Romans 12:14-21 "Loving Our Enemies"

0:52Was it maybe a bully at your school? A mean teacher? Your boss? A rival? Someone who steals credit from you at work? Maybe it's an annoying neighbor. Or perhaps it's people who root for a different sports team. Hmm, sermon's getting a little close to home. Or maybe people who vote for a different political party. Maybe it's a politician whose policies you dislike. Or perhaps it's a different country or the people of a different country. How seriously do you consider this?

1:30Person or these people your enemy? Are you in a war with them? How high are the stakes? Maybe you don't really think of yourself having enemies. That would be great. But this sermon is still for you. So maybe you need to think about somebody who annoys you or somebody who makes you angry. So as I was thinking about this sermon, I really sort of struggled to think about having an actual enemy, right? Like we're not persecuted here in America.

2:02But you know, I realized that there are lots of people who annoy me. And in particular, sorry. Yeah. Anyway. So in particular, you know, I work at Texas AM, and Texas AM is a state agency, and we have a lot of bureaucrats. And the bureaucrats like to come up with clever ideas for how they can enforce rules that don't actually exist. And so these people really chap my hide. Yeah, that's from my mother back in the olden days. All right, so how should we as Christians interact with people like this?

2:46Now I'm told the fish, for those of you who aren't familiar with that, fish or freshman cadets, are super tired and may fall asleep at any moment during my sermon. So this is the key point. Stay awake at least this long. The key point is. That the gospel motivates us to love our enemies just as God loved us when we were his enemies. Now, that's not permission to go to sleep, but if you remember nothing else, remember this thing: the gospel motivates us to love our enemies because we are following the example of Christ, right? We are following the example of Christ just as God loved us when we were his enemies.

3:23Verse 14 says, Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. So, one of my favorite cartoons growing up is Peanuts. And in Peanuts, Charlie Brown's dog, Snoopy, likes to imagine himself as a World War I flying ace, right? And he always goes up against the Red Baron, his nemesis. He invariably gets shot down in France and quaffs a root beer with a pretty waitress, but then he says, Curse you, Red Baron, right? I think this is the natural human tendency. When we face adversity, when people are opposed to us, we want to call down curses on them. But that is not the way of the gospel. That is not the way of the gospel. We, as people of the gospel, are called to bless people who we are opposed to. We are called to seek the good of the people that we don't like.

4:24So, imagine you're driving on Highway 6, and somebody like pulls right in front. Of you and you have to slam on the brakes. Are you going to feel secretly smug if they're like pulled over later by the cops? Yeah, or maybe they're like off in a ditch because they were driving so fast they went off the road. I don't know. Maybe I don't really think that's quite the attitude that we're supposed to have towards people who oppose us. I think one of the things I was really thinking hard about this, one of the activities that really brings out the worst in me is bowling. Right? So in bowling, I try to like throw this heavy ball down the lane and knock down pins. But also, whoever I'm bowling against, I secretly wish ill on them a lot. Oh, you got a gutter ball. So sad.

5:25We are supposed to be people who bless ourselves. Like, if I go bowling with you, I should rejoice that you have gotten the highest score that you've ever gotten in your life, and I have yet to break 100. Right? So, we as Christians are supposed to be a blessing to others and not a curse on others, even and especially people that we do not like. So, when I was at the United States Air Force Academy, my very first year, and I'm going to change the names of all the people in this sermon just so you know, so that in case they happen to listen to. This is on the internet, they won't know I'm talking about them. Well, probably they will, but everybody else won't know that I'm talking about them. So, there was this one guy, we'll call him Tim. And so, Tim was a Christian faculty member at the Air Force Academy, and so he was a single guy, I was a single guy. We both showed up. I was like, Tim is going to be my best friend. So, like, I went to the church that he went to, like, we went to lunch together. And sometime, he decided that, in his words, quote, I was so arrogant that being in his presence would cause him to sin, end quote.

6:32It was a tough time. And let's just say that we didn't have a flourishing friendship. We didn't exactly have a flourishing friendship. So, years passed, he was an Air Force officer. He went up, did everything, other things. He calls me up today one day, and he's like, Marty, I need some career advice. I'm like, holding the phone out, like, you what? He's like, I want to know if I should come back for another tour at the Air Force Academy.

