Living Out Your God-created Identity

Sunday, February 20, 2011, Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
Morning Service

Matthew 5:38-48

“Living Out Your God-created Identity”

Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

How can we pray for our enemies?

What should we pray for them?

Should we pray for Osama bin Laden?

Jesus’ words leave us no wiggle room…
If we are to be children of our Father in heaven, we need to love our enemies
and pray for them…

End of sermon.

Don’t get ready to leave just yet; there are more questions behind these questions…

All this turning the other cheek and loving your enemy stuff is about who we are as God’s creatures…

This is about our true identity…and how we live our lives every day

Then there’s that kicker at the end: “Grow up!”
“Be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect.” (Another translation)

PERFECT! – Are you kidding me? Talk about setting impossibly high standards!

What are we supposed to do with that?

Let us pray…

God of Creation,
I pray that the words of my mouth will come from You,
and that the meditations of our hearts will be pleasing to You,
in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Last week we said that the reading was hard for some of us to hear…

This week it may be even worse…

“Don’t hit back at all. If someone strikes you, stand there and take it.”

“When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer.”

“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up.” Ouch!

First, let’s deal with a couple of those questions about turning the other cheek and
praying for our enemies…

How do we deal with the fact that we don’t want to pray for our enemies?

Bin Laden aside, how can we talk about praying for bin Laden when we can’t pray for the people we don’t like in our own community?

How can I pray for them when I can’t forgive the guy who cheated me on my roof repair or ran a stop sign and wrecked my car?

There are a whole lot of Christian people who have trouble praying for an unfaithful spouse, a drug-using child, a dishonest employee, an arrogant neighbor, or the coach of their son’s Little League team who won’t let all the kids play.

The first troublesome question is:
How do we deal with the feelings that our enemies create in us?

The second question is: What should we pray about our enemies?

In the case of Osama bin Laden, should we pray he has a heart attack and drops dead?

We certainly don’t want to pray for success in his proclaimed mission!

We may not want to pray for a long healthy life so he can harm more people.

Should we pray he converts to become a Christian?

Should we pray he becomes a good Muslim who follows the Koran’s call to peace?

Should we pray that, regardless of his faith, he abandons war in favor of peace?

With our personal enemies…

Should we pray that they come to see things from our point of view?

Maybe we should pray that they become more sensitive human beings.

Or should we pray that their plans fail?

These are hard questions that we must confront as Jesus challenges us to turn cheeks and
love enemies…

Maybe we should pray that God will help us know what to pray for and
how to deal with our feelings about the other person.

Maybe we should ask God to help us see the other person as He does.

If we begin our prayers with those two things and then listen for God’s leading,
we will know how to finish the prayers that Jesus is telling us to pray.

I think this is what Jesus means, in Mr. Peterson’s translation, when he says: “Grow up.”

Spiritual maturity is about seeing things from God’s point of view.

The Rev. Dr. David Lose suggests that, as difficult as this text may be to hear, we should begin at the very hardest verse of all: “Be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect.”

Peterson translates it this way: “Live generously and graciously toward others,
the way God lives toward you.”

Dr. Lose reminds us that the word translated “perfect” is the Greek word teleios;
it is the same word used by Jesus when he says from the cross:
“It is finished”…it is teleios…it is brought to its intended purpose.

That makes so much sense to me…

Rather than seeing this reading as a burden to us, we should view it as an opportunity
to live into God’s intended purpose for our lives…

The sense of this word “perfect” is about becoming what is intended, accomplishing one’s God-given purpose in the same way that God constantly reflects God’s own nature and purpose.

It is why I chose to read The Message translation today…

Eugene Peterson comes so close to the right context when he says:
“You are kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity.
Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

If we understand this tough verse, we can then begin to see that the rest of this reading – repaying evil with good, forgiving and praying for those who harm us – is only possible to the degree that we can live into our God-created identity as blessed and beloved children of God.

You can’t give what you don’t have; only those who have experienced love and forgiveness can turn around and share it with others.

As I look over this whole magnificent Sermon on the Mount and see the hope, the promise, and the huge challenges that we have pulled from it, I cannot help but notice it only matters because of who preached it first – It’s Jesus, who also practiced everything he preached.

Jesus didn’t just talk the talk; he walked the walk…

He literally turned the other cheek as the Roman soldiers beat him…

He forgave and prayed for his persecutors as he hung dying on the cross…

More than anyone, Jesus understands how hard it is to love rather than hate,
to forgive rather than hold a grudge, to share rather than being selfish,
and to heal rather than wound.

Jesus demonstrates spiritual maturity that invites us into a life that transcends our self-interest and directs us toward the final hope for humanity – gracious people throughout the world who will not be ignored and who challenge the childishness of our culture.

The real question for us today is: What difference will this teaching make in your life
when you leave church?

How will you live out your God-created identity as a loved and forgiven child of God?

What will you do differently after listening to Jesus’ words?

Will you now be better able to love and forgive others in the same way that God does?

Can you now pray for your enemies because they are also God’s children?

Will it be easy? NO.

A lot of things will get in your way.

Past disappointments and hurt feelings will stick in your memory.

Old wounds will fester and you won’t want to let go of that grudge you’ve carried so long

We are not yet perfect as God is perfect; but, we are living into God’s purpose.

In your bulletin this morning is a blank piece of paper…

I invite you to take a moment and write down something that is holding you back…

What disappointment or hurt are you hanging on to?

What wound is preventing you from forgiving someone?

What is stopping you from turning the other cheek?

What memory or fear or resentment is keeping you from growing up spiritually and embracing the person God wants you to be?

As you leave the sanctuary this morning, come to the altar and drop your piece of paper into the basket…Wad it up, tear it to pieces, whatever you want to do…Give it to God
and trust Him to redeem it.

Nobody is going to read it except God…Nobody can help you past it except God.

Loving, praying for, and forgiving your enemies is not something we should think about as something we have to do…It is what we are free to do as loved and forgiven Christians.

It is central to our relationship with Jesus who showed us how to do these things.

Just as God, “gives his best – the sun to warm and the rain to nourish – to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty,” this we must do also.

Caring for others – despite the other’s actions – is the essence of God’s idea of perfection, maturity, and fulfilling our purpose – teleios.

Let us all go forth today willing to live out our God-created identity…

Amen.