Sermon Transcript

All right, Church, we are in Matthew 5. While you turn your Bibles there, I’ll begin by saying we live in a culture that is obsessed with vengeance. Vengeance, vengeance, vengeance. Vengeance is the act of taking justice into your own hands. And our culture is obsessed with it. If you don’t believe me, just look at the movie franchise John Wick. Anybody ever heard of this movie series, John Wick? I don’t recommend you watch it. I’ve only seen the first one. Wasn’t too happy when I think I couldn’t even finish it. Because the entire movie is all about vengeance. A guy goes and takes down a whole underground tribe of gangsters because they killed his dog. And this movie just blew up in sales and views and tickets, and it’s all about vengeance. John Wick’s not interested in the betterment of his city. He’s not interested in seeking justice for everyone. He’s just interested in killing the people who killed his dog. And our culture laps it up. No pun intended. And there is a good reason why. Our culture is obsessed with vengeance because people do not think that there is real justice coming. So we take justice into our own hands. They don’t think that there will be justice in the next world. You see, our culture is not the only one that is obsessed with vengeance. So is first-century Israel. And that’s the culture Jesus is going to address today. So, Church, please rise with me as we read from Matthew 5:38–42.

“You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38–42, CSB)

This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated.

Father, I ask that You would please be with us today and You would help us to be truly motivated to do one of the hardest things in the world. And that is not react when we are wronged. To not seek vengeance, take justice into our own hands, but to let things fall in Your court and trust that You are going to handle them with Your superior wisdom and knowledge and love that we lack. Will You please help this servant today? Use me, God, for Your glory to proclaim a word that my flesh is not capable of doing, but You are. I pray that You would protect this service from the enemy and that You would open everybody’s eyes to see and ears to hear so that we can understand what You are trying to tell us. And I pray, Lord, that You give my body strength and my mind focus and protect us all. In Jesus’ name, amen.

All right. Now, Church, you see, vengeance is where you take things into your own hands. Justice is where you let God’s ordained courts and civil authorities take care of your justice when you are wronged. The thing is, sometimes these courts fail us, and we know that. They can fail us. And for the Christian, that’s supposed to be okay because we know that God is going to come through for us in the end. If we don’t get justice in this life, we know that it will come at His return at Judgment Day. Now, regardless, because of this faith that we have in Jesus, Jesus wants us to relinquish our desire to seek vengeance and instead live like Him. And that is the main point of today’s sermon. We must relinquish any desire for vengeance when we are wronged. And we must choose instead to be like Christ, being kind towards those who have wronged us. If you’re new here, we’re following along in a bulletin sermon leaflet here with blanks. And we’re going to give you the clues to these answers as we go on. Now, relinquishing a desire for vengeance means that we must suffer while we wait for that justice. Why? Because when we have been wronged, oftentimes we’re bearing the fruit and living through the pain of having suffered. And until that justice comes, that suffering just sits on us. Right? That suffering just sits on us. And when we choose not to get our own vengeance, we are choosing to prolong our suffering and bear those consequences ourselves. But Jesus wants us to know that we can suffer well. We can relinquish our desire for vengeance and suffer well because:

We Trust God’s Word That God Is Our Judge

First point on your bulletin, we trust God’s Word that God is our judge. He is not just our judge, but we believe that He is our righteous judge. This is what the Jewish oral tradition taught that Jesus is now addressing. When He says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’” He is picking up something that floated around their culture. What they were doing is they were using Old Testament law to their advantage, but they were using it incorrectly. They were actually quoting from the book of Exodus in Exodus 21:23–25.

If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound. (CSB)

If you were to hear this, you would think, “Wow, they must have nailed it. What is Jesus’ problem?” He just quoted Scripture, and Jesus is telling them they’ve got it wrong. You see, the problem in Exodus 21:22 is that it says that this is all within the context of a “judicial assessment.” In other words, “eye for eye and tooth for tooth” has all to do with the courtroom and the judge. It has nothing to do with personal vengeance, but the first-century Jewish teachers have been teaching people, “If somebody takes out your tooth, get them right back. That’s your prerogative. You have that right. If somebody takes something from you, you just go up there and you take it back. If somebody burns your house down, you just go and burn it down.” And Jesus is saying this is not the way. There is no room for John Wick in the Kingdom of God. Rather, Church, we know that our ultimate source of justice when we are wronged is God Himself. That is the entire reason why somebody would take justice into their own hands.

