November 11, 2025 • 22 mins
Astonishing generosity. In the midst of NT Wright’s book, entitled, Jesus and the Victory of God, he uses those two words to describe a key characteristic that Jesus’ expected of his followers. Astonishing generosity. Let those two words roll around in your brain a bit, those who follow Jesus should be marked by astonishing generosity, not just marked by the astonishing generosity of Jesus to us, but because of his generosity to us, we should be marked by our astonishing generosity to others.
Now Wright isn’t talking about money. It would perhaps be a bit easier if it was just money. He’s talking about a more difficult kind of generosity. Grace. Forgiveness those who betray us. Loving our enemies. When it comes to that kind of generosity, ask yourself, "Has my generosity ever astonished anyone?"
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:37):
Hey, welcome to another episode of More Than
Bread.
We have been making our waythrough the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus mountaintop message thatbegan to lay a blueprint for
life lived in the kingdom ofGod, a life that truly thrives.
And we're almost done.
I'm thinking, I don't know,maybe five to six more episodes,
maybe a wrap-up, which if you'relistening as they drop, will get
(01:00):
us to sometime the third week ofNovember.
Now, I might hit an episode ortwo on gratitude, because that's
a favorite topic, and that'ssuch a part, a key part of
letting the words of Godsaturate into our souls.
But but I'm also going to take aweek or so break before we dive
into an Advent series.
We'll do an Advent series.
Not sure of the theme yet, butI'll figure that out during my
(01:21):
break.
And so I just encourage anybody,even if you're not caught up, go
to the Advent series while we'rein Advent.
In any case, let me preface thereading of the next part of the
Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5,38 through 42.
Actually, I'll probably readverses 38 through the end of the
chapter, verse 48.
But before I do that, I justwant to share this thought.
(01:42):
In the midst of N.
T.
Wright's book entitled Jesus andthe Victory of God, he uses two
words to describe a keycharacteristic that Jesus
expected of his followers.
It was astonishing generosity.
Astonishing generosity.
Just let those two words rollaround in your brain for a
moment.
Those who followed Jesus shouldbe marked by astonishing
(02:05):
generosity.
Not just marked by theastonishing generosity of Jesus
to us, that should mark us.
But because of his generosity tous, we should be marked by our
astonishing generosity toothers.
Now, Wright isn't talking aboutmoney.
He's talking about a bit moredifficult type of generosity.
His quote is a reference toMatthew 5, 38 through 42, where
(02:28):
we're at in this episode, whenJesus tells his followers to
turn the other cheek whenstruck, give their cloak when
asked for a coat, not a coke, orto carry a load an extra mile
when a person makes you haulsomething for them.
He's saying, in effect, thateven when people use you or take
advantage of you or hurt you oroffend you or betray you, they
(02:51):
must be met with astonishinggenerosity.
It's not enough to just be alittle bit generous, Jesus is
saying, but our generosity mustastonish the people around us,
leaving them dumbfounded for anexplanation, confused by how we
came in such an opposite spirit.
It's not enough to be good tothe people who are good to us.
If we're going to be hisfollowers, our generosity must
(03:13):
flow to the very people withwhom we don't want to be
generous.
In other words, Jesus issummoning us to a real
revolution, which will comeabout through his people,
reflecting the generous love ofGod into the whole world.
This is not just a strategy foradding a bit of kindness to the
world.
It's not just about makingthings a bit better for people
(03:35):
in the margins of life.
This is his strategy forchanging the world.
It's not just about making theworld better.
This is how we make the worldnew.
Our generosity is to remindpeople of God's generosity.
Perhaps we might say that God'sstrategy for changing the world
is not politics.
(03:59):
But rather it's the generousforgiveness of those who fail
us, betray us, and hurt us, aswell as serving and helping
those in need.
When we do this, we become areflection of the generous love
of God to the whole world.
Or as Jesus put it, you becomethe light of the world.
So with that in mind, let meread Matthew 5, 38 through 48.
(04:19):
You've heard that it was said,an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth, but I tell you, donot resist an evil person.
If anyone slaps you on the rightcheek, turn to them the other
cheek also.
And if anyone wants to sue youand take your shirt, hand over
your coat as well.
If anyone forces you to go onemile, go with them two miles.
Give to the one who asks you,and do not turn away from the
(04:42):
one who wants to borrow fromyou.
You've heard that it was said,love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.
