who isdescribed as a good and loving
Father in the Bible, we don'tneed to worry about God because
he is the one that's drivingthis bus.
(22:56):
When we seek God first, then wecan trust God with everything
else.
Does that mean that everythingis going to go smoothly?
Absolutely not.
Ask about the Christians inUkraine.
Ask if things are goingsmoothly for them.
Ask about the Christians inNorth Korea.
(23:17):
Ask if things are goingsmoothly for them.
It's not.
The issue is not whether thingsare going to go smoothly or not
.
The issue is knowing that asovereign being is in charge.
He will do what is right, andtrusting.
That is what takes care ofworry.
Ultimately, it's knowing thatGod is sovereign number one and
(23:39):
that we live in a fallen world,number two, and this is not all
that.
There is, number three, thatGod has planned something much
bigger.
Once we understand that, then,even if things don't go the way
we want it to go, it's okay.
We can trust God.
Third, let's look at thecharacter of a Christian in
(24:04):
contrast with the religious,character of a Christian in
contrast with the religious.
And let's turn to Matthew,chapter 5, verses 43 to 48.
Matthew 5, 43 to 48.
You have heard that it was saidyou shall love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.
(24:24):
That I say to you love yourenemies and pray for those who
persecute you, and that is thesons of your father, who is in
heaven, for he makes his sonrise in the evil and the good
and sends rain on the just andon the unjust.
For if you love those who loveyou, what reward do you get?
Do not even the tax collectorsdo the same?
And if you greet only yourbrothers, what more are you
(24:45):
doing than others?
Do not even Gentiles do thesame.
You therefore must be perfect,even as your heavenly father is
perfect.
First, we will look at theobject of love.
What is the object of love?
You have heard that it was saidyou shall love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.
Now, there are two parts tothat sentence You shall love
(25:07):
your neighbor and hate yourenemy.
The phrase you shall love yourneighbor comes from Leviticus,
chapter 19.
But, importantly, the phraseyou shall hate your enemy is not
in the Old Testament.
It's nowhere in the OldTestament.
God in the Old Testament nevercommanded his people to hate
(25:30):
their enemy.
In fact, even throughout thebooks of the Pentateuch, as the
people of Israel are going intothis foreign land, god says be
favorable to the alien and theforeigner among you, because you
were aliens and foreigners in aforeign land.
He has never said you shouldhate your enemy.
(25:51):
And yet the command to bemorally separate from their
neighbors that resulted in theJewish people hating their
enemies, hating their neighbors,and that still continues.
Where that hate still continues.
So when Jesus says you haveheard that it was said love your
neighbor.
That is from the Old Testament.
(26:12):
But the hate, your enemy part,that is from their own culture.
That is what they practiced andthat is what they preached Then
Jesus gives this unbelievablecommand to love enemies.
We can love our friends, we canlove family, we can love friends
.
That's normal, that's natural.
(26:33):
But loving your enemy how canyou love somebody that is
against you?
It is beyond human logic, iswhat I'll call supra-logical.
Who is your enemy?
Think about the worst person inyour life, and some kids will
(26:55):
think about their parents, but Ican promise you they are not
the enemy.
You will find that out later.
Think of someone.
What's that?
After a long time?
After a long time, yeah, anddon't care.
Think about the person who'sdone the worst thing in your
(27:19):
life to you.
That is your enemy.
And the point of this is, if wecan love our enemies, we can
love everyone else.
But that is a point of this.
Obviously, it's a biggerchallenge for those who are
living in hostile countries.
So there's in Manipur, myfamily.
(27:41):
We have like an orphanage inManipur with 120 kids there HIV
positive kids But that's beenshut down because of the
persecution that's happening inManipur Churches are being
ransacked and burnt, believersare being beaten, so we have to
shut down the school, send allthe kids back to their villages.
(28:02):
Obviously, in a hostile region,it is much harder to love your
enemy, but when you're livingwhere you've got freedom of
speech, freedom to practice yourreligion and nobody bothers you
, it's much easier.
So what does God want us to do?
(28:24):
when we say love and does itjust mean, okay, i'm going to
call you and say I love you.
I'm going to just say in mymind I love you.
What does it mean?
There's an object of love andthen there is the action of love
, where Jesus wants us to prayfor our enemies, to pray for our
enemies.
Many times we do the opposite.
(28:46):
Where we pray against ourenemies, jesus wants us to pray
for our enemies.
So think about the person who'syour enemy.
Think about a prayer ofprofound blessing for that enemy
.
Very, very hard to do, very,very hard to do.
(29:09):
I listed out five reactions thatwe can have towards our enemies
.
Five reactions that we can havetowards our enemy.
