Building Your Life on the Rock: Life has its storms. Sometimes, the storm is a category four hurricane, but more often, it comes in the form of loss, conflict, illness, or a rough patch in an important relationship. So how are we to weather the storms of life? Jesus tackles this issue at the end of his Sermon on the Mount, promising that the storms will come. But Jesus also promises that we can endure the storms, not just through knowledge of his teachings, but through joyful, sometimes painful obedience to his way. Recorded on Oct 16, 2022, on Matthew 7:24-29, by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our sermon series “The Unexpected Way,” from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it’s different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy, and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.

Transcript

All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus, which means that all year, we’ll basically be answering the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” And we’ve been working through a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon series called, The Unexpected Way. The teaching of Jesus leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic, a cross-shaped way of life. And the way of Jesus is totally different than all the other religions and philosophies of the world. And at every turn, it seems as if the way of Jesus is the last thing we’d expect. But if it’s followed, it’s the only way that has the power to bring true and lasting love, joy, and peace to the journey and lead to abundant and everlasting life. Today, we’re coming to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. But next week, we’ll have a little epilogue on faith and works and the importance of getting the order right. But today, we’ll heed the call to build our lives upon the Rock and find true stability and security no matter what storms may come in life. Just a few weeks ago, Hurricane Ian, a category four hurricane, left devastation across southern Florida. I saw a time-lapse video of the storm in, I believe it was, Naples, FL. There were two buildings in the video, one a hotel made out of what looked like concrete and the other a smaller wooden house or shop. When the storm surge came in, the water almost covered the camera, maybe 8-10’ high. And when it receded, the hotel remained, but the house was completely gone. Not just knocked over, but gone. Sadly, everyone faces storms of various kinds in life. Sometimes literal storms like a hurricane, but more often, storms of long-term illness, unexpected loss, conflict, abuse, or abandonment. In many ways, this is just part of life in a broken world, a world marred by sin and death. But some people are able to remain standing through the storms, while others are crushed or just never seem to recover. So as we learn the way of Jesus, how can we remain standing, how can we endure the storms of life? If you have a Bible/app, please open to Mt 7:24. We’ll read this and then unpack it together.

Matthew 7:24-29 (NIV), “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house,

False Prophets and False Disciples: Jesus never sugar-coated the dangers of following his way. One danger relates to false prophets or teachers who seek to deceive or mislead for selfish gain. Another danger relates to false disciples who trust religious works in the place of a relationship with God. Can we guard against false teaching? Can we have true assurance of faith? Absolutely. Recorded on Oct 9, 2022, on Matthew 7:15-23, by Kyle Wagner.

This message is part of our sermon series “The Unexpected Way,” from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it’s different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy, and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.

New Identity, New Path: The Golden Rule — Everybody knows it, but why is it so difficult to treat others how we want to be treated? Why is this simple concept so difficult to put into practice? What about prayer? What about all the rest of the Christian life? The key is to realize that faith in Jesus results in a brand new identity as a child of God. Out of this new identity flows a whole new way of life, empowered and sustained by our good Father in heaven. Recorded on Oct 2, 2022, on Matthew 7:7-14, by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our sermon series “The Unexpected Way,” from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it’s different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy, and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.

Sermon Transcript:

All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus, which means that all year, we’ll basically be answering the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” And we’ve been working through a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon series called, The Unexpected Way. Last week, we considered Jesus’ teaching about being judgmental of others and his calling to first work on your issues/struggles before trying to fix other people. We had a great discussion about this at Youth Group, and hopefully, it was helpful for those of you in a community group, as well. If you missed any of the messages in this series, you can always go back and watch on the church app or on YouTube or listen to the audio podcast. Today, we’re reminded that we have a radically new identity by faith in Jesus. And this new identity leads us to a new path in life. We’ve been talking about this path; that’s what the way of Jesus is all about. But it’s critical to see how our new identity (who we are) leads to this new path (what we do). Our activity flows out of our identity. Some of us really struggle with following the way of Jesus in one area or another, and it’s tempting to focus on the behavior, to try and control it or correct it somehow. But it’s far more effective to focus on who we are and whose we are in Christ. If you have a Bible/app, please open to Mt 7:7. 

