WEBVTT 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.480 Welcome to the MetaCurch podcast. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:05.440 My name is Clayton. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:14.240 I'm the pastor at MetaCurch, and I hope that today's message is inspiring and enlightening and really builds you up wherever you're at in life. 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:18.160 And it's so good to be with you today. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:20.559 I want to welcome you in wherever you're joining us from. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:27.920 If you're here in Helotus or you're here at Petrenko or if you're with us online, uh wherever you are, I'm just so glad that you joined us today. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:30.079 If you're new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:35.359 I'm the lead pastor here at MetaCurch, and we are in a journey through the Gospel of Luke. 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:38.960 This is one of four historical accounts of the life of Jesus. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:46.719 We're going very slowly through the Gospel of Luke, really trying to let the Holy Spirit speak to us through the text of Scripture. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:49.280 We've divided it up into seven sections. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:51.600 We are in section number two right now. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:53.600 We call it the kingdom way. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:08.959 The reason we chose this title is because Jesus has started his earthly ministry, and every moment of his time on earth, he was demonstrating for us and declaring to us the way that the kingdom of God operates. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:15.120 And where we're at right now, a very exciting portion of scripture, we are in Jesus' most famous sermon. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:18.719 You may have heard it called the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's gospel. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:20.879 Luke calls it the sermon on the plane. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:34.400 What we believe is that this is the message that Jesus took everywhere he went because his message he wanted to get across to his people was that the kingdom of God is here. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:35.439 Amen. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:36.879 We are not waiting. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:40.719 We are not the church you grew up in where we are a little in-group. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:54.560 We are the ones who God loves, and they out there, the big bad sinners, are the ones that God hates, and we're gonna stay here six or seven days a week, and we're just gonna wait either to die or for Jesus to come back, and then we will finally get to go to the kingdom. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:02:08.879 Jesus came and said the kingdom of God is at hand, that you can live in the kingdom right now, that you can be a citizen of the kingdom right now, you can operate in the kingdom right now, and you can live your life in a way where you build and invest in that kingdom right now. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:09.759 Amen. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:10.400 Amen. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:12.719 So that's what Jesus is trying to teach us. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:18.319 And he starts this sermon by just completely blowing everyone's minds. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.479 He just turns everything upside down. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:22.000 We spent five weeks on this. 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:25.599 He says, Blessed, the Greek word makarios. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:28.479 It's not a suggestion, it's a category of people. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:30.400 These are the blessed ones. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:35.680 He said, Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the hated. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:37.039 That's who's blessed. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:42.319 And everyone was like, Jesus, I don't think you know what that word means. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:46.479 This would be like uh, we're doing a little meta church podcast now. 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:47.840 You can check that out on YouTube. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:49.199 I thought of this analogy. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:54.240 Uh, this would be like if someone said, Let me tell you who the athletic are. 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:58.960 Athletic are those who run a 45-minute mile. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:04.159 Athletic are those with a six-inch vertical jump, athletic are the slow. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:07.520 We would just be like, You're using that word wrong. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:09.120 That's not what that means. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:14.719 Jesus is like, Here, here's here's the bottom line: you don't know how life works. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:18.960 The bottom line, you don't understand reality. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:36.719 And so either you are willing to put everything you know on the table, all of the ways that you've been formed and informed by the kingdoms of this world, all of it goes on the table, and you start allowing God to teach you the values of his eternal kingdom. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:40.479 All of us, if left alone, will live for the kingdoms of this world. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:44.240 We will invest all that we are and all that we have into these kingdoms. 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:48.639 And the issue is every earthly kingdom will fall. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:04:05.599 Nothing in this world will make it past this world, nothing in this life will make it past this life, but God has given you the opportunity to have life after life, and to begin investing in your realist reality after this. 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:09.120 The kingdoms of this world will tell you we all die, we all know this. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:15.520 And once you die, it's just curtains, lights out, six feet under, end of your story. 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:19.439 Maybe you'll be remembered for some time, but probably not. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:21.920 And eventually everyone is lost to history. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.240 That's what the kingdoms of this world teach you. 