7:01You know what? Everything in my brain is screaming? No, you should find something else to do with your wonderful career other than coming back to the United States Air Force Academy. But, you know, that was not the right answer. And by God's grace, I was able to actually listen and think about, you know, what he was really looking for in his career. And I actually ended up encouraging him to come back to the Air Force Academy. He did. We had a talk. He actually. didn't even remember having said this thing to me. It was odd. So I never really got an apology.

7:37I never really got satisfaction, but like I was resolved, I was going to make sure to help him. I was like his sponsor, he's the person, if you're in the military, who like helps you get settled in at a new base. And I think sometimes we're just called to be kind to people, even when they don't say they're sorry, even when they've hurt us, because that's what Jesus calls us to do. Jesus talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, verses 43 through 48. You've 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, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.

8:22For he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same, and if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. So we are called to not just be nice to the people who are nice to us. Like people in street gangs do that, right?

8:56Terrorists do that. Anybody. Can just be nice to the people who are nice to them. We're called as Christians to love our enemies just as God loved us when we were his enemies. How does Jesus respond to the people who are crucifying him? In Luke 22, he says, Jesus says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing. This is a radical forgiveness. He is asking God his Father to forgive the people who are brutally crucifying him on the cross. You know, we are supposed to be followers of Jesus, follow his example. Stephen models this for us in the book of Acts.

9:36As they were stoning, Stephen, he calls out, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. If Jesus can forgive the people who brutally crucify him, if Stephen can forgive the people who are stoning him to death, cannot we forgive the people who cut us off in traffic or make annoying bureaucratic rules or insult us?

10:13So last week, Pastor Allen talked about Abraham Lincoln. You know, that quote, I do not like that man. I must get to know him better. So a challenge for you is I want you to think about somebody that you don't like. And I want you to go do something nice for them. Think about what that might be. Like, send a little note of encouragement, buy them lunch, find somebody you don't like, and go do something nice for them.

10:46Point two comes from verse 15: rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. So we're called to rejoice and weep with others. So there are really two key applications here, right? There's two parts of the verse. We're to rejoice with those who rejoice. That sounds kind of easy. Like, who doesn't love a good party? But what if, you know, a colleague has just won an award that maybe you feel like you really should have won?

11:18That happens to me because I have like a lofty view of myself. So people get awards. I'm like, man, I should have gotten that award. Why didn't they nominate me for that award? Or, you know, I know some couples are really struggling to have children. And it might be hard for you to rejoice when you find out someone else is pregnant. Right? So we are called to rejoice with the people who rejoice, even if that's hard for us.

11:50And we're also called to weep with those who weep. I'm in the College of Engineering. That means I'm a fixer. So, you know, you come, you tell me your problem, and I want to fix it. But what does Jesus do when Lazarus has died? Lazarus has died. Jesus rolls up on the scene. Mary and Martha and the professional mourners are there weeping. And what does Jesus do? He weeps with them. He weeps with them. He enters into their grief. Now, he knows, not many verses later, he's about to raise Lazarus from the dead, and it's going to be rejoicing time. But nonetheless, he takes time to enter into their grief and weep with those who weep. And, you know, over and over, the point of this sermon is we need to be imitators of Christ.

12:53We're called Christians, which is this little Christ. Like, we're supposed to be following the example of Christ. So we're supposed to reap with those who weep. When my mother died, my mother died in 2004, she had a heart attack on Valentine's Day. At her funeral, a lot of people came. And you know what? I don't really remember a word of what they said, but I do remember the people who came and who were with me in my grief. I will tell you what would not help and did not help. People who come and it's like, oh, she's. In a better place now. Like, I don't need to hear that. I wanted her with me. I don't want to hear that she's in a better place. That's true. We have hope in the gospel that after we die, we will get to go be with Jesus. We do not grieve like those who have no hope.