Somebody in my family was murdered when I was a little kid, kidnapped, done horrific things to this person, and they just disappeared. And for years and years, they never found the killer. They finally got him. He admits to it and all this stuff. And there are family members to this day who feel like justice has not been done. And there is something that makes this constant urge to put justice into their hands. The only reason why we would want to put justice in our own hands is because we do not believe that God’s mighty wrath is enough, or we don’t believe that His wrath is coming at all. You see, that’s the primary difference between those who want to take justice into their own hands and Charlie Kirk’s widow. Less than ten days after he was murdered, she got up on a national stage, or international—it was broadcast all over the world. And she got up and said to that young man who took her husband’s life, “I forgive him.” And she said, “I forgive him. I forgive him.” But she can do that because she knows that in God’s hands, there’s nothing compared to what she can do that would make him suffer enough anyway, first of all. But this is a woman who truly believes in God’s justice. But secondly, she knows that in God’s eyes, she is no different from the man who took her husband’s life. Because Jesus says, “He who is angry with his brother is also guilty of murder” (Matthew 5:22). You see, a true perspective on who God is in all of His might and His love and His holiness will absolutely compel us to lay down our anger. And that’s okay.

If somebody has wronged you, I want to take this moment right now, close your eyes and take that person into your mind’s eye right now. And I want you to imagine them standing before God’s throne. Can you do for them what Jesus did for you on the cross and say, “Father, forgive that person because they didn’t realize everything they were doing and I’m no different. Please forgive them as You have forgiven me”? If you cannot do that, my prayer is that you will by the end of today’s service. Now, we know that God will ultimately be our source of justice, so we can take Jesus’ correction as well. Jesus’ correction is don’t take vengeance, but in the meantime, suffer well while you wait for God’s justice.

We Are Detached from This Life and Attached to the Next

And we can suffer well, Church, and we can relinquish our desire for vengeance because we are detached from this life and attached to the next. We are detached from this life and attached to the next.

We Know That Our Bodies Are Temporary and That There Is Good on the Other Side (Matthew 5:39)

You see, when somebody tries to strike your cheek and you desire to strike theirs back, well, somewhere subliminally, subconsciously in our minds, we think that this is all we’ve got, right? If you destroy my body, this is the only one I’ve got, and there’s no hope after this body is destroyed. But, Church, we know that not to be true at all. As Christians, especially of a Church this age, our Church is over 200 years old. And if you add up everybody’s ages in here, we’re over a millennia, right? But with all of that comes a lot of aches and owies, and our greatest hope is glory is coming. We can be grateful that we know that while this body is the one we’ve got now, it is not the one that we are going to be stuck with for eternity, and we can praise God for that. And that is why Jesus says, “When someone strikes you on the right cheek, give him the other as well” (Matthew 5:39). Because you know that no matter what they do to our body, we will stand before God and be given new bodies. This is not all we have. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17–18,

For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (CSB)

Church, not only are we detached from our bodies—let me rephrase this, there is a terrible theology known as Gnosticism. Gnosticism teaches you that the body is bad, but the soul is good. We reject that. God has created the body, and it is a glorious thing, and He fully intends for us to live with Him in eternity with corporal bodies. So when I say that we are detached from the body, I mean that there is nothing in this body that says, “I have to cling to it with all of my might and be scared of death.” So to be clear, your body is a good thing. Guard it, protect it, keep it safe, but do not feel like you have to seek vengeance for it when somebody hurts you, because we know we will be given bodies without scars. Okay, with that, we are not only detached from the pain in our bodies—that’s a better way to put it—but we are also detached from our property. And this is what Jesus is getting at when He says, “If somebody would sue you to take your tunic, then let them have your cloak as well” (Matthew 5:40).

We Know That Peace Is Preferable to Possessions (Matthew 5:40)

So, Church, on your bulletins, that’s why I say, Church, we can suffer well because we are detached from our property, and that means we know that peace in Jesus’ eyes, peace is preferable to property. It’s got a good ring to it. Peace between those that we have problems with is preferable to our property. Peace between those that we have problems with is preferable to our property. You see, if somebody has wronged you, Jesus knows that you now have an opportunity to make this very difficult for them. Let’s say somebody wrongs you, and then two years from now, somebody says, “You know what, that guy actually owes me money, I’m going to take him to court and get what’s mine, get what’s coming to me.” And Jesus knows we’re petty creatures. We like to hold grudges. And this lawsuit might be an opportunity for you to give them a good one-two punch and make them suffer. But Jesus says, “No, don’t even go to court with them. Before you even get to court, go ahead and take off your inner garment. And guess what, while you’re at it, give them your outer garment as well.” Somebody who has done something wrong to you, now they want to sue you. Maybe it’s a righteous judgment. Maybe they have a valid reason to try to sue you. But Jesus is saying, don’t use that lawsuit as an opportunity to hurt them. They might have hurt you, but let that vengeance go. And don’t even let them take you to court. Give them what they’re asking for and more. Why? Because we are a peaceful people. Christians are called to be people of peace. Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” But not only that, guys, in Luke 12:15, it says that one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions. So we’re not attached to our property.

