OUT OF DARKNESS
Kendra Intihar
Today’s Scripture: “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” Matthew 5:46, ESV
Theme: To promote peace and follow Jesus, love all parties, even when you think one is wrong. Innocent lives are lost in every conflict.
THE LEGACY OF CAIN
Since Cain, humans have been aware of their capacity to act and react with violence. And since Cain, God has been calling us to something better. Cain’s response to anger at his brother was vengeance. Moses, who loved and followed God, advocated instead for reciprocal justice (“an eye for an eye”) in Exodus 21:23-27. But God, in Jesus Christ, commands us to an even higher standard by saying, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38-39, NIV). You and I both know that’s not an easy way to behave. We are conditioned to retaliate.
THE CHRISTIAN VOCATION
We should expect the world around us to descend into chaos. Jesus promised us, in fact, that in this world we would have trouble (John 16:33). But He also taught us a brand-new way to be human: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also” (Luke 6:27-29, ESV). We can’t expect people to live like this if they don’t follow Jesus, but for those of us who have chosen to follow Him, we don’t have a choice. If Jesus said to do it, we’ve got to do it.
No matter which side of a conflict we’re on, our vocation – our calling – as Christians is to love. Love. Love. Love. That’s our job here. That’s the greatest commandment we were ever given in Scripture – Jesus said so, Himself. Every human being was created by God in His own likeness. The faceless enemies we are tempted to hate are beloved by God, designed by God, and a reflection of God’s image.
THE LEGACY OF STEPHEN
Do you know about Stephen, the first Christian martyr? Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed his witness for Jesus, enraging the members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court. In their fury, they covered their ears, yelled at the top of their voices, forcibly dragged him outside the walls of the city, and stoned him to death. With his dying breath, Stephen prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60b, ESV).
Stephen understood his Christian vocation. Stephen loved the unlovable people who were committing an atrocious act of violence against him. And here’s the most important part of the story: “Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul” (Acts 7:58b, NIV).
Saul, who stood there reveling in the death of a child of God.
Saul, who was lauded by the members of the Sanhedrin.
Saul, who would dramatically encounter the very Jesus whom he had devoted his life to persecuting.
Saul, who was given a new vocation and purpose on the road to Damascus. The same Saul whose encounter with Christ was so powerful that he forsook his entire pre-Christian life and reputation to go out into the world and proclaim the very Gospel message that Stephen died for preaching. The same man who was so changed that he was renamed Paul and wrote at least thirteen of our New Testament books. Paul was God’s enemy, and yet Stephen’s living-and-dying testimony of Christian love was seared into his consciousness.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul echoed the words of Jesus, saying “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them...If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink” (Romans 12:14, 20, NIV).
This former enemy of God was used mightily by the Lord because he took Jesus’ call to love seriously. His dramatic encounter with Jesus catalyzed the spread of the Gospel throughout the Roman empire and beyond. It is not a stretch to say that Paul, a former enemy of God, is the reason you and I know Jesus.
Make it Personal: This world needs a Damascus Road encounter with Jesus Christ. If you, like Stephen…and like Paul, take Jesus at His word, then when He commands us to love, do it! We are a city on a hill. We are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, God’s special possession that we might declare the praises of the One who called us out of darkness (1 Peter 2:9). In love, be light. In love, let God work in and through you to call others – even enemies – out of darkness. Jesus is the Way!
Pray: Lord, I am so tempted to hate those I perceive as Your enemy. I cannot possibly love unlovable people without Your help. Help me. Show me how to take the words of Jesus seriously and let me be a beacon of light that You use to call others out of darkness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Read: Galatians 5:22-23; Isaiah 52:7; James 3:17
Weekly Memory Verse: “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” Ephesians 2:14-16, NIV