Text: Luke 6:27-38

Sermon:
Before we start the sermon today, I want to clarify; this is another scripture that churches
are going to teach differently depending on their philosophy and ideology. Some
churches/pastor will turn this scripture into ways to show that Christians in America are
hated and persecuted. The truth is: American Christians are not hated for their faith.
American Christians are not being persecuted for their faith. If they are being hated or
persecuted, it is because the American Christians are hating and abusing those they are
called to love.

Before we dig into the scripture, let us put the scripture into perspective: The Jews
despised the Romans because they oppressed God’s people, but Jesus told the people to
love these enemies. These difficult teachings turned many away from him. Jesus wasn’t
talking about having affection for enemies; he was talking about choosing a conscious
attitude towards the enemy.

When a person insults us (strikes you on the one cheek) we want to give them back what
they gave to us, plus more. Jesus said we should patiently bear such insults and offences
and not resist an evil person who insults us this way. Instead, we trust God to defend us.

In the original text, “enemy” is explained, “an adjective which pertains to manifesting
hostility or being at enmity with another, where enmity is a deep-seated animosity or
hatred which may be open or concealed or a "deep-rooted hatred," It is further explained,
“Echthros is one who has the extreme negative attitude that is the opposite of love and
friendship.”

When looking at this definition, we can see that “enemies” comes from hostility from one
party to overtaken or oppressed another party. This is usually done to maintain power and
influence in government. Some examples of this are racism, sexism, taking away the
rights of those that need love and acceptance. We have seen this throughout US history,
and I believe we are seeing more of it now.

Jesus also asks us to be merciful, which means, “which describes one who is concerned
about another unfortunate state or misery," one who has pity, one who is compassionate
being moved or motivated by sympathy.”

Jesus calls us to be merciful to those that mistreat us. According to the definition
provided, mercy provides sympathy and compassion to those that hate us with their
hostility and hateful acts. This is another aspect of US’s history through Civil Rights Acts
and minority groups that sought for equal rights.

We can have compassion for them, pray for them, and try to understand them. Jesus tells
us to follow his enemies. Grant your enemies the same respect and rights you desire for
yourself.

The love Jesus told us to have for our enemies was not a warm, fuzzy feeling deep in the
heart. If we wait for that, we may never love them. The love for our enemies is a love that
does something for them, quite apart from how we might feel about them.

While there aren't direct scientific studies explicitly titled "showing love to enemies,"
research in psychology, sociology, and neuroscience indicates that practicing compassion
and kindness towards perceived enemies can have positive impacts on mental health,
reducing stress, and fostering greater social cohesion, even if the "enemy" doesn't
reciprocate the gesture.

Conclusion: Let us be people who loves everyone to our best ability.

Text: Luke 6:17-26

Sermon:
Before we dig into the scripture, let’s put the book into context; This may be Luke’s
account of what is written in Matthew 5-7, or it could be an entirely different sermon.
Some believe that this is not one singular sermon, but a composite based on Jesus’
customary teachings. I tend to believe that is Luke’s account of what Matthew has
already stated, which may explain why Matthew’s “Beatitudes” is more in-depth than
Luke’s but ultimately states the same thing.

The book of Matthew was written approximately between 60-65 AD. The original
audience was primarily Jews. The purpose of the writing was to prove that Jesus is the
Messiah, the anointed and promised eternal king.

The book of Luke was written approximately 60 AD. The original audience was to
gentiles that loved God. The purpose of the writing was to offer an accurate account of
the life of Jesus Christ, presenting him as the perfect human and savior.

These verses are called the beatitudes, which comes from the Latin word “blessing.”
These verses describe what it means to be a follower of Christ, give his standards of
conduct, and contrast kingdom values with worldly values.

Once the word of Jesus’ healing hands got out, crowds would seek him out more than
ever. The crowds did not show any interest in God’s forgiveness. They saw Jesus as a
sideshow act or a place to get healed.

Some believe that when it says “Blessed are you who hunger” in verse 21, this speaks on
our hunger for justice, while some believe it is literal hunger. Although, the root word,
“peinaō” could be used as a figurative saying when discussing spiritual hunger. This
means that the satisfaction that we would experience would also be figurative, “Chortazo
is used figuratively by Jesus to refer to experiencing inward satisfaction.”

When studying verse 20, “blessed are you who are poor,” it seems that the root word
refers to, “These poor were unable to meet their basic needs and so were forced to depend
on others or on society.” It seems that it is more literal. It could also focus on those that
are fully dependent on others. Therefore, in a figurative sense, we would be fully
dependent on God and God’s provision.