So if you want to think of whoyour enemy could be, think of a
(29:29):
person who abused your child andkilled them intentionally.
Wow, that's who your enemywould be.
Think of someone who wouldabuse your child and kill them
intentionally.
Now think about loving them.
I'm going to give you fivepossible reactions that we can
(29:54):
have to our enemies.
The first is hatred or revenge.
In this, you can actively dosomething to hurt your enemy.
They did something to you tohurt you.
You can do something back tohurt them.
This is the basis for the eyefor an eye, tooth for a tooth.
(30:18):
You do something to me, i dosomething to you.
That is completely human.
This is our natural reaction.
If somebody intentionally didsomething to me, i want to do
something so bad to them that isequal to what they did to me.
Right, that is the normalnatural reaction.
(30:40):
The second kind of reaction thatyou can have is what I'll call
dislike, where you don'tactively do something to hurt
them, but you will passively dosomething to hurt them.
So, for example, let's say thatyou have a colleague or a
classmate that is your enemy.
You may not go out of your wayto do anything against them, but
(31:03):
if they are, let's say, gettinga promotion, you will try to
prevent them from getting thepromotion.
Or if their paycheck is goingto go high while yours stays
down, you're going to try toprevent them from doing that.
That is, you dislike them.
You passively do something tohurt them.
A third reaction isindifference, where you don't do
(31:25):
anything to either hurt them orhelp them.
You don't care.
As far as you're concerned,they are your enemy and they
don't exist to you.
A fourth reaction that you canhave is like where you can do
something passively to help them.
So let's say, your enemy isyour neighbor and your neighbor
(31:48):
comes to you in the middle ofthe night.
You've got nothing to do withthem, it's your enemy.
They come in the middle of thenight knocking on the door and
they say you know, my wife had aheart attack.
Can you take him to thehospital?
You will passively do somethingto help them.
But Jesus wants us to go beyondall this, doesn't he?
He wants us to love them, wherewe will actively, intentionally
(32:14):
, go out of our way,sacrificially, choose to help
them.
Let me end with the story.
The Amish are a religious andcultural group of people that
came from Europe in the late1700s, 17th century.
They come in multiple states inthe US and Canada.
(32:37):
They live in rural communitiesand they are very peaceful
people, moral people, veryconservative Christians, and
they have this very simplelifestyle, agricultural
lifestyle, and they don't botheranybody.
They reject all the modernadvancements.
But October 2nd 2006 would be avery dark day in their history.
(33:05):
In the little town ofNickelmines, pennsylvania, a
milk truck driver by the name ofCharles Roberts he was not an
Amish person, but he enteredthis one room Amish schoolhouse
And when he entered this Amishschoolhouse he was loaded with
weapons.
He had a handgun, he had ashotgun, he had a rifle and 600
(33:30):
rounds of ammunition.
As he entered there there wereboys and girls and some adults
there.
He let all the boys go, soabout 15 boys left.
There was one pregnant ladythat he told the chicken go.
There were three other motherswith little infants that he said
could also go.
Remaining were 10 girls.
He barricaded the doors andwindows of this one room
(33:54):
schoolhouse.
He tied the hands and feet ofthe girls and had them line up
against the chalkboard And bythen the teacher from outside
called the cops.
In nine minutes the police camethere and they tried to
establish communication with him, but it failed.
And then they tried to breakdown the door and that's when
(34:16):
they heard the shots.
In the shots, five out of theten kids were dead, including
the killer.
How would a Christian group thatbelieves in the command of
(34:37):
Jesus to love your enemies?
how would they react?
Because now, this is not theory, it's practical.
How are you going to react toyour enemy that is now at your
doorstep?
And, ladies and gentlemen, inthe midst of pain and grief,
(35:03):
they obeyed the command of Jesusto love their enemies.
They reached out to the familyof the killer, to his wife and
family, and offered theircondolences and their support,
and most of the Amish went forhis funeral.
(35:24):
Two thousand years ago, as Jesushung on the cross, he had the
opportunity to practice what hepreached.
And how did he respond to thepeople that were crucifying him?
He said, father, forgive them,for they do not know what they
are doing.
I want to give the opportunityfor us to respond to the sermon.
(35:45):
I want to ask three questions.
At the end of the day, jesuswas salt and light.
At the end of the day, jesustrusted his father completely.
And at the end of the day, heshowed love to his enemies.
But let me ask you threequestions.
(36:07):
What do I need to do to haveinfluence as a Christian?
What do I need to do to haveinfluence as a Christian?
What areas of my life do Iworry about that I need to trust
God with?
And how is my love for people?
Is it anger?
Is it dislike?
(36:29):
Is it indifference?
Is it dislike, or is it love?