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:31.199 So seize the day, instant gratification, live for pleasures, store up treasures for yourself. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:36.319 What we believe as followers of Christ is everyone dies. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:44.079 But as believers in Jesus, the moment that we depart from this earth, our realist reality begins because we actually go home. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:48.480 And all of the things that we were created for, we begin to experience in full. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:58.879 And all Jesus is trying to get us to do is not waste our time on earth to start living for the kingdom, investing in the kingdom, and building the kingdom right here and right now. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:00.879 Blessed are the poor. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.120 I need you to turn everything upside down. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:05.680 Jesus prepares us for what comes next. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:11.759 He says, if you think that's crazy, here's what I want you to do: I want you to love your enemies. 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:18.240 Pray for those who persecute you, bless those who curse you. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:22.240 Every inclination of your heart, we're gonna turn it upside down. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:28.480 Can we just take like 10 seconds and honor Pastor Tony for bringing such a powerful word last Sunday? 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:38.079 That was not just his best sermon, that was the best sermon I have sat under in a very long time. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:43.519 And I hope I wasn't the only one just incredibly convicted last Sunday by Tony's message. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:46.720 He handled this text so well, he applied it so well. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:49.040 Uh, I'm just thankful for him and his leadership here. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:52.480 He walked us through that, and that's gonna bring us to today. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:57.600 And so, what Tony taught us is this incredible concept of enemy love. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:01.600 And today we take a step into concrete action. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:03.439 Now, I want to show you something. 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:09.759 Uh, there's something powerful about carrying a physical copy of the Bible where we can see it and we can look at it together. 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:13.600 If you don't have a gospel of Luke, we will give you one after service, go to connect. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:17.439 We just expect you to bring it and to actually like take notes in it and take it seriously. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:20.240 You'll notice, and I just want to make sure you guys know some things. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:23.439 In most Bibles, there are these little category headings. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:27.600 And so where we are going into Luke 6.37, it's this little category. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:30.000 It says, do not judge, a little title here. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:34.160 I want to make sure you know something that was not originally in the scriptures. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:36.160 That is something that was added later. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:42.319 And so these little category titles, love your enemies, do not judge, these are just to help you through the narrative. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:47.199 The same way we're calling this section the kingdom way, we made that up, okay? 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:50.000 We're trying to follow the Holy Spirit, but that's not divine. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:52.399 So the words of scripture are divinely inspired. 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:54.319 This little title right here is not. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:07:01.199 And every once in a while, the people who put the modern Bibles together, they don't nail where these things go. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:07.680 And so what you would look at right here is you would think that verse 37 is a new thought from Love Your Enemies. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:08.560 It is not. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:15.920 What we're looking at today, these two verses, are the conclusion of Jesus' teaching on love your enemies. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:23.759 And this matters because part of what Jesus is trying to teach us in these kingdom values is how we live amongst other people. 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:28.879 And one of the great challenges of all of human history is how do we live together? 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:34.959 If you know anything about history, and if you don't, you should know a little bit about where all of this comes from. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:38.879 Human history is the story of people struggling to live together. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:48.319 And so at some point it was just your family, and your family had to come into covenants with the family next to you, or else you would just fight all of the time over land and resources. 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:52.959 And so you would go, our part of the stream starts here, you get the water up, we get the water down. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:56.800 Here's where our field ends, here's where your field begins, we come into covenant, right? 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:02.639 Eventually we have the idea of states and nation states, and we have to decide how we are going to group each other. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:04.319 And we do the natural things. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:09.199 Psychologically, you look for your in-group, and you look for the most obvious things. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:13.439 So, like the most obvious way people have divided across all of human history is race and ethnicity. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:16.480 It's like, hey, you look more like me than they look like me. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:18.560 So we'll be a group and they'll be a group. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:21.839 Race and ethnicity has divided us for all of human history. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:29.120 And then, even within homogenous cultures where everyone has the same race and ethnicity, people would even divide further. 