SERIES
Sojourn: Toward an Enduring City
2017-03-12T11:00:00-05:00
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me,31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
How do we know if the love of Christ is truly controlling our lives? We can certainly consider our affections for the Lord and our hatred for sin. But God’s Word invites us also to examine the way we relate to other people as a barometer of how we’re doing. “How are we loving our brothers and sisters in Christ?” is a good question and a legitimate way to measure our spiritual health. But Jesus, Paul, Peter and others push us to ask a more difficult question: “How are we loving our enemies?” On Sunday we considered this question through the lens of blessing: “How are we doing when it comes to blessing those who curse us?”
Why does this question reveal so much about the state of our hearts? The answer is simple: When people curse us or do evil to us, our natural response is to return the curse or repay the evil. We see this reality everywhere in the world. We see it in little children who push and hit when another child “steals” their beloved toy. We see it on social media when an exchange turns nasty and no one is willing to let the other person have the last word. We see it all over the world when the cycle of revenge claims another life: “You killed one of ours so we have killed one of yours.” Left to ourselves, our hearts are bent on revenge and retaliation. Have you ever reflected on what rises up in you when you feel wronged?
When revenge is second nature, a radically different response bears witness to a great change. If our “opponents” cool down and consider what just happened, they might ask: “Why didn’t you hit back? Why did you respond with love rather than hate?” In that moment, we have an amazing opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Because when we hit Jesus with everything we had, He didn’t hit back. When we hated Him, He loved us and gave Himself for us. When we did evil, Jesus responded by blessing us, absorbing our wrong into Himself, and inviting us back into a reconciled relationship. Though we deserved the worst curse, Jesus “has blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3).
Brothers and sisters, have we received the blessing of Christ? Do we realize that loving our enemies pales in comparison to Jesus loving us when we were His enemies? The Lord is calling us to bear witness to the amazing grace that breaks the cycle of revenge. It is the only answer to our spiritual poverty, and it is the only ultimate answer to the broken relational dynamics that we see all around us. What if we love the Lord as much as we love the person that we love the least? And what if the Lord gave us His eyes and His heart for the people around us?