WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:08.080 Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:16.800 Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:25.440 Follow us on social media using the handle at celebrationorl or visit our website, celebrationorl.org. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.359 Let's continue in our series. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:37.840 If you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me in the gospel of Mark chapter number five. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:43.759 If you've been with us for the past several weeks, we have not gotten out of Mark chapter number five. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:50.719 We've literally just been unpacking it almost verse by verse because we're in the sermon series right now, referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:56.320 And what the Sermon on the Mount is, it really is an examination of the words and ministry of life of Jesus. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:02.640 That I truly believe that if as followers of Christ we can be sermon on the mount Christians, we can change the world. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:14.239 So the words of Jesus as we unpack this, each week has been challenging, it's been inspirational, but it's also been a little bit confrontational that we've discussed some things that require something from us. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:17.120 We've talked about what does it mean to really live a blessed life? 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:19.120 We talked about living a life of impact. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:23.599 We've talked about how to manage our anger and our integrity and lust. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:31.599 We talked about all of these things, and Jesus is continuing on this theme of stepping on every single one of our toes. 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:40.079 I'm a firm believer that it is impossible, it is impossible to read the Sermon on a Mount and not be impacted by the words of Jesus. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:43.359 Because there's gonna be some things that he says that you're like, amen, I believe that. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:46.959 And there's gonna be some other things that he says that you're gonna be like, ouch, that I needed that. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:52.959 The Sermon on the Mount doesn't spare anyone, no matter where you land, on challenging us and confronting us where we are. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:02:01.599 And and Jesus continues in this same thread as we examine Matthew chapter number five, and we're gonna look at verse number 38 through 48. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:14.159 If you don't have your Bibles, it's okay, it's gonna come up on the screen, but I do want you to take note of some of the scriptures I'll be referencing today, because I think it'll be helpful for you to go back and examine them in more depth on your own time. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:18.240 Starting here at verse number 38, the word of the Lord says this to us. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:22.479 You have heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:26.240 But I tell you, don't resist an evildoer. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:32.319 On contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to them the other cheek as well. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:38.319 As for some of those who want to sue you and take away your shirt, but let them have your coat as well. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.919 And if anyone forces you to go a mile, go with him too. 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:46.159 Give to the one who asks, and don't turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:49.840 You have also heard it said, to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:56.800 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your father in heaven. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:03.120 For he causes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and he sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:07.039 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.520 Don't even the tax collectors do the same. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:15.360 If you greet only those who are your brothers and your sisters, what are you doing that's out of the ordinary? 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:18.240 Don't even the Gentiles do the same. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:23.360 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:35.360 Once again, we see Jesus raising the stakes, raising the standard of what it means to live in fellowship with him and to operate under this kingdom uh ethic. 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:41.280 He says, What good is it if you are only connecting with people that are of the same mind as you? 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:42.639 He says, anybody does that. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:44.240 There's nothing special about that. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:54.240 But as followers of Christ, we are called to be extraordinary, and that means even loving and having fellowship with people that are different than us. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.919 He says, Be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:02.479 He's not referring to flawless, what he's saying is complete and whole. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:07.599 And this is ultimately what the words of Jesus are meaning to do, to challenge us on how to be whole. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:17.680 So today, if you're taking notes, and I think this will be a good one to do that in to come back and reflect on, because this is one of those messages that challenges all of us. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.120 I've entitled today's thought, Love Others. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.240 Let's pray and let's see what it is that God wants to speak to us today. 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.519 Lord, we thank you so much for your word. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:30.079 We recognize that it is life. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:32.319 Um, it's sharper than any two-edged sword. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:40.639 It has the ability to surgically remove things in us that are damaging to us while simultaneously speaking words of life and building us up. 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:45.199 So, Lord, as we engage your word and we're challenged by your word, I pray that we're also inspired by it. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:48.639 So, Lord, I ask for open eyes that we can see you and only you. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:51.439 Lord, I pray for open ears to hear your truth above it all. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:56.319 And Lord, I pray for open hearts so that we can be transformed by everything you want to speak to us. 00:04:56.480 --> 00:04:57.920 It's in Jesus' name that we pray. 00:04:58.079 --> 00:04:58.720 Amen. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:00.160 And amen. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:12.800 You know, I anyone who's been a part of our church family knows that I have these varying hobbies that somehow drift into a lifestyle that really helps to keep me balanced and engaged. 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:16.240 And one of those things that I love to do is I love to cook on my smoker. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:18.639 That's that's no that's that's no mystery to anyone. 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:25.360 But another thing that kind of rose up through the ranks over the past couple of years is my is my love for coffee. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:28.480 And and and not like just going to get a latte. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:30.720 No, I'm talking about like making latte art. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:37.040 Like I have like a whole situation in my house now where I like to get fresh beans from all over the world and I grind my beans. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:39.680 Like it's a whole thing for me that I that I enjoy doing. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:42.639 It's like science where I look at the beans are too fine. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:45.279 I I it's it's really a lifestyle for me. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:49.360 So I would say over the past month, I I took my game to another level. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:06:00.319 I upgraded and got a new machine, and so now I wanted to actually have like this coffee bar in my house, like an actual section that no one else in my family is permitted to go to without my permission, of course. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:02.319 Like I just need my own little space. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:03.360 I don't ask for much. 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:08.480 Just don't touch my coffee machine or my special cups that I use for my coffee. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:15.920 I have to throw that in there because I have special cups, these double-walled cups that I've gotten that are specifically for that purpose. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:25.279 It's very clear, it's on the box, it's in the section where only my coffee cups are, and yet it's at least once a week I'll come downstairs and my wife will just randomly have sweet tea in it. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:27.759 I'm like, that's that's not what that's for. 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:30.560 We have tons of other cups that can be utilized for that. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:32.160 Why you feel the need to come and do this? 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:34.639 I feel like she does that to be my thorn in my flesh. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:37.839 I think I understand what Paul indeed was talking about now. 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:47.920 But as I was looking to kind of decorate my my little coffee bar section, I knew that I needed to go to the store and have like a stand for all of my syrups and things like that. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:57.120 And so I go to this store, and and you ever have one of those moments where when you go to a store, you end up seeing the same person over and over again in the store. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:06.079 Like it almost gets to a point where we need to have a conversation because we're walking in at the same time, like, oh, okay, after you, and then five minutes later you're walking down the same aisle, a few minutes later you see them again. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:09.199 So that is what happened in this particular incident. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:13.279 Uh I was walking into the store, and there's a gentleman walking in around the same time as me. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:21.120 And so I opened the door up, uh, I let him go and in front of me, and he kind of glances over his shoulder and he does the cardinal sin and doesn't say thank you. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:23.680 You ever like want to rewind time? 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:25.680 Say, I wish I could do that again. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.639 But but me being the good Christian that I am, I didn't pay it any mind. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:29.839 I kept moving forward. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:33.519 About five minutes later, we find ourselves near the same aisle again. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:37.839 Um, and once again, like he he doesn't really give eye contact, and and it's perfectly fine. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:44.079 We we keep pushing, and and then about five minutes later, I see him in another space, and at this point, he genuinely looks annoyed. 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:49.439 So now I'm like, man, like, okay, like, and so honestly, in my head, I'm like, man, like he might be having a tough day. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:54.079 I I I've been grown in the way of understanding that the world doesn't revolve around me. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:57.279 So if someone is having a moment of an attitude, I don't take it personal. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:00.079 Like, okay, man, they just got their own thing going on, it's not an issue. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:02.560 I kept on going and minding my own business. 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:06.480 But but then we're getting to the point where I'm about to get in line to check out. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:10.560 And as I'm walking to the line, I can kind of see someone that's on my periphery. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:14.959 And and as I'm walking, I can see that it's just like there's this pressure that's coming up behind me. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:18.800 It's similar to like when you're driving on a road and you just see someone tailgating you. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:23.360 That's one thing when you're in the car, but when you're in person, you're like, yo, man, back up, give me six feet. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:32.720 So, like, so he's he's he's coming up really close, and then I look over, then he just jumped, walks around, doesn't quite bump into me, but walks around and jumps in front of me to get in front of the line. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:39.279 Again, at this point, this is like the fourth time that I've seen this same guy, and I'm like, okay, clearly there's something off with this guy. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:45.600 We're in line, and and as we're in line, I'm I'm standing there, and I'm genuinely just trying to mind my own business. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:53.039 But as I look at the guy and I see that he has his back to me, I'm I'm looking at him and I now notice him, really, really notice him for the first time. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:57.120 And as I'm looking at him, I can see that he has this t-shirt on. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:03.279 And the t-shirt that he has on, I'm looking at it, and and it has some very, very interesting things on it. 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:06.720 Very, very, very, very like racist things on it. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:07.919 Like very racist. 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:13.120 Like it literally says, if you want to make America great again, make it whites only. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:20.559 So as I'm standing in line and I see this shirt, I'm genuinely thinking to myself, this has got to be ironic. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:23.919 Like I'm thinking to myself, there must be a joke that I'm not in on. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:28.080 So as I'm looking at the shirt, I'm like, no, there's no way. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:34.799 There's there's no way that this guy is walking around in public confidently with this shirt on that says that. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:37.759 So I'm literally analyzing and saying, like, ha ha, just kidding. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:44.080 Like, I I was I was I was hoping that's what I was going to see, but as I was looking further, that wasn't there. 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:49.919 And and I'll be honest with you guys, like I I it takes a lot to get under my skin. 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:58.639 It takes a lot to get me to a point where I'm angry and frustrated and and feel a need to do something about it, but I literally felt numb in that moment. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:02.720 I didn't I didn't even know how to respond in that moment. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:10.320 He goes and he he checks out and he he goes and and and and walks out of the store, and in that moment, I'm still like numb because I've seen these things on the internet. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:15.039 I've seen people kind of confront people that have some interesting shirts on on YouTube. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:18.799 I never thought that I would see something so egregious in front of me. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:22.240 And so as I was standing there, I was numb to the whole situation. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:26.639 I I I go ahead and make my purchase, and it's literally consuming me for the rest of the day. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:33.200 Everywhere I go, I'm thinking about, man, I I wish I would have noticed that sooner, but it's like, but if you noticed it sooner, what would you have done? 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:39.120 Like I'm wrestling with the implications of all of this to the point that I couldn't even sleep that night. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:47.600 The next day I found myself thinking about it, and I was like, Lord, like I'm I I know that I can't let this sit with me, but but I am angry. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:50.480 I'm talking with God the same way that I'm talking with God, Lord. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:59.039 I'm just I'm angry, I'm angry that that that people like this feel emboldened that you can be so racist and so angry in front of people and you feel safe doing it. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:02.159 I'm I'm so angry that that no one else is saying anything. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.720 I feel so angry that maybe it was a missed opportunity. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:08.399 I feel so angry, and God said, You're offended. 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:12.320 And I began to say, Yes, Lord, I am offended. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:26.159 Because I was born in 1975, and as a man who was born in 1975 and being one of only two black families in our neighborhood, I heard the N-word so much I didn't even know it was a derogatory term until I was in middle school. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:32.000 I I remember being brought up in environments where we were absolutely treated differently. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:40.399 I remember as recently as a few years ago a neighbor coming up to me and asking me, What do I do that I can afford to live in the same neighborhood as them? 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:49.440 So when that is your experience and you encounter something like that, you don't have the privilege of saying that that's a one-off situation. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:55.279 I was offended, I was angry and I was incensed. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:12:00.639 And maybe for you, the things that offend you look different than the things that offend me. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:10.320 And as I was wrestling with this and thinking to myself, I I wish I could have done something differently, but God brought me to his word. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:23.200 And there's nothing more frustrating than when you just want to be in your feelings and justify your outrage than when a Holy Spirit leads you to his word. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:29.519 Because very rarely do I find passages that justify my rage. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.360 But I always feel like my anger may be a little bit different. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:38.399 My situation may be a little bit different until God brought me to his word. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.399 He said, Keith, it's understandable that you're going to be offended. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:47.279 In fact, Jesus says these words, he says, it is inevitable that you will be offended. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:52.799 Luke chapter 17, verse number one literally says, offense is going to come. 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:58.159 You're going to encounter some situations that are going to absolutely offend you. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:00.080 You're you're going to be misunderstood. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:01.919 You're you're going to be profiled. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:04.639 You're going to be you're going to be diminished in some way. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:05.840 This is inevitable. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:10.399 But Jesus says, But woe unto the person through whom the offense comes. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:15.759 In other words, Jesus is saying this offense is going to come, but I'm going to take care of it for you. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:17.600 And sometimes I'm like, Lord, when? 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:20.080 Can you just make sure that you let me see it when it happens? 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:25.679 It'll make me feel a little bit better because I understand that vengeance is the Lord's, but I want to get involved. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:26.799 Let us jump this dude. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:29.200 Let's can I help? 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:33.279 I trust you, God, but I want to make sure that I'm around for this. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:38.720 But but the Lord reminds us that He says over and over again that offense is inevitable. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:41.279 You're going to have some people that step on your toes. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:47.919 You're going to have some things that you don't like, but what you don't want to do, Keith, is allow this to build up resentment in your heart. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:58.639 What you don't want this to do is to allow this hurt to turn into bitterness because Proverbs 18 verse 19 says that a brother who has been offended is harder to reach than a fortified city. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:08.080 Once you allow that offense to build up, the Bible says you become almost unreachable when it comes to the things of God. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:19.919 I've learned more and more that as I read passages of scripture like we just read, even when we're offended, even when we feel justified in our anger, that it's not about fairness, but it's about faithfulness. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:28.320 So Jesus is now confronting a community of people who had every right to be offended at their current situation. 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:31.840 They had a right to be offended at the Roman oppression that they experienced. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:37.279 They had a right to be offended at the tax collectors who were their own people who were oppressing them as well. 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:43.039 They had a right to be offended at the religious leaders who were manipulating the word of God for their own selfish gain. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.840 Everywhere they went, there was something that was happening to them. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:56.320 And Jesus goes to this group of people, the most marginalized, oppressed group of people, and he says to them, Hey, if something bad happens to you, man, turn the other cheek. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:58.399 That's that's hard to hear. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:00.960 That's that's hard for me to hear. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:11.519 And maybe that's hard for you to hear, but but Jesus says that, hey, you've heard it said that there's an eye for an eye, but I want to give you a different kingdom ethic. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:20.720 What Jesus is referring to with this eye for an eye mentality is actually rooted in something that was about justice and not about revenge. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:27.279 That in Exodus chapter 21, verse 14, the eye for the eye and a tooth for a tooth hole moniker was put into place. 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:34.480 And the premise was in sight of a legal situation, it was a way to ensure that the punishment fits the crime. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:39.519 That if you are offended, that there's equal distribution of what the payback is supposed to look like. 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:46.399 But as time moved forward, this was taken out of the courtroom and was now being implemented into people's personal lives. 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:53.840 So now individuals were beginning to set the tone on how I respond whenever something is done to me. 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:57.360 And it wasn't about justice, it became about revenge. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:03.679 If you do this to me, then not only am I going to do the same to you, but I'm gonna make it significantly worse. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:10.320 If you if you offend me, I'm gonna do everything I can do to burn everything that you have down to the ground. 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:13.440 Does this even remotely sound familiar? 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:34.080 In our current context of cancel culture and and and how we respond to being betrayed and even what we do when we feel resentment or when we feel any form of resistance, we feel like we need to give them the full frontal assault of everything that's on the inside of us, and even sometimes we completely cancel them out and dismiss them altogether. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:40.240 But Jesus, in the same words, says, Hey, when these things happen to you, don't resist that person. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:43.679 Again, that's really hard for me to hear. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:57.200 That Jesus is challenging me, that even in spite of all that I have seen and endured personally, even in spite of the offense that has been extended to me, Jesus is saying the answer is not to completely resist. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:00.240 That means to be in opposition with the person. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:04.880 Now I want to be very, very clear of what I'm communicating here. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:11.119 When Jesus is saying turn the other cheek, he is not also saying to be in an environment where you're being abused. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:17.279 He is not saying for you to stay in environments and that you don't have any form of boundaries. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:25.599 What Jesus is communicating is I refuse to allow you to have the power over my life that you dictate how I respond to certain situations. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:33.759 So turning the other cheek is not permission to give me pain, but I'm depowering you by making sure that you don't allow me to come out of my kingdom character. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.000 That's what he is referring to. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:52.319 I would say to you guys, over the past 10 years, for my wife and I, we have experienced more betrayal, more lies, more disrespect than I ever have at any point in my life. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:56.960 I'm even talking about before my pre-Jesus days when I was wilding in the streets. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:08.559 But over the past 10 years, I have literally seen people try to sabotage kingdom work, and when it doesn't work, want to show up and shake my hand. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:13.200 And I gotta be honest with you, it's been very hard for me to navigate around that. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:22.960 I've I've actually had people who were in my very home do some of the most disrespectful things because maybe in the eyes of others, the Christians are supposed to just take it. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.559 And with every one of those incidents, they required a different response. 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:29.839 And unfortunately, none of them involve laying hands. 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:38.480 For some of them, it meant it meant creating some distance. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:39.519 1,000%. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:46.720 For others of them, it meant putting in some boundaries to ensure that, hey, in this household, we won't tolerate that. 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:52.880 For other incidents, it meant having a courageous conversation and letting that individual know how they impacted us. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:56.079 What I'm saying is, we're going to be offended. 00:18:56.240 --> 00:19:05.279 We're going to have things that happen to us, but we want to make sure that we have healthy boundaries because the Bible does say, love others as you will love yourself. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:17.039 And I know that because I love myself and I love others, I'm going to make sure that I have healthy boundaries in place because just because I forgive doesn't mean I'm giving you permission to continue to perpetuate the pain. 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:23.200 So what Jesus is saying here, I don't want anyone to hear anything that I'm not saying, Jesus is not saying stay in unsafe environments. 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:31.519 In fact, what we even see in scripture is that the Bible says is that when they tried to kill Jesus before it was his time, he left. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:36.400 When when Saul tried to kill David with a spear, you know what he did? 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:37.519 He left. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:42.160 What I'm not saying when we say turn the other cheek is stay in abusive environments. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:47.279 But sometimes we need to create healthy boundaries to ensure that we don't continue to perpetuate pain. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:48.960 I needed to make sure I have that disclaimer here. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:49.920 Y'all tracking with me. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:50.720 Okay. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:53.680 So so now Jesus also addresses another thing. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:20:00.480 He says, hey, if if if someone comes up to you and they make you walk a mile, walk the extra mile with them. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:07.920 Now, for our context, we may not understand what that means because many of us, we are like, I'm not walking a mile for nobody. 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:09.599 Kids included. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:11.279 Like my kids' school is right around the corner. 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:12.400 I'm going to drive and drop them off. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:12.720 Walk. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:13.279 What are you talking about? 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:13.839 I get that. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:14.160 I get that. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:15.440 We're in we're we're in America. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:22.880 But but in but in Jesus' context, you have to understand that at that time they were under Roman rule and Roman oppression. 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:34.000 And what was allowed back then is that the Roman soldiers could walk up to any Jewish citizen whenever they want, hand them all of their backpacks and say, I need you to walk this the next mile for me. 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:40.079 And no matter what you were doing, you had to stop whatever momentum you had and you had to follow suit and do it. 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:47.279 So when Jesus is using the language that if anyone forces you to walk a mile, walk two instead. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:49.680 That seems crazy to me as well. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:52.880 I don't like this version of Jesus right here. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:21:00.240 I don't like this part here where you're gonna force me to do something, and Jesus is like, hey, they're gonna force you to go one mile, go two. 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:01.519 That'll show him. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:04.880 I disagree. 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:15.039 But this is what he's he's challenging us to do, and once again, he's not telling us to justify the oppression, but he's trying to strip the power of it out of our lives. 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:26.079 That if I can respond to that with radical generosity, it actually keeps me free from any of the anger that the enemy wants to build up on the inside of me. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:34.000 Practically speaking, we all have those Roman soldiers in our life who just seem to be in place to make things a little bit more difficult. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:36.240 They just make things a little bit more challenging. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:39.200 I remember back when my first child, when Keith Jr. 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:43.279 was about to be born, and I was working at a bank at the time. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:47.519 And this is going back, like I mean, this is literally 1993 when this is happening. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:52.160 I'm I'm old, I know I don't look like that, but back in 1993, black don't crack, God gave us something. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:55.440 Okay, so so stick with me, y'all. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:55.759 Focus. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:57.279 We are we got we got seven minutes. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:59.759 So I remember back then, so there were no rules. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:03.440 In place that allowed for men to have paternity leave. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:05.920 That was even a concept back then. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:07.440 So when Keith Jr. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:13.200 was about to be born on that morning, I remember calling my supervisor and saying, like, hey, uh, we're going into labor. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:14.480 I'm I'm not gonna make it in. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.279 And he said to me, No, I need you to come in today. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:21.920 My son's about to be born, and he said to me, What are you gonna do? 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:24.480 Like, you're not having a baby, I need you to come in today. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:27.359 But well, fortunately, I had his boss's phone number. 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:30.240 I called him, I'm like, hey man, like, this is kind of weird, man. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:32.079 Like, I he's like, No, you don't gotta come in. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:32.799 You know what? 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:34.240 Take the next two days off. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:35.839 I'm like, man, my job loves me. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:36.880 Like, I didn't. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:39.279 You guys don't know nothing about the struggle. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:40.880 Y'all men get to take off a whole month. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:43.039 In fact, stay off the entire time with their family. 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:44.319 I love where we are right now. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:45.680 But back then it didn't exist. 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:49.680 So when I went over his head and his boss said, no, man, go ahead and take a couple of days. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.480 When I came back, my boss made it very difficult for me. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:55.839 Anything that I asked for, the answer was immediately no. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:02.319 He, he, any, any challenge, any time that I had frustration with something, he he would go out of his way to make it more difficult for me. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:05.359 So so I got to a point where I stopped complaining. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:09.039 So he knew that I didn't want to work the early morning shift and I didn't want to stay super late. 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:13.920 We had plenty of employees that could do that, but he would always book me on the longest shift possible. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.960 That meant the early shift and the late shift simultaneously. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:20.079 There's like one or two people that would do it, and he always gave it to me. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:24.160 So I would complain initially, and then I got to a point where I'm like, you know what, man? 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:26.640 This overtime is actually starting to slap a little bit. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:32.400 So I'm I got mouths to feed, so I'm gonna go ahead and ride this wave as much as I can. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:35.759 And I began to change my heart posture around it. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:37.759 I began to be more excited about it. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:38.799 I began to look at his schedule. 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:42.400 I'm like, I ain't like, oh great, man, I'm I'm doing at least, I'm doing at least four of these this week. 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:42.960 Man, that's great. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:44.319 I'm counting the money. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:49.519 And so when he saw that he no longer had the power over me, my schedule radically shifted. 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:59.680 I'm not saying it will always be that black and white for all of us, but I can tell you that when my heart changed, it stripped the power of the oppression away and it allowed me to walk in more freedom. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:02.720 That's what I believe God is commissioning us to do. 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:04.720 Here's another thing that Jesus hits on. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:05.200 He says this. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:11.599 He says, Hey, listen, um, you've heard it said to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:13.519 Here's a little statement. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:15.519 The Bible doesn't say that anywhere. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:26.079 So, where did it come from that Jesus is saying, you've heard it said this, but there's no scripture in the entirety of the Bible that actually says, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:36.319 What ended up happening as time moved forward is that preachers and the people who were prophets, they began to interpret the boundaries for love. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:39.759 They began to say, hey, it says love your neighbor. 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:45.039 So if it says love your neighbor, then by implication that means to hate my enemies. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:47.920 So they added that part to their culture. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:49.920 Doesn't that sound interesting? 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:58.799 That people that should be faithful to interpreting God's word begins to interpret it in a way that justifies their anger. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:05.519 So Jesus says, I know that you've heard this said, that you're supposed to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:06.720 That ain't it. 00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:11.519 I'm gonna confront you right where you are and tell you, I don't want you to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:14.160 I want you to actually love your enemy as well. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:21.440 He was taking away the loophole that even the people of faith had found to justify their division. 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:28.880 I believe that that message then is just as important for us now because we live in a world that is constantly pushing us to pick a side. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:30.240 Who's my neighbor? 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:38.160 So I can know who to love, because anyone who's not my neighbor is my enemy, and it justifies me dehumanizing them in every way humanly possible. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:44.880 But once again, Jesus being messy, getting in all of our business, saying, that's not what I'm telling you to do. 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:51.119 I'm actually challenging you to love your neighbor, but also love your enemy at the same time. 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:53.519 You you mean even the one that frustrates me? 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:54.000 Love him. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:57.279 You you mean even the the one with the racist shirt on? 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:58.160 Love him. 00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:00.720 You you mean even the one that offends me? 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:01.839 Love him. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:15.039 This is where we recognize that on its own, it is impossible for us to truly do the things of Jesus without the transformational power of the Holy Spirit. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:23.680 Because in my own strength and even with my own knowledge, looking at these things are great on paper, but it's very difficult to walk out in real life. 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:35.119 But when I begin to invite the Holy Spirit in it, I begin to recognize that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, inclusive of loving those who are against me. 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:39.680 So I want to give us three really quick practical points that we can walk away with. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:43.200 Here's the first thing: choose love over retaliation. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:54.319 I know it's not easy, but but the idea of choosing love over retaliation is our way of saying that I'm going to turn to others' cheek as a form of strength. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:27:00.000 It means that I refuse to continue to participate in all of the back and forth. 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:13.599 If you think about an epic match of tug-a-war that seems endless, people on one side are pulling, and people on the other side are pulling, and we're just pulling back and forth and getting calluses in our hands with the language that Jesus is implying. 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:17.440 He's saying, we just get to a point where you say, I'm gonna let go of the rope. 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:22.160 I'm I'm going to stop with all of the back and forth. 00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:29.920 When we're choosing to make the decision to love and not retaliate, it is not that we're letting people slide. 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:36.160 It's not that we're letting people go, we're just letting go of the rope because I refuse to continue to go back and forth with everyone. 00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:44.480 Here's a second thing that I want us to write down, and this is where I'm going to go ahead and step on a lot of toes, but y'all came to church for a reason. 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:47.839 Love beyond your circle. 00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:56.720 Jesus says, if you love only those that love you, there's nothing special about that. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:02.400 If you love only those who vote like you, there's nothing special about that. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:13.359 If you love only those who look like you, who love like you, who think like you, in the eyes of God, Jesus says, there's nothing extraordinary about that. 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:21.279 But he says, but this is the sign that people will know that you're my disciple, that you have love for the others. 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:29.039 Let me say this to us, and this is where it gets a little bit, uh this is where I get to step on toes, and I was looking forward to this moment all week. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:36.160 The kingdom of God is inclusive. 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:48.400 We are living in a time where biblical ideas have been hijacked by politics, and we now vilify things that are literally in the Bible. 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:56.000 The kingdom of God is not just inclusive, it is strategically and intentionally inclusive. 00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:58.400 I have the Bible for it. 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:06.559 Jesus, when he was on his missional journey, scripture says, I have to go through Samaria. 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:10.079 Samaria was way out of the way. 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:14.799 Samaritans were a people group that the Jews had nothing to do with. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:23.200 But Jesus said, I have to go through these people if I'm going to demonstrate what my kingdom is going to look like. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:26.640 My kingdom will include everybody. 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:32.960 The Bible tells us in the book of Acts that there were a group of people who were not being treated equally. 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:35.440 They complained to the disciples about it. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:41.839 The disciples created an entire program around making sure everyone was treated equally. 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:51.119 We're going to make sure that this group of people is treated like this group of people, and we're going to put a system in place to ensure it. 00:29:51.440 --> 00:30:06.559 The Bible also talks about how there was an Ethiopian man who was on his way back to Africa, and God sent Nathan to or Philip to him to go and preach the gospel so that the people in Africa would hear the gospel message intentionally. 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:09.279 I want you guys to hear me. 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:14.799 If we are not intentionally inclusive, we will be organically exclusive. 