In February 2012, David Brooks in an article in The New York Times, ‘How to Fight the Man’, related the story of Jefferson Bethke, a 22-year-old man. Bethke had ‘produced a video called “Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus”. Brooks noted that Bethke argued: ‘Jesus preaches healing, surrender and love,… but religion is rigid, phony and stale. “Jesus came to abolish religion”…’
‘The video went viral…,’ Brooks commented. ‘It speaks for many young believers who feel close to God but not to the church. It represents the passionate voice of those who think their institutions lack integrity — not just the religious ones,…’
According to the article, Kevin DeYoung, one of the many who replied, ‘pointed out,… it is biblically inaccurate to say that Jesus hated religion…. In fact, Jesus preached a religious doctrine, prescribed rituals and worshiped in a temple.’
Brooks noted that ‘Bethke responded in a way that was humble, earnest and gracious,…’ Apparently Bethke responded to DeYoung: “…I’ll even be honest and say I agree 100 percent.”
BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES
I refer to this article of David Brooks because we are seeing in the current electoral processes in Britain, Australia and the United States the way the integrity of institutions is being questioned – and not just amongst the young.
It was interesting to read an interview with the actor Kevin Sorbo on Fox News (July 1, 2016) about the new film, Joseph and Mary. Sorbo commented: ‘the problems in America would be avoided if people had “any moral principles — any biblical principles in their [lives].”’ He further remarked that ‘fans ask him every day to continue making faith-based, family-friendly films’.
With these thoughts in mind we might ask how we relate with one another and how others in the wider community see us. Do we come across to others in the wider community as people who live out our faith, people of integrity, or judgmental and unforgiving?
In Luke 6:37ff we read Jesus’ further words in his Sermon on the Plain: ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.
JUDGING
Judging others indicates a critical, condemning attitude that ignores the reality that we all fail God. It is important that we distinguish judging from discerning.
Closely linked to Jesus’ command not to judge is the one not to condemn. Whereas judging suggests an attitude of mind, condemning reflects an emotion of the heart and the will.
Judgmental and condemning attitudes spring from a patronizing self-righteousness that forgets we all stand condemned by God (Romans 14:10-12). Jesus graphically condemns this in his parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:11-14).
Judgment and condemnation have the same outcome – a breakdown in relationships. Forgive, and you will be forgiven challenges us to forgive from the heart everyone who has wronged us personally.
This does not remove the right of the courts to uphold justice for the good order of society – as we read in Romans 13:1-4 and 1 Peter 2:13-14.
MESSAGE OF LOVE
Furthermore, the command to forgive doesn’t mean that sin is to be overlooked or brushed aside. However, we need to keep in mind that God chose to forgive us through a costly means that perfectly satisfied his righteousness. We in turn are called on to resolve broken relationships with one another.
If we expect God to forgive us, we should be prepared to show mercy and forgive those who wrong us. In Colossians 3:13 we read: Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Our failure to show mercy to one another reveals an unrepentant spirit, and an unrepentant spirit is hardly honest and humble enough to receive God’s pardon and deliverance.
How then do we relate to one another? Does the world around us today say, as Tertullian wrote in the 2nd century: ‘See how those Christians love one another’? Are we as God’s people known for our integrity – known as a forgiven people who hold out a message of love and forgiveness?
Last Friday we all awoke to the news that a majority in the United Kingdom had voted to leave the European Union. It was totally unexpected. The news has been received with joy, shock, anger, and anxiety. It has caused concern at almost every level, political, financial and social.
It is not my purpose to comment on the merits or demerits of the decision, but rather to ask the question: ‘How does God work in our world of uncertainty?’
There are many things in life that trouble us. If we are to understand and deal with the unexpected, we need more than human wisdom and understanding. Abraham Lincoln once commented: I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day (Lincoln Observed: Civil War Dispatches of Noah Brooks).
DIVINE WISDOM
We need divine wisdom found in divine revelation. Let me make two observations – the first from Isaiah 43, the second, from Romans 10.
In advance of the fall of Jerusalem and the conquest of God’s people, the prophet Isaiah spoke for God when he said: When you pass through the waters I will be with you; … (Isaiah 43:2).
Isaiah was saying that God does not promise his people immunity from the unexpected or tough times. He says, when, not if. Isaiah also speaks about God’s people passing through the waters, not over the waters.
Our world is troubled and distorted because we have all turned away from God. And because God takes seriously the gift of choice he has given us, we often struggle with outcomes. As someone commented, it is mischievous to say that God’s people will not experience the unexpected or difficulty in their lives. God doesn’t promise that – not even in this era since the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
GOD’S PRESENCE
What God promises us is not immunity from pain in our lives, but his constant presence with us. While, thank the Lord, our troubles in the West are not the extreme suffering of the time of which Isaiah wrote, there are principles from which we can learn.
We learn from Isaiah, and even more from the events of the life and death of Jesus Christ, that Christianity is not about a God who sits in heaven says, ‘I’ll get you out of your trouble’, or, ‘I’ll put you on a spiritual trip that will ease your pain’.
Rather, Christianity is about a God who comes to us in our pain, and who shares it. This is the meaning of the manger in Bethlehem and the cross on Calvary’s hill. This is not a God who emails us sympathy notes. This is the God who bore our grief and who carried our sorrow – a God who descends to the depths of the earth. Emmanuel: God with us!
CHRISTIANITY
Christianity is about the supporting presence of the Lord as we pass through the challenges and trials of life. I have summoned you by name, when you pass through the waters I will be with you, says the Lord.
No other religion even dreams of this. All around us are philosophers and opinion-makers. Turn on the news, open the paper and we find countless commentators who hold themselves out as wise. But not one of them has scars on their hands. Not one of them can say, ‘When you pass through the waters I’ll be with you’. This is how our almighty, awesome, and all-wise God acts.
This is also the God who calls on us to be involved in introducing others to him. William Temple, a former Archbishop of Canterbury once commented, ‘The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members’.For too long we have allowed our witness to be silenced. When did you last conclude a serious conversation with even the words, ‘May God bless you’ or ‘Can I pray for you?’ as potential conversation starters about the Lord Jesus?
In Romans 10: 14f we read: But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?… As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’
Being confident that God is with us, surely now is the time for us to ask the Lord for the wisdom and grace to bring God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, back into our conversations.
How often we encounter the words, The most important person is You!
Early last century the Scottish theologian, James Denney commented: In himself every man and woman is in a sense the most important person in the world and it always needs much grace to see what other people are, and to keep a sense of moral proportion.
What Denney regarded as a problem for men and women is now promoted as a virtue. But that very ‘virtue’ has given rise to a hyper-individualism that has little regard for others. Born out of a narcissism that serves self, it does not augur well for the future of western society.
In both Greek and Roman society reciprocity was an underlying ethic. For example, in his advice to Philocraten (before 70BC), Aristeas wrote, As you wish that no evil should befall you, but to be a partaker of all good things, so you should act on the same principle towards your subjects and offenders.
The motivation in this is negative reciprocity: ‘I will not do to you what I do not want you to do to me.’
But in his Sermon on the Plain Jesus’ words are positive and pro-active: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31). This is often called the golden rule. ‘Treat others as you want them to treat you’.
IN PRACTICE
Jesus gives us examples of what his command to love looks like in practice. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” he asked (6:32). “Even sinners love those who love them.” Even people who have no fear of God have a sense of duty to those around them.
Jesus’ followers however, are to surpass this. Three times he speaks of the application of the principle of love – doing good, lending and giving. Each time he asks, ‘What credit is it to you?’ Credit here is the word normally translated grace (charis). Earlier in his Gospel Luke speaks of God’s favor to sinful men and women (1:30; 2:40; 2:52). Sinners is a reference to those who are ‘outside’ the community of God’s people. His triple repetition sharply defines his three points.
The standard the world sets for love is not sufficient. Doing good requires pro-active practical behavior that serves the real needs of even outsiders – not just the needs of those who might reciprocate or repay in kind.
Jesus raises the standard for anyone who would follow him. ‘There is nothing particularly meritorious in looking after people from whom you would normally expect a return,’ he was saying. ‘You are merely doing what the world does.’
