Your Enemy is Actually Attacking Christ – Not You. And Christ Still Does Good to Them — Through You.

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part V of our series on Doing Good

Check out the story of Stephen, one of the earliest martyrs in Christian history, in Acts 6 and 7. Look what happens right after he gives a speech to the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin:

54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Notice that when Stephen is attacked by his enemies, he does not think, “I am being attacked by my enemies. I want to protect myself, but I’m supposed to love my enemies. I think I will bake them a cake–as soon as they stop throwing stones at me.”

Instead, he says, “Where’s the father? Where’s Jesus? Oh, there they are! Everything is going to be OK, because I can trust them.” That’s what we see in Acts 7:57:

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Any time we have a conflict with our enemy, the most important person in the room is not us or our enemy. It’s God.

He is really there, actually present, watching over you. You can trust him. He’s doing something. He is, in the words of Jesus in Matthew 5, “sending rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”—that is, he is taking care of both you and your enemy, even if we don’t exactly see or understand what he is doing.

That’s what Peter says in 1 Peter 4:12-19. Look at the first couple of verses:

12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

What Peter is saying here is amazing: when an enemy attacks you, there are indeed two people in the room. But the two people are not you and your enemy. The two people are your enemy and Christ!

Paul explains why in Galatians 2:

20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

And Paul understood this very, very deeply because he had experienced it personally before he became a Christian. At that point you may remember that he was persecuting Christians. Then Jesus appears to him and says, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4)  Paul came to see that when we are baptized into Christ, it’s no longer just us who is living as us; it’s Christ!

Which means anyone who attacks us is actually attacking Christ, whether they (or we) know it or not.

And so Peter and Paul have some very specific advice about how we are to think about such a situation. First, let’s look at 1 Peter 4:12-19:

14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And,

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

That last verse is key. Peter says, “If an enemy attacks you, maybe it is because you did something wrong. But maybe not. Maybe the enemy is opposing God and, in the words of Stephen and in the words of Jesus on the cross, the enemy doesn’t know what they are doing. In this case, rejoice because you are blessed! Commit yourself to your faithful creator. He is doing something even if you can’t see it. And continue to do good.”

Paul says the same kind of thing beginning in Romans 12:19:

19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

Paul is saying, “When an enemy is attacking you, they are actually attacking Christ, because it is no longer you who live but Christ who lives through you. Since your enemy is attacking Christ, not you (whether they realize it or not), it is not your decision how to respond. Instead, it is God’s decision.

“And God will repay…but if he is not choosing to repay now, you need to respect that. And you need to join him in doing the good to your enemy that he is doing.

What enemies of yours might you need to hand over to God for repayment even as you join him in doing good toward them?  

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How God is Present When You Get Hurt

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part IV of our series on Doing Good

When we search the Scriptures in order to grow in the Work of Mercy of doing good to one’s enemies, we hear Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:43-44 and we immediately ask, “Um… How do I do this?”

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:43-44)

But we need to always remind ourselves that our first focus—and our main focus—when we look at each Work of Mercy is to ask, “How is God doing this in our lives today?” And that’s what Jesus is trying to help us see in Matthew 5. Look again at those verses we were just looking at, but this time add in verse 45. If you leave that one out, you’ll miss Jesus’ whole focus:

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:43-45, emphasis mine)

So the focus of Matthew 5:43-45 isn’t us, it’s God. Jesus is showing us that God is present and active any time we are having a conflict with an enemy. Quite often we fail to see this.

Our thinking usually goes like this:

    • An enemy just hurt me.
    • I want to hurt them back.
    • But I am a Christian, so I am supposed to do good to them.
    • I will bake my enemy a cake.

But this kind of thinking reduces God to merely an inspiration.

That is, we don’t think of God as present in the conflict except as a voice in our heads saying, “You better love your enemy. That’s what I did.” So in a conflict situation we (mistakenly) believe that the two main people involved are us and our enemy. And we (mistakenly) think that it is our job in this situation to love our enemy.

But God wants us to see the situation differently. He wants us to see that every time an enemy hurts us, he is present. Not only is he present, but we can trust him. We know that he loves us. He hasn’t abandoned us.

Imagine that you are a very young child. You are going somewhere with your mother or father. An enemy comes up and hits you.

What is your reaction?

Even if your parents aren’t very good, if you are a very young child you will probably react by looking up at your mother or father and saying, “Mom! Dad! He just hit me!” And you will trust that your parent will step in and fix the situation.

Now, imagine that you have a very good parent who always takes care of you (I hope this is not just imagination anymore!). What if you got hit and they did not step in and fix the situation?

If they were a very good parent who always took care of you, you would probably think, “Well, this is unusual. I just got hit by this enemy, but my dad is not doing anything. I wonder why? He is a very good parent, so I think he must have a reason why he is not doing anything. Maybe he is trying to teach me something. Or maybe he is trying to teach my enemy something. All I know is, I can trust my dad. He must have a reason why he is standing there. Maybe he is even doing something and I can’t see it.”

This is exactly what Jesus is trying to show us about himself and our heavenly father.

They are present every time we get hurt.  In our next post, we’ll find out why that should change our approach to our enemies.

How might the knowledge of how God is present when you are hurt change the way you think about your enemies?

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Why Do Christians Do Good?

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part III of our series on Doing Good

How do we know what good we should do?

Jesus begins to teach us the answer in Luke 10:25–37. He says that we are to mirror God’s goodness in whatever situation crosses our path—especially among our enemies:

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Since God often takes us down dangerous roads like the Jericho road, we need to work together. Paul says in Galatians 6:9–10 that doing good is a team sport:

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

There is nothing safe about dispensing the goodness of God.

The Bible guarantees that we will suffer for doing good. “In fact,” says Paul in 2 Timothy 3:12, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” God’s mercy towards his enemies is most clearly revealed in the crucifixion of Jesus. Because of this, suffering publicly as we do good—humbly, without protest, bearing his name—is a means of grace by which we comes to see and understand God more clearly.

Why do Christians do good?

We do so for one reason: because we are dispensing the goodness that we received from God when we were yet his enemies. Doing good is a public act of faith in the goodness and justice of God, who assures us that we can always trust him to sustain us. The world where the wicked prosper will soon pass away.

Do not fret because of evil men 
      or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither, 
   like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the LORD and do good; 
   dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. (Psalm 37:1–3)
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