Building Kingdom Relationships

The Gospel of Matthew Building Kingdom Relationships - Matthew 5:43-6:4 March 2, 2025 I came across a "Ten Commandments of Human Relations" this week from the Bible Tract Bulletin that I thought was appropriate for our passage this morning: 1. Speak to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting. 2. Smile at people. It takes seventy-two muscles to frown, only fourteen to smile. 3. Call people by name. Music to anyone's ears is the sound of his/her own name. 4. Be friendly and helpful. 5. Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do is genuinely a pleasure, and if it isn't, learn to make it so. 6. Be genuinely interested in people. You can like almost everybody if you try. 7. Be generous with praise, cautious with criticism. 8. Be considerate with the feelings of others. There are usually three sides to a controversy: yours, the other fellow's, and the right one. 9. Be alert to serve. What counts most in life is what we do for others. 10. Add to this a good sense of humor, a big dose of patience, and a dash of humility, and you will be rewarded manifold through life. One of the many things that I love about being a Christian is that fact that I get to spend time with other Christians! Of course, this doesn't mean that there aren't Christians that are hard to be around. Not here, of course. But elsewhere. This morning, Jesus is going to talk all about relationships, and how we are to deal with people. Many people struggle with relationships. Especially certain types of relationships. And many struggle with how to put others before yourself. There is some good news. The Bible speaks about both. So, let's read Matthew 5:43-6:4 to see that Jesus has to say about it. 5:43 "YOU HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AND HATE YOUR ENEMY.' 44 BUT I SAY TO YOU, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU, 45 SO THAT YOU MAY BE SONS OF YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. FOR HE MAKES HIS SUN RISE ON THE EVIL AND ON THE GOOD, AND SENDS RAIN ON THE JUST AND ON THE UNJUST. 46 FOR IF YOU LOVE THOSE WHO LOVE YOU, WHAT REWARD DO YOU HAVE? DO NOT EVEN THE TAX COLLECTORS DO THE SAME? 47 AND IF YOU GREET ONLY YOUR BROTHERS, WHAT MORE ARE YOU DOING THAN OTHERS? DO NOT EVEN THE GENTILES DO THE SAME? 48 YOU THEREFORE MUST BE PERFECT, AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT. 6:1 "BEWARE OF PRACTICING YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS BEFORE OTHER PEOPLE IN ORDER TO BE SEEN BY THEM, FOR THEN YOU WILL HAVE NO REWARD FROM YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. 2 "THUS, WHEN YOU GIVE TO THE NEEDY, SOUND NO TRUMPET BEFORE YOU, AS THE HYPOCRITES DO IN THE SYNAGOGUES AND IN THE STREETS, THAT THEY MAY BE PRAISED BY OTHERS. TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEIR REWARD. 3 BUT WHEN YOU GIVE TO THE NEEDY, DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING, 4 SO THAT YOUR GIVING MAY BE IN SECRET. AND YOUR FATHER WHO SEES IN SECRET WILL REWARD YOU. Jesus here concludes with His last "YOU HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID" statement. Admittedly, this one is a bit interesting. The first half is easy to identify, this comes from Leviticus 19:18, one of the two "greatest commandments" that Jesus will later speak about in Matthew 22. But, that second half had me wondering. When did God say that? Ah! If you were here last week, you would know that we spoke about the other five of these statements, and concluded that Jesus was referring to first, the oral traditions of the Jewish leaders, and two, pointing out their distortion of the Law in that teaching. Of course, what Jesus does in His sermon on the mount is give us the correct interpretation of the Law, or as we've been saying: the heart of the Law. While God never says, "hate your enemy," as the oral tradition apparently did, we do know that God does hate sin, and He hates evil. We see this - for example - in Psalm 5:4-5, where David writes: 4 FOR YOU ARE NOT A GOD WHO DELIGHTS IN WICKEDNESS; EVIL MAY NOT DWELL WITH YOU. 5 THE BOASTFUL SHALL NOT STAND BEFORE YOUR EYES; YOU HATE ALL EVILDOERS. If nothing else, we are told and reminded to hate sin, just as our Father in Heaven does. Also noteworthy, is this first section on loving your enemies builds off the last section from verses 38-42 on retaliation. Jesus is once again building on these laws His disciples once heard and pointing them to the heart of the Law as followers of Jesus. Just like in the book of Exodus, Moses was to give the Law to God's chosen people, so that they may be set apart, Jesus is doing the same. In fact, many compare the mount that Jesus is preaching from here to Mount Sinai, where Moses received and gave the Law. Showing Jesus as the "New Moses." Finally, verse 48 acts as a closing statement before Jesus shifts to a new topic. This verse, where Jesus says: YOU THEREFORE MUST BE PERFECT, AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT, is sort of a summary statement of verses 21-47. And what a statement it is. Be perfect. This is what the disciple of Jesus is called to be. Once again, we see the impossible expectation for you and me. The word "perfect" there is known otherwise as "complete" or "mature." This is what we are called to do. This is why we must look to Jesus, as He is the only One who has fulfilled this perfectly, which allowed Him to be the substitution for you and me to forgive us of our sin. Then, verses 1-4 of chapter 6 sort of shifts our attention and introduces a new section of Jesus' sermon that carries us through verse 18. This entire section focuses on some disciplines of the disciple, namely generosity, prayer and fasting. These two passages this morning have a common thread, and that is one of relationships, or what I'm calling this morning, kingdom relationships. So, how can we summarize this section? Through our main idea which is: I build kingdom relationships by modeling God's grace towards others. In our passage this morning, we answer the question of how to build kingdom relationships, using the examples given to us by Jesus. First, BUILDING KINGDOM RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE UNLOVABLE (5:43-48) The first principle for us this morning is that ... * I must love those who are hard to love. o Jesus gives us two commands here. * Love your enemies, and * Pray for those who persecute you. o Think about it. o These are two groups that are nearly impossible to "love" and pray for. o I can think of a couple of people who I would consider to be an "enemy" - granted, I have not had any contact with either of them for years now, and I think I can say confidently that I have forgiven them, and I would be