But I tell you, love yourenemies.
Pray for those who persecuteyou, that you may be children of
your Father in heaven.
He causes his son to rise on theevil and the good, and sends
rain on the righteous and theunrighteous.
If you love those who love you,what reward will you get?
Are not even the tax collectorsdoing that?
(05:03):
And if you greet only your ownpeople, what are you doing more
than others?
Do not even pagans do that?
Be perfect, therefore, as yourheavenly father is perfect.
Well, over a decade ago, LouisZamperini died at the age of 97.
Louis was a troubled kid, butbecause he could run fast, he
went to the Berlin Olympics inNazi Germany in 1936.
(05:27):
In fact, his scrapbook containeda do not disturb sign that he
stole from Jesse Owens.
You know that name.
After the Olympics came WorldWar II, on May 27, 1943, his
bomber left Oahu in search ofsurvivors from a downed plane.
And about 800 miles from thebase, one of the engines cut out
and they plunged into the sea.
(05:48):
For 47 days, at that time, arecord for survival at sea.
Zamparini and another soldiersurvived on this tiny life
draft.
For 47 days they foughtstarvation, dementia, sharks,
and then they were rescued.
I mean, can you imagine the joythey had when the ship came into
view?
Now imagine the despair theyfelt when they realized it was
(06:10):
an enemy ship.
Zamperini spent the next twoyears as a prisoner of war in
the notorious Sugamoo, Sugamoprison, a prison run by a guard
who became notorious around theworld for his sadistic torture.
The guard's goal, his name wasWatanabe, was to break the
spirit of the American soldiers.
Lewis endured constant physicaltorture, verbal humiliation.
(06:34):
He became Watanabe's number onehated prisoner.
And this guy, Watanabe, was likesomething out of a horror movie.
Lewis said he'd beat POWs everyday, fracturing their windpipes,
rupturing their eardrums,shattering their teeth, tearing
one man's ear half off andleaving them unconscious.
He combined physical withemotional torture.
(06:55):
He wanted to humiliate, todestroy, Zamprini wrote, he
wanted to destroy a prisoner'ssense of humanity.
Lewis was thrown into conditionsof unspeakable filth.
He was tortured, humiliated,subjected to medical experiments
and made him want to die.
Forced into slave labor, he wasstarved.
And when he did get food, it wasawful.
(07:18):
One form of punishment, thinkabout this, was one of the
guards had all the enlistedprisoners hit their officers in
the face as hard as they could.
If they didn't hit them hardenough, guards would club them.
In one two-hour period, theofficers, including Lewis, got
hit in the face by their own menover 200 times.
(07:38):
I can't even begin to imagineall the hurt, physically,
emotionally, spiritually.
So I I just want to make thispersonal.
Draw you a little bit back fromLewis's horrific experiences and
simply ask this question Who areyou mad at today?
Who's hurt you?
(08:01):
Who's offended you?
Who betrayed you?
Who let you down?
Who humiliated or demeaned you?
Who who acted like they weremore important than you?
What do you do if somebody hurtsyou?
I mean, for most of us, it itwasn't or isn't to the same
degree as Lewis.
It may be a whole different typeof hurt or different result, but
but what do you do?
(08:21):
You're you're in line for apromotion, but a coworker lies
about you and gets your job, ora classmate calls you uh a name
related to your race or economicstatus or sexuality, and
everybody laughs.
Maybe it's a betrayal by yourspouse or friend, or it's just a
series of little things.
Your sister ruins your favoritesweater, your dad reads your
diary, your husband cuts youdown in front of friends, your
(08:42):
neighbor puts a dent in your newcar and says it's no big deal,
or maybe it was a tragic abuseor hurt, or maybe it's just the
offense of social media or theconflict and division of
politics.
What do you do?
What do you do when they're onthe other side?
(09:02):
So I want to suggest that wehave three relational choices.
And we begin to see these inMatthew 5.38, where Jesus says,
You have heard that it was said,an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth.
Now, I want to say our firstchoice, and this kind of leads
us to it, but it's not quitewhat Jesus says here.
But the first choice is that wecan choose vengeance, right?
An eye for an eye.
(09:22):
Vengeance is a desire to do harmthat arises from the hate that
comes from unresolved hurt.
You hurt me, I hate you, I willharm you.
I mean, Lewis was filled, youcan imagine this.
