Resist the urge to retaliate with revenge. 

Main Idea: Jesus says in the sermon on the mount “you have heard the law that says”. He talks about the law of a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye. Yet, what he never says is to overthrow or go rebellious in a negative way towards the law, but to resist the urge to be revenge givers.

The big question Christians always have is who do we serve? If we serve Jesus, then do we simply rebel against the government? Jesus says to give to Caesar what is his. How do we reconcile what he tells us to do to our allegiance to Christ?

The context of “where two or three are gathered together in my name” has to do with church discipline and the confrontation of the wayward sinner. In verse 16, the principle has been invoked of needing “two or three witnesses” in making an accusation. It seems that the mention of “two or three” in verse 20 echoes that principle; the “two or three” are confronting sin in the church.

While one of the most taken out of context scriptures, it does tell us that we as individuals are being selected by God and he is going to spoil us extravagantly. This text is written to an exiled people and while the sentiments we have created are nice…they are not for our context.

For years this text has been used to thwart people defacing the body. But it goes so much deeper than that. You are not your own means God purchased you and now possesses ownership of your body. We were once slaves to sin and death, but Jesus “gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds”

Burn The Ship of Living. We have lived most of our lives thinking we aren’t gifted enough, have enough time, enough resources, etc to help people see Jesus. Jesus calls us to leave all behind to follow him.

Burn The Ships of Giving. You think you don’t have enough to give. How can I give out of nothing? God says test me in this and watch me provide.

Burn the ships of serving. We have sometimes felt we are not worthy to serve. We have bought the lie that Jesus would not want to use us because of our past and present.

The only way our “neighbors” hear about Jesus is if we will rub elbows with those that need Jesus.

If we are going to be able to transform and be more like Jesus, we have to be more committed to being in and doing life with other people.