December 11, 2016 A.D., by Pastor Ben Willis

The Gospel of Luke 6:20-38 [NLTse]
20 Then Jesus turned to His disciples and said, “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. 21 God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh.
22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in Heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.

24 “What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now. 25 What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger awaits you. What sorrow awaits you who laugh now, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow. 26 What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets.

27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. 31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from Heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

Sermon
Anybody here like fast food? Amy and I were vegetarians for a while in our early marriage. But every day, when we took a walk together, we would pass by this McDonald’s and have to smell the French fry aroma… (I’m convinced they pump that smell out of their restaurants to torture and entice those walking by…)

After about a month of sticking so well to our Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Ranchero Sauce and Eggplant Parmesan and Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili we couldn’t take the smell any more: We went in, ordered a large fry, and… “Ahh!”

I’m more of a Wendy’s-guy these days, [take out Wendy’s bag] but I still love French fries. And yet, something always seems to get confused when I order. Because the cook always serves me up an order of fries that looks like this [taking the typical fries out of the bag], when, in my head, my order of fries looks like this! [Take the “God-sized” order out of the bag.] [Set the two boxes of fries on the Lord’s Table.]

In our reading from Luke, the Lord speaks of four conditions in which people can truly know His blessing when they are following Him. He says, “Blessed are you who are poor… blessed are you who hunger now… blessed are you who weep now… and, blessed are you when people hate you.” And yet, who wants to be poor or hungry? Who wants to cry all the time or be hated by everybody around you? These are situations we want to get out of! These are situations that make us think that God is against us; that we’ve done something wrong that He’s punishing us for!

But the Lord Jesus says that such circumstances are okay to be in and go through in life. He says that such times are not a sign of God’s disfavor, they are just a part of life in this sinful world. In fact, He tells us, when you’re in such circumstances, know that God is with you to bless you: So, persevere and keep trusting God; because the Kingdom of God is yours, and in due time you will have more than you could ever possibly imagine, be satisfied, you will laugh, and you will be proven right in front of all those who did you wrong…

Of course, the Lord is not saying that every poor person or hungry person, mourner or outcast will have a place in God’s Kingdom. He is saying that Christians are much better off being poor, being hungry, crying all the time, and being excluded, rejected, and hated (if that is their circumstances), while following Him and being a part of His Kingdom than being rich, fat, happy, and popular, while satisfying their own desires and not being a part of His Kingdom.
That is why they were “blessed”.

In contrast with the disciples who’d given up everything to follow Jesus were those people who refused to follow Him if it meant they had to give up anything at all. Their things and their status was more important to them than Christ and eternal life. They didn’t understand the gravity of the situation confronting them: Heaven or Hell! When having to choose between the world’s happiness and success and the Kingdom’s happiness and success, they chose the world. And so the good things they knew in this life would be the only good things they would know. In the world to come it would all be taken from them…

The Lord Jesus goes on to share seven aspects of unconditional love. They are each supernaturally empowered. A person can’t truly love like this on their own, only in Christ. And such love is proof of the Holy Spirit and Christ’s righteousness upon a person.
1. Jesus said, “Treat lovingly those who are openly hostile towards you.”
2. He said, “Do good towards and treat well those who passionately dislike you.”
3. “Always build up and say good things about those who are always being nasty towards you and putting you down.”
4. “Ask the Lord’s help for and blessing on those who are actively hurting you.”
5. “Don’t take revenge on or try to get even with those who hurt you.”
6. “Give freely to all who ask and even to those who want to take.” And,
7. “Treat others the way you want to be treated.”
With all the talk about “bullying”, have any of us parents taught our kids to respond to bullies in these ways? That’s the path of blessing. That’s the way of love. One of the fundamental principles of the universe is that what we plant we will harvest. (Call it “karma” or say that “what comes around goes around”, but it is a simple fact of life that)
• Showing mercy leads to being shown mercy. (And showing great mercy leads to being shown great mercy!)
• Judging others leads to being judged. (And condemning others leads to being condemned.)
• Forgiving others leads to being forgiven. (And forgiving others even their horrific offenses will lead us being forgiven our horrific offenses.)
• And, giving to others leads to being given to. (And giving generously, lavishly, and overflowingly leads to being given to generously, lavishly, and overflowingly.)
The measure we give in showing mercy, judging others, giving and forgiving is the measure we will receive…

The world has small, medium, large, and sometimes even “Super-size”. But Jesus is coming, and He wants us, Christians, to be showing everyone around us “God-size” while we wait for Him: Pressed down, shaken together, and running over. The Kingdom of God is at hand!