13:47But we need to not be so quick to try to fix things with our words. Oh, she doesn't have to suffer anymore. Enter into weeping with those who weep. Come alongside and enter into people's grief. So, there's our sort of second challenge: listen to somebody without trying to fix their problems. Enter into someone's sorrow and pray God will help you celebrate the success of others. Verse 16 says to live in harmony with one another and don't be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. So, point three is: you're not better than anybody else. I like to think I'm better than other people, but I'm not. I'm not better than anybody else. You're not better than anybody else either. How do you treat the people in your life who don't have lofty stations? Those might be like janitors, or secretaries, or garbage collectors, or the people who check you out at the grocery store. My wife is a shining example to me in this. Like, my wife knows the name of the person. Who checks her out at Aldi?

15:02My wife has bought a Bible for the person who checks her out at Aldi and has invited him to church. You know, I'm sort of like in my own little inner world, doing my thing, just waiting for the beeping to be done so I can go on to my next thing in life. Right? So we are called to not be haughty, to not think we're better than others, to associate with the lowly, to not be wise in our own sight.

15:32We should show hospitality. Hebrews 13:2 says, Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. And Philippians 2:3, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. This is a great verse. I would encourage you to memorize this verse. The way that my family has memorized this verse is with a song from Slugs and Bugs. And so, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves. Learn this. Like, learn this thing, because this is an important part of the gospel: that we value others above ourselves.

16:30So here's another challenge for you. Have a conversation this week with somebody that you might normally overlook. Have a conversation with somebody you might be inclined to overlook. Verses 17 and 18 say, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. So point four is you are responsible. You are responsible for initiating when there's conflict.

17:03In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus is talking and he says, if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. This was a big deal, right? So they would have traveled, they would have brought an offering, they're there, and then they suddenly remember, oh man, you know, Scott has something against me. Now, the normal inclination here would be like, I'm going to give my offering to God. God is the most important. And then maybe I'll go be reconciled to Scott. But no, Jesus says, leave your gift, go be reconciled to your brother, and then come back and give your gift to God.

17:51I mean, wouldn't it be radical if, like, we're going to do an offering here in a bit. Wouldn't it be radical if like before the offering, somebody was like, I need to go pull somebody. Out of the room and have a conversation and be reconciled with them before I get my offering today. So Jesus says, if somebody has something against you, it's your responsibility. Even more important than giving your gift to God at that moment is to go be reconciled to your brother. Matthew 18, we see the flip of that. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. So if you remember your brother has something against you, you need to go fix it. If you have something against your brother, you need to go fix it. You can't sit there like, well, I'm waiting for them to come apologize.

18:50That's not how it works. You are called to initiate in reconciling your relationships, just like God initiated in reconciling our relationship with Him by sending His Son Jesus. Now, the verse also says, if possible, so far as it depends on you. And that means sometimes it's not going to be possible. Like, someone may persist in having a broken relationship with you despite all of your best efforts. So when I was at Princeton, There was a guy there, we'll call him John. And so I confronted John about sleeping with his girlfriend. And so John's basic response was to cut me out of his life. And so I prayed for John for actually years, and I heard nothing from him. I would send him a birthday card once a year, and I would just pray for John. And so one year I called his mom in Maryland to find out his address so I could send him a birthday card. His mom got very excited, and she's like, Where are you going to be in 30 minutes?

20:05I was like, Well, I mean, I guess I'll be right here. I don't know. She's like, Well, you need to wait because John is going to want to talk to you. And this was the year that John had given his life back to Jesus. So sometimes it's not possible, but sometimes it's just not possible yet. And so you can't like force people to reconcile, but you can continue to pray for them over time. I have another friend from the Air Force Academy. He chose to marry against counsel. We'll call him Chris.

20:46Chris's wife was like, You need to cut out all those Christians in your life. And so he did. And so I didn't hear from him for a bunch of years. He separated from his wife for a time. I heard from him. Him, then they got back together, and to this day I haven't heard from him. So I still pray for Chris and hopes, but there's nothing I can do right now to resolve that relationship. So big challenge for this verse is: is there somebody you need to reconcile with? Is there somebody who has something against you? Is there somebody you have something against? You need to take the initiative to go fix that.

21:29Verses 19 to 21 say, Beloved, never venge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. So point five is, overcome evil with good. Overcome evil with good.

21:58In the Old Testament law, in Leviticus chapter 24, we read, Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him. Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Whatever injury is given a person shall be given to him. Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. This was a good rule that God gave in the Old Testament, and it limited the penalties.