Let's pray, heavenly Father, wethank you for this morning that
(36:52):
you've given.
Thank you for your word, thankyou for your word that goes
against normal human thinking.
Your truth is so different thanwhat we, as sinful humans,
(37:15):
think about.
Thank you for the reminder fromyour word to love.
And, more than anything, wethank you for what you did for
us That while we were stillsinners, you died for us.
While we were enemies, youexhibited your love to us.
(37:40):
I pray that you would give usthe strength, the courage, even
if we face hostile situationsand people, that we would do as
you have asked us to do, andthat, as we let the Holy Spirit
of God change our lives, that wewould have the disposition of a
(38:01):
disciple.
We would be more and more inthe character of Jesus Christ.
In your name, we pray Amen.
One of the companies that has been the most
influential in the last 25 yearsis Google, and the head of
people operations at Google wasa man by the name of Lazlo Bok.
He was the head of operationsfor about 10 years.
In 2006, google had 10,000employees, and by 2016, when he
(00:20):
resigned from his post, they had72,000 employees, and so when
he was looking for potentialemployees, he was looking for
what he called Googliness, andhe wanted people to have
Googliness, and this was hisdescription of what a potential
employee had to have to work atGoogle.
He said they should enjoy fun.
(00:41):
He said they should have acertain dose of intellectual
humility, a strong measure ofconscientiousness, being
comfortable with ambiguity andevidence that they've taken some
courageous and interestingpaths in their lives, and so
that, for him, was Googliness,and if you had these attributes
when you came for the interview,then you had a high chance of
(01:04):
working at Google.
Every year, 3 million peopleapply to work at Google and they
accept about 20,000, depends onthe year.
This morning, in a sermonentitled A Disciple's
Disposition, we're going to lookat what are the characters that
a disciple of Jesus should have.
Obviously, it's different thanwhat Google says.
(01:25):
For Google, you need to havethose characteristics in order
to work in Google, but for theChristian faith that's not true.
Anybody can walk in.
These characteristics aredeveloped after you become a
Christian.
It's not like we have to checkoff some boxes and be holy
before we become Christian.
We come to God as we are andthen we become changed because
(01:49):
of the Holy Spirit that works inus.
Now what is the character, whatis the disposition, what should
be the disposition of adisciple?
One of the passages in theBible that clearly describes
this is that passage ofScripture called The Sermon on
the Mount.
So you can turn your Bibles toMatthew, chapter 5, and we will
look at multiple verses here.
(02:10):
The Sermon on the Mount goesfrom Matthew 5 to Matthew 7.
God's plan from the beginningwas to call people, and when he
called people, he wanted them tobe holy and different than
their neighbors, but obviouslythe people of Israel.
They didn't do it.
God wanted the people of Israelin the Old Testament to be
(02:33):
different than the Egyptians andthe Canaanites, but they were
not very different from theEgyptians and the Canaanites.
So what happened was God sentthem into exile.
And you come to the NewTestament and the same thing.
Jesus calls his disciples andthen he gives them the details
of what characteristics theyshould have.
The call is always first beforeGod tells us how we have to be
(02:57):
different.
In Matthew, chapter 5, 6, 7 isa sermon on the Mount, but
Matthew 4, jesus calls And thisis important to know, that the
call happens first.
Now the entire sermon on theMount is a contrast between
three different groups of peopleAnd once you know this, it
makes it so much easier when youread the sermon on the Mount.
(03:19):
The sermon on the Mount is acontrast between a disciple and
the religious and the discipleand the secular.
So the words used is pagan andGentile to describe the secular,
and then when it says you haveheard that it was said, he's
talking about the other Jews.
(03:40):
So the three groups of peoplethat are being contrasted here.
So Jesus was primarily talkingto the disciples, but also
secondarily with all the peoplethat were assembled there.
A few months ago I got theopportunity to go to Israel and
I stood where Jesus gave thesermon on the Mount, just
overlooking on the northwestside of the Sea of Galilee, just
(04:01):
looking down into the Sea ofGalilee.
There's a very nice slope therewhere Jesus sat and gave his
sermon on the Mount.
Now I'm going to give you a veryquick overview, or an outline,
of the sermon on the Mount.
There are thousands of suchoutlines.
I'm giving you only my outline.
You can use this outline tostudy the sermon on the Mount.
(04:25):
So the first thing is thecharacter and influence of a
disciple.
This is just the outline.
I'm not going to go throughevery single one of them, but
I'm giving you something so thatwhen you go back and want to
read up the sermon on the Mount,you can use this outline.
And, by the way, all this is onmy webpage.
You can use the QR code.
It'll take you directly to thisoutline and all the other
(04:45):
sermon notes.
