Lies That Limit Life #5

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Text: Matthew 5:38-42

We certainly want to welcome everybody who has gathered today here at the church of Christ and if this is your first time ever with us we hope it will not be your last and you will come again.
At the conclusion of this lesson there will be a time given if you need to take Jesus on to come down the aisle and confess the name of Jesus and be baptized into his precious name and have the assurance that everything you have ever said, thought or done that was wrong is forgiven and God will add you to His church and you will become a saved citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

Turn in your Bibles again to Matthew 5:38-42 as we look again at the words of Jesus where he exposes the lies that had plagued God's people for too long and brings the fresh winds of truth back to their ears and ours.
The teachers had been spreading these lies that limited so many people's lives and now Jesus in bringing people abundant life is showing them the true intentions of God!

Read with me and let's look together at lie #5-
I've got to do to them what they have first done to me!

One of the great lies again today that so many people are enslaving themselves by is the lie that says, revenge is sweet and I must take it!
We live in a world that applauds vengeance!
Everyone from that bully who has pushed you around to that associate who is always pointing out your faults, we want to see vengeance!
Back in my day there was a popular song that we all sang simply entitled, "We're not gonna take it."1
When you think of it, that is really a motto of living in North America. We live in a stomp your foot, throw a hissy fit or coolly exact revenge society! We are screaming back and forth at each other our new national anthem that screams, "You can't do that to me." While that is true about the world and may always be true about them, I am afraid that it can at times be true in the church!

Let's look then at Jesus' teaching and see what lie was told and what the truth of God's will really is.
The teaching that went around really comes from the Bible:
'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' Now, all you have to do is turn to the Law of Moses and you will find in there this teaching! There are three places that the law, eye for an eye is stated:
Exodus 21:23-25, Leviticus 24:19-21 & Deuteronomy 19:21.
For this morning, turn to the passage in Deuteronomy and read with me carefully ch.19:18-21!
Now, the thing you need to notice here is that this law was to be acted out by the officials of God's people and that is a serious part of the teaching here.

Yet, we do want to note that the teaching here is pretty clear, the Law really did state an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!
What was the problem?
We want to note that this law was indeed good!
It was right because it came from God.
We might ask, what was the purpose behind such a law?
This is the key to the whole teaching of Jesus!
  1. This law was designed to limit what type of punishment could be meted out!
    Notice it is only an eye for an eye, no more! This law did not permit a life for an eye, or something greater than what was done to you!
    This is one of the first dangers of seeking revenge- if you hit me once and it hurt, I'm going to hit you twice even harder. If you kick a dent in my car, I'll put a fist in your mouth. If you offend me, I'll talk about you to all the people I can!
    The law stated however, an eye for an eye.
  2. This law was against private vengeance!
    This is where the lie of the day comes into play. This is where so many people today are falling for that same trap. God's law here was designed so that justice would be done by the officials and not by a vigilante!
    Proverbs 24:29, Leviticus 19:18- note the same law that said eye for an eye, said don't seek personal revenge but love your neighbor!
What we find then is this:
God's intentions in the Law were not meant to encourage seeking out revenge but rather for Israel to limit and check it!2

We might ask then, what happened by the time of Jesus that he felt the need to correct this teaching?
It came down to this:
The Pharisees and the scribes taught that it was your duty and your right to take revenge if someone did something to you! Basically, if someone did something to you that was not good, revenge was insisted upon and not to be resisted!

We want to point out that they basically did two things with this law:
  1. They had turned a negative law into a positive one.
    It's like the parent who realizes he must discipline a child when they wander into becoming a parent who delights in it.
  2. They had taken justice from a public course and made it a private manner.
    I think we see this over and over again don't we:
    someone does something to us, we start pounding on them, someone tries to stop us and our response:
    it's between him and me so bud out!
That is exactly the type of thing that God wanted to never happen among His children!