I would be, was filled withhate, the hate that came from
hurt.
I mean, they had little abilityto harm their captors, but they
did what they could.
For example, the prisoners wereforced to pack and load rice
(09:45):
that would go to feed theircaptors and other enemy
soldiers.
So the prisoners would drinkexcessive amounts of tea on the
job.
You know what they did.
The enemy couldn't figure outwhy they loved Japanese tea so
much.
Lewis writes, it was actually anelegant, elegantly simple form
of sabotage.
We'd drink tea all day and thentake turns peeing on the rice.
(10:07):
Doesn't seem like much, but itcame from hate and rage.
When Lewis got home, he wasstill imprisoned by his rage.
He had a dream one night wherehe was finally able to attack
Watanabe.
And when he woke up, he realizedhe was in his own bed choking
his pregnant wife.
Jesus said, You've heard that itwas said, an eye for an eye or
tooth for a tooth.
Now, to some that sounds justshort of barbaric, but it's
(10:30):
actually a biblical principle.
It wasn't a call to vengeance.
I mean, rarely is vengeance,think about this, rarely is
vengeance so fair as an eye foran eye.
It's usually a lie when we say,I just want to get even.
Because vengeance is all aboutgetting one up.
But in fact, an eye for an eyewas a call away from vengeance.
It was a call to choose justice.
(10:52):
That's the second way we canrelate in these relationships,
justice.
An eye for an eye was acourtroom principle.
From Exodus 21, Leviticus 23,Deuteronomy 19, everywhere the
law is mentioned, it's ajudicial call to exercise
justice, not too severe, nor toolenient.
It's a good judicial principle.
It works well in courtrooms, butnot in relationships, right?
(11:16):
That was kind of the perversionof the Pharisees.
They had taken the legalprinciple of justice, applied it
to their personal relationships,and made it all about me.
Be fair to me, give me my due.
Three relationship choices: vengeance or justice. (11:26):
undefined
We understand both of those.
Or we can choose grace.
Grace is really another word forastonishing generosity.
But unfortunately, grace hasbecome a religious word, right?
A church topic.
But what does grace look like inthe real world?
A world where hurt happens, aworld of angry X's and racial
(11:50):
injustice, a world of real evil.
Well, in this passage in Matthew5, 38 through 42, I think Jesus
gives four simple, profound,simply profound portraits of
grace.
The real life blessing of grace,of this never quit grit kind of
(12:11):
grace.
He says, You've heard it wassaid an eye for an eye, but I
say to you, do not resist theone who is evil.
But if anyone slaps you on theright cheek, turn to him the
other also.
So Jack's mother ran into thebedroom when she heard him
scream and found histwo-year-old sister pulling his
hair.
She gently released the littlegirl's grip and comforted Jack,
(12:32):
There, Jack.
She didn't mean it.
She doesn't even know that ithurts.
Mom was barely out of the roomwhen she heard more screaming.
This time it was her daughter,rushing back in.
She said, What happened?
Little Jack said, She knows now.
Now that's not grace, but itkind of brings back some fond
memories of my childhood.
The first picture of real lifegrace is humbly turning the
(12:55):
other cheek.
In other words, grace is noteasily offended.
Jesus said, Do not resist anevil person, the one who is
evil, an evil person.
This is not an accident or amisunderstanding.
This is a bad guy trying to doyou harm.
Don't resist an evil person.
And you know, sometimes thosewords are twisted, right?
This is not a call to passivityin the face of evil.
(13:18):
It shouldn't be used to tell avictim of abuse to live with
their abuser.
When your child comes home witha black eye courtesy of the
school bully, don't send themback tomorrow to offer up the
other eye.
When robbers break in to stealyour TV and you wake up in the
middle of it, it's not morespiritual to direct them to your
treasures or stereo.
Grace is not stupid.
This is not an invitation towimps and training.
(13:41):
It isn't a call for silence orcompliance in the face of evil.
Jesus says, if your right cheekhas been slapped, offer your
left.
Now most people areright-handed.
So if you stood facing someone,picture this, and someone
slapped you with your right handon slapped and you slapped them.
(14:02):
No, I'm sorry, picture thisdifferent.
If you stood facing someone andyou slapped them with your right
hand on their right cheek, howwould you do that?
You'd have to use the back ofyour hand, right?
In Jesus' day, to be given theback of the hand was an insult
of the greatest magnitude.
