Rev. David Holwick E Life On the Level, #4
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
February 3, 2013
Luke 6:27-29a
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I. A true story of murder, justice and forgiveness.
The New York Times Magazine recently ran a stunning article
that was shared by BreakPoint Radio's Eric Metaxas.
Three years ago, Kate and Andy Grosmaire received the kind of
news that is every parent's worst nightmare:
Their daughter, Ann, had been shot in the head by her fiance,
Conor McBride.
When Andy Grosmaire arrived at the hospital, he realized that
unless God did something "wondrous," Ann would not survive.
Sadly, Ann ultimately died.
But, nevertheless, before she did, something wondrous did
happen.
While he stood praying at his unconscious daughter's bedside,
Grosmaire felt he heard Ann say "Forgive him."
His initial response was to say "No way. That's impossible."
But he continued to hear Ann say "Forgive him."
When the fiance's father arrived at the hospital, Andy Grosmaire
hugged him and thanked him for coming.
He added, "...but I might hate you by the end of the week."
For reasons Andy still doesn't understand, Conor McBride listed
Andy's wife Kate as one of the people allowed to visit him
in jail.
As she left to visit him, she asked her husband if he had a
message for the man who had shot their daughter.
Andy replied, "Tell him I love him, and I forgive him."
As extraordinary as that was, what Kate and Andy Grosmaire
understood by forgiveness was not limited to words.
After meeting the prosecutor prosecuting McBride, they realized
that they had it in their power to affect the outcome of the
trial.
After meeting with Conor McBride, they asked that he receive a
10-to-15 year sentence.
The prosecutor, sympathetic to the family's wishes but still
representing the state's and community's interest, insisted
that McBride serve twenty years.
Under Florida law he could have served a life sentence and may
have been sentenced to death.
Andy Grosmaire didn't wind up hating Conor's father.
On the contrary, the experience brought the two families closer.
Many non-believers see Christians as harsh and ignorant.
The kind of forgiveness on display in this story puts our faith
in a different light.
The Grosmaires are all too aware of the damage McBride caused,
and they still feel the pain that that damage inflicted.
As Kate Grosmaire told the New York Times, "forgiving Conor
doesn't change the fact that Ann is not with us ...
I walk by her empty bedroom at least twice a day."
Andy Grosmaire is equally clear-eyed about what happened.
He rejects talk about "God's plan" and sentimental drivel about
God "wanting another angel."
So, why did they forgive their daughter's murderer?
Because as Andy Grosmaire put it, he realized that "it was not
just Ann asking [him] to forgive Conor, it was Jesus Christ."
Andy added, "I hadn't said 'no' to him before, and I wasn't going
to start then."
Kate Grosmaire said, "Conor owed us a debt he could never
repay.
And releasing him from that debt would release us from
expecting that anything in this world could satisfy us."
This kind of forgiveness is Christianity's greatest calling
card.
To be able to love those who have done you unimaginable harm
and seek their good is truly wondrous.
Other faiths speak about mercy and compassion.
Some even urge you to "let go" of old wounds for your own
sake.
But Christians worship a Savior who, even as he was unjustly
executed, prayed for those who placed him on the cross.
He insists that those who profess his name love their enemies,
not just their friends.
Are you able to do this?
#63892
II. The most amazing - and most difficult - teaching of Jesus.
A. Beyond forgiving an enemy, you have to actively love them.
1) Jesus gives three actions to take toward enemies:
a) Do good to those who hate you.
b) Bless those who curse you.
c) Pray for those who mistreat you.
2) It even applies if they are doing violence to you. 6:29
B. Not just religious stuff (pray and bless) but doing good.
1) You can you do good to someone you don't like.
2) Start loving them, even if it feels wrong, even if you
don't want to.
In his book MERE CHRISTIANITY, C.S. Lewis wrote:
"Do not waste your time bothering whether you 'love'
your neighbor -- act as if you did.
As soon as we do this, we find one of the great
secrets.
"When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you
will presently come to love him.
If you injure someone you dislike, you will find
yourself disliking him more.
If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself
disliking him less."
#34143
3) You are not called to have warm, fuzzy feelings for them.
a) Just treat them as you would want someone to treat you.
b) Big, or even small, acts of kindness.
4) Perhaps the feelings will come.
a) Reconciliation is always the ultimate goal.
b) You should want them to come to God and get saved.
III. Jesus' principle has pervaded our culture.
A. We even see it in wartime.
Back in 2007, NBC News did a riveting series on the
emergency military triage facilities in Iraq.