First thing in the character andinfluence of a disciple is the
blessed state of a believer andthe transformative influence of
a believer.
Then, secondly, in contrastwith the secular people, the
Bible talks about prayers andworry.
And then, in contrast with thereligious people, there are
actually two differentcategories.
(05:06):
It shows the Christian moralsversus legalistic actions, and
under this are the six things,or what I call the six
antithesis.
You have heard that it was said, but this is what I tell you.
And so he goes through six ofthem, which include anger, lust,
divorce, oaths, revenge andlove, and then Christian
devotion versus hypocriticalpiety, and under this there are
(05:29):
three categories, which isgiving, prayer and fasting.
So what I'm going to do thismorning obviously there is no
time to go through every singleone of them.
I picked one from each category, so we'll do one from the
character and influence of adisciple And then one from the
secular and one from thereligious.
(05:50):
First let's look at thecharacter and influence of a
disciple.
Turn your Bibles to Matthew,chapter 5.
Matthew 5.
And here he talks about saltand light.
Salt and light And we've heardthis a thousand times about salt
and light.
Matthew 5, verse 13.
(06:12):
You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt has lost its taste,how can it be made salty again?
How shall its saltiness berestored?
It is no longer good foranything except to be thrown out
and trampled under people'sfeet.
First thing about salt is thatthere are multiple uses, and we
(06:32):
know that there are multipleuses.
In those days, because theydidn't have electricity or
refrigeration, salt was used topreserve food, just to make it
last longer.
It was also used in OldTestament sacrifices.
But light to date is also usedin seasoning food.
Any of you all cook.
What do you cook?
What kind of foods do you cook?
(06:54):
Curry Curry is very good, verygood.
What do you cook?
Everything, everything.
You are a chef here.
You saw that you were going tobe a chef here.
You are a chef here.
That's great.
Obviously you cook.
What is your specialty?
What kind of foods?
Indian food, indian food yeah,i love salt.
Go ahead.
He cooks for me.
(07:14):
Oh, you cook for weddings.
You said Wendy's.
Oh, you cook for Wendy's.
It does require a certain levelof skill.
You cook for us.
In the last five years I'vepicked up this hobby of cooking.
Initially it was just as ahobby, but now it's great fun.
(07:35):
I love cooking differentcurries.
Like you said, i'm not anofficial chef, but I cook at
home, so I cook a ton of Indianfood.
You know and you cook I don'tknow whatever.
Chicken, tikka, masala.
There are so many differentflavors and spices that go into
it.
Sometimes, as you cook, youtaste the different.
Okay, is it?
No, it doesn't taste right.
And as you're cooking, you'relike man.
(07:56):
This tastes a little bland.
It's a balance between spicesand sour And you get the sour
from the tomato and the yogurt,right, and then you get the salt
, and then you put some littlebit of sugar, you get the bitter
from the Kasuri methi, right,and so you try to do this
combination of flavors Andsometimes, after you've done all
(08:18):
the stuff, you taste it andstill a little it's not popping
up like you want it, and all youneed to do at that point is
just add a little bit of salt,because salt brings out all the
flavors and it's used forseasoning.
So it's possible that Jesus wastalking about all the multiple
uses of salt in this culture andthe way salt had influence in
(08:43):
that culture, but also he wastrying to show the
ineffectiveness of salt.
Sometimes salt can beineffective.
It's not scientificallypossible for salt to lose its
saltiness.
So what Jesus is saying here isthat it's contaminated.
The salt was contaminated andtherefore ineffective.
(09:06):
The literal reading is notsaltiness or losing saltiness.
It's about becoming foolish.
That's a literal reading.
It's moreno to become foolish.
So Jesus is saying salt hasbecome foolish.
And how can salt become foolish?
in the sense it has become lesseffective in its job.
It gets mixed in withimpurities that make it
(09:29):
ineffective.
A Christian's influence is alsoineffective if we are mixed in
with purities.
The interesting thing is, themore a Christian's character is
like the world, the less respectwe will have.
So if your church looks likethe world which there are some
churches that look like culturethe culture is reflected inside
(09:52):
the church.
If your church looks like theculture, you will have less
influence and less respect.
But if your church looksdifferent than the culture, you
will face more ridicule, but youwill have respect and have an
influence.
It is tempting for us to wantto be liked by culture, but the
(10:19):
more we try to compromise who weare, what the Bible says we are
supposed to be, and we becomemore like the world, we will
face less ridicule, but we willhave no respect and no influence
.
Second, jesus talks about light.
(10:40):
Turn to Matthew, chapter 5 andverses 14 through 16.
Matthew 5, 14 through 16.
You are the light of the world.
