Men's Lesson: Is It Enough? (Matt 5:40)

Note: these notes are from a Men’s lesson that Tom presented at the Hampton Roads church Tidewater Region on August 28, 2019, inspired by a sermon preached by Joshua Benton to the East Region of the Seattle Church of Christ on August 18, 2019.

A new walk

How is your walk with God going?

What does it mean to lead a godly life?

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
John 14:23-24 (NIV)

Those who love God obey God. Obedience is the way to lead a godly, righteous life, right? What does it take to lead a life of obedience?

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 5:17-20 (NIV)

Jesus said we need to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees! We need to be more obedient to God’s Word than the most righteous religious leaders of Jesus’ time.

How do we do this: live a life that surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees?!

A new righteousness

The Pharisees often opposed Jesus because the followed a strict interpretation of the law and followed it to the letter, even creating new rules to make sure the commands of God were kept.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
Matt 23:1-3, 13-15 (NIV)

Jesus essentially tells his disciples to “do what they say, not what they do”, and lists several woes to the Pharisees for binding their rules on their converts. There are several other scriptures where Jesus talks about how the Pharisees focused on rules and not on what was most important (Matt 15:1-11, 16:5-12, etc.). Considering Jesus’ words for them, it’s no wonder that the Pharisees opposed him.

As we commit ourselves to a life of obedience to God, we will also face opposition (2 Tim 3:12). While I’ve personally received persecution in the form of insults and even being spit upon, disciples in the first century intense opposition and persecution. Even today, some disciples around the world face prison, abuse from family members and even death for their faith.

The Jews also faced persecution and opposition. They had the Romans oppressing them, with their own laws and rules. Jesus refers to this after telling his disciples that they need to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Matt 5:38-42 (NIV)

Some background information from the culture of the Romans and Jews of the first century:

Slap on the cheek: This was considered an insult and an offense, and the striker could be fined. However, Jesus said to not report them for this but to instead allow them to strike you again.
Take your cloak: The cloak, or a coat or shirt, was the only garment that could not be legally taken by a creditor, according to the law of Moses (see Ex 22:26 – 27; Dt 24:12 – 13). However, Jesus called them to willingly give it if asked.
Go an extra mile: Roman soldiers could demand that citizens carry gear for them. The Romans were oppressors and hated by the Jews, but Jesus told them to carry whatever they asked for two miles, not the one required of them.

What if you were in the crowd listening to Jesus and he said this, then you went away and did what he said: you endured the extra slap, gave your coat when asked, walked a second mile after walking the first. Would you be happy just to hear him say “Well done, good and faithful servant?” (Matt 25:21, 23)

A new heart

What if instead Jesus came back and told you, “good job, now go and let them slap you two more times, give them all of your clothing and go two extra miles”?

How you feel about this tells you much about your heart toward obeying God. Would you walk away focused on the next goal, possibly grumbling about your efforts not being enough to please him?

How do you view the Bible and obeying Jesus’ command: is it out of duty or with a changed heart?

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Matt 18:22-23 (NIV)

Another example is Peter’s question to Jesus about forgivness – is it enough to forgive seven times? Jesus’ reply is surprising, and may have seemed excessive: not 7 times , but 7 times 70! That would mean that if your brother or sister sinned against you every week, and you forgave them every time once a week, this would go on for nine and a half years!

The point is to forgive, take an insulting slap, give when asked and walk in service to others until your heart is changed. Do we do this in our walk with God?

We’re good at making rules for ourselves and finding ways to obey. We challenge ourselves and others to have daily quiet times, to “tithe” at ten percent, to share our faith once a day or a hundred times a week. The question is: do we do this to obey or so that we can see our hearts change?

A new command

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35 (NIV)

Jesus called us to a radical commitment to love – to go beyond what’s “enough”. We can never obey enough to earn salvation – it’s a gift not wages (Romans 6:3), but we can have changed hearts and give with a radical love to our brothers, our neighbors and the world.

During the Passover seder, Jews sing a song called Dayenu, which can be translated as “it would have been enough”. The song has three sets of five stanzas that address ways God showed his love to the nation of Israel. After each stanza, they sang the word dayenu. Consider the words of the song below, and after each line say “dayenu”, “it would have been enough”.

Dayenu

Five Stanzas of Leaving Slavery

If He had brought us out of Egypt.
If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians.
If He had executed justice upon their gods.
If He had slain their first-born.
If He had given to us their health and wealth.

Five Stanzas of Miracles

If He had split the sea for us.
If He had led us through on dry land.
If He had drowned our oppressors.
If He had provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years.
If He had fed us manna.

Five Stanzas of Being With God

If He had given us Shabbat.
If He had led us to Mount Sinai.
If He had given us the Torah.
If He had brought us into the Land of Israel.
If He built the Temple for us.

As disciples and followers of Jesus, we may want to add five new stanza to Dayenu:

Five Stanzas for Disciples of Jesus

If He gave us the Bible to tell us He loved us.
If He had sent his son.
If His son lived a sinless life.
If His son died on a cross to pay for our sins.
if He raised His son so that we could have eternal life and be with Him forever – dayenu – He gave it all and that was enough.

Giving everything was how God gave enough. He sent His only Son to be with us, Emmanuel, to live a sinless life among us and to die for our sins so that we could have true eternal life with Him. Is it enough for us to live a life of loving and serving others as he’s loved and served us?