The Kingdom's Radical Love.

Happy Sunday, everyone. My name is Abbie, and I'm the pastor here. I'm so excited to be with you all. One quick announcement.

We're going January 8th through the 18th on our first ever global missions trip to Thailand. Mark your calendars and sign up to come with me. We're going to visit our missions partners, Brandon and Rachel Powell there. I went there a year ago to see the ministry they're doing, and we're so excited to go back and partner with them.

If you're interested, scan the QR code. We're going to have an interest meeting coming up soon with more details. If you want to come with us to Thailand to see what God is doing around the world and the work we get to be part of through our giving, support, and prayers, scan that QR code.

One of the beautiful things about this community is that we get to hear from a variety of voices every single Sunday. We've been walking through the Sermon on the Mount this Lent season. If you've been in and out a bit, you can always catch up on our podcast. But we're excited today to continue in that series.

We have someone who is new but also not new to teaching here at New Culture. Many years ago, when we were still meeting in a nightclub downtown, this couple were not even married yet. They were dating, home for the summer, and they visited our church. Fast forward to 2020. This newly married couple shows up in the middle of a pandemic when we were meeting in people's living rooms because we couldn't gather. I thought, wow, they're brave and bold. They must really want to find church, community, and love Jesus if they're showing up to a stranger's home during a pandemic.

They were part of our church for a really significant time as we moved into this space. For a while, Nathan did all of our design, creative work, and all sorts of different things. Whether you know it or not, Nathan and Abi Hanna, you've all received the blessing of their contributions to this church. Just this fall, after spending some time doing ministry in Seattle, they moved back.

We're super excited. It's not Nathan's first time teaching here at New Culture, but his first time speaking now as a dad of two kids and having a hiatus in Seattle and now back here in Madison. Would you guys give it up for Nathan as he comes? Would you stretch your hands forward as we pray for him as he gets ready to deliver this word?

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for Nathan. We thank you for his willingness to share what you have placed on his heart. We trust that you have spoken to him through your text. Would you open our hearts to receive whatever you have for us? Would your Holy Spirit empower him with boldness to preach your word, the words you have placed on his heart for us, your people today?

We thank you, God. Would you bless this time? In your name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Hello, everybody. Happy Sunday. I'm going to sit. I'm going to stand. I'll probably bounce around, but it's nice to sit.

During the last five weeks we've been going through the Sermon on the Mount. I think the main thing I've been asking the Lord to make real for my life is to get it in my brain and heart that this is not another set of rules. This is not just another thing to do or don't do. If you do this, you're in. If you don't do this, you're out. That's not the heart of what Jesus is going after.

These are illustrations of how the transformed heart might respond in ways that are super countercultural at this time. For context, this was not said to us necessarily. This was spoken to the Israel nation when they were under oppression of the Roman government, and that had been happening for a long time. These were people that honestly were probably without a ton of hope. They were being taxed 80 to 90 percent. They had been seeing the land of their families being stripped away from them. Friends had probably been beaten and killed. They were probably not emotionally happy with their situation, and they were looking for this Messiah figure, this king, to come and save them and free them.

Different Messiah figures had popped up, and they had led uprisings trying to beat the Roman Empire and get freedom. All of them had been tragically stopped, and they had to see a lot of pain, a lot of death, a lot of violence. And now there's this dude named Jesus of Nazareth on a hill. He's been healing people, doing amazing things, telling people about this kingdom that's coming, and it's actually here now. People are curious about this guy, so they're listening. He's trying to get the point across that the kingdom is here now, and these are examples of what it looks like. He specifically targets the religious leaders of the day.

They were really committed to following the Torah and all these additional laws they created. The idea was that righteousness is found in how well you do things, how hard you try to get it right. They're really consumed with what we now call legalism, which is just trying hard to obey rules. Jesus turns the tables metaphorically. Instead of us being consumed with just doing the right things and following the rules, he says, consume me. He literally tells us, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, I have the living water that will make you never thirst. I have the bread of life.