22:30Of wrongdoing in the community, created a sense of fairness and justice. But the Jews use this as a justification for personal revenge. So listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5. He says, 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, then turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

23:09So in the time where Jesus was living, the Jews were living under Roman rule. And so the way it worked was a Roman soldier could just grab you on the street and be like, carry my stuff for a mile. You probably had things you were doing, but that didn't matter. You were carrying the Roman soldier's stuff for a mile. And what does Jesus say? He says, after you finish the one mile, give the Roman soldier a bonus mile. The Roman soldier. The Roman soldier, these were the oppressors of your people. If someone sues you and they take your tunic, let them have your cloak too.

23:54Right? We do not overcome evil with evil. We overcome evil with evil. By doing good, and in doing so, we heap burning coals of shame on the head of the person who does wrong to us. This isn't actually new with Jesus. We see this also in Proverbs: if your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he's thirsty, give him water to drink. For you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. When I was in high school, I had a girlfriend, not Nicole, and she broke up with me. And I don't blame her a bit for this because I was a bad boyfriend. But it turns out that at the time, I was kind of bitter about this. We're going to call her Alice. And so, Alice and I were both in the marching band. And you know what Alice had the audacity to do right after she broke up with me? She started dating my best friend. Pastor Alan could see that one coming. He could see him already nodding and smiling. It's like, oh, yeah, Alice is about to date your best friend, Matt. Right? So I was a little bitter. And I responded in all kinds of Christian maturity. I like had a party and invited everybody but her. I talked bad about her to my friends. I did all the things that good Christians are supposed to do. And then, you know, as I mentioned, we were in the marching band. So one day I get back from the football game and I've forgotten my music in the stands at the football stadium. Now I'm going to have to walk all the way back to the football stadium, get my music, walk all the way back. Back to the band room, who rolls up with my music? You guessed it, Alice rolls up with my music. And at this point, I have heaping coals of burning shame on my head because, like, all the things that I've heard about in church have suddenly come back to me. It's like, oh, I am a total loser, right? I have been doing all these things to try to get back at Alice, when, in point of fact, that's not what Christians are supposed to do. And Alice, enemy of my soul, has done the thing that Christians are supposed to do.

26:13So the gospel motivates us to love our enemies just as God loved us because, because when we were his enemies, we're called to seek the good of others. We're called to enter into their joy and sorrow. We're called to value others above ourselves. We're called to initiate reconciliation. We're called to overcome evil with good. Now, before the service, I asked Caitlin, who is your enemy? And Caitlin responded wisely. She said, Satan. And in fact, really, the scriptures tell us our enemy isn't really people, our enemy really. Isn't people in Ephesians 6? It says, Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Our enemy is not really the other people that God has placed around us. Our enemy is the adversary, Satan.

27:40Jesus calls us to love the people that we might think of as our enemies, even though they really aren't. This whole passage is really about following the example of Jesus. What is the gospel? In Romans 5, it says, While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. While we were still weak, while we were still sinners, while we were still rebellious, Christ died for us. For one scarcely will die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

28:21Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled to we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. What does the gospel say? The gospel says that you and I and everybody else were enemies of God. God took the initiative to restore us to himself by sending his son Jesus, so that if we put our trust in Jesus, we can be reconciled to God. And then we can follow his example in loving others the way he loved us.

29:11God didn't wait for us to get our act together, to apologize, to seek him, to do good works. Instead, he sent his son, knowing that he would be rejected and killed. But God knew he would raise Jesus from the dead and accept Jesus' sacrifice as the penalty for our rebellion. If you're still living by your own rules instead of following Jesus, I would encourage you today to take a step of faith and trust him. Accept his offer to be friends with God. Talk to one of us after the service about next steps. If you're already following Jesus, then we need to follow his example in loving and doing good, even to the people who oppose us. Please join me in prayer.

29:57God, we thank you for today. We thank you. Especially for the gift of your son, Jesus. Lord, we pray that you would help us to follow his example, that we would value others above ourselves, that we would love people who oppose us, that we would do good and bless instead of curse. Lord, we pray that you would be crafting us day by day and molding us to make us more like Jesus. Thank you for all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

30:31Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.