I hate conflict! There, I said it. It feels good to have that out in the open. I want everyone to get along. I want to be on good terms with everyone. I want everyone to be on good terms with me.
The problem is, wherever there are people I run into conflict. Do you find that too?
And for some reason it seems to get worse around the holidays. As a mater of fact I have found there there is often a direct correllation between the number of people that are around, and the likelihood of there being conflict. It seems the more people there are, the greater opportunity there is for conflict. Interestingly, the chance of conflict also seems to increase in proportion to the numbers of family members who are present. There is a reason we have proverbs like “you always hurt the ones you love.”
Jesus said, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. That involves being in relationship with people. What I have been learning is that being in relationship with people means dealing with conflict. We all have cried out to God at one time or another, “Dear God, how am I ever going to love others the way Jesus loves me when the people You surrond me with are, well…these people? Can’t I learn with some different people?” I don’t know about you, but God’s ususal answer to me when I pray that prayer is “No.”
You see, if we are going to love others like Jesus loves us, then we are going to have to be learning how to love when we hurt one another, disappoint one another, and fail one another. In fact, what makes Jesus’ love so remarkably foreign is that it is at its brightest when it takes on conflict.
Luke 6:27-42 (NIV) makes this very apparent. The love that Jesus is loooking for in His disciples is a love that loves through, in spite of, and overcomes conflict.
But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
He also told them this parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
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? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Jesus is teaching His disciples about loving others when others are hard to love: Those who hate you. Those who verbally curse you. Those who mistreat and offend you. Even those who are physically abusive. Jesus teaches that He expects His disciples to be good to them, to pray for them, and to give to them.
He then explains why. He gives two reasons. First, this is the kind of love the Father shows people. If we only love those who love us—if we are are only good to people who are good to us, if we only pray for our friends, if we only give when we are returning love or expecting love in return, how are we acting like our Father? We are to be merciful because our Father is merciful.
Second, the disciples are told that how we treat others will determine how God treats us. If we do not judge others, we will not be judged. If we do not condemn, we will not be condemned. If we forgive, we will be forgiven. If we give, we will be given to. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
He then adds a short two sentence parable: Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
What does Jesus mean here? I think He means that people who are not acting like their Heavenly Father, cannot teach people to do so. The Pharisees were big on Scripture knowledge, but poor on modeling the Father’s love. This is the point of the last two verses of our text. What Jesus is basically saying is, “How can you claim to be able to help others grow into godly people when you are clearly not living that life yourself?”
Verse 40, I believe, is the key to this whole passage. The goal of the disciple is to be like the teacher. If we want to be known as good diciples of Jesus, then we will act like He acts, we will love like He loves. We need to remove the planks from our own eyes so that we see clearly enough to help others get the specks out of their own eyes.
Jesus showed that He was God’s Son by loving like His Father. If we would be children of God, then we will be working to be “fully trained” by Him so that we love one another in the same way.
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 