What happens when you live by this motto?
Revenge is sure sweet isn't it?
We would never dare say that publicly or even hint we agree with it, but when something bad happens to us, it sure is tempting to wait for the opportunity to get back at them some how! The one thing you want to make sure you do is send this message loud and clear:
as hard you get me, I'm gonna get you harder so you understand that you can't do that to me again!

Max Lucado wrote about this, "Resentment is the cocaine of the emotions. It causes our blood to pump and our energy level to rise. But, also like cocaine, it demands increasingly large and more frequent dosages. There is a dangerous point at which anger ceases to be an emotion and becomes a driving force. A person bent on revenge moves unknowingly further and further away from being able to forgive, for to be without the anger is to be without a source of energy. Hatred is the rabid dog that turns on its owner. Revenge is the raging fire that consumes the arsonist. Bitterness is the trap that snares the hunter."3

Jesus says seeking revenge is truly a lie that limits life.
Jesus says, if that's your attitude about wrongs done to you, you've got to adjust your attitude!
What was Jesus teaching then?
Go back to Matthew 5 and look at verses 39-42.
Was Jesus speaking literally here?
It is important to note that Jesus was not teaching us that we could never stand up for our rights.4
More importantly, he was speaking about an attitude among wrongs!
What is all this talk about going an extra mile and turning the cheek and giving to whoever asks of you?
As one man wrote, "Rather than return anger for anger, Jesus urges his followers to return love for hate, even though it is costly to do so."5
Basically, Jesus is saying those moments of life that people do things to you that are not right or tempt you to act in anger or resentment towards them;
react in love!
Don't be a seeker of vengeance. Now, is there anything wrong with civil law Jesus?
No, but make sure you keep it in the civil authorities hands.
Your responsibility as the Law even states is to not bear a grudge on any brother but to love them!

Jesus' teaching comes down to three items:
  1. Don't have an attitude of revenge! (vs.39)
    Don't live by the I'll get you back theology! It's no good!
    Romans 12:17-21
  2. Check your attitude during injustice! (vs.40,41)
    Don't live by the you can't do that to me theology! As people would sue you wrongly or Romans soldiers force you to go a mile, go with them two. Show them kindness rather than resentment.
  3. Check your attitude about your own stuff! (vs.42)
    Don't drive people away who ask you, respond to them in love!
My friends don't limit your lives by seeking revenge. It's just not good living. Besides there are a couple of things you need to remember:
  1. If you are seeking revenge for an act, God will not like it if you have ever done the same! Romans 2:1-3
  2. If you are seeking revenge on someone you may not know the whole story, you may not know the story!
    What if you are wrong?
    Can you face God, having committed spiritual homicide in the name of revenge and God tells you that you made a wrong judgment?
    A case of shooting the wrong guy?
  3. If you live by that rule, it will rule you.
Listen to what is described as our duty- 1 Peter 2:21-23
"Jesus tells us to respond to evil with love, match insult with blessing, offer smiles in exchange for scowls, and give forgiveness in the place of bitterness. We are to be part of a reconciling community where broken bones of division are healed, where hostility is defused, and where gaps of hurt are bridged."6

My friends, if you still have bitterness or revenge in your heart its time to let mercy rule and forgiveness proceed.
If you this morning need Jesus to be your Lord, come and be baptized as we stand and sing…

1. The name of the rock band is Twisted Sister.
2. Max Miller, The Sermon on the Mount, The Seventh Annual Spiritual Sword Lectureship (Jonesboro, ARK: National Christian Press, Inc. 1982) p.136
3. Max Lucado, God's Inspirational Promise Book (Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, Inc. 1996) p.79
4. Please check John 18:22,23 & 2 Timothy 4:13
5. Ralph Sweet, Moments on the Mount (Austin, TX: Sweet Publishing Company. Revised Edition, 1969) p.74
6. Mike Cope & Rubel Shelly, What Would Jesus Do Today? (West Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing Co., Inc. 1998) p.97


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