A city on a hill cannot behidden, nor do people light a
lamp and put it under a basket,but on a stand, and it gives
light to all in the house In thesame way.
(11:03):
Let your light shine beforeothers so that they may see your
good works and give glory toyour Father in heaven.
Jesus is assuming that we dogood works, that they're going
to see your good works.
Now let's turn to another verseabout two chapters before.
In Matthew, chapter 3, verse 8.
It says bear fruit in keepingwith repentance, which is you
(11:28):
become a Christian, you'verepented.
Bear fruit related to that,Good works are assumed.
I'm not going to go into it, butyou can read up Ephesians,
chapter 2, verse 8 through 10,which says we are God's
workmanship, created in Christfor good works.
In every other religion youhave to do good works to go to
(11:52):
heaven, but in the Christianfaith you don't need to do
anything to become a Christian.
Because of that view, sometimeswe go in the opposite direction
Where we say, okay, we don'tneed to do good works at all.
But that's not what you'resaying.
Good works are expected ifyou're a believer, not in order
(12:14):
to become a Christian, butbecause you're a Christian.
Let me ask you a question Whatgood works would we do if we
thought good works could take usto heaven?
What good works would we do ifwe thought good works would take
(12:35):
us to heaven?
We would do a lot of good worksbecause we're trying to get
into heaven.
Jesus is essentially sayingthose good works should come out
, not in order to become aChristian, but because you're a
Christian.
We need to do all kinds of goodworks.
As individuals, i need to dogood works because I'm a
(12:56):
Christian.
As families, i need to do goodworks because we are Christians.
As a church, we need to do goodworks because we are Christians
.
The church where I'm in inMaryland one of the ministries
that we have is calledDisability Ministries, where we
minister to a lot of disabledpeople, and so we have a lot of
(13:17):
people come for our weeklyweekend church meetings from far
and wide because they have adisabled child And they know
that at our Sunday morningservice there is the main
service and there is a servicefor the disabled people.
So that is the ministry, thatis the good work that our church
(13:38):
is doing.
In that setting, for each ofour churches, for each of our
families, for each of us asindividuals, we need to figure
out what is the good work that Ineed to do, not in order to
become a Christian, but becauseGod has already saved us.
Over the centuries, the churchhas done some amazing things in
(13:58):
terms of good works all theseorphanages, all these
deaddiction facilities, all theschools, all these different
things that were started becausethey were Christians.
And then Jesus talks about lightand he says that it should not
be hidden.
It should not be hidden, butactively engaged.
(14:19):
Sometimes we can focus on oneand not the other, which is we
focus on inner quality.
I want to become the strongChristian.
That's great, but we forgetabout the outward effect.
We are so focused on beinginner, have inner great
(14:39):
Christian quality, that weforget about the outward effect
that God wants us to have.
Many times we are hiddenChristians.
We are great in our familyprayers, we are great in our
churches, but we are hidden.
Nobody else knows it.
Turn your Bible to John, chapter17, verse 15, verses 15 through
(15:04):
18.
John 17, 15 through 18.
This is called the highpriestly prayer of Jesus, where
Jesus is praying and in thispart of the prayer he's praying
for his disciples.
And this is what he's prayingto his father for his disciples
He says I do not ask that youtake them out of the world, but
that you keep them from the evilone.
(15:25):
They are not of the world, as Iam not of the world.
So we are not of the world, butwe need to have an effect in
the world.
Holiness has to do withseparation, but many times we
think it has to do with physicalseparation.
It's not physical separation,it's moral separation.
(15:47):
We need to be morally separatedfrom the world around us, not
physical separation Other thanmoral separation.
Every Christian needs to beconnected to the world.
Every Christian needs to beconnected to the world.
In fact, the more we look atculture and we see culture going
(16:12):
down, there is a tendency topull back and say, okay, i'm
going to stay in my little shelland avoid culture.
But that is the exact oppositething that the church needs to
do.
The more culture becomes evil,the more the church needs to
engage with culture and shinethe light.
(16:37):
Otherwise, we are hiding thelight.
And the purpose of all this,the purpose of good works, is so
that God would be glorified,and that's what Jesus says there
.
Second, let's look at thecontrast with the secular,
contrast with the secular.
So first we looked at thecharacter and influence of a
disciple and second we will lookat the contrast with the
(16:59):
secular.
Turn to Matthew, chapter 6 andverses 25 to 34.
Matthew 6, 25 to 34.
This is a passage that we'veall read.
There are several verses thatwe know from memory.
(17:20):
Therefore, i tell you, do notbe anxious about life, what you
will eat, what you will drink,or about your body, what you
will put on.
Is not life more important thanfood and the body more
important than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air.
