As I sat in my office months ago, praying and thinking through how I believed God was going to use us as a channel to distribute individuals and money for the advancement of His Kingdom, a thought entered my mind. It hit me that as I was planning the texts from which I would preach, that I needed to address what we do with this vision in regard to people’s needs whom we don’t particularly care for or trust. For example, if in a number of years one of our faithful brothers or sisters was working in a ministry somewhere and asked us to help supply the needs of his or her fellow laborers, I don’t think we would struggle in saying, “We will give what we can and pray that God would give that we may be able to do more.” But what do we do when we do not necessarily know a person, think they are trying to take advantage of us, or know they are trying to take advantage of us, especially if we’ve been “burnt” in the past? I mean this as a church and as individuals.
Well, let me say this: I do not think there is a hard and fast rule for this. Do you remember the story in Acts 3 when Peter and John were entering the temple and the lame beggar lying out in front of the temple was healed? Well, verse 2 says that he was a man “whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple.” Mark Rager pointed out an interesting thought about the significance of that verse. What that verse means is that Jesus had often walked by that man as He entered the temple without healing him.
And it’s probably not as if Jesus did not hear him, but He walked on by. “Well,” we might ask, “shouldn’t Jesus have helped everybody who asked Him for help?” And I think the answer is that He helped many, but it is impossible to help all the time. However, Jesus was compassionate all the time. He had a general attitude toward people in need (even men who were evil), and I think His Word teaches us to have the same. And one point in which we will see this is in Matthew 5:38-48.
This section is set in the context of the Sermon on the Mount which is found in Matthew 5-7. Something that is characteristic in this teaching of Jesus is that He is giving us principles to live by. For example, in Matthew 6:17-18 Jesus says, “When you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face so that you may not be seen fasting.” In this does Jesus mean that we must put oil in our hair and make sure we shower if we are going to fast? I don’t think so. Rather, I think He is saying, don’t fast just so that men will look at you and think you are great. In fact, work against this happening. In the same way, the passage we will look at this morning gives us this general principle or attitude by which we should live.
In an even more narrow context, the verses we will read this morning are found in a series of six statements that begin in 5:21. Just before this series, in 5:20, Jesus says, “For I say to you, that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” And then the series begins as Jesus says, “You have heard that was said … But I say to you …”
And so, I believe what Jesus is doing in these verses is saying, “The righteousness of the Pharisees looks like this, but this is what the righteousness I require looks like.” Jesus is showing his disciples how the scribes and Pharisees applied the Old Testament teaching and what He was calling them to do.
"He is not saying: 'I have an impossible standard of righteousness that you can never meet, and so stop trying to meet it, and trust in my righteousness. That’s not what he is saying. He is saying, 'If you will come to me, and trust in me, and receive the power of the kingdom, and be cleansed on the inside by the forgiveness and love of God that I offer, and bank your hope on all my promises, and let my ransoming death cover all your failures and imperfections, then you WILL be able to live this way (not perfectly, but powerfully), and your life will be the light of the world that proves you are the children of God’” (John Piper).
Therefore, in verse 45 when He says, “[Do these things] in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” He is not saying that you need to do these works in order to earn your salvation, for the entire sermon is to His disciples. Rather, he is saying, “As disciples, this is how you can and should live, to show you are truly disciples.” For only disciples can live this way and all disciples should live this way.
As Bruner says, “Show in act what you have been made in fact—sons and daughters of God.” The idea is one like I experienced as I played number one seed on our tennis team. We were bad (so don’t be impressed), and we had a losing attitude. And there were teams that we were better than that we would play, but we would go into the match thinking we would lose. Therefore, our coach was looking for me to lead in winning and having a winning attitude. She said to me before one match, “Lee, you’re our number one seed. You’re to go out, play confidently, and win, setting an example and mindset for these other guys. So go out there and be our number one seed.” And, I’m sure I went out and lost, but I understood what she was saying. I was number one seed, but I needed to start really being our number one seed.
In the same way, hear this message as a challenge. That, though we are the sons and daughters of God, this is how we need to be and how we need to act in order to be the sons and daughters of God in this world. We need to act and love even as our God has acted and loved toward us. That is the idea of verse 48, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
First, we need to realize that by dying to ourselves and being made alive to God, we have surrendered our rights. A dead man has no rights. Verses 38-39 say, “You have heard that it was said, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
The principle of proportionate retribution (Ex. 21:24-25) was older and more widely recognized than the Mosaic law, being found already in the Code of Hammurabi with the same examples of eye and tooth. Its intention was not to sanction revenge, but to prevent the excesses of the blood-feud by stating that the legal punishment must not exceed the crime. And so, by Jesus saying, “This isn’t the way you should do it,” He is saying, “You cannot be a people who demand retribution every time you are wronged.”
