Worship Messages (Audio)

Tough Love (Luke 6:27-38)

Rev. Benji CallenRev. Benji Callen, 24 February, 2019 preached at a Sunday Morning service

SERMON NOT RECORDED

While preaching one the greatest sermons ever given Jesus said “love your
enemies”. What is the opposite of ‘love’?

Your first thought was most likely ‘hate’. Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel
observed, “the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference; for at a minimum, to
love or hate someone is to have intense emotions toward them.”

I like to always think of love as being far more than an emotion but rather a very
hard-working verb. It’s an action. So the opposite of this is- inaction, not
noticing, not caring, not having any emotional attachment. Obviously with 7.7
billion people in the world we can’t notice and love everyone. However, if Jesus
is talking about our enemies, it’s not too much of a stretch to consider these will
be people that we already have a relationship with. How can we love them
rather than show indifference?

In my experience most people want to get along and be friendly with those
around us. Especially within church circles. What then causes us to have
‘enemies’, or people we might choose to avoid? Often it is past hurts or pains.

I find it amazing that despite so much controversy, conflict and politics within
the history of the church, the church as an organised body of Christ still exists
2000 years later. How is this so? A few reasons - Jesus said he will never leave us;
the help of the Holy Spirit to bring peace; the message of the gospel of Jesus is
so compelling that it overcomes all conflict; and finally Jesus forgives and loves
us, then taught us to go do the same.

Forgiveness is like the reset button for any relationship. Its more than a few
empty words.

Ken Sande in his book “The Peacemaker: A biblical guide to resolving
everyday conflict” describes forgiveness as a decision to make four promises:

“I will not dwell on this incident.”
“I will not bring up this incident again and use it against you.”
“I will not talk to others about this incident.”
“I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship.”

How might we at BCUC love each other, our families, our work colleagues,
our neighbours more?

Rather than show indifference to those we struggle to be with can we find
enough strength from the Lord to get enough courage to encourage them, to
make their day better even though you expect nothing gracious in return? With
the grace of God I hope we can give it.

Your brother in Christ, Benji

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