They neither so, nor reap, norgather into bonds, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value thanthey?
(17:40):
And which of you, by beinganxious, can add a single hour
to his span of life?
And why are you anxious aboutclothing?
Consider the lilies of thefield, how they grow.
They neither toil nor spin.
Yet I tell you, even Solomon inall his glory was not a raid
like one of these.
But if God saw clothes of grassof the field, which today is
(18:01):
alive and tomorrow is throwninto the oven, will he not much
more cloth you or you of littlefaith?
Therefore, don't be anxioussaying what shall we eat or what
shall we drink or what shall wewear, for the Gentiles seek
after all these things, andwhether you are Gentiles, he's
talking in contrast with thesecular.
The Gentiles seek after allthese things, and your heavenly
(18:22):
Father knows that you need them,but seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness andall these things will be added
to you as well.
Therefore, do not be anxiousabout tomorrow, for tomorrow
will be anxious for itself.
Sufficient, for the day is itsown trouble.
Now this passage is talkingabout anxiety and worry.
You know what it's not saying.
(18:43):
It's not saying don't thinkabout the future.
It's not saying don't planabout the future.
It's saying don't be worriedabout the future.
This is where the King JamesVersion translation is not
accurate.
If you read the King JamesVersion translation, or maybe
even the New King James, it saysdon't think about the future,
and that's not the actual word.
(19:05):
It's worry.
Do not be anxious.
We have to think about thefuture, we have to plan about
the future, but we don't need tobe anxious about the future,
because worrying doesn't changeanything.
What are we worried about?
What are the different thingsthat we worry about?
Parents worry about theirchildren.
(19:25):
What, and when you become aparent, you'll know the
different things that you worryabout your children.
The more you see culture goingdownhill morally, the more you
worry about your children.
What are they now going tolearn in fifth grade that you
know I didn't learn in tenthgrade?
You're worried about the future.
(19:49):
You're worried about your job.
Some of you are studying incolleges.
You want the job market tostill be there when you leave
the college, not just when youstart.
We worry about our jobs, oureducation, our finances, our
taxes and children.
I mean there's so many things.
(20:09):
The essential problem withworrying this is what Jesus is
trying to show here is adistrust of God.
We distrust God.
Let's say that.
You know, when we were drivingyesterday from Toronto up here
to Bank of 3 Hour Drive asyou're driving, let's say that
(20:30):
your three-year-old child is inthe backseat.
Okay, if your three-year-oldchild is in the backseat and
constantly gripping the sides ofhis little chair and wondering
if there's going to be anaccident or not, what does that
tell you?
It tells you that that kid doesnot trust his father who's
driving, or the mother who'sdriving.
Right, it's a question ofdistrust.
(20:52):
But usually three-year-oldsdon't care.
You know why?
Because they know that theirparent is going to take them.
They have complete faith in theperson who's driving the car.
Worry is essentially a distrustof God.
It is almost practical atheismwhere you think that you need to
(21:12):
drive the bus yourself Fornon-Christians.
Why should they trust God?
Why should non-Christians trustGod?
In Hinduism and Buddhism, thereis no personal God.
In the Jnana Marga, the way ofknowledge, brahman, is this
(21:33):
indescribable non-being.
It's not a personal God.
In the karmic system there isno.
So in the karmic system, if youdo good deeds, you get good
rewards.
If you do bad things, you getbad rewards.
But who is giving the reward Orwho is giving the blessing?
(21:54):
There is no person there.
It is an impersonal karmicsystem.
In the Islamic faith, allah isa non-personal God.
In atheism and secular humanism, there is no God.
So why should a non-christiantrust God?
(22:15):
In fact, a non-christian shouldworry Because they don't know
who is driving that car.
They should hold on to thesides of the seat and wonder
what's going to happen next,because it's an impersonal being
that's driving the car, or theythemselves are driving the car.
(22:36):
So they have to be worried.
But for a Christian, whose Godis a personal, omniscient,
omnipotent being, who isdescribed as a good and loving
Father in the Bible, we don'tneed to worry about God because
he is the one that's drivingthis bus.
(22:56):
When we seek God first, then wecan trust God with everything
else.
Does that mean that everythingis going to go smoothly?
Absolutely not.
Ask about the Christians inUkraine.
Ask if things are goingsmoothly for them.
Ask about the Christians inNorth Korea.
(23:17):
Ask if things are goingsmoothly for them.
It's not.
The issue is not whether thingsare going to go smoothly or not
.
The issue is knowing that asovereign being is in charge.
He will do what is right, andtrusting.
That is what takes care ofworry.
Ultimately, it's knowing thatGod is sovereign number one and
(23:39):
that we live in a fallen world,number two, and this is not all
that.