He's wanting us to think very differently about how this whole righteousness works. He's inviting us to see that instead of it just being external ways that we do things, it's very much about our connectedness, our union with the King. The goal is to be so connected to the heart of the Father that we don't even know where our branch ends and his vine begins. Just complete union.

For me, it's so easy to start seeing this as real as it really is. When Abbie was preaching two weeks ago, I started to get into my head about this being impossible. There's just no way this can be how we live. But I love that we as a church are going after the heart of the teaching, because at the end, I was refreshed on the fact that this is impossible if we don't actually have union with the King. There's no way we can live in the kingdom without deep relationship with the King. That's what the invitation is for everybody.

I feel like that's freeing because then there's intentionality and effort, but it's not about just trying hard and then failing. If we just read these as laws, we're just going to fail. We'll get caught in cycles of shame. That's not what Jesus is calling us into.

I was praying about what the Lord wants to teach through this text today, and I feel like he told me that we're made for this. This is actually how we were created to live. We were created to co-rule with Christ. Our positions are as sons and daughters, but our posture gets to be as co-ruler, and that usually shows up as servanthood. I just want to start with that because I feel like this is one of the most amazing bits of scripture we have because it's just seamless thoughts of Jesus. It's just really special. There's a lot of these that are pretty challenging, honestly.

There's just a lot of application that is very specific and very, honestly, nuanced to you as an individual. I think the temptation to go back to legalism is that then we don't have to actually have any judgment. We don't actually have to partner with the Holy Spirit and have this relationship where he gives us insight as to how to live. Because if we just have the rules laid out then we can just be like okay I'll do this I won't do this and then there doesn't actually need to be any heart change. So let's get into it.

Oaths

We're going to start in Matthew 5, verse 33. And we're talking about oaths here. So be ready. This is crazy.

Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made. But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all, either by heaven, for it's God's throne, or by the earth, for it's his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it's the city of the great king. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot even make one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply yes or no. Anything beyond that comes from the evil one.

Matthew 5:33-37

I'm not in the habit of making oaths very often anymore. I don't know if I've actually ever made a vow like this, but in these days it was super common. Let's say Bradley and I don't know each other. We're not friends. We didn't dress in a very cool way today together. But you have a donkey and I need a donkey. There's no trust established yet in our relationship or whatever. But I need a donkey. So I might say to you, hey Bradley, if you lend me your donkey for a week, I will pay you back what the donkey's worth per day, and then an extra eighth. I might ask that to you. But why would you have any reason to trust me right if you don't know me?

So what I might do is say like, I swear on the name of Yahweh I will, like, repay you. That carried so much weight. Like, oh my gosh, if you bring Yahweh into this vow, all of a sudden the person's like, dang, he is serious. I probably can trust this dude. But at some point, they stopped saying Yahweh out of respect for Yahweh. So then people started saying things like, Bradley, I swear on the sky, or like, I swear on the temple, or, you know, like very sacred adjacent things, but not Yahweh. And what this did is this opened up a whole lot of room for people to use this for their own advantage.

And actually, there's an example of this in Scripture. So Matthew 23:16, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, and he says:

Woe to you, blind guides! You say, if anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing, but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple, they're bound to the oath. You blind fools, which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, if anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing, but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar, well, then they're bound by the oath. You blind men, which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits in it.

Matthew 23:16-26

So it's kind of interesting. I feel like this almost seems silly to me. When I think about this, I'm like, this is just kind of silly. People are pretty much like saying, so if I, let's say that I didn't pay Bradley back, I could be like, well, I just swear by the temple. I didn't swear by the gold on the temple. So really, it wasn't even a valid oath, and you're an idiot for believing it.

That seems so silly, but I think clearly Jesus is, he wouldn't mention this if he weren't serious about it, right? So there's something here, and I think Dallas Willard sums it up quite nicely as he does. So there should be a quote from Dallas. It's kind of long, but I'll read it. The essence of swearing that Jesus targets here is about invoking something or someone else, especially God, to make your words seem more significant and weighty. The aim is to impress others with your seriousness or piety so that you can get what you want. It's a device of manipulation designed to override the judgment or input of others in order to possess them for our purposes. It's manipulation, and Jesus says that it's evil. Instead of loving and honoring others with truthfulness, the intent is to get one's way by verbal manipulation of the thoughts and choices of others.