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:32.559 So they would divide into classes and it would be rich versus poor. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:39.440 And there's been many a historical revolution and battles fought and wars waged in homogeneous groups over class differences. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:44.000 There have been fights over different ethnicities going for the same plot of land. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:45.440 This is still happening in the world today. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:46.399 You guys are aware of this. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:48.159 This is happening right now in the Middle East. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:49.519 How do we live together? 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:56.399 And so we are post-Enlightenment, where we now have diversity of culture and we understand that we are more than the color of our skin. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:03.360 And what we've decided on is now that we have excluded God from the picture, we are post-Christian, pre-pagan. 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:09.679 We say we will live amongst each other based on the idea of reciprocity. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:17.360 And reciprocity is where we can exchange with each other, we can live amongst each other, and we can mutually benefit each other. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:25.600 The way that we say this casually is if you scratch my back, I will scratch yours. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:29.919 Yes, you are not in your grandmother's Lutheran church, you can talk back to me a lot louder than that. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:35.840 If I if you scratch my back, I will scratch yours, reciprocity. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:39.120 If you are trustworthy, I will be trustworthy. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:42.639 If you are faithful to the relationship, I will be faithful to the relationship. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:56.960 We have reciprocal relationship, and we think in our foolishness that that alone, with no transcendent grounding, with no values from outside of our world given to us by on high, we think that that is enough for us to live and thrive together, and it's not. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:00.159 It's not for a lot of reasons, but I like to go to the root. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:10.480 The root reason that we cannot function with each other by mere reciprocity is because I don't see you the way I see me. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:17.360 And I don't believe about you what I believe about me, and I don't judge you how I judge me. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:21.200 Now you may think I'm very advanced, I'm very mature. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:22.879 That might be true for you, Pastor. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:24.000 That's not true for me. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.000 Let me give you some examples. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:46.639 When you are on Highway 1604, and you are minding your business, and you are not in a hurry, and someone else is, and they speed up behind you and they are right on your bumper, and they get beside you, and then they get in front of you, just to then exit at the exit that would have been easier for them to get to if they would have stayed behind you. 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:58.720 And then you, with your big meta church bumper sticker, give them a little one-finger salute at the sunroof, some free advertising for our church, because they're an idiot. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:05.039 But sometimes also you go a little bit fast on 1604. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.639 Now, when they do it, they're an idiot, they're a danger, they're reckless. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:14.879 When I do it, my son's game is about to start. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:18.720 And honestly, I'm just trying to be a good dad. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:25.679 And so when you honk at me, the thing about me, I don't mind getting honked at because I'm not like a great driver. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.360 When I get honked at, I don't know what you do, this is what I do. 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:30.159 I go like this. 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:31.200 Calm down. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:34.320 You're fine. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:38.000 We see things differently for us than for you. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:47.519 And so every time you've been to a nice restaurant and there has been an out-of-control toddler in the booth behind you, you have thought, can you believe these freaking parents? 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:50.320 I mean, does nobody discipline their children anymore? 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:52.240 I mean, I would never bring my kid. 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:53.679 Well, you don't have kids yet. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:12:05.600 And then you're gonna have a kid and you're gonna bring your kid to a restaurant, and the people dropping$150 on a meal behind you are gonna be thinking, these freaking parents, and you're gonna be like, Man, look at these memories I'm making with my little baby. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:06.799 Oh my goodness. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.399 I am such a good parent. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:10.480 Cannot withhold this from them. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:12.559 We do this all the time. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:21.360 As a matter of fact, over the years, psychologists have named this, it is called the fundamental attribution error. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:27.360 Fundamental because it appears to be a fundamental part of how we think as humans. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:34.320 Error because it's wrong, and attribution because this is what we attribute motive and intent. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:35.840 And so let me break this down. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:37.200 It's very simple. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:44.559 Uh, you have your actions and their actions, you have positive outcomes and negative outcomes. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:45.759 Here's how it works. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:49.679 When you do something positive, it's because of your character. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:55.759 When you do something positive, you go, I arrive on time because I take my job seriously, I have good character. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:00.639 When you have a negative outcome, it's just the situation around you. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.440 I was late because there was bad traffic. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:06.159 It's not about your character, it's just situational. 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.440 You think the inverse for everyone else. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:14.320 When they do something positive, it's not because they have a good character, it's situational. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:16.960 Well, they arrived on time because that's their job. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:18.879 You want a cookie, you're on time. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:19.360 Really? 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:21.600 It's probably because you're late all the time and got chewed out. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:23.279 That's probably why you got here on time. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:24.559 We think the worse. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:28.399 When they do something negative, it's their character. 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:30.480 When you're late, there's heavy traffic. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:33.120 When they're late, it's because they're disrespectful. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:34.720 They don't care. 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:36.159 They're lazy. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:38.080 They weren't raised right. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:48.639 Here's what we do we believe the best about ourselves and we assume the worst about everyone else. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:53.279 And so if somebody yells at you, they're a maniac. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:58.240 If you lose your temper and yell, you're like, you have no idea the stress I'm under right now. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:01.360 I'm a nice person, I just got the best of me. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.720 When they don't get their work done, it's because they don't care. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:12.480 When you don't get your work done, you're like, man, if you knew all the things on my plate right now, you believe the best, you assume the worst. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:13.600 We do this all the time. 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:15.679 We do this with our sports teams. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:23.759 You know what you say when you lose a game, you go, oh, those freaking refs, am I right? 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:34.000 I mean, we lost by 45, but man, I think the refs probably bro, and sometimes there's bad the refs in the Oklahoma series. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.320 My kids heard me speak in tongues. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:37.039 You know what I'm saying? 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:43.039 Like, Tony Brothers, I love you, and also, bro, you aged me. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:45.519 Let me just point something out. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:53.679 Your favorite team has never won a game, and your response was, man, those refs really won us that game. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:15:00.240 You believe the best about you and yours, you assume the worst outside. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:02.240 Let me give you biblical language for this. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:06.960 All it means is mercy for me, judgment for you. 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:10.799 Mercy for me, judgment for you. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:25.519 When you are late and you're sharp with somebody, and you don't get your work done, and someone comes at you, chastises you, shouts at you, you want mercy. 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:28.320 You're going, you have no idea what I'm dealing with at home. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.679 You have no idea the diagnosis I just got in my family. 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:36.639 You have no idea what happened to me this time a year ago, and the trauma from it is creeping back into my mind right now. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:38.799 You have no idea how hard it was for me to just get out of bed. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:39.120 You know what? 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:44.799 You're lucky I showed up to work today with everything I have going on, and I was a little bit late, and so now you're gonna yell at me, you want mercy. 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:49.679 But in the exact same situation, you give judgment. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:51.759 I see this all the time. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:55.519 I see people, and the social media is just judging. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:56.480 It's it's all we're doing. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:00.159 We're just like, I can't believe they would wear that, I can't believe they do that, I can't believe they let their kids do that. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:02.799 We we will judge other parenting. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:05.039 Like, man, what their kids are out of control. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:07.200 It's like, bro, I know your kids. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:18.879 Sometimes I know my kids, it's very easy for us to look out and to assume the worst about their intent and about their motives. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:30.080 And this is very dangerous for those of us who are trying to follow Jesus and who are trying to live in, operate in, invest in, and build the kingdom right here and right now. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:33.919 Tony did such a good job. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:36.639 Also, it this is so hilarious to me. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:39.120 We plan sermons out months in advance. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:47.360 I assigned Tony this, and then he has to preach on love your enemies the night after the Knicks beat the San Antonio's first. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.639 Only God could have put that in that order. 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:55.759 He does such a good job, and he gets to this last verse, Luke 6, 36. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:02.000 Be merciful just as your father in heaven also is merciful. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:08.319 This verse is the hinge between that passage and today's passage. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:23.519 And the reason that Jesus is calling us out of this fundamental attribution error is because we live in a frame of constant judgment in the kingdoms of this world. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:34.640 And Jesus is saying, if you want to live kingdom values, you must be merciful, not just to yourself, not just believing the best about yourself, but merciful to others. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:35.200 Why? 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:39.759 Because that's how your father is to you. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:45.839 Let me say it simply for my note takers: the kingdom of man is built on judgment. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.279 The kingdom of God is built on mercy. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:55.759 This fundamental error that we make comes from a very deep place. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:18:06.640 This fundamental attribution error is one of the ways that you create psychological safety from the pain that you've experienced in your past. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:08.960 Let me just explain something about how life works. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:12.160 When you experience pain, you learn to cope with that pain. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:18.480 At some point in your life, you were young and you had never run your shin into something hard. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:26.720 After the first time you run your shin into something hard, the next time you walk through a dark room, you operate differently, bro. 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:29.680 You protect your shins at all costs. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:32.720 You are just coping with that past pain. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:34.799 We do the same thing psychologically. 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:38.079 No one makes it to 10 years old without real psychological pain. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:39.519 And we learn to cope with this. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:49.759 And one of the ways that we cope with this is we learn to assume the worst about the people around us, because if I assume the worst about you, you'll have a very hard time disappointing me. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:52.960 Mercy for me, judgment for you. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:19:02.480 The kingdoms of this world are built on judgment, and they have to be, because there is not a God that this world believes in who can grant mercy. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:06.160 God wears a lot of hats, God plays a lot of roles. 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:15.839 One of those roles is God is the judge of the universe, He is the judge of all things, He is the judge of humanity. 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:25.759 The kingdoms of this world do not believe in our God, which means that the seat of the judge is vacated and somebody must fill it. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:27.359 So we fill it. 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:36.079 And we decide your intentions, and we decide your motives, and we decide the why behind your actions. 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:41.599 We sit in God's seat as a judge, jury, and executioner. 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:50.480 And Jesus is saying, if you want to live as a part of the kingdom, you have to learn to lead with mercy. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:53.599 I'm gonna give us a definition before we get into our text. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:59.599 Mercy moves us toward people in their failure, guilt, and weakness. 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:06.160 Mercy is not just pity, it's not feeling bad, it's not writing a song, it's not writing a blog. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:15.599 Mercy moves us toward action, towards people who are stuck in their failure, in their guilt, or in their weakness. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:23.119 Here is the hinge: love your enemies, be merciful as your father is merciful, and then we get today's text. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:26.559 We go from a concept to now concrete steps. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:29.920 There are four actions Jesus is asking of us. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:31.119 Let's look at them together. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:35.519 In Luke 6:37, do not judge and you will not be judged. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:38.079 Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:43.599 Forgive and you will be forgiven and give and it will be given to you. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:45.359 Four action steps. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:48.480 Two are negative, these are things to stop. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:51.359 Do not judge, do not condemn. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:55.039 Two are positive, these are things to begin doing. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:57.279 Forgive and give. 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:03.519 The first two are things we need to stop. 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:06.240 Do not judge, do not condemn. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:11.440 Notice Jesus assumes you're already doing these things. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:13.279 Let me say that again. 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:18.799 He tells you to stop because he assumes you are doing these things. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:27.599 The kingdoms of this world are built on judgment, and we all get stuck in what we now call the fundamental attribution error. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:32.160 That is judgment and condemnation of others' motives and intention. 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:34.079 And so do not judge. 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:38.559 Before we talk about what this means, we need to talk about what it does not mean. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:44.079 Jesus is not telling you to lay aside your judgment. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:48.319 We're gonna talk about this the entire message next week. 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:59.680 But biblical judgment is called discernment, and discernment is built around the reality that God is judge, that God has revealed His. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.240 Judgments to us, and that we are called to live in line with them. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:15.039 And so we get to know how God judges right and wrong, good and bad, righteousness and evil, and then we are able to see that in the world and act accordingly. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:22.559 Do not judge does not mean that you just completely lay your brain aside, that you no longer exercise discernment. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:30.319 Discernment is the ability to see how God has asked you to operate in this world and to live accordingly. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:36.079 What Jesus tells us is do not move past discernment into judgment. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:37.759 And let me tell you the difference. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:42.000 Discernment sees reality and sees behavior. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:46.480 Judgment makes a call on intent and motives. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:52.960 Discernment says, this is an unrighteous act. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:57.599 Judgment says, well, of course they're doing an unrighteous act. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:59.039 They're not a good person. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:01.759 They have bad motives. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:04.400 They're trying to lead me astray. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:08.720 Discment is able to see lies, and this world is full of lies. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:14.160 And the reason discernment can see lies is because it's so acquainted with the truths of God. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:18.079 Discernment can see someone offering you a lie. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:21.200 Judgment then says they are a liar. 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:22.799 They're out to try and get me. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:24.400 They're always leading me astray. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:25.680 They are a bad person. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:28.079 They were raised wrong from the wrong side of town. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:29.839 Now we're in judgment. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:36.720 And the real danger is judgment will then label people with their worst sin or mistake. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:44.079 And at that point, you're moving from judgment to condemnation, where we write people off entirely. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:46.000 We write individuals off. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.319 We write groups of people off. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.720 And we have now climbed into God's seat of judgment. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:57.279 We are now judge, jury, and in condemnation, executioner. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:02.240 Here's the truth with this fundamental attribution error. 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:09.039 Every moment of your life, you are taking in information, trying to discern what God would have you do. 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:15.599 But you don't just take in raw information, you take in information and then you tell a story about it. 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:18.799 You don't just see that your coworker is late again. 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:21.200 You then tell a story about them. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:29.599 And if you're just living how everyone lives all the time, fundamentally you will attribute this to bad character, bad motives, bad intent. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:33.759 If you're trying to live like Jesus, you have to break free and tell a better story. 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:37.920 One of my favorite authors told a very convicting story about themselves. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:39.759 They were in New York City on the subway. 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:48.000 They had a very long subway ride, and they ended up standing right next to a father and his young child, and the child was absolutely out of control. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:51.839 They were crying constantly, they were screaming, they were inconsolable. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:57.839 And the dad was just zombied out, not doing anything, almost like he was unaware of it. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:04.559 Every stop, the guy's just like praying that they will get off of the subway, and they won't. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:07.599 Apparently, they're on the same trip that he's on. 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:12.240 He's under a lot of stress at this point in his life, and finally he snaps. 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:14.960 I don't know if you've ever snapped like this in public. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:15.920 I have. 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:18.160 It's not great, it's not a good look. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:20.079 He lets the dad have it. 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:21.920 You gotta get your kid under control. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:23.519 There's 50 people in this car. 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:24.720 None of us can concentrate. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:25.920 It's absolutely out of control. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:27.680 You need to do something about this. 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:31.119 The dad didn't fight back. 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:32.880 He apologized. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:35.680 He said, I'm really sorry. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:38.480 I just lost my wife. 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:43.200 We just made plans for her funeral. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:47.039 He's not handling it well, and neither am I. 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:53.680 You don't know what battles people are facing. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:26:00.240 And when we are living the way that the world lives, we don't care and we don't consider it. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:12.480 We want all of the mercy for ourselves and our situation and our pain and our struggle, our suffering, the loads that we are carrying, but we afford almost none of that to the people outside of us. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:19.519 And Jesus says, You better be merciful, because your Father in heaven is merciful to you. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:22.000 Do not judge, do not condemn. 