And he goes even further: “Do good, lend (or give), expecting nothing in return” (6:35–36). He expects us to do good, lend or give, ‘despairing of no-one’, without expecting anything in return.
WITHOUT EXPECTING ANYTHING IN RETURN?
This does not mean that God doesn’t reward us. It’s important to know this, for rewards are part of life. Without them we can be tempted to become self-focused rather than God-focused and conduct our own self-review, chastising or rewarding ourselves accordingly. Jesus encourages us with his promises of reward. When we live out his expectations He will reward us with the special honour of our being called sons, and daughters, of the Most High.
Jesus uses a metaphor of beneficence that his hearers would have understood. Roman society and the economy were dependent on benefactors who often financed food (corn) for the city, and provided roads and public buildings. Public honors were bestowed for such generosity.
For his provision of cheaper corn, for example, Agathocles of Rhodes was honored: “It is hereby ‘resolved’ by the Council and the People to grant citizenship to Agathocles of Rhodes, upon equal and similar terms, to himself and to his descendants…to the end that all may know that the People understand how to repay with its favours those who are benefactors to it.” (BW Winter, Seek the Welfare of the City: 1994).
In saying that God, the Most High, would bestow honors on all who turn and follow him, Jesus accords his people with the highest honors. He is also saying that those who truly follow him live out qualities of God’s own character – for God is kind to the ungrateful and selfish (6:35). Character, not just a profession of faith, is essential.
With his words, Jesus laid the foundation for a new social order that over time has provided a framework for justice, tempered by mercy and forgiveness in constitutions and laws, protecting the rights of citizens and reversing many evils in society.
‘How much do we really care for and serve the needs of others?’ is the question.
‘What is the biggest challenge we face today?’ It’s an age-old question, but it is being asked again with increasing frequency. And responses include: ‘terrorism’, ‘the economy’, ‘security’, ‘climate change’. It is one thing to identify the challenges but another to provide a solution.
Furthermore, from a biblical perspective, solutions will be different for governments and for the individual. Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 tell us that a primary responsibility of government is the well-being, safety and good order of society. It’s one reason we must pray for our leaders and upcoming elections (1 Timothy 2:1-6). But for the most part, the New Testament focuses on our deepest need and God’s new society – achieved through the declaration of the good news of his love and forgiveness.
When Jesus was asked the question, ‘What is the greatest commandment?’ he responded, ”’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29ff).
These words go to the heart of the law of love – love for God and love for neighbor. The starting point is love for God; we are to love him with all our heart, with all our soul, and so on. It is this vertical axis of relationship – love for God – that our secular material world is missing. So it is encouraging that most people still agree that we are more than the sum of our physical parts.
Significantly, Jesus speaks to these two axes or dimensions of relationship – love for God and love for neighbor – in his Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20-40). Here he speaks of ‘love for God’ in terms of blessings and woes.
BLESSED
‘Blessed are you poor’, he begins (Luke 6:20). While some insist that these words refer only to the literal ‘poor’, the context of Luke’s Gospel indicates the poor has a similar meaning to what we find in Matthew 5:3 where Jesus says, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’.
He is not blessing poverty per se, for poverty can easily be a curse. Rather, his words are a reference to the spiritually poor, those who understand their impoverishment before God. He is speaking about anyone who knows, as Jeremiah puts it, that the(human) heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9). Trapped in the prison of our ego, we have no heart or love for God.
Indeed in Luke the imagery of the poor crosses the social boundaries of class, education, religious association, race, and nation. It is a metaphor for those who lack honor or glory before God.
While Simon Peter and Levi are not described as rich, they were not materially poor. Peter ran a fishing business with his brother and others; Levi was able to host a large dinner party. But both men understood they had a need only Jesus could address. Peter recognized that a deep gulf existed between himself and Jesus; Levi understood his own alienation. Both obeyed Jesus’ command to leave their businesses and follow him.
When we understand our need and turn to God, Jesus says, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). The experience of God’s kingdom begins now – ‘yours is …’, he says.
In contrasting blessings and woes, Jesus turns on its head our way of looking at life. Society begrudgingly admires wealth, but Jesus says it is the poor, the hungry and those who weep who areblessed and will be blessed. By contrast, he says woe to the rich, the well-fed and those who laugh.