So I feel like that kind of changes the tune just a little bit, for me at least. It's so not funny, but also funny how this kind of thing works. Because as I was preparing for this teaching, I was listening to a lot about oaths and everything. And I was like, I feel like this never happens. Joke's on me, right? Because I'm about to tell you a story and it's going to be exactly what this is.

So the other day I was on a call with a guy, let's call him Ron. Ron is a good guy. This is a true story, by the way. Ron is not his name, but Ron. He's a good guy. He's wealthy. He's a believer. He loves Jesus and loves contributing his gifts to the church, especially if it's a great cause that he believes is building the kingdom. So Ron and I might be working together in a design sort of space. And we were calling to talk about the agreement, specifics behind what our agreement would be.

And that call was what I expected. But then at the end of the call, he asked me, he's like, so where are you at with 1024? And I was like, what? What is it? I was like, oh yeah. In my mind, I was like, oh yeah, 1024 is the building project that he's been working on. And he's been kind of wanting me to like move into the space and do like a cafe thing. And I've just not been feeling it. I don't know what it is. Like at the time I was just like, I'm not feeling it.

But I didn't say that. What I said was, I was like, oh yeah, Ron, like, you know, it seems like a great opportunity. I just don't feel like the Lord's giving me peace about that right now, but I'll pray about it. And then I can get back to you once we talk about the agreement stuff later today. So best word, you know, through the day.

I get the agreement stuff settled. The day has been, you know, complex and things have happened and whatever. Now I'm calling him again. And I tell him about the agreement updates, all that's good. But then I'm like, oh, wait, I was like, I was supposed to, I was supposed to pray about this. Shoot. And I had not. And when I say pray about it, I don't mean just like, oh, Lord, give me wisdom for what to say. It's not something vague. I would spend some time diving in and really waiting on the Lord to give me some feedback or insight.

I hadn't done that. But instead of just being honest with Ron, I decided to just go with my gut, kind of my first thought, best thought. And I was just like, yeah, man, I'm just not feeling the Holy Spirit's giving me that go ahead. I'm not feeling that drive from the like inspiration or drive from the father to do this. So like very, you know, heavenly language, which isn't wrong if it's true, but like, honestly, it kind of wasn't.

And so then Ron is like, he might've actually sent some of this and he was like, well, just keep meeting with your maker about this. You know, that was his, that was his like last quote. And I was like, all right, thanks, Ron. And I didn't really connect the dots until like learning more about this section. But I was like, man, I am not beyond manipulating people by using God's reputation.

Like I'm not, because that's what I did essentially, right? Like, A, I said I would pray about it and then I didn't. So that's kind of just like, that's just not like a lie pretty much, honestly. And that's not cool. Like we can't just do that to people. Like people can't actually trust us, you know? So that's not great. And then what I did in the second half was Ron has something that I want, which is essentially to do a project with him and get paid to do that. And Ron's a great guy. So I want to establish connection with him. I want to be in relationship with him. But instead of possibly going into a vulnerable conversation where I'm like, I don't want to do this thing. Here's why. And then he'd tell me, well, here's why I think you should. I just kind of used the Holy Spirit, someone that we both trust to like smooth it all over and just like, oh yeah, like God's kind of telling me not to.

And I'm like, dang, like that does not honor the Lord at all. Like, man, that's not how this works at all. You know, like, shoot. So I did, I did end up calling him later and telling him exactly why I didn't want to do it. And after actually spending some time in prayer, but I'm like, man, Like if I do that in that situation, where else am I doing it? And if I keep doing that, all of a sudden I'm the kind of person that just is like trying to use God to get what I want from other people.

I don't think maybe I'm the only one that does this. I don't think so. But I think the question is, and we'll have some time of reflection at the end, but like, what's a relationship in your life that's just in desperate need of some honesty, you know? and how does Jesus want you to communicate with that person in a way that sees their value the way he sees their value and like that truly honors both yourself and them and the Lord?