Matthew 7:7-14 (NIV), “7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” 

So in the Sermon on the Mount, let’s remember the context: Jesus is teaching his disciples/followers what it looks like to follow his way. And with all this focus on our behavior, it can start to feel like being a Christian is largely defined by what we say/do, in other words, by external behavior. But this is not the case. Of first importance is who God is and what the nature of our relationship is in Christ. And really, no one else in all of history has envisioned God a...

Judging Others: Christians are often perceived as being judgemental - sometimes with good reason. But how are we to apply the teachings of Jesus' way while being both loving and honest? First, you must work on your own struggles before trying to help others, as this provides clarity and compassion and also helps to build community with your church family. Recorded on Sept 25, 2022, on Matthew 7:1-6, by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our sermon series “The Unexpected Way,” from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it’s different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy, and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.

Sermon Transcript

  All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus, which means that all year, we’ll basically be answering the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” And we’ve been working through a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon series called, The Unexpected Way. The Sermon on the Mount is found in Matthew chapters 5-7 and today we’re starting chapter 7. For the last two weeks, we considered Jesus’ teaching on money, wealth, and possessions. He dealt with both the disordered love of money that is so tempting for us, but also the fears, anxiety, and worries that our money and our possessions tend to produce. If you missed any of the messages in this series, you can always go back and watch on the church app or on YouTube or listen to the audio podcast. Today, Jesus turns from dealing with worry to focus on the problem of being harshly critical or judgmental of others. Right or wrong, Christians often get the reputation of being judgmental or of having a holier-than-thou type of attitude. Have you ever experienced this? Or have you ever been accused of this? For being judgmental of a friend or family member or someone? I have. At the last wedding I officiated, I didn’t know most of the people at the reception other than the bride and groom. So, of course, at dinner, I was seated with people I didn’t know. With my level of extroversion, this isn’t usually a problem. I actually love those situations. But when the lady who was seated next to me saw that it was me, the pastor, who’d be sitting at their table and, in fact, sitting next to her, she literally said, “Oh no!” I said with a smile, “Oh no? What do you think I’m going to do to you?” And she said something like, “Well, now we need to be on our best behavior.” I laughed and said I’d try not to make things too weird or painful for the table, and we had a great evening. But what was she afraid of? I think she was afraid I would be judgmental of them. Or maybe that I’d look down my nose at them or make them feel guilty or something. Now that wasn’t fair, but as I said, right or wrong, Christians don’t have the best reputation with judgment. So what are we supposed to do? Should followers of Jesus never pass judgment on someone regardless of what decisions they make or what they do? Or is there a way to judge others without making them feel unloved or hopelessly condemned? There is much wisdom in our short passage today. If you have a Bible/app, please open to Mt 7:1. 

Matthew 7:1-6 (NIV), “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

What To Do With Worry: Fear, anxiety, and worry produce a constant and overwhelming struggle for many people today. Out of all the anxiety and worry you experience, how much of it is related to money? Jesus knows how much we tend to worry about our money or possessions. But the way of Jesus, of seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness, is the only way to find true freedom from fear. Recorded on Sept 18, 2022, on Matthew 6:25-34, by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our sermon series “The Unexpected Way,” from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it’s different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy, and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.

Sermon Transcript

All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus, which means that all year, we’ll basically be answering the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” And we’ve been working through a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon series called, The Unexpected Way. Jesus’ teaching has covered a lot of ground from thinking about the values of the kingdom of heaven, what it means to be a good person, the traps of religious works, and more. Last week, we started a little two-part series within the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus shifts his focus to our money, wealth, and possessions. And this is so helpful because, for whatever reason, issues relating to our wealth run deep within the human heart. Last week, we saw that one of the temptations/traps to avoid is thinking that making money or accumulating stuff is the highest value or the purpose of our lives. These things should not master us; Jesus clearly says we cannot serve both God and money. Today, in the second in our two-part series, we’ll move from love to fear — including the very real fears that start to well up when we think about our bills or debt, our financial security, or our future. Will we have enough? Will we be able to accomplish our goals? Should we be making/saving/investing more? What if the economy falls into a recession, or what if we can’t work for some reason? Out of all the anxiety and worry you experience, how much of it is related to money? If you have a Bible/app, please open it to Mt 6:25. 

Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV), “25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” 

Treasures in Heaven: Money is one of those uncomfortable topics that some of us try hard to avoid. But Jesus has a lot to say about our money, wealth, and possessions. Why? Because financial issues seem to run deep in the human heart. How can we learn to be good stewards of the resources God has entrusted to our care while avoiding the trap of becoming mastered by our money? Watch here. Recorded on Sept 11, 2022, on Matthew 6:19-24, by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our sermon series “The Unexpected Way,” from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it’s different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.

Sermon Transcript

All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus, which means that all year, we’ll basically be answering the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” For the past two months, we’ve been working through a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon series called, The Unexpected Way. If you’d like to go back and catch up on any sermons you missed, you can always watch on the app or on YouTube or listen to the audio podcast. But we’ve said that the teaching of Jesus leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic, a cross-shaped way of life. And it’s a totally different way than the other philosophies or religions of the world. In so many ways, the way of Jesus is counterintuitive, it’s the unexpected way. Last week, our fam had a little Covid time-out, which was not very fun, but Ted did a great job of filling in last minute with a message from a previous sermon series. Today, we’re jumping back into the Sermon on the Mount and will start a two-part section of the teaching of Jesus on money, wealth, and possessions. Jesus actually has a lot to say about money, not because money is necessarily a bad thing. But for whatever reason, money affects us in a way that few other things in life do. The love of money affects our hearts, including the inner drive/desire to earn/consume more and more (today). But also, the many fears swirling around our money affect our hearts, including all the anxiety around getting/losing money (next week). Both love and anxiety run really deep through the human heart, and if we fail to understand these things, they can easily master us and control our lives. So, how should a disciple/follower of Jesus think about money? If you have a Bible/app, please open it to Mt 6:19.

Matthew 6:19-24 (NIV), “19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” 

Remember the context of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus teaching his disciples or followers what it looks like to follow his way. In the last few weeks, we considered the teaching of Jesus on doing good works, religious works even,

From Injustice to Injustice: Sometimes life’s not fair. After the injustice of being sold into slavery, Joseph tried to live a God-honoring life only to be falsely accused and then thrown in prison. When you go from injustice to injustice it can be hard to see the good plan of God and easy to feel abandoned. But through Joseph’s story, it was clear that God was with him. Even today, in the gospel we see that we are not alone. We are not forsaken. Even in the moments of the deepest pain, in the trials of greatest injustice, we are still found safely within the love and care of a God who does not abandon us, a God who in the end will right all wrongs and have the victory.

This sermon is part of the Joseph series from the spring of 2018. Recorded on Sep. 4, 2022, by Ted Selker, from Genesis 39.

Praying Like Jesus: Prayer is simply talking with God. But more than that, prayer is an opportunity to spend precious time in communion with and awareness of God’s presence. Jesus was constantly praying and taught his disciples how to pray. Want to learn how to pray like Jesus? Listen here. Recorded on August 28, 2022, on Matthew 6:5-15, by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our sermon series “The Unexpected Way,” from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it’s different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.

Sermon Transcript

All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus, which means that all year, we’ll basically be answering the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” For the past two months, we’ve been working through a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon series called, The Unexpected Way. And we’ve said that the teaching of Jesus leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. But it’s a different way from the other philosophies or religions of the world; it’s counterintuitive, it’s the unexpected way. Last week, we started a new section of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus turns his attention to religious works and the potential trap of these things. He teaches that there’s a way to be religious without it having anything to do with God, and he gives three examples in giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting. Last week we started this section by considering how serving the poor can really turn into serving ourselves if we’re not careful. Today, our focus is on Jesus’ example of prayer. If you have a Bible/app, please open to Matthew 6:5. Instead of reading the whole passage first, we’ll read and unpack this in two parts. So part one:

Matthew 6:5-8 (NIV), “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Let’s pause here. Now, I’m not going to spend as much time on this section because this is very similar to our passage from last week. Last week, I said that Mt 6:1 was really the thesis statement for this section of teaching. There, Jesus said, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.” This is a warning for us not to try and do good works, religious works even, in order to be seen by others. Giving to the needy was the first example of this kind of twisted religious behavior, and now here he moves on to prayer. But again, just like last week, I don’t believe Jesus is saying we should never pray publicly. And I don’t believe Jesus is saying we should never spend long hours, at times, in prayer, which would presumably use many words. First, we must remember the example of Jesus. On a number of occasions, Jesus prayed both publicly and often at great length. And second, remember the context. If verse 1 is the thesis, then this teaching is just another example of doing a religious work, that is, prayer, for self-serving,

Serving Those in Need: You can't read the Bible and miss God's heart for the poor. It's no surprise then that the way of Jesus would include the responsibility to give to and serve those in need. However, Jesus warns his disciples that there's a way of doing good works, even religious works, which is spiritually dangerous for those who are trying to help. How can we meet needs with both wisdom and generosity without falling into this trap? Listen here. Recorded on August 21, 2022, on Matthew 6:1-4, by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our sermon series "The Unexpected Way," from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it's different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.

Sermon Transcript

All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus, which means that all year, we’ll basically be answering the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” For the past two months, we’ve been working through a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon series called, The Unexpected Way. And we’ve said that the teaching of Jesus leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic, but it’s a different way from the other philosophies or religions of the world. It’s counterintuitive, it sometimes seems upside-down. It’s the unexpected way. For the past few weeks, we’ve considered a number of examples of Jesus for how the moral law goes way deeper than what it allows or prohibits. It goes all the way down to the heart level and has underlying principles for how God intends for us to live. And it’s been hard teaching! This is serious stuff. But it’s so good. In each case, we saw both a beautiful vision for the type of people and society that we would enjoy if we actually lived like this, but also our desperate need for God because of how often we fail to live like this. Today, and for the next few weeks, Jesus turns the focus from morality and what it truly means to do right and wrong to religion or religious practice. Today, we’ll consider the giving of alms (charity) or more simply, serving those in need. Almost every culture and religion says this is a good idea, and it is! But Jesus gives us some unique insight into how this can become a trap for us if we aren’t careful. In fact, there’s a way to be religious without it having anything to do with God. If you have a Bible/app, please open to Matthew 6:1. We’ll read through this and unpack it together.

Matthew 6:1-4 (NIV), “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

So again, for the past month or so, we’ve seen again and again that being righteous or being a good person is much harder than it first seems. And this is because God wants us to follow his way whole-heartedly, with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. It turns out this is true for not only the way we treat other people, as we saw in our commitment to value/love them,

Loving Your Enemy: Interacting with people is hard, even with those you are closest to. Nearly everyone would agree that you should be loving and kind towards others, but this is often applied only to those who are like us or fall within our group. But what about those who are different than us, those with a different nationality, belief system, or political dogma? Jesus teaches that we should love not only those who are annoying, inconvenient, or who hurt our pride but those who are actively opposed to us as well... those we classify as our enemies. Recorded on August 14, 2022, on Matthew 5:38-48, by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our sermon series "The Unexpected Way," from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it's different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.

Sermon Transcript

All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus, which means that all year, we’ll basically be answering the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” To start, we’ve been working through a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon series called, The Unexpected Way. And we’ve said that the teaching of Jesus leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic which is not at all what we’d expect. The way of Jesus is a different way from the other philosophies or religions of the world. But, if it’s actually put into practice, the way of Jesus leads to a life of love/joy/peace. For the past few weeks, Jesus has been teaching us what it really means to be a good person, for us to really live the life that God intended for human beings to live. And let me just take a quick survey today, do we think this has been easy teaching or hard teaching? Very hard teaching. Today, we have one more example from Jesus of the type of righteousness that he requires of his disciples, and it’s maybe the hardest one yet. Are you ready for this? Are you sure? If you have a Bible/app, please open it to Matthew 5:38. We’ll read through this and unpack it together.

Matthew 5:38-48 (NIV), “38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’  39 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. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor  and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Again, just like the last three weeks, Jesus shows us that the OT Law has underlying principles that go way beyond what the Law allows or prohibits. But these underlying principles, rooted in God’s character, are how God intends for human beings to actually live. In this case, how we are to respond, not just to people who like us or are like us,