When studying the root word for “weeping” in verse 21, it means, “to mourn, to weep, to
lament or to wail with emphasis upon noise accompanying weeping. It expresses one’s
immediate and outward reaction to suffering.” In contrast, the word for “laughing” states,
“laughter and by metonymy merrymaking, rejoicing. Gelos was used of the leisurely,
merry laughter of "gods" and men in their pleasures. This laughter is that of the fool who
rejects God as the One Who determines reality and believes man to be an autonomous
being.”

Now, we are going to look at these in two different ways; both literally and figuratively.
If we are to look at these beatitudes in the literal sense, then God is blessing those that are
literally hungry, weeping and poor. This is important because it shows God’s love for the
oppressed, and society’s forgotten members.

This is perfectly evident when we compare these verses to how Jesus acted in his life and
in his ministry. Jesus often loved the forgotten and the oppressed. He cared for the blind,
the hungry and those that need love and acceptance.

This does not mean that God loves the rich and well off less than the poor, but it does
mean that God is prioritizing the needs of the needy over the wants of the entitled.

This does not mean that God ignores the rich. God still provides for the rich. God still
loves those that are rich, but God is prioritizing those that need comfort and further
provisions.

If we are to look at these beatitudes in the figurative sense, we will have to compare these
beatitudes to the beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5. Instead of just being poor, blessed are
the poor in spirit. Instead of being hungry, blessed are those that hunger for
righteousness. Instead of mourning or weeping for our own losses, we are also weeping
and mourning the losses of others.

When we look at these beatitudes, as well as the others in Matthew, we are called to not
only care about the physical body, but the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of those that
are around us. We care about our neighbors and those that we have not met.

God is blessing those that are spiritually hungry, because is a God that provides.
Sometimes God provides through our actions and love.

God is blessing those that have a hunger for righteous because God is a just God.
Sometimes God will provide justice through our active voting and activist work.

God is blessing those who cry, weep and mourn because God is a God for compassion.
Sometimes God will provide comfort through our ability to make each other laugh and
find joy.

Sometimes we are the blessings that God is giving to those that need it.

Conclusion: Let us be people who live to give blessings.

Text: Luke 5:1-11
​
Sermon:
​Imagine it, Simon is working on his boat. Imagine, Simon was a hungry day. He had
nothing to sell, nothing to take home for his family. Nothing. It might have been that he
was still sitting in his boat because he didn’t want to go home and tell his family that he
had nothing. It might have been that he was sitting there feeling empty, worthless, and
shallow—until that man came and asked him to go out into the deep.

At this point Jesus was teaching and preaching regularly and reaching new heights of
ministry. The large crowd showed the increasing popularity of Jesus as a teacher. In the
book of Luke, the writer says that Jesus was teaching, and everyone kept pressing closer
and closer. The crowd grew and pressed in to hear. So, Jesus looked around for options
and saw Simon Peter sitting there in his boat with failure on his hands.

Jesus directed Simon to move his boat to the deep end of the Lake, and then Jesus taught.
While we do not directly know what he taught, as far as we can tell, Jesus was in the boat
with them as He directed this. His presence gave him confidence. “It is a blessed thing to
see Christ sitting in the boat while you cast out the net. If you catch a glimpse of his
approving smile as he watches you, you will work right heartily.” (Spurgeon).

In the time Jesus using the phrase, “Do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid: In the grammar
of the ancient Greek, this is literally stop being fearful; it calms an existing fear. Peter
was afraid of Jesus in the sense of holding Him in such great awe, but Jesus told Him to
put away that fear. God wants to relate to us on the principle of love, not the principle of
a cowering fear.

Another phrase that we see is: From now on you will catch men: When Jesus told Simon
that he would catch men, He told Simon that he would do what Jesus Himself did. There
was never a greater fisher of men than Jesus Himself, but He wanted others to do the
work He did. Jesus started with these three, then twelve, then hundreds, then thousands,
and millions upon through the centuries.

A third phrase that is used is: They forsook all and followed Him: This seems to mean
that they left the miraculous catch of fish behind, because it was not as important as what
it showed them about Jesus. It showed them that Jesus was much more than any
carpenter, and this caused them to follow Him.

Simon was awestruck at the miracle, and his first response was to realize his own
insignificance in comparison to this man’s greatness.

Peter knew that Jesus had healed the sick and driven out demons, but he was amazed that
Jesus also cared about his day-to-day routine and understood his need. In the same way,
Jesus cares about our daily lives and our daily routine. It is actually through this love, that
Jesus brings change to our hearts long term.

Conclusion: Let us be people who embrace change through our daily lives.

