CRCF\u201d\u201d1\/17\/10<\/p>\n
The Kudzu Conspiracy:
\nThe Growth of God\u201d\u2122s Kingdom
\nin the Empires of Men<\/p>\n
Introduction: \u201cIf Jesus preached in New York what he preached in Galilee, we\u201d\u2122d lay him in his grave again\u201d (Woody Guthrie, quoted in Jesus for President, 95).<\/p>\n
We\u201d\u2122ve been lovingly brought into a kingdom that operates in a radically different way than the world around us\u201d\u201dit\u201d\u2122s a lot like kudzu! (Slide 1)<\/p>\n
Part 1: God\u201d\u2122s kingdom grows like a weed\u201d\u201dsubtly, yet wildly taking over people\u201d\u2122s hearts with Jesus\u201d\u2122 love. (Slide 2)<\/p>\n
Part 2: \u201cKudzu Fertilizer\u201d
\nMatthew 5:38-48<\/p>\n
Enemy-love is the fertilizer for The Kudzu Conspiracy.<\/p>\n
Enemy-love is the secret for the growth of God\u201d\u2122s Kingdom in the empires of men.<\/p>\n
WHY? (Slide 3)<\/p>\n
We\u201d\u2122ll answer that in just a little while.<\/p>\n
Piper: A Christian \u201cis called, as it were, to live in two worlds whose rules are not the same.\u201d (Love Your Enemies, 174).<\/p>\n
Gerhard Lohfink: \u201cJesus is very aware of the \u201d\u02dcimpossibility\u201d\u2122 of the cause of God in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it is that seeming impossibility that will make it clear to the world that God is at work in and through our lives!<\/p>\n
Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT) (Slide 4)<\/p>\n
43 \u201cYou have heard the law that says, \u201d\u02dcLove your neighbor\u201d\u2122 and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.<\/p>\n
The Message: (Slide 5)<\/p>\n
48 “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”<\/p>\n
WHY is enemy-love the secret for the growth of God\u201d\u2122s kingdom in the empires of men?<\/p>\n
Because nothing shows the world Who God is like enemy-love! GOD is the author of enemy-love!<\/p>\n
Romans 5:8-10 (NLT) (Slide 6)<\/p>\n
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God\u201d\u2122s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God\u201d\u2122s judgment. For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our goal is NOT to rid the world of evil.<\/p>\n
In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus gives a parable of a wheat field that was infiltrated by the farmer\u201d\u2122s enemy who sowed weeds all amongst the wheat\u201d\u201dweeds, which, by the way, looked very much like wheat, called darnel. Jesus says we\u201d\u2122re to let the weeds\/tares (those who oppose God\u201d\u2122s kingdom) to grow up alongside of God\u201d\u2122s people and let God separate the wheat from the tares at the end. After all, we\u201d\u2122re not God and can\u201d\u2122t often discern the difference between a wheat and a darnel!<\/p>\n
Our goal is NOT to rid the world of evil.<\/p>\n
Our goal is to transform the world by the power of enemy-love!<\/p>\n
(Slide 7)<\/p>\n
Jesus gives us some practical, albeit, hard-to-swallow, examples of how enemy-love looks in action in the verses just prior to this.<\/p>\n
Matthew 5:38-42 (NLT) (Slide 8)<\/p>\n
38 \u201cYou have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: \u201d\u02dcAn eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.\u201d\u2122 39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 42 Give to those who ask, and don\u201d\u2122t turn away from those who want to borrow.<\/p>\n
Matthew 5:38-42 (The Message) (Slide 9)<\/p>\n
38-42″Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’ Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.<\/p>\n
(Slide 10)
\n\u201cJesus taught enemy love with imagination . . . Jesus points us toward disarming others. Jesus teaches us to refuse to oppose evil on its own terms. He invites us to transcend both passivity and violence through a third way\u201d (Claiborne and Haw, Jesus for President, 92).<\/p>\n
The slap on the cheek here is a back-handed slap with the right hand to the right cheek\u201d\u201da slap given in a condescending way (explain). When Jesus says to turn the other cheek, He\u201d\u2122s not just saying let the person hit you again\u201d\u201dHe\u201d\u2122s saying expose the nature of that slap and point him\/her to the image of God in us all.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not cower and do not punch back. Make sure the person looks into your eyes and sees your sacred humanity, and it will become increasingly harder for that person to hurt you\u201d (ibid, 92).<\/p>\n
As for the issue of having your shirt taken\u201d\u201dthis was a common way the poor were abused by their harsh landlords or the tax people. \u201cSo here Jesus is telling impoverished debtors, who have nothing but the clothes on their backs, to strip naked and expose the greed of the repo man . . . \u201d\u02dcYou want my coat. You can have it. You can even have my undies\u201d\u2122\u201d (ibid, 93).<\/p>\n
The last example refers to the common practice of Roman soldiers making those under their rule\u201d\u201din this case, the Jews\u201d\u201dcarry their gear for a mile, the legal limit. \u201cIt would be simply absurd for a Jew to befriend an occupying soldier and want to walk an extra mile with him\u201d (ibid, 94). And yet, that is what Jesus is calling for here! He is encouraging neither passivity or violence, but active love that both asserts our dignity as God\u201d\u2122s creatures and shows God\u201d\u2122s love, which has the power to transform the ones we are loving!<\/p>\n
(Slide 11)
\nEnemy-love is the fertilizer for The Kudzu Conspiracy. WHY?