We Know That Even Under Our Earthly Masters, We Are Truly Serving Our Heavenly Father (Matthew 5:41)

Not only are we not attached to our property, we’re also not attached to our earthly masters. And that is why in the next point we have, we know that even under our earthly masters, we are truly serving our Heavenly Father. And this is what Jesus is getting at in Matthew 5:41. He says, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.” Jesus actually quotes a Latin word here, and that tells us that Jesus has in mind this Roman practice where Roman guards could actually force you into compulsory service. We actually see this at the end of Matthew, where Simon the Cyrenian is forced to carry Jesus’ cross (Matthew 27:32). When he forces him to do that, that’s a practice in the Roman government. And it’s not something new. They could do it not just to people, but they could also do it to their possessions and their money. And this practice really annoyed a lot of people. Nobody likes to be forced into labor. It not only annoyed the people, but even we have evidence that it annoyed the Roman Senate. They didn’t like it.

And so Jesus sees that there are going to be people that are standing here before Him in this sermon that He’s preaching that are very much upset with the Roman government. Right? So I want you to think of the most annoying people of the political party that you disagree with the most. And imagine that person in mind, because that’s the kind of people that Jesus has in mind here. And He’s saying even for people that disagree with you and want to take away all your rights and force you to do things that you disagree with, you are not to seek vengeance with them either. Just like you cannot be a zealot and stab a Roman guard because he forces you into labor, slave labor, forced compulsory labor, you cannot do that also to your political enemies either.

What does He say instead? Instead of taking vengeance for the people you disagree with, He says, “Go with them two miles.” They ask you to go one mile, and go with them two miles. They’re forcing you to do something, go above and beyond, and do it better than what they’re forcing you to do. Instead of vengeance. Work harder.

This kind of logic, Church, is what made me fall head over heels with Jesus the first time I read the Bible. He defied all logic. My life was upside down after Hurricane Katrina. And I had a guy that’s telling me, “Go two miles when they force you to go one.” You would think that would not be medicine for my soul, but it was just what I needed. I needed to hear that there’s somebody who’s got life figured out. Their logic is crazy enough that it’s just believable. And that’s what this is to me. But why is it possible that I can do double the labor for my slave driver instead of seeking vengeance and it be blessed by God? It’s because of Colossians 3:22–24,

Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ. (CSB)

Church, we are detached from this world because no matter what our earthly masters tell us to do, we know that when we serve them, we’re really serving a higher King. And by actually going further and doing more than what those who wrong us are asking us to do, we are actually telling them, “You are not my master. I’m working harder because I serve a master that is greater than you. And I respect Him more than I respect you.” So you’re going to get double the labor out of me. That’s incredible logic. It is the ultimate form of protest, and it results in zero shed blood.

We Know That Our Possessions Are Not Truly Ours, and We Can Take Nothing with Us (Matthew 5:42)

And while we serve our earthly masters well, because we truly are serving our Heavenly Master, guess what? This Heavenly Master that we have, for all the property that we own, is actually His. And that is why we can give and lend to those who persecute us. This is what Jesus is saying, “Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42). There’s going to come a time where somebody who has wronged you severely might come to you later in life and ask you for a handout. And the devil will be standing there going, “Now’s your chance to get him and tell him no.” They might come to you and they’ll ask for a loan. And you’ll be thinking, “Yeah, but I remember what you did to me when I was a little kid.” And He’s saying, “This ain’t your time to take vengeance. Do you truly believe that I am your justice?” Church, all of our stuff belongs to the Lord anyway.

Now, I said that we are detached from our possessions. We’re detached from the scars on our body that we don’t have any kind of emotional drive to fight to hold on to these things, right? But what I want you to really, truly understand is Jesus is not telling you to be a blind pacifist. He’s not telling you that you’re not allowed to protect yourself and guard yourself. So do not take His commands here in that light. These commands are specifically talking about when you have an opportunity to inflict vengeance. And when vengeance is on the table, then you must obey these commands. So if you not giving to someone would be because you want to hurt them for something they did to you, then you better give to them. If they’re asking you for a loan and you want to say no, not because you can’t afford it, but because you don’t like what they did in Christmas of ’03, you better give them the loan.