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:26.079 Jesus then moves to these positive attributes, so we have to start adding into our life. 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:29.839 He says, We are to forgive and we are to give. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:36.799 Both of these are rooted in generosity, which means that kingdom people live generous lives. 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:42.240 Because they're both rooted in generosity, it's easy to understand them through financial metaphors. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:50.559 And so what I have found in a lot of years of pastoring is even Christians today do not understand what forgiveness is. 00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:59.680 Forgiveness is when someone owes you a debt and at cost to yourself, you absolve them of it. 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.079 That is what forgiveness is. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:09.279 They owe you a debt, and you absolve them of that debt at cost to yourself. 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:10.960 Why do we forgive? 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:14.559 We forgive to restore relationship. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:17.359 That is why, as Christians, we forgive. 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:20.079 And here's why we don't understand that. 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:32.079 We in our culture, because we're so formed and informed by the kingdoms of this world, we hold forgiveness hostage as something to leverage to change behavior. 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:33.599 Let me say that again. 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:40.240 We hold forgiveness hostage as something to leverage to change behavior. 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:49.200 And so you now have to fear the loss of my relationship, and I will use that fear to motivate you to change. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:51.359 I forgave you for this already three times. 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:53.599 If you want my forgiveness, I need to see change. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:56.480 I need to see a real plan, I need to see it across six months. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:58.720 At six months, I'll give you a little bit of forgiveness. 00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:01.599 And then if you do six more months, I'll give you a little bit more forgiveness. 00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:03.920 Six more months, I'll give you a little bit more forgiveness. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:05.839 Let me ask you a question. 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:15.920 If I owe the bank$10,000 and I can't pay it back, and so I fall on my knees and say, Please, would you forgive my debt? 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:21.119 And with love in their eyes, the lender said, I will forgive you. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:24.160 As soon as you pay me back$10,000. 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:30.079 Wait, that's not forgiveness. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:33.599 That's just me paying back my debt. 00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:37.359 Here's what God does. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:41.359 God sees us completely. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:43.599 He knows you better than you know yourself. 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:46.720 So you know that sin pattern that you're stuck in? 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:51.440 You know, I say something like that, and then afterwards, people come to me and they're like, man, it was great. 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:52.559 I knew you were talking right to me. 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:54.559 It's like, dude, yes and no. 00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:57.119 I'm just talking to humans. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.920 And humans operate in patterns. 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:02.000 And we get stuck in sin. 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:07.200 And we even like really want out of it sometimes. 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:13.119 And we confess our sin to God, and we're like, I'm never doing it again until like Tuesday. 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:15.200 Because you're stuck. 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:17.279 And God can heal you from that. 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:23.200 You're gonna need to confess it also to people in the body of Christ who can help you and give you accountability. 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:26.079 There's ways out of sin, you don't have to be stuck in sin forever. 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:36.400 But God does know that we get stuck in sin patterns, and we ask his forgiveness, and he gives it to us, and then we do it again and ask for forgiveness, and he gives it to us. 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:41.279 And we get out of that pattern, and time goes on, and we get in a new pattern, and he forgives us for it. 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:45.839 And scripture says his mercy is new every morning. 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:48.319 Scripture tells us what God's kind of love does. 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:51.759 Love does not keep a record of wrongs to hold over our head. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:59.279 Scripture tells us in Psalm 130 that God has removed our sins, that we confess as far as the East is from the West. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:00.480 Amen. 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:18.160 God forgives us to restore relationship so that we can work out our life, our salvation, work out of these patterns, not motivated by fear, but standing hand in hand with the love of God. 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:23.839 When you forgive, sometimes you do have to build back trust. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:28.400 The question is, are they gonna build back trust out of fear of losing relationship? 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:34.160 Or will you forgive them, give them relationship, and then walk hand in hand with them as they build trust? 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:36.799 One looks like the world, it's reciprocity. 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:40.160 One looks like the kingdom, it's mercy. 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:43.440 This is how God forgives. 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:49.440 And listen, I I want to be careful when I say this because I don't want to be insensitive. 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:52.240