One segment showed wounded Iraqi insurgents being brought to
Camp Speicher near Tikrit.
Two of them had been caught placing an explosive device on
a nearby road, intending to kill Americans, when a U.S.
helicopter opened fire on them.
The U.S. medical team moved heaven and earth to save their
lives.
One insurgent, however, was not going to survive unless he
got thirty pints of blood.
That's a lot of blood - about what we donate at a Red Cross
event here.
But the base was low on blood.
The call went out for volunteer donors; minutes later,
dozens of G.I.s had lined up.
At the head of the line was a battle-hardened soldier named
Brian Suam.
Asked if it mattered that his blood was going to an insurgent,
he smiled and said, no - "A human life is a human life."
#34266
B. The irony is evident.
1) We do our best to kill our enemy, and then we do our best
to save them.
2) I wonder which principle has the most long-term effect on
our opponents?
IV. Love your enemy when it works and when it doesn't.
A. We enjoy stories of loved enemies who change their nature.
1) A pastor in a German prison.
In the mid-1930s, a German Protestant pastor was seized
from his church.
Suspected of helping Jews, he was thrown into prison without
a hearing, a trial, or even a phone call to his family.
The prison guard outside his cell hated everyone associated
with Jews.
He purposefully skipped the pastor's cell when meals were
handed out.
He made him go weeks without a shower, and gave him the
most difficult job on the labor gang.
The pastor, on the other hand, prayed that he would be able
to love this guard with God's love.
As the months went by, the pastor smiled at the guard,
thanked him for the few meals he did receive, and even
got to talk about God's love to him.
The guard never said anything; but he heard it all, and
one night he cracked a smile.
The next day the pastor received two meals and was able to
shower for as long as he wanted.
Finally, one afternoon the guard personally made the
long-awaited call to the pastor's family, and a few
months later, he was released from prison.
#31371
2) This is what loving your enemies is supposed to do.
a) At least, in our take on it.
B. But sometimes enemies don't change.
1) Plenty of loved enemies remain our bitter enemies.
a) Love doesn't always work.
b) Note that Jesus doesn't tell us to love our enemies
so they will change.
1> He just says love your enemies, period.
2> Perhaps, when we don't love our enemies but hate
them, they end up changing us.
2) It always works if you taken an eternal view.
a) Jesus only mentions a reward in heaven.
b) When we love our enemies, we are most like God.
1> Romans 5:8-10 gives an amazing parallel:
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how
much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through
him!
For if, when we were God's ENEMIES, we were reconciled
to him through the death of his Son, how much more,
having been reconciled, shall we be saved through
his life!"
2> Jesus' death doesn't work for everyone.
3> But when it does, it is marvelous.
V. Don't limit enemies to murderers.
A. Enemies are usually portrayed in a dramatic way.
1) It is someone who murders your child, or destroys your
business.
2) But an enemy can be someone who simply opposes you.
a) They don't want good for you, but they don't
necessarily want to kill you.
B. You may have enemies in your own family, under your own roof.
1) You don't hate each other, but you are barely civil.
a) Bitterness has taken over.
b) It can persist for years.
2) Hate where there should be love is the hardest situation
of all.
a) I heard of a couple in Succasunna who lived in the same
house for years.
She had her side, he had his.
They never spoke to one another.
I guess it was more economical to live like that.
But it is so sad.
C. What are you doing about it?
1) Perhaps you are in a broken relationship.
a) If you are a Christian, you can do something about it.
b) Start consistently praying for them.
1> Do something positive for them that they don't
deserve.
2> And don't expect anything back.
2) Do it for Christ's sake.
a) Loving your enemy is not practical. But it is very
spiritual.
b) We can love them because God has first loved us.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#31371 “Converting A Hard Guard,” David Jeremiah, Wit And Wisdom,
editor Richard G. Wimer, November 15, 2007.
#34143 “Act Like You Love Them,” C. S. Lewis, Wit And Wisdom, editor
Richard G. Wimer, February 13, 2007; contributed by
wwww.cybersaltlists.org.
#34266 “Thirty Pints of Blood: A Contrast In Worldviews,” Charles Colson,
BreakPoint Commentary, March 6, 2007.
#63892 “Murder, Justice ... and Forgiveness: The Christian Calling Card,”
Eric Metaxas, Baptist Press, http://www.baptistpress.org,
January 29, 2013.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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