“Reverse Living”
Text: Luke 6:27-38
2-20-2022
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. You may not realize it but this is your lucky day! Seriously. We very rarely get this far in the Epiphany season so that means we rarely get to hear the Scripture readings for today. But thanks to Easter being late this year we are able to examine one of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible. And that misunderstanding is because people take it out of context, which is a spiritually dangerous thing to do. So, let’s look at what Jesus actually said here in light of all the rest of God’s Word and it’ll help us to get the main lesson of what Christ was trying to teach us.
When I was an Omaha Police Officer, I would regularly have to testify in court. Well, one afternoon I was subpoenaed for a trial and I was running late. Finding a parking spot in downtown Omaha is not easy. But lo and behold I came upon one a couple blocks away from the courthouse. I’m not normally very good at parallel parking, but I was that day. I shifted into reverse, cranked the steering wheel and zipped into the spot on the first try. As I was hurriedly plugging the parking meter, I noticed there was a lady standing on the sidewalk watching all this. She just shook her head and said to me, “You drive better in reverse than I do in forward!” Now, I don’t believe that was true but it kind of highlights what Jesus is teaching in our text. Everything He says is the reverse of how we normally live and think. Our natural instinct is to respond to people in a way that’s the exact opposite of what Christ is commanding His disciples to do.
Why is that? Oh, the answer is easy even though the solution to the problem isn’t. When sin entered into the world back in the Garden of Eden, our human nature became corrupt. And everyone born since then has inherited a sinful nature that instinctively does the reverse of what God wills and commands. We’re so used to it that the suggestion of doing things the opposite way seems totally unnatural to us. Perhaps this illustration will help. Did you know that when an image comes into your eye it appears upside down as it’s reflected on your retina? However, when your brain receives the message from the eye, it takes that image and turns it right side up. Scientists have done experiments where people put on special glasses that turn the image right side up before it gets to the retina. Strangely enough, the brain sees it at as upside down even though it’s been corrected to agree with reality.
That’s kind of the way that our sinful nature operates. The reality of how God wants us to live and act in this world gets turned upside down when that image is filtered through our corrupt minds. We’re so used to it that it seems normal. Then, along comes Jesus and He tells us we have to put that in reverse, which seems totally unnatural to us. No, it’s even worse than unnatural. Because of our built-in sinfulness, we actually see God’s way of dealing with people as upside down and just plain wrong.
Have you ever wondered why our world is so messed up? Well, there’s your answer. Following our natural, sinful instincts brings nothing but untold trouble and heartache to our lives. Just consider the list that Jesus goes through and you’ll see what I mean. He starts off with, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…” And we respond, “You’ve got to be kidding, Jesus!” No, He’s not. Hate begets more hate. It doesn’t matter who hated who first. Only love can change the status quo of hate. And being mean to those who hate you only makes them hate you even more. In fact, it seems that some people thrive off of being hated and hating in return. It’s a vicious cycle that can only be broken by acts of genuine, loving kindness. St. Paul picks up on this in Romans 12:21 when he says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Then Christ says you are to “bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Here again, if you follow your sinful nature and curse someone back, then you’ve stooped to their level and it just perpetuates the cycle of abusing one another. If you’ve ever struggled with resentment towards someone who hurt you, practice what Jesus says because it’ll help you get through it, even though it feels unnatural. When those bad feelings start bubbling up, stop and pray for God to bless that person. Your old, sinful nature wants to ask for the opposite. But trust me, it’s impossible to hold onto resentment or revenge when you’re sincerely asking God to bless a perceived enemy. And may I add, none of this will cost you anything… other than your sinful pride.
Ah, but now Jesus goes from difficult to impossible, right? In verses 29 & 30 it sounds as though He wants us to become human punching bags and willing victims of theft. That’s not what Christ is saying here! Analyze this in light of the preceding verses and you’ll find the true meaning. The idea is to not follow your sinful inclination to retaliate. Jesus says it would be better for you to take another slug in the face than to strike back in anger. If you do, then all you’ll get is the Hatfields and McCoys with a perpetual cycle of violence. As St. Paul says in Romans 12, let God settle the score for you. And please, don’t twist these words of Jesus into saying that self-defense, or police and soldiers using force to protect us, is wrong. Hate-filled revenge is the problem Jesus is addressing here. We, on our part, are to go against our natural inclination and show love instead.
It’s important to note that St. Luke uses the Greek word “agape” all throughout this passage. It’s a special word that describes God’s unconditional love. Sadly, this is the exact reverse of how our love operates. Human love is inherently selfish. As Jesus says, our sinful nature always expects something in return when it shows love towards someone else. If you don’t believe me, try loving someone who refuses to love you back. It can be a spouse, a child, a parent, or a friend who you’re estranged from. Our love tends to fade away over time with the lack of reciprocating love. And yet, that’s exactly the kind of love God showed toward us sinners. The Bible says that while we were still sinners and enemies of God, He loved us so much that He sent Christ to die for our sins. (Romans 5:8-11) That’s how Christ-like love acts. And that love is supposed to direct all of our thoughts and actions as Christians.
Now we need to tackle the most misused and abused verse in the Bible. Jesus says in verse 37, “Judge not, and you will not be judged.” Even non-Christians have this one memorized. It’s usually trotted out when a person doesn’t want someone to point out their unrepented sin. You’re supposed to just leave it alone. So, quite often believers slink away after getting hit with this verse. After all, Jesus told us not to judge, right? Folks, the only way you can come to that conclusion is by ignoring all the other places where Christ commands us to correct and rebuke an erring person. How can a Christian do that without judging words and actions to see if that person is sinning against God’s clear commands? The answer is, you can’t. Judging in and of itself isn’t the problem Jesus is addressing here. If you read on a few more verses in Luke 6 you’ll find that He is forbidding smug, hypocritical judging. People back then, just like today, were really good at gleefully pointing out someone else’s sin. But they refused to first look in the mirror to see if they had any unrepented sins of their own to confess. Jesus condemned that kind of judging.
The only chance we have of getting any of this right is by some reverse thinking. It has to be the reverse of where our sinful nature wants to take us. The problem is it doesn’t come naturally to us. So, we need the Holy Spirit to show us our sin and lead us to repentance. The Greek word for “repentance” means to head in the opposite direction, as in, reverse! When we repent and receive God’s undeserved forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ, then we’re capable of forgiving other people in the same way. Having received that divine restoration, we’ll be humble in our approach to other sinners because we’re fully aware of how Jesus turned us around from our highway to hell. Along with that new direction, the Holy Spirit fills us with Christ-like love for our fellow man. That love removes our desire to retaliate when we’re hurt by others. That love can have a positive impact on our society. It’s the only real possibility for peace and harmony in our world. May we be prepared to share that Christ-like love and forgiveness freely with both friend and foe. And may the Lord use it to change the direction of other sinners’ lives so they too will be saved. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!