Image: "Brilliance", 2020, Camellia - Sylized, Severna Park, Md
Luke 6:17–19 And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, 18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
Luke 6:22 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake.
Luke 6:35–36 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most-High, For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
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In my military days, we had a platitude that said: "What goes around comes around." On the face of it, it is pretty nonsensical. It was a statement about a kind of military "karma." Basically, it meant that if a person "goes around" screwing with people, sooner or later, it was going to come back and bite him in the you-know-what.
Interestingly, Jesus both here and the Matthew version of this sermon lays down the same general rule. The overall texture of our lives, seen comprehensively as the years go by, will, by God's Providence, reflect a quality that parallels how we affect other people's lives. Now, I am not about to say that there is some kind of "prosperity" gospel possible here. Jesus also taught that God causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on both the evil and the good. Our lives in this world are all subject to the rollercoaster of catastrophes and good fortunes that form the context of our individual walks. The point Jesus is making though is, that the quality of our lives as we progress through those common ups-and-downs, will be tied to how we deal with God and with others in that journey.
Jesus makes it plain: If you want to have a solid "house" in which to dwell, then build that house on the rock of His Word. (vs. 47ff) This "house" will be constructed in a radically different manner than those built by our secular companions along the way. We will take to heart Jesus' proclamation that "with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." (vs. 38) Jesus is saying that living in a hyper-critical manner, judging other people to be less worthy than are we, is a sure way to find ourselves judged and condemned. Forgiving others sets the stage and reflects our appreciation of being forgiven ourselves. When we give out of a cheerful heart, not grudgingly but "in good measure", we will find that our own welfare will not be lessened but rather, in some way, improved.
Think about this as a broad overview of the life we are supposed to be living. Do you see that such a generous, uncritical, forgiving spirit would open us up for deep joy and pleasures that we would not know otherwise?
Think about the radical call to "love our enemies, to do good to those who hate" us! I guarantee that in this fallen world a committed pursuit of this goal will make us liable to those who will "take advantage" of us. Among those who are destined for the pit, we will be viewed with contempt. The world values the strong, merciless, ambitious achiever who looks out first and foremost for his own good. Many who followed Jesus, by His own estimate, did so because the food was good and abundant. But through faith, we know that every ounce of "love" that we show an enemy, is just a reflection of the love that our Lord showed us when we were yet His enemies. We know that such love can be a redemptive force, used by the Holy Spirit to humble a proud heart and perhaps, someday, win a disciple. But the immediate benefit is that we cannot fulfill this command with hate in our hearts. Who can deny that a person whose life is filled with love, even for his enemies, is better off than a life consumed by hatred, resentment, longing for revenge, etc?
What Jesus is doing here and in Matthew 5-7, is pointing us to a "blessed" life. That's why He begins with the beatitudes. When we undertake to conduct our lives in honest pursuit of Jesus' commands when we put ourselves at emotional as well as physical risk, "for the Son of Man's sake" (vs. 22), then we will not only find our peace and happiness in heaven... we will taste it here on earth.
It's a matter of faith. This is our Lord speaking and He challenges us straightforwardly: "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say?" We should let these words touch our hearts and we should ask ourselves in return: "Why indeed do I not?" It's a matter of trust.
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