It was meant to label someone asweak, incapable, inadequate, and
(14:23):
worthless.
It was an act of humiliation.
Lewis said that Watanabe's goalwas to humiliate.
Have you ever been humiliated?
Does it hurt?
I have.
It does.
In fact, I still remembertalking to a girl on the bus and
hearing her friends make fun ofme.
(14:43):
Look back and think, well,that's not that big a deal, but
it was humiliating.
Has someone ever ruined yourreputation?
I mean, don't you just want togo go up and give them a great
big hug?
No.
Not my first thoughts either.
Jesus says that grace turns theother cheek, which means grace
(15:04):
is incredibly difficult tooffend.
I don't know.
Sometimes it seems like thispolitical season and every news
cycle, every every time I get onsocial media, it's an exercise
and trying to get us offended.
Trying to get us offended.
Like we love the division.
We hold up as our heroes, theones who offend either side.
(15:26):
I'm not even talking aboutsides.
We're doing it on both sides.
But see, rather than hanging onto our rights, grace humbles up.
Grace gives up our rights forthe life of others.
Grace gives up the right totrade insult for insult.
Grace forgives.
And when we forgive, when weforgive, we have an opportunity
(15:49):
to practice astonishinggenerosity.
In the next episode, we'll comeback to Lewis and this call to
turn the other cheek and loveour enemies, to practice grace,
a grace that is astonishing,astonishingly generous.
But for now, let me just askyou, who is your Watanabe?
(16:09):
Who's your mini Watanabe?
Maybe they're not nearly ashorrific as Lewis's guard, but
but who is the one for you?
Who comes to mind?
God, as as these folks come toour minds, I pray that you would
give us the grace.
I pray that you would pour outso much grace in our lives, in
our hearts.
Just an overflowing sense ofyour grace and forgiveness that
(16:32):
we can't help.
But let that flow into the livesof those who have hurt us,
offended us, betrayed us, failedus.
God, I pray that you would causeus to be a people of such
astonishing grace that it causespeople to think of you, that it
causes people to think of Jesusand the astonishing generosity
(16:53):
of God.
God, for every person who's cometo mind, would you help us to
forgive them?
Would you help us to love themas you call us in a few episodes
to even love our enemies?
In Jesus' name.
I pray.
Amen.
God, I I want to practicegenerosity.
(17:13):
Let that be your prayer today.
God, I I want to practicegenerosity, but I need your
help.
Jesus, I need your heart.
For whoever has come to my mind,God, I want to practice
generosity, but I need yourhelp.
Jesus, I need your heart.
Hey, welcome to another episode of More Than
Bread.
We have been making our waythrough the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus mountaintop message thatbegan to lay a blueprint for
life lived in the kingdom ofGod, a life that truly thrives.
And we're almost done.
I'm thinking, I don't know,maybe five to six more episodes,
maybe a wrap-up, which if you'relistening as they drop, will get
(01:00):
us to sometime the third week ofNovember.
Now, I might hit an episode ortwo on gratitude, because that's
a favorite topic, and that'ssuch a part, a key part of
letting the words of Godsaturate into our souls.
But but I'm also going to take aweek or so break before we dive
into an Advent series.
We'll do an Advent series.
Not sure of the theme yet, butI'll figure that out during my
(01:21):
break.
And so I just encourage anybody,even if you're not caught up, go
to the Advent series while we'rein Advent.
In any case, let me preface thereading of the next part of the
Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5,38 through 42.
Actually, I'll probably readverses 38 through the end of the
chapter, verse 48.
But before I do that, I justwant to share this thought.
(01:42):
In the midst of N.
T.
Wright's book entitled Jesus andthe Victory of God, he uses two
words to describe a keycharacteristic that Jesus
expected of his followers.
It was astonishing generosity.
Astonishing generosity.
Just let those two words rollaround in your brain for a
moment.
Those who followed Jesus shouldbe marked by astonishing
(02:05):
generosity.
Not just marked by theastonishing generosity of Jesus
to us, that should mark us.
But because of his generosity tous, we should be marked by our
astonishing generosity toothers.
Now, Wright isn't talking aboutmoney.
He's talking about a bit moredifficult type of generosity.
His quote is a reference toMatthew 5, 38 through 42, where
(02:28):
we're at in this episode, whenJesus tells his followers to
turn the other cheek whenstruck, give their cloak when
asked for a coat, not a coke, orto carry a load an extra mile
when a person makes you haulsomething for them.