Eye for eye

So we're going to keep moving but we'll have time of reflection at the end. The next one is eye for eye. So the scripture here is Matthew 5:38.

You have heard that it was said, eye for eye and tooth for tooth, but I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 5:38-42

So again all of these three things that we'll talk about today are just loaded with context and like they're honestly all super specific examples for people at that time so if we just read it for like face value i feel like it's kind of easy to get the wrong grasp of what he's trying to say but what he's referring to with the eye to eye part tooth for tooth part. That's called the law of retaliation or the Lex Talionis. And it comes from Exodus 21:24. And it sounds super harsh. I'm not going to lie.

It sounds like if I, you know, if I get spilled a cup of coffee, if someone spills a cup of coffee on me, then I should just spill a cup of coffee right back on them. You know, that's like what it sounds like. But what it really was meant to do was to like cap your like limit for revenge. So like if they were to spill a cup of coffee on me, I can't just go take their life. That is not the same thing.

So that's what the law is meant to do, is like, okay, something was done to you. There's value to what happened. Let's get the proper value assigned back in some sort of way. And usually it actually was done through money. So similar to today, I was like, if you break my leg. I wouldn't just go break your leg back. That's pretty unhelpful. And I think people even then could realize that. I'd have to pay compensation. That's how much it's worth.

But anyway, what was happening, the problem was, okay, the problem was is that people were using that and they're using it as an excuse or permission to actually just take personal vengeance rather than seeking reconciliation. And I do also want to say this is a huge portion of scripture that is super loaded, and we could go so many ways with it. But again, I'm going to try to just cut to the heart of it.

But there are parts that sound really weird. And one of those parts is when he says, do not resist an evil person. What does that mean? Because it kind of sounds like he's saying, don't do anything and be a doormat and whatever someone wants to do to you, let them do. But I assure you, that is not what he is saying.

And there's multiple ways that I know this. One is through like a bunch of greek that i'm not going to go into because i'm not a greek scholar And I heard it like really well said on the bible project And if you want that I can give you the episode and they will explain it very well But two if you look at all the examples jesus gives none of them involve us doing nothing There there's no instance that he gives where it's just like oh, yeah, just take it Let them do that And that's it like that's not at all what he's saying And Jesus is definitely not going to be someone who giving license for evil to keep happening in the world That is not the heart of the Father So what he is saying is do not return in kind like do not resist in kind So if someone is doing something evil to you do not return in evil for an evil. Do something that is radically generous, which is what we're going to get into.

So if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. So imagine someone standing in front of you. We should all practice this. I'm just kidding. No. but so someone slaps you on your right cheek with the back of the hand that is like and those times that's like someone saying saying to you like you are you are worthless like i don't even see you as like human essentially you're just you're like there's no value you have no value no worth just slap not even gonna look at you not gonna face you i'm just gonna slap you i'm guarded slap you move on. That's the situation.

So probably not feeling great in that moment. I think I like to feel valued. I like to know that people see me for who I believe that I am and who the Father sees me as. But that does not happen a lot in life. There's a lot of times where people make assumptions about us or judge us, or they like to think they know better than we know about ourselves.

and this is kind of that situation. So Jesus is saying, instead of just letting them have that moment and moving on with their life, honestly trapped and enslaved to whatever is going on in their minds, he's like, stand your ground and turn to them your other cheek. And what that means in this culture is if you get an open hand slap, that's like only something you do to an equal. So now you're like turning, you're facing them, turning your other cheek and you're saying like, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not how this works.

We are actually both in this together, and you either slap me as an equal or you don't slap me because I'm an equal. There's no third option. They either don't slap you because you're an equal and they see that and they're like, oh my gosh, this person is a human, or they slap you and then everyone's like, oh wow, that guy just slapped an equal. So either way, you are asserting your dignity and your character. And the point isn't just to spite them.

It's to honestly invite them into remembering that you guys are both humans and that you both have inherent value. And you're trying to offer a way for them to be free from whatever's telling them they need to slap you and think that they're higher than you or better than you. Next one. How many sneezes? That's funny.