Text: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon:

"13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
The greatest of these is love. That is our focus for today. That is our prayer for today. We
are meant to be people of love; people who love without limits. We are called to be
people who hold love above all other spiritual gifts.

Love in the passage is the word “agape” which means “unconditional, sacrificial love and
Biblically refers to a love that God is (1Jn 4:8,16), that God shows (Jn 3:16, 1Jn 4:9) and
that God enables in His children (fruit of the Spirit - Gal 5:22)”

“Biblical agape love is the love of choice, the love of serving with humility, the highest
kind of love, the noblest kind of devotion, the love of the will (intentional, a conscious
choice) and not motivated by superficial appearance, emotional attraction, or sentimental
relationship.”

Throughout this passage, the writer of 1 Corinthians shares a variety of spiritual gifts,
many of which are seen as beneficial for the church and the growth of the church, but the
writer continues to point out that these gifts are meaningless without love.

It is also evident in verses 8-11 that the impact of spiritual gifts will fade and vanish, but
love will remain. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge the gifts that we have and
how we use them, but it is more valuable to live lives of love.

One last observation that I notice in verses 1-3, the writer indicates that our spiritual gifts
are meant to help a wide array of people; revealing the mysteries caters to those who are
looking for understanding beyond human experience, giving to the poor helps provide for
those who need it, speaking in tongues connects the person speaking with the Holy Spirit.
All of these gifts serve a purpose in and out of the church and impact on a variety of
people.

1 Corinthians 13 defines real love, and chapter 14 shows how love works. Love is more
important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church body…love demonstrates the
ultimate purpose of human existence. Great faith, acts of dedication or sacrifice, and
miracle-working power produce very little without love. Love makes our actions and
gifts useful.

God’s kind of love is directed outward towards others, not inward towards us. We never
love perfectly, only Jesus can. Thus, the more we become like Christ, the more love we
will show to others.

So, who do we love? Throughout scripture, we are called to love family, friends and
neighbors. We are called to love the strangers among us and treat them as we would the
family that we love. We are called to love those that do not treat us respectfully. We are
called to love everybody.

Let us love everybody.

Conclusion: Let us be people who value love above all other gifts.

Text: Luke 4:14-21

​Sermon:
This is another scripture that is referenced and taught a lot. So, when I chose it, I really
wanted to look at it from another point of view. In this passage you will see Jesus quoting
Isaiah 61:1-2.

It is my understanding that Isaiah was written as a prophecy, but my question is: Was this
prophecy specifically written for Jesus? Many people believe so. While I was looking
through my study bible and the notes available, it states, “That passage the deliverance of
Isreal from exile in Babylon as a year of Jubilee-a year when all debt is cancelled, all
slaves are free, and all property is returned.”

 It also adds, “The release from Babylon exile had not brought the expected fulfillment;
the Jews were still a conquered and oppressed people. So, Isaiah must have been referring
to a future messianic age.”

This implies that the original script was not directly written for Jesus. It was speaking
about the oppressed gaining freedom and when that didn’t happen in the way that they
thought it should; it was decided that Isaiah was writing about a Messiah that would bring
that freedom.

Jesus uses this verse to proclaim that he is the Messiah, the one who would bring the
Good News to pass, but he would do so in a way that the people were not able to grasp. It
is because of this record we can believe that Jesus was accepting this role and working
for the freedom of his people.

Looking at Isaiah 61, there is a verse that states, “To proclaim liberty to captives and
freedom to the prisoners” The word “Freedom” means “The combination word peqach-
qôach literally means "opening of the eyes." Here it reflects Messiah's mission to
proclaim liberty to captives”

While everyone at the time thought that Jesus would be some political leader that
overthrows the oppressors through power, but the term “opening of the eyes” indicates
that the freedom that we are given through Jesus is not political, but it is an eye-opening
event that reveals the brokenness of this world to us.

We also noticed that Jesus confirms that he is meant to preach the good news, in the
original language, this means “announce good news concerning something.” This is one
way that he is opening our eyes to the brokenness of the world.

In the original language for Isaiah, the word “afflicted” translates to “ʿānāv” which means
“poor, oppressed, afflicted, humble, meek.” More frequently anav seems to denote an
attitude of mind, more characteristic of the poor than of the rich, one of humility and
dependence on God.

It is through Jesus proclaiming the good news, we can open our eyes to the corruption
and brokenness within the world. It is through this knowledge; we can bring healing
through acts of love and compassion. The same love that Jesus showed to the broken
hearted.

Conclusion: Let us be people who are loving and compassionate to all people.