He's saying, in effect, thateven when people use you or take
advantage of you or hurt you oroffend you or betray you, they
(02:51):
must be met with astonishinggenerosity.
It's not enough to just be alittle bit generous, Jesus is
saying, but our generosity mustastonish the people around us,
leaving them dumbfounded for anexplanation, confused by how we
came in such an opposite spirit.
It's not enough to be good tothe people who are good to us.
If we're going to be hisfollowers, our generosity must
(03:13):
flow to the very people withwhom we don't want to be
generous.
In other words, Jesus issummoning us to a real
revolution, which will comeabout through his people,
reflecting the generous love ofGod into the whole world.
This is not just a strategy foradding a bit of kindness to the
world.
It's not just about makingthings a bit better for people
(03:35):
in the margins of life.
This is his strategy forchanging the world.
It's not just about making theworld better.
This is how we make the worldnew.
Our generosity is to remindpeople of God's generosity.
Perhaps we might say that God'sstrategy for changing the world
is not politics.
(03:59):
But rather it's the generousforgiveness of those who fail
us, betray us, and hurt us, aswell as serving and helping
those in need.
When we do this, we become areflection of the generous love
of God to the whole world.
Or as Jesus put it, you becomethe light of the world.
So with that in mind, let meread Matthew 5, 38 through 48.
(04:19):
You've heard that it was said,an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth, but I tell you, donot resist an evil person.
If anyone slaps you on the rightcheek, turn to them the other
cheek also.
And if anyone wants to sue youand take your shirt, hand over
your coat as well.
If anyone forces you to go onemile, go with them two miles.
Give to the one who asks you,and do not turn away from the
(04:42):
one who wants to borrow fromyou.
You've heard that it was said,love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.
But I tell you, love yourenemies.
Pray for those who persecuteyou, that you may be children of
your Father in heaven.
He causes his son to rise on theevil and the good, and sends
rain on the righteous and theunrighteous.
If you love those who love you,what reward will you get?
Are not even the tax collectorsdoing that?
(05:03):
And if you greet only your ownpeople, what are you doing more
than others?
Do not even pagans do that?
Be perfect, therefore, as yourheavenly father is perfect.
Well, over a decade ago, LouisZamperini died at the age of 97.
Louis was a troubled kid, butbecause he could run fast, he
went to the Berlin Olympics inNazi Germany in 1936.
(05:27):
In fact, his scrapbook containeda do not disturb sign that he
stole from Jesse Owens.
You know that name.
After the Olympics came WorldWar II, on May 27, 1943, his
bomber left Oahu in search ofsurvivors from a downed plane.
And about 800 miles from thebase, one of the engines cut out
and they plunged into the sea.
(05:48):
For 47 days, at that time, arecord for survival at sea.
Zamparini and another soldiersurvived on this tiny life
draft.
For 47 days they foughtstarvation, dementia, sharks,
and then they were rescued.
I mean, can you imagine the joythey had when the ship came into
view?
Now imagine the despair theyfelt when they realized it was
(06:10):
an enemy ship.
Zamperini spent the next twoyears as a prisoner of war in
the notorious Sugamoo, Sugamoprison, a prison run by a guard
who became notorious around theworld for his sadistic torture.
The guard's goal, his name wasWatanabe, was to break the
spirit of the American soldiers.
Lewis endured constant physicaltorture, verbal humiliation.
(06:34):
He became Watanabe's number onehated prisoner.
And this guy, Watanabe, was likesomething out of a horror movie.
Lewis said he'd beat POWs everyday, fracturing their windpipes,
rupturing their eardrums,shattering their teeth, tearing
one man's ear half off andleaving them unconscious.
He combined physical withemotional torture.
(06:55):
He wanted to humiliate, todestroy, Zamprini wrote, he
wanted to destroy a prisoner'ssense of humanity.
Lewis was thrown into conditionsof unspeakable filth.
He was tortured, humiliated,subjected to medical experiments
and made him want to die.
Forced into slave labor, he wasstarved.
And when he did get food, it wasawful.
(07:18):
One form of punishment, thinkabout this, was one of the
guards had all the enlistedprisoners hit their officers in
the face as hard as they could.
If they didn't hit them hardenough, guards would club them.