And, Church, if somebody has slapped you because of your faith, you give them that other cheek every time. Because there is nothing that will plant churches faster around the world than when the blood of saints are spilled. Always turn the other cheek when you are persecuted for your faith. But I wholeheartedly believe that we are always called to stick up for others. So men, I want you to know that you can boldly and confidently protect other people’s lives by any means necessary within the bounds of the law if it means you are protecting others and not out of vengeance. Right?

I struggled with that for a long time, wondering, “Is it okay for me to take someone’s life?” And everybody needs to wrestle with this themselves. And where I currently am is, if you see somebody about to take my life because they can’t stand the fact that I walk with Jesus, I want to die for the Lord because I want people to see that He truly is who I believe He is. And by dying for Him, I can prove to the world that Jesus is alive and well. But if I see someone else suffering for their faith, I want to step in and save them. So it’s a very difficult place to be, right? But everybody needs to make that up for themselves.

We Ought to Mirror Christ’s Ministry Towards Evildoers

Now, Church, we have seen how we are detached from this world and truly attached to the next. But that is not the only reason why we suffer. We can suffer well because we ought to mirror Christ’s ministry towards evildoers. You see, every single thing that Jesus is calling us to do instead of vengeance—turning the other cheek, giving them your clothes, giving up your property when they ask for it—all these things are things that Christ did. So, for example, what about when Jesus was slapped? Isaiah 53:7:

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. (CSB)

Jesus took His punishment willingly. Why? Is it because He’s a loser and a weakling? No, it takes a much greater strength to turn the other cheek. Jesus was strong because He did not say, “To hell with you,” and send them into their deserving condemnation immediately. He had a mission in mind, and He withstood the pain of fulfilling His mission and saving us from our sin. So Jesus isn’t asking you to turn the cheek as though He’s never done it. He did it, and He did it for you.

The other thing, when it says, “If they try to sue you for your shirt, give them your coat as well” (Matthew 5:40), they gambled for Christ’s clothes at the cross. The soldiers crucified Jesus, took His clothes, divided them into four parts, and then they gambled for it (John 19:23–24).

But what about when someone forces you to go one mile and you go two miles? I don’t remember Jesus going through that. And then the Spirit reminded me of this. Jesus is at the wedding of Cana. And what happens at the wedding? They run out of wine. And who comes to Jesus and asks Jesus to make the wine? His mother. She has authority over Him on earth, right? But what was Jesus’ response? Do you remember, Church? “It’s not My time” (John 2:4). Jesus admits that it is not yet time for Him to start doing these miracles. But He submits to the authority of His mother. And not only does He make the wine, what kind of wine does He make? The best. And I think that is a very good example. It gives me goosebumps thinking about it. Jesus was asked, compelled into service by an authority figure. And not only does He deliver, He goes above and beyond. He goes the extra mile. That phrase, by the way, comes from this passage: going the extra mile.

And what about, “Give to those who ask and lend to those who want to borrow”? John 14:13–14,

Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (CSB)

And who’s He doing it for? He’s doing it for the people who were His enemies—you and me. Every single thing that Jesus is asking us to do instead of doing vengeance, it’s everything He’s done. We serve a God who knows the pain of being beaten and bruised, assaulted. Maybe you’ve been molested, raped, cheated on, robbed. It doesn’t matter. He’s done it. He’s been through all of the pain that humanity can inflict on us. And He didn’t open His mouth and send them to hell. He stayed on His mission. And He earned our salvation.

We Know That Christ Has Forgiven Us

And that’s why we can, Church. That is why we can suffer well. We can suffer well because we know, last point, that He has forgiven us. You can have pity and mercy and kindness and love on your evildoers because you and me, we are evil by nature. If you don’t think you are evil, you do not know God’s holiness. If you truly grasp how holy God is, you will feel like Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5 every time. He could not stand in the presence of God on His throne because he was just so exceedingly aware of his own uncleanliness. If you do not think you are evil, you do not understand the nature and the terrible nature of your own sin. God flooded the world because of Genesis 6:5,

When the LORD saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, (CSB)

Even children, Church, even children have in their DNA a drive to sin against the God that loves them. You don’t believe me? You haven’t raised enough children. I remember my son. So my son was this big, cutest little ham ball you’ve ever seen. Okay, his arms were so fat it looked like donuts on a stick. And my son is looking at this curtain. He looks at me, he looks at the curtain. And I said, and he lifts his arm, he touches the curtain, but he doesn’t pull yet. And I say, “Owen, no.” That was his nickname for the next three years. “Owen, no, Owen, no, Owen, no.” But he puts his hand on the curtain, and I say, “Owen, no,” he moves his hand. I know he just registered what I told him. He got it. So what does he do next? For the first time, I saw rebellion in my son’s eyes.

