How Do We Treat Someone Who Is Mean To Us?

Sometimes what Jesus asks of us seems impossible. Doing all of the good things that we might do would leave us with nothing. He can't really mean it.

Somehow the impossible has to become the possible or we are all doomed.

In this sermon Deacon Michael speaks of Mayve, John and Beth, who are not at all like he ironically paints them to be. He was a great tease, and they loved it because they knew he loved them.

Written by Laura Weston, widow of Deacon Michael

IF YOU LIKE, READ ALONG AS YOU LISTEN:

That gospel reading is pretty tough. It really is, when you talk about putting it into practice in your life.

We live in a very wealthy world. We live in North Dallas. We're comfortable. We're wealthy, when it comes right down to it.

We worry about: do I have enough money to be able to retire comfortably, do all of the various things that I want to do? Where others are worrying about: do I have enough resources to eat; can I feed my children; am I able to get medical care; can I get my children educated? Very fundamental things of life. Lack of those things is a definition of poverty.

We're not poor. We may be gradations of rich, but we're not poor.

And there are people out there in our world, you know them, that are just really not very nice. And they do mean things to us. And what do we do? How do we treat someone who is mean to us?

They come up to you and they slap you on the face. What do you do? Do you hit them in the nose? Break their hand? Take retribution? Turn your cheek so they can hit you on the other one?

We have people who... Mayve, can you lend me ten dollars. I need to get lunch today. I'll be happy to pay you Tuesday, when I get paid.

And Mayve, being an accountant, says, "...ten percent interest..." "Yes, but I want to have eleven dollars back next week. You can have ten today, but give me eleven next week."

Or more likely, and I hear this all the time. "I'll give you ten today if next week you give me twenty."

And Jesus says, "No! Just give it to them. Why expect repayment?"

Why do we love our enemies? Why do we expect something? Why are we in this situation where Jesus is telling us to do something that is contrary to what we want to do?

Beth comes to me and says, "Michael, I know you're busy but I've got something really important in my mind. I want you to give me four hours of every day. So, you going to do it"?

"What! What is it, Beth?"

Sigh. "My house is dirty and I want you to come over and clean it for me. It's really dirty. It will only take you three weeks, four hours a day, five days a week, to get my house clean. Will you do that for me? I can't do it myself."

What do you tell her? "Are you out of your ever-loving mind?"

That's not Jesus' approach to the world. And it is not the approach to the world that He tells us that we need to be following.

"For the measure with which you measure will in turn to measured out to you?

That has a positive and a negative that are attached to it. "If you live your life giving of yourself totally, " Jesus is telling to you, "the reward is going to come."

If you live your life worrying about whether you're going to get your extra ten dollars next week because you loaned Michael enough money to buy lunch... sigh, you can tell I was starved a lot... that's what you're going to get in return. You're going to get a God who goes, "Well, Mayve, I gave you this, this, and this and this and this and this, and what did you give? Well, why should you come and spend eternity with me? You held back all this stuff."

John, do you have your earphones in today? "Yes." I want to give you a bad time, too." "That's good; I'll be here."

Laughter.

You're ninety-three years old. "Three." That's what I said, ninety-three. God comes in and says, "I have given you the ability to play golf on a regular basis until you are ninety-three years old. What have you given me? What have you given to your enemies? What have you given to the least among you? What have you given?

You want justice. You want fairness. What have you done? I've given you all of that. I've even given you some rounds where you got par. What are you going to give me in return? What have you given me in return?

And don't be smiling. I can do the same thing to you. "I know."

(John, who is ninety-three, is very comfortable financially, and is very, very generous with his money. Beth, who wanted her house cleaned, and who said, "I know" is also a very kind, hard-working and generous person. Earlier, his story about Mayve is the opposite of what she would actually do; she and her husband give readily of their time, money and talent to those in need. Everyone smiles and laughs because he calls them out on things that they are not guilty of.)

It's a very difficult, radical teaching. It really, really is. And I'm not going to give you the answer to it. I mean, Jesus drives me crazy sometimes and you hear it on Sunday... seems like the deacons always get these readings... He says what He means and He means what He says. Gasp!

I hope he doesn't really mean all that, because I certainly can come up with a short list of when I have done what He wanted me to do, and a loooong list where I turned down the opportunities to do what he wanted me to do.

Beth was a test. He's putting it on the list. "He could have helped Beth clean up her house, but he decided that four hours a day was too much and suggested that she use a little bit of her money and hire someone to help her!"

My list just got longer!

That's very disturbing. It is a very disturbing concept when we look at ourselves and measure ourselves by the standards that Jesus gives us to measure ourselves. The separating of the sheep and the goats.

These are all very nervous-making distinctions that He has. Yet, always with Jesus there is something special that is going on.

Beth, I suspect that your lists have growth problems, too.

And then He says, "I want you to do all of these to be like my Heavenly Father and these things are the means by which He judges and treats you.” He explains to us that these radical things that He's asking of us and wants us to do are the means by which we are to be judged by our Heavenly Father.

He does the crazy thing. "You want us to do what?" "I'll tell you what, you want an extra ten dollars from Michael for your lunch, I'll show you what I'm going to do. I know your list of deficiencies and because I'm God and I love you, I will take your list of deficiencies, have my Son come to earth and die on the cross for you.

I'm not going to ask for interest. I'm going to give My Son.

So in these readings where we look at these aspirations of how we live our lives, these instructions of how to evaluate how we are living our lives, there also comes an understanding that Jesus is telling us, this is how He and the Heavenly Father look at us.

They know our deficiencies. Jesus is human. He knows we can't do these things, but He is saying to us. "Try. Love your neighbor. This is what it means. Give your life for Me so you can spend all eternity with Me in Heaven, and understand I know you can't do it."

By the way, it would take six weeks at my house to clean it up, Beth, so if you want to come over, feel free.

We know we can't do it. But always understand that the Heavenly Father loves you so much that for all our deficiencies He gave us His Son, who died on the cross for us and was resurrected.

And remember always when we look at the gospel of Luke, how did Luke get to be Christian? What was his original point? Where do we first hear about Luke? In the letters of St. Paul. He was a disciple of St. Paul. A follower of Paul.

And what does Paul preach? Love. What did Paul preach? Christ crucified.

So in these great commandments that we hear, these great admonitions of how to live our lives, which we know we can try and should try to fulfill, we know that behind them is the incredible love of God who gave us His Only-begotten Son Who was crucified for our inadequacies and our sins. And that's where we get the hope and our faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ which is manifested in love.

Faith, hope and love come to us through Our Lord Jesus Christ and in these teachings.

And it really is fun to watch everybody nodding when I say, "Jesus Christ!"

September 5, 2019 2