In one two-hour period, theofficers, including Lewis, got
hit in the face by their own menover 200 times.
(07:38):
I can't even begin to imagineall the hurt, physically,
emotionally, spiritually.
So I I just want to make thispersonal.
Draw you a little bit back fromLewis's horrific experiences and
simply ask this question Who areyou mad at today?
Who's hurt you?
(08:01):
Who's offended you?
Who betrayed you?
Who let you down?
Who humiliated or demeaned you?
Who who acted like they weremore important than you?
What do you do if somebody hurtsyou?
I mean, for most of us, it itwasn't or isn't to the same
degree as Lewis.
It may be a whole different typeof hurt or different result, but
but what do you do?
(08:21):
You're you're in line for apromotion, but a coworker lies
about you and gets your job, ora classmate calls you uh a name
related to your race or economicstatus or sexuality, and
everybody laughs.
Maybe it's a betrayal by yourspouse or friend, or it's just a
series of little things.
Your sister ruins your favoritesweater, your dad reads your
diary, your husband cuts youdown in front of friends, your
(08:42):
neighbor puts a dent in your newcar and says it's no big deal,
or maybe it was a tragic abuseor hurt, or maybe it's just the
offense of social media or theconflict and division of
politics.
What do you do?
What do you do when they're onthe other side?
(09:02):
So I want to suggest that wehave three relational choices.
And we begin to see these inMatthew 5.38, where Jesus says,
You have heard that it was said,an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth.
Now, I want to say our firstchoice, and this kind of leads
us to it, but it's not quitewhat Jesus says here.
But the first choice is that wecan choose vengeance, right?
An eye for an eye.
(09:22):
Vengeance is a desire to do harmthat arises from the hate that
comes from unresolved hurt.
You hurt me, I hate you, I willharm you.
I mean, Lewis was filled, youcan imagine this.
I would be, was filled withhate, the hate that came from
hurt.
I mean, they had little abilityto harm their captors, but they
did what they could.
For example, the prisoners wereforced to pack and load rice
(09:45):
that would go to feed theircaptors and other enemy
soldiers.
So the prisoners would drinkexcessive amounts of tea on the
job.
You know what they did.
The enemy couldn't figure outwhy they loved Japanese tea so
much.
Lewis writes, it was actually anelegant, elegantly simple form
of sabotage.
We'd drink tea all day and thentake turns peeing on the rice.
(10:07):
Doesn't seem like much, but itcame from hate and rage.
When Lewis got home, he wasstill imprisoned by his rage.
He had a dream one night wherehe was finally able to attack
Watanabe.
And when he woke up, he realizedhe was in his own bed choking
his pregnant wife.
Jesus said, You've heard that itwas said, an eye for an eye or
tooth for a tooth.
Now, to some that sounds justshort of barbaric, but it's
(10:30):
actually a biblical principle.
It wasn't a call to vengeance.
I mean, rarely is vengeance,think about this, rarely is
vengeance so fair as an eye foran eye.
It's usually a lie when we say,I just want to get even.
Because vengeance is all aboutgetting one up.
But in fact, an eye for an eyewas a call away from vengeance.
It was a call to choose justice.
(10:52):
That's the second way we canrelate in these relationships,
justice.
An eye for an eye was acourtroom principle.
From Exodus 21, Leviticus 23,Deuteronomy 19, everywhere the
law is mentioned, it's ajudicial call to exercise
justice, not too severe, nor toolenient.
It's a good judicial principle.
It works well in courtrooms, butnot in relationships, right?
(11:16):
That was kind of the perversionof the Pharisees.
They had taken the legalprinciple of justice, applied it
to their personal relationships,and made it all about me.
Be fair to me, give me my due.
Three relationship choices: vengeance or justice. (11:26):
undefined
We understand both of those.
Or we can choose grace.
Grace is really another word forastonishing generosity.
But unfortunately, grace hasbecome a religious word, right?
A church topic.
But what does grace look like inthe real world?
A world where hurt happens, aworld of angry X's and racial
(11:50):
injustice, a world of real evil.
Well, in this passage in Matthew5, 38 through 42, I think Jesus
gives four simple, profound,simply profound portraits of
grace.
The real life blessing of grace,of this never quit grit kind of
(12:11):
grace.
He says, You've heard it wassaid an eye for an eye, but I
say to you, do not resist theone who is evil.
But if anyone slaps you on theright cheek, turn to him the
other also.