There is, number three, thatGod has planned something much
bigger.
Once we understand that, then,even if things don't go the way
we want it to go, it's okay.
We can trust God.
Third, let's look at thecharacter of a Christian in
(24:04):
contrast with the religious,character of a Christian in
contrast with the religious.
And let's turn to Matthew,chapter 5, verses 43 to 48.
Matthew 5, 43 to 48.
You have heard that it was saidyou shall love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.
(24:24):
That I say to you love yourenemies and pray for those who
persecute you, and that is thesons of your father, who is in
heaven, for he makes his sonrise in the evil and the good
and sends rain on the just andon the unjust.
For if you love those who loveyou, what reward do you get?
Do not even the tax collectorsdo the same?
And if you greet only yourbrothers, what more are you
(24:45):
doing than others?
Do not even Gentiles do thesame.
You therefore must be perfect,even as your heavenly father is
perfect.
First, we will look at theobject of love.
What is the object of love?
You have heard that it was saidyou shall love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.
Now, there are two parts tothat sentence You shall love
(25:07):
your neighbor and hate yourenemy.
The phrase you shall love yourneighbor comes from Leviticus,
chapter 19.
But, importantly, the phraseyou shall hate your enemy is not
in the Old Testament.
It's nowhere in the OldTestament.
God in the Old Testament nevercommanded his people to hate
(25:30):
their enemy.
In fact, even throughout thebooks of the Pentateuch, as the
people of Israel are going intothis foreign land, god says be
favorable to the alien and theforeigner among you, because you
were aliens and foreigners in aforeign land.
He has never said you shouldhate your enemy.
(25:51):
And yet the command to bemorally separate from their
neighbors that resulted in theJewish people hating their
enemies, hating their neighbors,and that still continues.
Where that hate still continues.
So when Jesus says you haveheard that it was said love your
neighbor.
That is from the Old Testament.
(26:12):
But the hate, your enemy part,that is from their own culture.
That is what they practiced andthat is what they preached Then
Jesus gives this unbelievablecommand to love enemies.
We can love our friends, we canlove family, we can love friends
.
That's normal, that's natural.
(26:33):
But loving your enemy how canyou love somebody that is
against you?
It is beyond human logic, iswhat I'll call supra-logical.
Who is your enemy?
Think about the worst person inyour life, and some kids will
(26:55):
think about their parents, but Ican promise you they are not
the enemy.
You will find that out later.
Think of someone.
What's that?
After a long time?
After a long time, yeah, anddon't care.
Think about the person who'sdone the worst thing in your
(27:19):
life to you.
That is your enemy.
And the point of this is, if wecan love our enemies, we can
love everyone else.
But that is a point of this.
Obviously, it's a biggerchallenge for those who are
living in hostile countries.
So there's in Manipur, myfamily.
(27:41):
We have like an orphanage inManipur with 120 kids there HIV
positive kids But that's beenshut down because of the
persecution that's happening inManipur Churches are being
ransacked and burnt, believersare being beaten, so we have to
shut down the school, send allthe kids back to their villages.
(28:02):
Obviously, in a hostile region,it is much harder to love your
enemy, but when you're livingwhere you've got freedom of
speech, freedom to practice yourreligion and nobody bothers you
, it's much easier.
So what does God want us to do?
(28:24):
when we say love and does itjust mean, okay, i'm going to
call you and say I love you.
I'm going to just say in mymind I love you.
What does it mean?
There's an object of love andthen there is the action of love
, where Jesus wants us to prayfor our enemies, to pray for our
enemies.
Many times we do the opposite.
(28:46):
Where we pray against ourenemies, jesus wants us to pray
for our enemies.
So think about the person who'syour enemy.
Think about a prayer ofprofound blessing for that enemy
.
Very, very hard to do, very,very hard to do.
(29:09):
I listed out five reactions thatwe can have towards our enemies
.
Five reactions that we can havetowards our enemy.
So if you want to think of whoyour enemy could be, think of a
(29:29):
person who abused your child andkilled them intentionally.
Wow, that's who your enemywould be.
Think of someone who wouldabuse your child and kill them
intentionally.
Now think about loving them.
I'm going to give you fivepossible reactions that we can
(29:54):
have to our enemies.
The first is hatred or revenge.
In this, you can actively dosomething to hurt your enemy.
They did something to you tohurt you.
You can do something back tohurt them.
This is the basis for the eyefor an eye, tooth for a tooth.
(30:18):
You do something to me, i dosomething to you.
That is completely human.
This is our natural reaction.
If somebody intentionally didsomething to me, i want to do
something so bad to them that isequal to what they did to me.
Right, that is the normalnatural reaction.
