Jan. 28, 2001

Luke 6:27-49

How to Change Your Attitudes and Your Actions

1. Introduction

1. Illustration
2. Context

1. Scripture Passage

1. Let’s read together the words of Jesus found in Luke 6:27-49 - "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you. ³² "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. ³⁷ "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." ³⁹ He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰ A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. ⁴¹ "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. ⁴³ "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. ⁴⁵ The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. ⁴⁶ "Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. ⁴⁸ He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
2. So what is the point in reading a long passage of Scripture like this one? The point is this: it is all connected. The connection Jesus was making is that our actions and our attitudes are inseparably linked, and changing one will certainly change the other one. Let’s take a closer look at what Jesus was trying to get across to His followers, and what He is trying to get across to us.

1. Love is an Action Word

1. The speaker at Mid-Winter Conference reminded me of a distinction I had forgotten about in the words for "love" in the New Testament. Looking up love in my dictionary, I found that it says that love is "intense affection and warm feeling for another." Roget’s Thesaurus offers these synonyms for love: desire, wish, fancy, fantasy, want, need, longing, hankering, solicitude, yearning, coveting, aspiration, liking, fondness, relish, passion, mania, ambition, eagerness, zeal, ardor, breathless, impetuosity." The Greek word for this warm, fuzzy kind of love is "phileo." But that is not the word Jesus uses. The root of the words Jesus uses for love is "agape." Agape is an action word. It has absolutely nothing to do with feeling; it has everything to do with what we do. Agape is a sacrificial kind of love that is acted out in everyday life, considering the needs of others more important that our own needs. That’s the word Jesus is using.
2. Jesus also uses the imperative mood fourteen times in verses 27-42. The imperative is like a military command given by a superior. So Jesus commands us to love those who are hostile to us, to do good to them, to bless the ones attempting to do you harm, to pray for those mistreating you, to offer the other cheek to those insulting you, to give to those who ask, to love the hostile ones again, to be merciful, to not judge, to not condemn, to forgive so that you can be forgiven, to give to others, to get rid of the beam in your eye before trying to take the splinter out of someone else’s.
3. All of these commands are contrary to human nature. But they all involve action, and they require us to value others over ourselves, no matter what they may be doing to us.
4. Illustration – Our speaker at the conference this week told us the true story of a pastor from East Berlin. He was allowed to have the token church that supposedly showed that the East German government allowed religious freedom in their country (this was before the Berlin Wall went down). Hugh had a very small congregation, and six children as well, so that they always had to get along with very little. On top of that, the government constantly ridiculed his church. His children did well enough in school to be more than eligible to go to college, but Eric Honacher, the dictator, refused to let them go, dooming them to lives of poverty. When the Wall came down, crowds searching the streets of East Berlin for Honacher and his wife, because they wanted to lynch them. When Pastor Hugh heard this, he spent some time in prayer, and he really felt that it was God’s will for him to go out and look for them and take them into his home. So he got into his little car and spent half the night driving around the city trying to find them. He finally found them on a side street off of a back alley. He introduced himself and offered to open his home to them. Because they had no place else to go, they accepted. He brought them home, telling them they could stay until they decided what they should do. They gave Honacher and his wife one of their bedrooms, and invited them to their meals. "We don’t have much, but what we have is yours," they told the Honachers. The Honachers stayed for a few weeks, then fled to South America. That pastor and his family loved their enemies in a very tangible way. That is what Jesus called us to do. And such a love for those who are hostile to us can only come from the Holy Spirit within, but there are things we can to do promote that work of the Spirit.

1. Fruit and Houses

1. Conclusion

1. How are your attitudes and actions lining up with the Scripture we’ve talked about today? Jesus wants to change your attitudes and actions so they line up with His. Are you willing to let Him do that?
2. We’re going to take a few minutes to let the Holy Spirit speak to us about these things, and then we’re going to celebrate communion. So just sit quietly and let His Spirit speak to your heart.
3. We’re going to do communion a little differently than usual today. You’ve spent some time seeking God today. When you feel your heart is ready, come up and take the bread and the juice and partake of them when you are ready. You don’t have to wait for everybody else, just come up and partake of the bread and the juice when your heart is ready and right with God. Then I’ll close this time with prayer.
4. Let’s pray.