So Jack's mother ran into thebedroom when she heard him
scream and found histwo-year-old sister pulling his
hair.
She gently released the littlegirl's grip and comforted Jack,
(12:32):
There, Jack.
She didn't mean it.
She doesn't even know that ithurts.
Mom was barely out of the roomwhen she heard more screaming.
This time it was her daughter,rushing back in.
She said, What happened?
Little Jack said, She knows now.
Now that's not grace, but itkind of brings back some fond
memories of my childhood.
The first picture of real lifegrace is humbly turning the
(12:55):
other cheek.
In other words, grace is noteasily offended.
Jesus said, Do not resist anevil person, the one who is
evil, an evil person.
This is not an accident or amisunderstanding.
This is a bad guy trying to doyou harm.
Don't resist an evil person.
And you know, sometimes thosewords are twisted, right?
This is not a call to passivityin the face of evil.
(13:18):
It shouldn't be used to tell avictim of abuse to live with
their abuser.
When your child comes home witha black eye courtesy of the
school bully, don't send themback tomorrow to offer up the
other eye.
When robbers break in to stealyour TV and you wake up in the
middle of it, it's not morespiritual to direct them to your
treasures or stereo.
Grace is not stupid.
This is not an invitation towimps and training.
(13:41):
It isn't a call for silence orcompliance in the face of evil.
Jesus says, if your right cheekhas been slapped, offer your
left.
Now most people areright-handed.
So if you stood facing someone,picture this, and someone
slapped you with your right handon slapped and you slapped them.
(14:02):
No, I'm sorry, picture thisdifferent.
If you stood facing someone andyou slapped them with your right
hand on their right cheek, howwould you do that?
You'd have to use the back ofyour hand, right?
In Jesus' day, to be given theback of the hand was an insult
of the greatest magnitude.
It was meant to label someone asweak, incapable, inadequate, and
(14:23):
worthless.
It was an act of humiliation.
Lewis said that Watanabe's goalwas to humiliate.
Have you ever been humiliated?
Does it hurt?
I have.
It does.
In fact, I still remembertalking to a girl on the bus and
hearing her friends make fun ofme.
(14:43):
Look back and think, well,that's not that big a deal, but
it was humiliating.
Has someone ever ruined yourreputation?
I mean, don't you just want togo go up and give them a great
big hug?
No.
Not my first thoughts either.
Jesus says that grace turns theother cheek, which means grace
(15:04):
is incredibly difficult tooffend.
I don't know.
Sometimes it seems like thispolitical season and every news
cycle, every every time I get onsocial media, it's an exercise
and trying to get us offended.
Trying to get us offended.
Like we love the division.
We hold up as our heroes, theones who offend either side.
(15:26):
I'm not even talking aboutsides.
We're doing it on both sides.
But see, rather than hanging onto our rights, grace humbles up.
Grace gives up our rights forthe life of others.
Grace gives up the right totrade insult for insult.
Grace forgives.
And when we forgive, when weforgive, we have an opportunity
(15:49):
to practice astonishinggenerosity.
In the next episode, we'll comeback to Lewis and this call to
turn the other cheek and loveour enemies, to practice grace,
a grace that is astonishing,astonishingly generous.
But for now, let me just askyou, who is your Watanabe?
(16:09):
Who's your mini Watanabe?
Maybe they're not nearly ashorrific as Lewis's guard, but
but who is the one for you?
Who comes to mind?
God, as as these folks come toour minds, I pray that you would
give us the grace.
I pray that you would pour outso much grace in our lives, in
our hearts.
Just an overflowing sense ofyour grace and forgiveness that
(16:32):
we can't help.
But let that flow into the livesof those who have hurt us,
offended us, betrayed us, failedus.
God, I pray that you would causeus to be a people of such
astonishing grace that it causespeople to think of you, that it
causes people to think of Jesusand the astonishing generosity
(16:53):
of God.
God, for every person who's cometo mind, would you help us to
forgive them?
Would you help us to love themas you call us in a few episodes
to even love our enemies?
In Jesus' name.
I pray.
Amen.
God, I I want to practicegenerosity.
(17:13):
Let that be your prayer today.
God, I I want to practicegenerosity, but I need your
help.
Jesus, I need your heart.
For whoever has come to my mind,God, I want to practice
generosity, but I need yourhelp.
Jesus, I need your heart.
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