more than cordial with them if I ran into them - but, I don't think that I ever prayed for them. o The question must be, "why not?" o The biblical counter of this must be God's love for us. o Romans 5:10 says that God loved us, even when we were His enemies. In other words, outside of our relationship with Jesus, we are enemies with God. But, God, in His grace and mercy, extended love to us, even when we were His enemy. o That's really what we see in verse 45. o Jesus says that we are "SONS OF YOUR FATHER" through the act of loving and praying for our enemies and adversaries. o When we opened chapter 5 weeks ago, we discussed the character and the conduct of the disciple of Jesus. o Verse 45 here is reminding us that through our character and conduct, and by loving and praying for our enemies, our identity in Jesus is seen by God. o It also reminds us that God is ultimately in charge of the result. o Our role? Be obedient and leave the rest to Him. o Next principle is, * I must not show partiality with my love. o I love how Jesus organized this section. o He reminds us that it is easy to love those who love us, and more than that, He reminds us that even the tax collectors and Gentiles do the same. o That phrase to close out verse 47 that reads: WHAT MORE ARE YOU DOING THAN OTHERS? is a strong rebuke, effectively saying "you're no different than a sinner" (or as Jesus put it, a tax-collector and a Gentile). o Why these two groups? o First, the tax collectors were hated among the Jews. o Why? They were Jews that worked for Rome, and were known to lie, cheat, and extort money from their own people to make a profit for themselves. o The Gentiles were used as an example here because of how they were viewed among the Jews, particularly the Religious Leaders. o Jesus already called a Tax Collector to be His disciple (hint: the guy who wrote this book), and later we know that several Gentiles were saved, and being saved even today o This is the beauty of the Gospel: it levels the playing field and is available for all people o Next, let's see what the text says about ... BUILDING KINGDOM RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE UNFORTUNATE (6:1-4) If verse 48 was a summary statement for verses 21-47, then Matthew 6:1 is an introductory statement for verses 2-18. Jesus goes straight to the heart here. The first principle here is that ... * I must be sincere in all my good works. o Verse 1, as noted, sets this entire section up. o The warning is simple: Don't do good works to be seen by others! o Some point out that this is a so-called contradiction to 5:16, where Jesus said that we are to let our light shine. o Obviously, Jesus is not contradicting His own words. o Both verses state that when we do good, we will be seen, but we are not doing good works for that reason. o The example that Jesus uses is giving to the needy. The poor. o I finished up a book this past week, and while it was not my favorite book, the topic was interesting, and there was one paragraph in a chapter on serving the poor that gave some great insight to understanding poverty from a psychological perspective. o Quoting and expanding on the words from a pair of economists, the author says: "'Poor people typically talk [of poverty] in terms of shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation, and voicelessness.' Because impoverishment extends beyond the lack of material resources, our comprehensive answer to human impoverishment must reach beyond the material dimension of human existence. If we want to fully address human impoverishment, we must probe the spiritual dimension, seeking restoration of our broken relationship with God." o I think this helps to understand why Jesus used this example. o First, He expected this act of service from His disciples. But, more than that, He wants us to see the heart of a person, not just their circumstances. He says, "love them," and by doing so, we can serve their needs - both psychologically and monetarily. o In other words, we can reflect God's grace to others, by extending grace to them. o At the end of the day, we have nothing to lose, but everything to gain, as Jesus says that the generous will receive their reward. o That really leads us to our final principle from Jesus here. That ... * I must place my focus on God, not on man. o This whole serving and giving in secret phrasing from verses 3-4 is to help us to remain focused on God. o When we go out of our way to be seen by others, what are we really looking to accomplish? o Here's how Spurgeon put it: Let God be present, and you will have enough of an audience. o The result in doing this is our own spiritual growth and maturity and more than that, God is being glorified. o Isn't that what this kingdom is all about? Glorifying God? Serving His people? Loving like He loves? o Notice the term Jesus used to describe those who serve to be seen. Hypocrite. o That word - as we've talked about here before - is the word used for "play-actor" o Jesus is describing a group of people who were "acting" righteous for the purpose of attaining righteousness o That term "hypocrite" is used by Jesus 17 times in Matthew's Gospel. It is a critical word to describe one who is not sincere in his service or charity. These two sections - one that ended a section, and another that began a new section - is brought together with relationships and grace. That's why we said earlier that: I build kingdom relationships by modeling God's grace towards others. If we can learn to love and pray for our enemies, imagine what God can do. If we can learn to serve with a sincere motive, imagine the impact we can make on others. And guess what? We don't need to have expendable resources to do so. In fact, the same author I quoted earlier several chapters later said this: Grace is the kingdom currency. When we have this mentality, a God-first mentality, then everything else flows from that. How we speak. How we think. How we act. How we deal with difficult people. How we deal with super religious people. How we deal with hypocrites. How we deal with those in need. Once again, Jesus was that perfect example. How many times do we read in the Gospels that Jesus went somewhere for solitude, and ended up healing, serving, or preaching? That - by the way - is the type of love that Jesus is talking about in verse 43. Sacrificial love. The same love that drove Him to the Cross. We are to love our neighbor. Who is our neighbor? The term used there describes the person who is near. If you can see them, they're your neighbor, and we're called to love them. That's how we build kingdom relationships. How can you show your Christ-like love to others today? How can you build kingdom relationships? Let's pray. 2