If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. Another really contextual thing, I have a lot of shirts. Who has a lot of shirts here? Anyone? Many people. And I have a few coats. So like, I'm reading this and I'm like, okay, like, that's chill. You can have my shirt. I have so many more, you know. But in these days, most poor people, and that's who he's addressing here, they have like one tunic, one like kind of semi-comfortable shirt that's like close to the skin.

And then they have one outer garment. And that's for like protection against the elements. So there's a law that you can't take a poor person's coat because it's their only form of protection at night. And if you did take it, you'd have to return it every single night, which is a lot of work. So I'm like, I would do that. You know, count me up. So this is aiming at a person, like some super uncaring person that actually wants so badly to make this poor person like suffer that they ask for their shirt instead, which that would suck because now you just have this like thick wool coat on and this injustice has been done to you and you feel like you don't have any way to retaliate.

So what Jesus is saying, man, if someone is just trying to rob you of the little that you have left, give to them even more. Give them your coat and be like, hey, can I actually just give you this too? And now you're just standing there completely exposed, completely naked, but at least they might be shocked and stunned and see your humanity again.

And it's again, offering them an invitation to be like, wow, this person is a human. Maybe I should think a little bit differently about how I treat them. And it's also inviting the whole group, whoever's around you to see this insane injustice and also get behind the fact that this is not okay. So again, not doing nothing, trying to shock the conscience of the offender and free them from their greed.

And then the third point, if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Again, super contextual. Roman soldiers could force any citizen of the empire to carry packs and other gear if they wanted to up to one mile. That was the rule. They put a limit themselves on how many miles you could go because otherwise people would just be dying left and right. But I mean, think about this.

You're at a picnic with your family in ancient Israel. you're having a great time or trying to and then a roman soldier comes up to you and just like grabs you from your family and is like hey you like take this whatever 150 pounds of stuff and walk with me a mile and they're pretty much just saying like i don't care about you at all like i see no worth in you i'm just going to treat you like a pack mule and you're going to walk with me because i can because i can make you do that.

so what jesus is saying is like okay like you're going to do that because that's what you need to do. But how about you offer them a gift instead of just being bitter the whole time that you're being made to do something? What if you can all of a sudden turn the table and be like, actually, I know that you don't even see me as a human, but can I give you something? Can I keep walking with you and keep carrying your stuff?

And all of a sudden, I don't even know. It's so not in our culture that I'm trying to really get into this, but I'm like, dude, what would they think? And then that's an opportunity again for them to be free. The goal is freedom. You're more free in that situation than they are.

There's something oppressing them. There's some sort of evil, some sort of lie that they're believing about how things work that they can be freed from. And if you can show your humanness and remind them of who they are, who they truly are. It's a chance for them to be free too. So like I said, there's so much that could be said about this whole passage and so many specific applications, but I think the heart of it is how can we begin to walk in our ordinary lives and see people that even do wrong to us, but see them the way that the Father sees them, which is as people that he created in his image, right, a Mago Dei image, but recognize that the enemy is actually not them.

Like they, if they're like the worst person you've ever met, then they're the most afflicted person that you've ever met. Like they're trapped, you know? And the father's heart for them is that they would come to repentance and that they'd be free because that's what he wants for everyone. It's what he wants for all his kids, everyone that he's created. So they might be rare, but there might be moments in your life where you can have the bravery and courage to maybe go that extra mile and just maybe make an enemy a friend and help set them free.

And I think that's pretty awesome. I think it's scary. I don't know exactly what this looks like in every situation. And that's, again, why this isn't a set of rules, because it's not that simple. We move every day.

And if we have situations like this, we have a helper. who Jesus said it's better that he's here now than even when Jesus was here. We can just ask him, Holy Spirit, what do you think about this? He's here to teach us, so let's let him teach us. I know it's a little bit scary because it's a relationship, and relationships are a little bit complicated, and you actually have to be there to listen and spend time with them and all that stuff, but that's the whole point.

it's like union and actually walking in step with the spirit.