00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:21.039 Because our default is always to go with what we are comfortable with. 00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:28.240 This is why God sent Peter a vision and saying the Gentiles need to be part of the church. 00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:35.680 And I'm going to send you to a Gentile's home intentionally so that you can have an encounter and see that my spirit is on them as well. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:52.559 That was an intentional strategy because the Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 7 that around the throne room of heaven, that every tongue, that every tribe, that every people group was all there equally at the foot of the cross or at the foot of the throne. 00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:59.039 But we don't get that many people there if we don't have intentional strategy of making sure that all have heard the gospel. 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:15.279 So Jesus made sure that when he told his disciples, when I go up into heaven, I need you to go to Jerusalem, then Judea, and then I need you to go to Samaria, and then I need you to go to the rest of the world, and then he activates apostles who are intentionally given the assignment to go off into the rest of the world. 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:21.200 If Jesus did not give them that intentional strategy, then the Christian faith would have been exclusively Jewish. 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:28.799 But he says, My kingdom is inclusive, and if you're not intentionally inclusive, you'll be organically exclusive. 00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:38.960 He was challenging all of us by saying, make sure you're going out of your way to invite people who are different from you to sit at your table. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:55.039 So here's the question: if the kingdom of God is diverse, if when Jesus was beginning his earthly ministry, he was sitting and having Shabbat meals with every person that everyone said was not considered to be a good fit for a rabbi to be around. 00:31:55.200 --> 00:32:02.720 He was sitting around women, he was sitting around prostitutes, he was sitting around tax collectors, he was sitting around Gentiles, he's bringing in all these people intentionally. 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:04.720 He wanted to bring diversity to his table. 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:07.039 So my question is: who's sitting at your table? 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:11.359 Who's sitting at your table right now? 00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:13.440 Is it only people that think like you? 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:17.359 Is it only people that look like you, vote like you, love like you? 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:26.160 Or are we going to begin to really be the people of God in recognizing that if the heavens are diverse, so will my friend group be? 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:34.960 Stepping on toes this morning on child dedication day, but y'all came here to hear the truth. 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:47.039 If you are not intentionally inclusive, you will be organically exclusive. 00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:50.640 I'm going to get off of it after I make this one last point. 00:32:51.599 --> 00:33:00.640 Peter, who walked with Jesus, who saw the ministry of Jesus enacted, who literally was given a vision that the Gentiles were supposed to be part of the church. 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:04.400 He literally was the one who was responsible for giving the Gentiles permission. 00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:09.440 Peter was on the front row of recognizing, hey man, we need to have an intentional strategy around this. 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:17.279 But that same Peter, when he got around his friends, he began to gravitate over back to his Jewish community. 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:27.440 And the Bible says Paul saw him and says, Hey, bro, I notice that when your friends are around, you're acting a little bit shady. 00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:36.160 I noticed that the energy that you kept when no one's looking when it comes to the others of the world looks way different than when your Jewish friends are around. 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:40.640 And Paul says, I confronted Peter to his face because he deserved it. 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:56.079 Anyone that reads this Bible to justify your ignorance and racism of not reading the Bible that I'm reading, Paul confronted Peter because he was beginning to become organically exclusive instead of intentionally inclusive. 00:33:56.240 --> 00:33:59.039 And the same thing can happen to us. 00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:01.680 Here's my third and final thought. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:03.119 Pray for others. 00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:10.079 And when I say pray for others, notice the air quotes pray for the others, the people who are other than you. 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:17.679 Jesus says we are not called to just tolerate our enemies, we are called to pray for them. 00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:29.039 Science literally has shown that when we pray for people that don't like us and that we don't like, it literally rewires our brains and softens our hearts. 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:33.519 Because if we're honest with ourselves, it's hard to pray for people that we like. 00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:37.679 It's hard to remember to pray for everybody in my family. 00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:39.760 It's hard to remember these are people that I love. 00:34:40.079 --> 00:34:55.840 Imagine how much harder it is to pray for people that have opposed you, but nonetheless, Jesus is leading us on this journey of saying, but I want you to pray for the others, even the ones who hurt you, even the ones who don't like you, pray for them. 00:34:56.000 --> 00:35:02.079 Not because they deserve it, but to protect yourself from getting caluses and bitterness in your heart. 00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:04.559 That's incredibly difficult. 00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:16.000 It's in these moments that I'm reminded and inspired by a story of a young lady at the time named Ruby Bridges. 00:35:18.480 --> 00:35:23.119 If you Google her story, it'll move you to tears. 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:30.800 But back in 1960, Ruby Bridges was the first African American to go into an integrated school. 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:37.280 Once the law had commanded it six years ago, they resisted all the way up until the point where they said, Hey, we can't fight this anymore. 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:38.400