All Saint’s Sunday!
A. Today is All Saint’s Sunday!
B. We remember Saints of old, people who have
influenced
our
lives, people that we remember because of their
love
and example to us, people we remember because
they
have brought the gospel to us!
C. Our scripture today gives us some instruction
on how
to
live our lives in such a way that we will be those
saints
that will be remembered in years to come!
Prayer
Matt.
5:43-47
I. Let’s look at our scripture.
A. The
Pharisees liked the way they were!
B. That
is one reason they found Jesus so hard to accept.
That
is one reason this teaching was not welcome; it
was
an unwelcome virtue! It stretched them out of
their
comfort zone!
C. In
our scripture today, Jesus teaches against one of
their precious beliefs.
II. A
look at the old saying or belief (vs. 43).
A. The
Pharisees had taught, "You shall love your
neighbor,
and hate your enemy."
1. Love your
neighbor: they understood neighbor to
be of
their own country, religion, etc.
AYou shall not take
vengeance or bear a grudge
against
any of your people, but you shall love
your
neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
(Lev. 19:18)
2. They felt
it was alright to hate their enemies
since it
wasn't mentioned here; it isn't even
mentioned
in the O.T. (BKC)! If you just look at
the O.T.,
there seems to be justification for
hating
enemies!
B. The
Pharisees even seemed to feel that their hatred
toward
their enemies was God's means of judging their
enemies
(BKC)!
III. But what was Jesus teaching?
A. "Love
your enemies!"
1. This was
a hard one for Israel! They were to
love the
Gentiles: the ones who were on the
outside!
2. It is a
hard one today as well!
a. Our
humanity wants us to:
1) be bitter
towards those who have hurt
us.
2) get even
for what they have done to us.
3) remind
them each time we see them that
they have
hurt us by the way we treat
them.
a) In a way,
we still seem to think
that
somehow we are hurting them
by treating
them badly; perhaps
it's
God's way of judging them!
b) but
really we are hurting
ourselves!
b. Our
humanity also wants to:
1) just love those who are our friends and family.
2) we don't
feel we owe anything to anyone else,
especially those who are
different: blacks, hispanics, poor,
gays, straight, or immigrants!
3) we also
find it hard to really love
those who
are on the outside:
a) What if a
person different than us
showed up
to worship with us?
Would we
love them?
b) Would we
welcome them to worship
with us?
c) Would we
stand up for them if they
were
being taken advantage of or
hurt?
Again, would we love them?
d) Would we
welcome them and really
want them
to become a part of us?
To become
a part of our group? Or
would we
just tolerate them
because
that was the thing to do,
hoping
they go on somewhere else?
e) These are
those on the outside
just like
the gentiles were to the
Jews,
just like we are to the
Jews!
c. But Jesus
teaches us to:
1) want the
best for those on the outside
and even
those who have hurt us.
2) have
compassion toward them in their
State,
advocate for them, let it affect
how we vote!
3) respect
them as people.
4) welcome
them as children of God!
5) That is
what love requires.
3. I don't
think this means we must put confidence
in or
become vulnerable to one who has cheated us
or in
some way proved untrustworthy by hurting
us,
unless they come to Christ or in some way
show
signs of a changed life!
4. But we
can and are called to love them and treat
them well!
B. "Pray
for those who persecute you."
1. Like
Jesus, "Father forgive them for they
not what
they've done."
2. This is
Love at its fullest. This is the
teaching
of Jesus! This is the Love of God!
3. It is
very hard to hate someone whom you are
praying
for!
I. Two
reasons for being this way! (our scripture
shows us)
A. to be
"like" our father in heaven (Matthew Henry).
1. Who
doesn't just do good to the righteous and
hold blessings
from the hateful.
2. But blesses
all people whether they love God in
return or
not!
3. There
isn't a better example of love!
B. That we
may do more than others that don't know the
love of
God!
1. What a
shame to use as our measuring stick the
actions
of others! But people do it all the
time,
"They did it to me!" Like somehow this
justifies
hurting them back!
2. As
Children of God we are called to go beyond
that; we
are called to love like God or rather
let God love through us!
a. God loves
all people.
b. We are to
do the same!
3. When we
do this, we bring glory to God and point
others to
Christ.
4. When we
don’t do this, we are no better than the Pharisees!
5. Very
relevant message for today!
a. love those not like us!
b. love those who do not vote like us!
Conclusion:
A. I'd like
to close with two quotations:
1. "Love
must be learned and learned again and
again;
there is no end to it. Hate needs no
instruction,
but waits only to be provoked."
Katherine Anne Porter
(American journalist, short story, Novelist, &
political activist)
2. "One's
love for God is equal to the love one has
for the
[people he/she] loves least."
John
J. Hugo
(Catholic Priest & Author)
B. Do we
need to yield ourselves to that love of God
this
morning? For the Pharisees, this was an unwelcome
virtue. How about us? Do we welcome the virtue to
love like
God?
C. I think
today there is one more reason for being this
way: so
that on future All Saint’s Sundays, we will be
people
that will be remembered for our faith, our
example,
and bringing others to God!
Prayer
of Confession
Service of Communion and Remembering of Saints!