Loving enemies

so i mentioned how the enemy is not really the enemy you know and i think that's that kind of leads right into this next part this last part that we'll go into and it's a loving enemies which oh my gosh like i can't even imagine like being someone that was sitting down there and knowing what has happened to my friends and my neighbors and my relatives the last 70 years or more. How long was it? A long time, okay. But knowing all the injustice that's done and really waiting on a king to come and punish the Romans, that's what they were waiting for. They were waiting for the Romans to be completely obliterated probably and wiped off the face of the earth because that's what they had heard of stories long ago.

That's what they thought was on the heart of the Father. And now this guy, Jesus, sits down and he says:

You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who only love you, what reward will you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don't even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-47

So Jesus here was quoting an ancient biblical law found in Leviticus 19:18, which says:

You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:18

And then the following phrase after, love your neighbor, hate your enemy, that was actually not in the Torah at all. That was something that was probably just added on in Jewish culture because it just kind of makes sense. Why would you love someone that hates you? It just doesn't make sense. You would love people that love you. It's easy to do, right? And then it's easy to hate people that hate you. It's just like, that just feels natural almost.

but that's what he's quoting and yeah i mean he's literally just like i feel like dropping this like bomb on their entire paradigm you know like this whole time they thought the messiah was going to set up an empire and he's saying no the empire is already here we're we're doing a kingdom thing and it's actually super different and he's inviting us to see other people the way that the father sees them and to see who the enemy really is.

I think it'd be helpful to kind of define enemy. So the word enemy in Greek is ekthron, and it's a wide sweeping word that pretty much means all people that you don't get along with. So I feel like we all have those. In their context, they're thinking the Romans probably, but it also applies to maybe their neighbor who is a Jew and also they don like And in our context it applies to somebody at work that we don like or a political enemy overseas or whatever. It's everybody that we don't like his enemy.

So it's definitely a pretty intense saying. What does it mean to love those enemies? I think that's why it's helpful to define what love means, because it doesn't mean that you just need to feel nice about them or like, just be happy about like, just, it's all good. No worries. You know, like, just let them do their thing.

It's, it's not that, you know, not that intense, but it's a very different kind of love. Like I love, I love street tacos and I love playing volleyball and I love being the athletic director here, you know, and I love, what's another thing? Oh, drinking great coffee. That's in my notes. That's good.

But that is not what he's talking about. What he's talking about is what we probably all heard it, but it's the Greek word agape. And this is not indifference. It's not just being nice. It's not tolerance.

Agape love is the love of the will. And specifically in this context, it is like literally to will the good for another person. So partnering with the spirit and loving your enemy into the person that they were made to be all along. So to do this, we really have to believe that that person is not our enemy. We have to see the enemy for who he really is, but we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers.

So it's like, if we can see the enemy for who he really is, if we really know that he's out there trying to look for people to just destroy, then we can resist. And then we can actually help people become free. But if we just see people as our enemies, that's the wrong paradigm to live in. And I don't think we're going to get anywhere with this. Don't think we're going to get anywhere.

You guys want to hop up and play for a little bit? kind of we're landing i think the plane i think okay one helpful story maybe maybe it's helpful i had a pretty wild week and it was like very unexpected you know like i was like i had my expectation for the week and then on monday like at 3 p.m the whole week changed and i was like wow look at that life moves so quickly but i've been kind of gearing up to take on a new role at this cafe. Not gonna give a lot of details, but it was gonna be like a 40 hour a week job. I was pretty excited about it overall. The job seemed perfect for me.

All this stuff. I'm trying to think of how... I don't want to be detailed, so I'm just gonna say the basic thing is I knew that I'd be meeting up with somebody that I don't really like. I don't trust them. I don't super want to be like close to them or like in proximity, but I knew that we were going to have probably a pretty intense conversation.

So what I did was I asked the Lord as we drove over. I was like, man, Lord, I do not like this person. And I was like, I just felt like I should ask. I was like, what do you think about them? and what I felt like he said was that you know this person tries so hard to serve me and I was like haha yeah that's so true like yeah it was like a diss in my mind but then he was like he was like and I love him to death and I was like oh and I think biblically that's super true obviously but like hearing that in the moment I was like man Like, why, like, you're just too good, honestly.