(30:40):
The second kind of reaction thatyou can have is what I'll call
dislike, where you don'tactively do something to hurt
them, but you will passively dosomething to hurt them.
So, for example, let's say thatyou have a colleague or a
classmate that is your enemy.
You may not go out of your wayto do anything against them, but
(31:03):
if they are, let's say, gettinga promotion, you will try to
prevent them from getting thepromotion.
Or if their paycheck is goingto go high while yours stays
down, you're going to try toprevent them from doing that.
That is, you dislike them.
You passively do something tohurt them.
A third reaction isindifference, where you don't do
(31:25):
anything to either hurt them orhelp them.
You don't care.
As far as you're concerned,they are your enemy and they
don't exist to you.
A fourth reaction that you canhave is like where you can do
something passively to help them.
So let's say, your enemy isyour neighbor and your neighbor
(31:48):
comes to you in the middle ofthe night.
You've got nothing to do withthem, it's your enemy.
They come in the middle of thenight knocking on the door and
they say you know, my wife had aheart attack.
Can you take him to thehospital?
You will passively do somethingto help them.
But Jesus wants us to go beyondall this, doesn't he?
He wants us to love them, wherewe will actively, intentionally
(32:14):
, go out of our way,sacrificially, choose to help
them.
Let me end with the story.
The Amish are a religious andcultural group of people that
came from Europe in the late1700s, 17th century.
They come in multiple states inthe US and Canada.
(32:37):
They live in rural communitiesand they are very peaceful
people, moral people, veryconservative Christians, and
they have this very simplelifestyle, agricultural
lifestyle, and they don't botheranybody.
They reject all the modernadvancements.
But October 2nd 2006 would be avery dark day in their history.
(33:05):
In the little town ofNickelmines, pennsylvania, a
milk truck driver by the name ofCharles Roberts he was not an
Amish person, but he enteredthis one room Amish schoolhouse
And when he entered this Amishschoolhouse he was loaded with
weapons.
He had a handgun, he had ashotgun, he had a rifle and 600
(33:30):
rounds of ammunition.
As he entered there there wereboys and girls and some adults
there.
He let all the boys go, soabout 15 boys left.
There was one pregnant ladythat he told the chicken go.
There were three other motherswith little infants that he said
could also go.
Remaining were 10 girls.
He barricaded the doors andwindows of this one room
(33:54):
schoolhouse.
He tied the hands and feet ofthe girls and had them line up
against the chalkboard And bythen the teacher from outside
called the cops.
In nine minutes the police camethere and they tried to
establish communication with him, but it failed.
And then they tried to breakdown the door and that's when
(34:16):
they heard the shots.
In the shots, five out of theten kids were dead, including
the killer.
How would a Christian group thatbelieves in the command of
(34:37):
Jesus to love your enemies?
how would they react?
Because now, this is not theory, it's practical.
How are you going to react toyour enemy that is now at your
doorstep?
And, ladies and gentlemen, inthe midst of pain and grief,
(35:03):
they obeyed the command of Jesusto love their enemies.
They reached out to the familyof the killer, to his wife and
family, and offered theircondolences and their support,
and most of the Amish went forhis funeral.
(35:24):
Two thousand years ago, as Jesushung on the cross, he had the
opportunity to practice what hepreached.
And how did he respond to thepeople that were crucifying him?
He said, father, forgive them,for they do not know what they
are doing.
I want to give the opportunityfor us to respond to the sermon.
(35:45):
I want to ask three questions.
At the end of the day, jesuswas salt and light.
At the end of the day, jesustrusted his father completely.
And at the end of the day, heshowed love to his enemies.
But let me ask you threequestions.
(36:07):
What do I need to do to haveinfluence as a Christian?
What do I need to do to haveinfluence as a Christian?
What areas of my life do Iworry about that I need to trust
God with?
And how is my love for people?
Is it anger?
Is it dislike?
(36:29):
Is it indifference?
Is it dislike, or is it love?
Let's pray, heavenly Father, wethank you for this morning that
(36:52):
you've given.
Thank you for your word, thankyou for your word that goes
against normal human thinking.
Your truth is so different thanwhat we, as sinful humans,
(37:15):
think about.
Thank you for the reminder fromyour word to love.
And, more than anything, wethank you for what you did for
us That while we were stillsinners, you died for us.
While we were enemies, youexhibited your love to us.
(37:40):
I pray that you would give usthe strength, the courage, even
if we face hostile situationsand people, that we would do as
you have asked us to do, andthat, as we let the Holy Spirit
of God change our lives, that wewould have the disposition of a
(38:01):
disciple.
We would be more and more inthe character of Jesus Christ.
In your name, we pray Amen.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com