\nNothing shows the world Who God is like enemy-love!<\/p>\n
Lloyd-Jones: \u201cHe wants us to reach a state in which we are indifferent to self and self-esteem . . . The teaching has reference to my concern about myself. \u201d\u02dcI have been insulted, I have been struck; therefore I must defend myself, and my honour.\u201d\u2122 That is the spirit our Lord is anxious to banish from our lives.\u201d (282-3)
\n\u201cHe says we must not insist upon our legal rights even though we may at times suffer injustice as a result.\u201d (284)
\n\u201cNo, says our Lord, if . . . this soldier comes along and says you have to carry his baggage for a mile, not only do it cheerfully, but go to the second mile. The result will be that when you arrive this soldier will say: \u201d\u02dcWho is this person? What is it about him that makes him act like this? He is doing it cheerfully, and is going beyond his duty.\u201d\u2122 And they will be driven to this conclusion: \u201d\u02dcThis man is different, he seems to be unconcerned about his own interests.\u201d\u2122 As Christians, our state of mind and spiritual condition should be such that no power can insult us.\u201d (287)<\/p>\n
This is some hard stuff, isn\u201d\u2122t it? But one last comment from Lloyd-Jones says it well:<\/p>\n
\u201cHoliness is not something to be received in a meeting; it is a life to be lived and to be lived in detail.\u201d (289)<\/p>\n
Contrary to popular, Christian opinion in America, our goal is NOT to rid the world of evil.<\/p>\n
Our goal is to transform the world by the power of enemy-love!<\/p>\n
Enemy-love is the fertilizer for The Kudzu Conspiracy.<\/p>\n
Enemy-love is the secret for the growth of God\u201d\u2122s Kingdom in the empires of men.<\/p>\n
WHY?
\nNothing shows the world Who God is like enemy-love! Enemy-love is the Gospel!<\/p>\n
Dostoevsky: Always decide to use humble love. If you resolve on that, once and for all, you may subdue the whole world. Loving humility is marvelously strong, the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else like it. (The Brothers Karamazov)<\/p>\n
What difference does all of this need to make in your life and mine?
\nRight now, identify at least one relationship where you need to extend enemy-love to someone. And tell God silently, from your heart right now, that you are committed to do just that by HIS power!<\/p>\n
Romans 12:19-21 (NLT)<\/p>\n
Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, \u201d\u02dcI will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it,\u201d\u2122 says the Lord. Instead, do what the Scriptures say: \u201d\u02dcIf your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you.\u201d\u2122 Don\u201d\u2122t let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.<\/p>\n
Can you imagine what our community would look like if we all practiced this kind of enemy-love?<\/p>\n
We come to the Lord\u201d\u2122s Table\u201d\u201dthe celebration of enemy-love! Every Sunday, we celebrate the fact that God loved us, His enemies, in the ultimate way\u201d\u201dby giving His own precious Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sin. If we would celebrate HIS enemy-love toward us, we must, at the same time, celebrate the power His love gives us to extend enemy-love in our lives!<\/p>\n
Celebration of the Lord\u201d\u2122s Supper<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CRCF\u201d\u201d1\/17\/10 The Kudzu Conspiracy: The Growth of God\u201d\u2122s Kingdom in the Empires of Men Introduction: \u201cIf Jesus preached in New York what he preached in Galilee, we\u201d\u2122d lay him in his grave again\u201d (Woody Guthrie, quoted in Jesus for President, … Continue reading