And I was like, okay, Lord, I'm like, if that's how you see them, could you just, like, help me to see him that way? Like, the whole time this was going down, because I feel like it's going to be rough. And I feel like he totally did. Like, the conversation ended very strangely, and like I said, my whole week changed after that. So like it wasn't what I expected, but I was pretty much like my character was assaulted the entire two hours And I was just like complete peace.

I just felt like I wanted this person to feel Like heard and understood and loved and I don't think that came from me I really don't you know what I mean because I that's a that's a weird place to be in a life Where someone's just like literally telling you what they think about you and what they've seen and you know who you are So like that's not true But yeah, so that's a very kind of like simple maybe example for how this could actually play out, but I just thought maybe it was worth sharing.

In closing actually I'm gonna read a scripture to you. And I don't have it on the screen because I don't want you to read it. I just want you to listen if that's alright And the scripture is Romans 5:6 through 11 and the way that I know That God wants us to love our enemies Are the people that oppose us in life the people that are against us the way that I know that is because that is exactly What he's done for us.

Like I can think very Very specifically back to like probably my worst moment in my life life. Like, I'm talking about like in my heart, like my worst, probably, place where I was in the most shame. I knew, I just knew that I was so far from the heart of God. And that's the first time that he actually showed up and like spoke to me.

He literally like met me in that mess. And I was like, dude, he was like, he just asked me if I love him. And I didn't even know what to think when I, because I'd never really felt that before. I'd never like heard him, but he asked me three times, very similar to the Peter situation. So, you kind of makes sense, but by the third time, I knew that I didn't, but I knew that I really wanted to, and like that, after that decision with him, where I was like, yeah, like, I don't think I do, but I really want to, like, will you help me learn to love you, like, things started changing so fast, and, um, it changed everything, but like, if God had abandoned me in that moment, if the father did abandonment with his kids, I would have never had that moment.

He would have left me in the dust long ago. And I feel like sometimes it's easy to believe that, you know, we're having a tough week or the Lord's not answering us in one thing or another, and we just feel like he's abandoned us, but like, he doesn't do that. He doesn't do abandonment. So I'm going to read Romans 5:6 through 11, and then I think we'll just kind of let the worship team just kind of like prophesy over this moment, and we can just spend some time asking the Holy Spirit what exactly he wants us to take from this, alright? So if you want to just close your eyes, I encourage you to do that.

For when the time was right, the anointed one came and died to demonstrate his love for sinners who were entirely helpless, weak, and powerless to save themselves. Now, would anyone dare to die for the sake of a wicked person? We can all understand if someone was willing to die for a truly noble person, but Christ proved God's passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly. And there is still so much more to say of his unfailing love for us.

For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, You are now righteous in my sight. And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God. So if while we were still enemies, God fully reconciled himself through the death of his son, then something greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, and because we share in his resurrection life, how much more will we be rescued from sin's dominion? And even more than that, we overflow with triumphant joy and our new relationship of living reconciled to God, all because of Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:6-11

Amen. So, I think we can just sit here for maybe a few minutes. and I don't know if you've ever done this before it's there's a lot of trust that's involved when like listening to God but and he speaks in a lot of different ways sometimes it's like in the gut sometimes it's the head sometimes it's just like a feeling or a memory or scripture there's so many ways you can speak but I think just if you're willing to be open to it if you're willing to be open to it, just ask him.

I think a great question to ask him is, who do you say that I am? And I think we can start with that, and then there's one other question, and then I think we can be done.

Ask the Lord, who do you say that I am? Okay. So remember that. Because the enemy works through lies. And whatever the Lord told you, The enemy is going to try to rip that out from you so hard.

And it's kind of easy to let them twist it, let them turn it, but... Our identity is so rooted in the father as his kids. The last question is more specific. There's so much here. It's like, man, how do you even weave through all this?

I think just asking the Holy Spirit, uh, what He wants us to know. What He wants you to know from this, from everything that you've heard today. What is something that He wants, like, to make really real for you? What is something that He wants you to know?