While the Bible does not condemn riches, food or laughter in themselves, Jesus points out elsewhere (Luke 18:24) that ‘it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God’. The rich, like the well-fed and those whose only aim in life is pleasure (laughter), fail to see there is more to life. Their successes and joys will be in this life only.
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
The final blessing is the climax to the blessings. God’s people will experience opposition in various ways – exclusion, suffering, persecution – because of their association with Jesus (6:22). “Rejoice in that day. Leap for joy, for behold your reward is great in heaven,” Jesus says (6:23).Yet, how often are we silenced through political correctness?
More than ever we need to pray that God will speak into our minds and hearts through his Word so that we might know the joy of his blessing and, as opportunities arise, we might introduce him and his love and forgiveness into our conversations with others.
In an article in The New York Times (June 7, 2016), ‘Let’s Have a Better Culture War’, David Brooks remarks that we need ‘a new traditionalism’ in the way we look at current issues. Commenting that ‘we are not primarily physical creatures,’ he says, ‘we have souls or consciousness or whatever you want to call it. The first step of a new traditionalism would be to put the spiritual and moral implications of everyday life front and center’.
His solution is to point us to the motif of ‘love’. For ‘love’ he says, ‘is the elemental desire of the spirit’.
LOVE
There is nothing new in this. Back in 1965 Burt Bacharach put to music the Hal David lyrics, What the World needs now is Love Sweet Love; and in 1967 the Beatles sang, All you need is love… The question becomes: ‘What does love mean? What does this look like in practice?’
At the center of Jesus’ ‘Sermon on the Plain’ (Luke 6:27-36), is the theme of love. Our English word love translates a number of Greek words – words for ‘affection’, for ‘romantic love’ (eros), and for ‘friendship’ (philia). And there is one more, the word that Jesus uses: agape – which means a love that chooses to act in the best interests of the one who is loved.
It is not a response to the attractive, but the reverse: it chooses to serve the best interests of even the unlovely, the unworthy, no matter the cost. It is not a love that responds to someone who is worthy of merit. It is the deliberate decision to serve the very best interests of others. It is the word the Bible uses to speak of the unique love of God and, in turn the love we are to have for one another – including love in marriage.
We understand love only when we understand God’s righteous character. This is why, for example, God cannot simply forgive us. As 1 John 4:10 says: here then is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Our western world has come to think of love more in terms of eros. Certainly not agape. Eros wants to take. Agape wants to give for the best of others. Eros could not have saved us. Agape could and did.
LOVE IN ACTION
Jesus teaches anyone who would follow him to: “Love (agape) your enemies” (6:27).
Moses had commanded, love your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18). In Jesus’ day the Jewish leaders had narrowed the application of neighbor so that it only referred to people who shared similar religious views. It did not include enemies. Jesus went further and said that his followers cannot be selective about whom they love.
To love one’s enemiesis an uncompromising call not to retaliate in kind, but to pray and do good. Doing goodmeans being willing to forego personal ‘rights’ and being prepared to be vulnerable and ‘go the extra mile’. It was a challenge to Jesus’ hearers in Roman occupied Judea; it is a challenge to us today.
“If anyone strikes you on the cheek,” Jesus continues, “Offer the other cheek as well” (6:29).The image is of a humiliating slap across the face with the back of the hand – an abuse of power. In those moments when we are being ridiculed or persecuted for our faith and for doing the right thing, we often want to respond in kind. But Jesus says we are not to retaliate.
Indeed to retaliate in kind only compounds the evil. Rather, offer support and even minister to those who persecute you. Revenge is out of the question. Leon Morris in his commentary on Luke notes the advice of ‘a worldly wit: Always forgive your enemies. Nothing infuriates them more’.
LOVE IN SERVICE TO OTHERS
Consider the witness of people imprisoned for their faith in their service of others during World War II. The Ten Boom family in Holland facilitated the escape of hundreds of Jewish people from the Nazi holocaust; they themselves were sent to concentration camps where they bore witness to their faith.
Vulnerability and forgiveness, rather than revenge, are to be our response to injustice and religious persecution.
Isn’t it more than time we re-visited and began to practice these profound, counter-cultural words of Jesus?