Even as Peter said, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). If every time we are abused in the world we stand up and demand retribution, men will not observe your behavior and glorify your Father who is in heaven. You won’t be being the sons and daughters of God.
(Aside Note: I don’t think Jesus is saying stand in there when being physically abused, but rather it is a principal of not advocating for retribution. If you find yourself being hit, my advice would be to run.)
And what example did God set for us here? Did He not have every right to send every one of us to hell? And wouldn’t He be completely righteous to do so? Yet He humbled Himself, endured suffering and death when we were evil and objects of wrath, and gives eternal life to those who repent of their sins and believe on Him. How can we even ponder the notion of revenge when we have been shown such grace?
So, first of all, to be like our Father in carrying out our vision, we must surrender our rights.
Secondly, we are to go a step farther. When we are abused, we are not only to surrender our rights, but lavish acts of grace on such people. Verses 40-42, “And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”
Let me stop for a second and state something that we all believe, but I want to recall it to our minds. We are to be living in order that men whom we encounter will glorify God. But what is it that we will do that is going to bring glory to God? Is it having a nice life, nice homes, health, etc. and saying, “I praise God for what I have”? I don’t think so. I believe the world would take note of such things only to think, “They are striving for all the same things I am but are just adding ‘I thank God’ to the end of it. Who cares where it comes from.” In other words, we will not draw glory to God by being just like the world and thanking God for all we get. It will take something else. I think the something else is in these last two things of which I will speak.
As I said before, we are to lavish grace on those who would abuse us. Even pagans often endure suffering, but I know it is not human tendency to lavish grace where only anger, bitterness, and wrath are due.
Those people you work for, or are your teachers, or peers who seem to constantly abuse you and bring suffering to your life—you should lavish grace upon them. Actually look for ways to show grace to them. And I think this applies at times to people who are even using the church. And before we get a little antsy about such a statement, have we forgotten that it was the kindness of God toward us that brought us to repentance (Romans 2:4) which He showed even while we were yet His enemies (Eph. 2:1-5, Rom. 5:8-10)?
People often ask for practical ways to glorify God in their lives. This is it! Lavish grace on people who are completely undeserving. The only way we will draw men’s attention to God is (like Jesus says here) to be completely different from the world (for don’t they even do some of these things—v.47). We could almost understand Him saying, “You have heard that it was said … But I say to you …” as “You would think by the world’s system that the way you should act would be to … But I say that what you really need to do is draw glory to God by …”
And finally, don’t stop with simply lavishing grace on them by serving them, but actually love them, for not all service is done in love. How do we love them? Let me give you three ways.
1) By being genuinely friendly to them when engaging with them. I know it sounds simple, but Christ did not assume it either. Verse 47 says, “If you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than the others.” Don’t simply engage in groups of those whom you like at the exclusion of your enemies. Everyone does that—we’re to be different. Rather, actually pursue being kind toward those who abuse you.
2) By seeking to meet their needs. Let me show you how I derive this from this passage. It is in verse 45. “He [our Father] causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” What Jesus is saying is, “God meets the needs of those who are His and those who aren’t.” We need to seek to meet the needs of the unjust as well if we are to fulfill this vision in the attitude of our heavenly Father.
3) We are to pray for them and love them. Now I know that I’ve listed these under “How we love” and, therefore, it goes against all rules of communication to then say, “We are to love them.” The reason I do this, however, is to remind you that love is not simply an act of service done. Acts of service are a part of the love about which I have been speaking, but there is something else in love. Look at 1 Corinthians 13:3, “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” I don’t know of greater acts to show love than to sell all one’s possessions to feed the poor or to give one’s life for another. But Paul tells the Corinthians that you can even do these acts of service without love. Therefore, love must also be an inclination of your heart towards another.
But, let’s be real about this. You cannot just make your heart inclined towards another can you? I think this is why we are to pray for our enemies. There is no better way to turn your heart toward someone than to begin praying for him or her. That’s why spouses need to pray for one another continually. And that’s why we need to be continually praying for one another in the body and for those outside of this body—especially those who would abuse us and count us as their enemies. The ability we have to pray for our enemies is something we can definitely do to show ourselves different from the world and, in turn, to bring glory to our Father.
Our capacity to do these things is correlated directly to our passion for God's glory. May our hearts be inflamed to truly be God’s children, to show our righteousness as exceeding that of the world, and to see all the world (even those who abuse and spitefully use us) praise our God, giving glory to His name.