It’s so funny because they’re so cute and little. But what happens when that same rebellion grows up to be five foot nine, has access to the internet, has money, car keys, and a body that can fulfill their every whim and desire? The only thing that separates children and us is the inability to physically carry out their desires. But you bet your bottom dollar that everything a child wants to do, humans as adults also want to do. What do babies want to do? They see something that they want, and they want it now, and they’re going to take it no matter what. That’s the definition of a sinner. That’s every single one of us. And we’re sick by nature. The only reason you will seek vengeance on your enemies is because you have forgotten that you yourself are that way before God.

But if you can remember the pity and the mercy and the grace that God has had on you and how you’re no different from your perpetrators in the eyes of God— Now, let me be clear. Some of you have been through some really hard stuff, really hard stuff, stuff that couldn’t even be put on television. And I know that. And I do not want to belittle the pain that you have undergone. But do not mince my words. In the eyes of God, all of us deserve damnation in hell. And if you truly grasp what God has forgiven you personally of, you will be driven to forgive your perpetrator. And I hope to God that none of us are ever tempted to carry that out to the extremes of the stories that I have heard in other people’s lives. So on the one hand, I recognize the pain and the trauma, but I also got to be faithful to what the Bible says. So I truly have a lot of compassion for those who have suffered tremendously. I really do. But the Bible also tells me that through forgiveness, we can love our enemies because we know what God has forgiven us.

So here’s the challenge I actually have for you. I challenge you to ask the Lord to open your eyes to what He has truly forgiven you of. And then I want you to really believe it. Truly believe that you are forgiven and you are clean in God’s eyes. And then let that love well up within you, and you will be like the woman, the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with perfume. Do you guys remember this story? Jesus is in a room with a bunch of Pharisees in Luke 7:36–50. And these Pharisees, these teachers, they’re talking to Jesus. And all of a sudden, this harlot just walks in. And she opens her jar of perfume—a very expensive jar of perfume. And she begins to wash His feet with her hair and tears. And everybody’s going, “If Jesus really was a prophet and He knew what kind of woman this was that was touching Him, He wouldn’t let her do it.” In other words, there’s no way this guy’s a prophet if He doesn’t know what kind of woman this is. And what is Jesus’ response? He says, “She loves Me much because she’s been forgiven much” (Luke 7:47, paraphrased).

You want to love God the way you know you’re supposed to love God? You just start recounting all the things He’s forgiven you of. Because that’s why this woman loved Jesus. Are you scared to talk to people about Jesus? Just start recounting how much He loves you and everything He forgave you of. You scared to talk to your aunt, your uncle about what Jesus has done for you? Just go home, fast, pray, and start thinking about all the things He’s forgiven you of. You having a hard time forgiving somebody of the sin that they’ve committed against you? Just start thinking of all the things Jesus has forgiven you. And if you can’t think of your own sin, then that is what you really need to pursue the Lord over. You need to ask the Lord to open your eyes for you to see how you are, without Christ, a wretch and a sinner. Just like me.

Now, Church, Jesus has cleansed us of all of this, right? Jesus came in the form of a man. He was God in the flesh. He came and He fulfilled all of the righteous standards of God so that He could be the punishment we deserve. And when He was punished on our behalf, God’s wrath was taken off of us and put onto Him, so that everyone who believes in Jesus is not just declared clean, but they are no longer under God’s wrath, but they are under God’s love. And they live a life of freedom and peace. And if you don’t know Jesus in that way, I pray that you would today. So we’re going to do a hymn of invitation, and I want you to come up and talk to me about that. I want you to give your life to Jesus, if you have not yet. And when you give your life to Jesus, it’s not we just give you a stamp on your passport and send you on your way. We will train you up to love others the way that Jesus loves you. That is what we call disciple-making. And we will love you well, Church.

So let’s go to the Lord and pray. Father, I thank You so much that You have not let us go and sit in our sin, but You have called us out of darkness, that we can forgo any desire for vengeance on our enemies and those who have wronged us because we know that’s what You did for us. We are free from our sin and our shame because, Jesus, You paid it all, and to You all of ourselves we owe. We love You, Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen.