Sermon
Our Father's Love
August 7-8, 1999
Pastor Leighton Sheley

I'm going to invite you now to take your Bibles and open to Matthew chapter 7. Our theme today is the Father's love. Matthew chapter 7. We as a congregation have been studying the Sermon on the Mount, going through each particular section of it.

I had a gentleman come up to me after the first service and he said, you know, Pastor I really appreciate this church. The church that we attended a long time ago we would come and be preached at, and here we come and we are taught. And we are convinced as a pastoral staff that if you preach at somebody you might be able to condition a change in their life, but that change is temporary. It might last for a few hours or for a few days, and possibly few a few weeks, but it is the Holy Spirit that changes people's lives for time and eternity. And when I look at the Scriptures and I see how Jesus preached, He taught. He took that which they could not understand and He explained it in terms and pictures, word pictures, that the people could understand and so that's what we endeavor to do it so understand what the scriptures say, what they do not mean, what they do mean, and what they mean to us. 

Verses 7 and following, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 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! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Many of the commentary biblical scholars indicate that the apex of Jesus' sermon is found right here in verse 12, and we know it as the Golden Rule. The verses that lead up to it and the verses that we studied last week are all introduction and illustration leading up to the Golden Rule. 

When last week we studied it was telling us how to interact with others, and it was doing so from the negative perspective, and then this week Jesus tells us how to interact with others from the positive aspect. Last week He told us what not to do. He told us not to be carelessly critical or quickly judgmental of others. Now what Jesus says, in effect, is instead of being critical and judgmental we should rather treat people as we would like to be treated. And Jesus tells us that we should love others as God has loved us. You know, God could have been critical and judgmental, but He's not. Instead He's a heavenly Father who gently guides and protects His children and treats them with a self-sacrificial love. There are two themes that are recurrent through the book of Matthew. One is the kingdom of God indicating God's sovereignty and God's rule, and the second is the family of God indicating God's role as the perfect Father and our responsibility to our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

As He began the Sermon on the Mount Jesus identified characteristics of the children of God. He said that they would be poor in spirit. They would be humble, merciful, and peacemakers. And here again, He identifies another characteristic of the children of God; they will treat others as they would like to be treated. You might say, well, what's so special about the Golden Rule. Haven't there been other religions and philosophies in the world that have a similar rule? It is true that there are, but there is nothing that is quite so demanding and requiring as that which Jesus gives, and we're going to study that in just a moment in more depth. 

For those of you taking notes today, Jesus gives us three reasons for obeying the command to love others as ourselves. First, God's promise to His children demands it, verses 7 and 8. Secondly, God's patterns for His children demands it, verses 9 through 11. And finally, God's purpose for His children demands it, verse 12. First, God's promise to His children demands it. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Now some have considered this to be a blank check from God. Anybody can ask anything in His name and He is required to accomplish it. That is false. This promise is only valid for disciples of Jesus Christ. 

Throughout His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus always speaks of scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, false prophets, insincere followers and believers in the third person as if none of them were the direct target of His words. This sermon and its promises are directed only to disciples of Jesus. All others are merely listening in. The 'everyone' in verse 8 refers only to believers. Now some people think of God as being some kind of a heavenly bellboy or machine; tell Him to do something and He is to respond. The Greek verb aiteo is used with reference to a humble asking. It is as though we were going to a superior officer in the military or to a supervisor and we ask them to do something. 

We can never demand that God does anything. He is not our servant. Asking, seeking, and knocking are references to prayer. If we're to overcome the log in our own eye, that is the sin in our own life, we need to have God's wisdom and His strength. As we begin our day we ask the Lord to give us spiritual insight to identify the temptations, the snares before we become entrapped in them, then once we're in a temptation we ask God to provide a way of escape. Now once we've dealt with the sin in our own life, the log in our own eye, then we need God's wisdom in assisting our brother with the sin in their life, the speck in their eye. We pray, God, give me the opportunity to talk with my brother or my sister about this issue, and then when the opportunity comes give me the words to say, words that will not turn them away, but words that will redirect them back into proper relationships with You. God's wisdom and strength are essential in everything. 

How can we distinguish who are dogs and swine from those who have not yet received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior apart from the wisdom of God? We must have God's wisdom to fulfill any or all of Jesus' commands. James 1:5 says, If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. Asking, seeking, and knocking are a logical sequence when you're trying to get to a specific location. Let me illustrate. You're on the phone, you're talking with somebody saying, come on over. The first thing you do is you ask their address. You might even ask for directions, unless you're a typical man. The next thing you do after asking is you seek, you seek the proper exit off the freeway. And then you're seeking to count the number of lights; like some people give you, there're three lights then you watch for such-and-such a street sign, and you seek for the street sign then you seek for the address on the house. And then once you've gotten to the house, then you begin [knocks on pulpit] knocking. You don't just knock [one knock on pulpit] and walk away. You knock [knocks on pulpit] until your goal is accomplished. In this case, the goal, the specific location that we are trying to get to is the perfect will of God. 

We want to experience, we want to know, God's perfect will. We want to be where God wants us to be. We want to do what God wants us to do. We want to say what God wants us to say. That's the destination that we're endeavoring to achieve. Now in the Greek there're two kinds of imperatives, or commands. There's the aorist imperative which issues a one time command, such as, shut the door. There's also the present imperative which issues a command that somebody should continue to do something, such as, always shut the door. 

Now, my son and I have a communication problem because I think that I'm talking to him in the present imperative and he hears in the aorist imperative. I say, Son, would you please turn off your light when you leave your room? And he turns off the light and he leaves the room, and a few minutes later I come back, he's out of his room, but the light's back on. Now what Jesus is using is not the aorist imperative, but the present imperative. And what He's saying is keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking. Now why is it that we need to keep on asking? Well it's not because God doesn't want to give us directions, it's because we're hard of hearing. And why is it that we need to keep on seeking? Well it's not because God gives us bad directions, it's because we following directions badly. And why is it that we need to keep on knocking? It's because often we fail to achieve our goal and we stumble and we fall, and what Jesus is saying is get up and keep trying, get up and keep trying, get up and keep trying. 

The secret of Jesus' success is that He was always where God wanted Him to be, He was always doing what God wanted Him to do, He was always saying what God wanted Him to say. He said, I hear the Father speaking and I speak, I see the Father doing and I do. He was God's representative on earth, and just before He went away He placed that mantle of responsibility on His followers, and in spite of our many imperfections, we are God's representatives on earth called to carry out the ministry of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures call us the body of Christ. Secondly, God's pattern for His children demands it. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 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! As in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus addresses God as Father, and not only His Father, but our Father. 

Now this concept of relationship with God was nothing short of revolutionary. Up until Jesus all of the religions and philosophies of the world had their concept of god or gods as being dispassionately interested in the world and the affairs of mankind. The Greeks perceived their gods as living high on Mount Olympus remote and removed from the people of the world and their affairs. Their interests in mankind were primarily for their own entertainment. Greek mythology tells of Aurora, goddess of the dawn, who fell in love with Tithonus a mortal youth, and when Zeus, king of the gods, promised to grant her any gift she might choose for Tithonus she asked that Tithonus might live forever. Unfortunately she forgot to ask for eternal youth, and the gift became a curse as Tithonus continued to age for all eternity. Now was Zeus concerned with the welfare of Tithonus? Not at all.

Jesus introduced the possibility of enjoying a relationship with God typified by the Father-child relationship. And one of the identifying characteristics of a good father and God is the perfect Father, the model Father, is that they are intimately concerned with every aspect of their children's life. They sacrifice for their children's welfare, and watch over and care for their children, providing food and shelter, and protection. And what Jesus is saying is that God does not toy with us as the mythological gods of Greece, but rather provides for our every need as a loving father. Jesus asks, what man among you, when a son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? And the way this question is phrased in the original language makes it a rhetorical question expecting a negative response. There is no father; rare indeed, is the father who would be so cruel. 

The stones referenced are found around the Sea of Galilee. They are small, flat, round limestones that are nearly identical in shape, and color, and texture to a Jewish loaf of bread. If a child were to bite into such a rock, the child might very well break his teeth. Remember that dentistry was not common in that land, and person's diet was dependent on their ability to assimilate food. People with broken teeth could only eat soft food. Not only would handing the child a stone be cruel, but it would negatively effect them for the rest of their life. And every time they sat down for a meal they would be reminded of the cruelty of their father. Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake? Now Jesus could have been speaking of a land snake or a sea snake, an eel, and either the eel of the snake can be prepared to appear like fish, but they are unfit to eat because they are unclean. 

The Scriptures specifically told the Jews, who were Jesus' primary audience that day, not to partake of certain foods, and this was one of them. And so it would be a mockery to the child for the father to prepare this meal and sit it in front of the child who was hungry. Obviously he was asking dad for a meal, and the child could not eat of it. Now in the parallel passage in Luke there's a third illustration provided in that of a father giving a scorpion when the son asks for an egg. There's a certain kind of scorpion that looks like an egg when the tail is curled up, and the sting of a scorpion is exceedingly painful and sometimes it leads to death. Now, in terms of nutritional value, rocks have none. And snake meat defiles the partaker. It's evil to them. And a scorpion is dangerous, and so what Jesus is saying is that God will never give us something that is worthless, or dangerous, or evil.

Now, sometimes my children ask me for things that I do not give them. It's not because I don't love my children. It's because I know that if I give them that something it's going to be either worthless, or dangerous, or evil. James 1:17 says, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father. The Father knows what is good for us and He gives us that which is good for us. 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! This is one of the clear and specific teachings in Scripture about the fallen nature of mankind and when Jesus is talking here He's not just talking to cruel fathers, He's talking to everyone. 

You might say, just a moment here, I'm a good father. Well most of the time anyway. You know, let's face it, there are times when we're not perfect fathers. There are times when our children are talking to us and our minds are far, far away and what we're communicating to their little spirits is that they're not important. There are times when we come home from work and we're too tired to play and we send them away. Some might respond, okay I'm not perfect, but…and that's the point. We're not perfect. There are times when we fail. There might be somebody who says, I'm a pretty good person. I only murdered somebody once. You know, I had a lot more opportunities but I only murdered…I'm not a bad person. And I don't think any of us have any problems saying, that's a pretty evil person to go around murdering a person because you know they might have been a good neighbor, they might have been a good husband, a good father, but at some point on a given day the decided to cross a certain line. And you know, each and every one of us cross lines every day, but we don't think of ourselves as being evil. 

We're evil because we're not perfect. Only the heavenly Father is perfect, and Jesus. How much more? Jesus says, how much more does your heavenly Father love you? Now what's He referencing? He's comparing the love of our heavenly father with the love of our parents. There is perhaps no more sacrificial love between humans than that of the relationship between the parent and a child. I mean, parents will sacrifice for their children, even giving up their lives. Now think about other relationships. How many employers can you think of that would give up their life for an employee? How many kings would give up their life on behalf of a subject? There is perhaps no more sacrificial relationship between humans as that between the parent and the child, and what Jesus is saying is how much more does God love us than our own parents? How much more is He willing to sacrifice? How much more is He willing to give? 

Thirdly, God's purpose for His children demands it, verse 12, So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. I was coming north on 101 a number of months back and at Crowne Plaza they often times put up sayings from Alfred. I don't know who Alfred is, but sometimes he comes up with some real thought provoking comments, and I remember driving by one day and there was a sign up and it said, I don't remember the details, but it was like – thirty thousand laws to enforce Ten Commandments. Thirty thousand laws to enforce Ten Commandments. Why is it that we have to have all these laws? Well it's because people don't follow the Golden Rule. They don't treat each other properly. They don't treat each other like they would like to be treated. They take advantage of each other, right? And that's why we have so many laws written. You think, if everybody lived by the Golden Rule we wouldn't need these laws and life would be a whole lot more simple. 

And Jesus took the Ten Commandments and He summarized them in two; love the Lord your God, love your neighbor as yourself. And this is a paraphrase of the second; love your neighbor as yourself, treat others as you would like to be treated. Now this declaration of Jesus was also nothing less than radical. There are similar statements that are found in the philosophies and religions of the world, but none are as demanding as Jesus'. Hillel, the Jewish rabbi says, what is hateful to yourself do not do to someone else. 

Confucius taught, what you do not want done to yourself do not do to others. The Greek philosopher says, what you avoid suffering yourself do not inflict on others. The stoic philosopher says, what you do not want to be done to you do not do to anyone else. Now all of these expressions tell us not to harm others, and what Jesus was telling us was something very different. He took it beyond not harming others, He told us to help other. Now to help us distinguish what Jesus was saying from what the others were saying, let's put it in a modern word picture. We're driving down the freeway, we're driving defensively, we're driving safely, and we're driving at a reasonable speed. We are not hurting others. We see a motorist in distress. We sacrificially set aside our own plans and our own priorities. We pull off the highway and we help that motorist in distress. We are now helping others. Now you see, all of the philosophies of the world, the religions of the world, say don't hurt other people. As long as you're going down the freeway and you're not hurting anybody, you're doing just fine. 

But what Jesus was telling us is, when you see somebody in need you sacrificially give to meet that need. I want to commend our congregation on the sacrifices you make in small ways. It doesn't have to necessarily be a big way; it could be a small way. When you come to services on Sunday, if you're early you come to the front and you move towards the center. Why? Because if you're in the center the people don't have to crawl over you, and people are very uncomfortable crawling over strangers, and so you want to be courteous to your neighbor so you move towards the center unless you're planning on leaving early. And you move to the front so that those who have been delayed, as can happen, traffic or whatever the case might be, can come in to the back. Why? Because they're not going to be comfortable coming to the front, and so in these ways when you're constantly thinking, it doesn't have to big it can be small, of how you can improve the life of someone else you're fulfilling the Golden Rule. 

Now Jesus even takes it farther. He tells us that how we treat others is not dependent upon their reciprocating in kind. You see, He also in this verse you find the present active imperative telling us that we are to keep on treating others as we would want them to treat us. Now why is it that Jesus would have to command us to keep on treating others like we would like them to treat us? I mean, if you go and you meet somebody and you treat them with honor and respect and they reciprocate, how difficult is it to continue a relationship with mutual honor and respect? It's not hard at all, is it? And then Jesus' command would be superfluous, it would be unnecessary. 

So then why does Jesus put it there? It's for the people who don't reciprocate. You treat them as you would like to be treated, but they don't treat you with mutual respect, mutual honor. And what Jesus is commanding us to do is to keep on treating others as we would like to be treated. Now Jesus' life was a life of service. He came from the glories of heaven to earth to serve. As He was going towards Jerusalem and the crucifixion and walking the roads, the disciples were having a conversation behind Him. They were discussing about who was going to be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Their concept of the kingdom at that time was that Jesus was going to step into Jerusalem, the people were going to elect Him as their king, they were going to throw away the rule of the Romans and the messianic state would be, and they were going to be the cabinet around Jesus in this kingdom. And so they were arguing about who was going to be greatest and when whey got to the location Jesus turned and He asked them, He says what were you guys discussing? None of them wanted to tell, I mean, for obvious reasons. 

And so what Jesus did is He gave them a picture. He washed their feet. He took the role of the lowest servant and He washed their feet, and then He says this in John 13:13, "You call Me 'Teacher' and 'Lord' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. At the end of His ministry Jesus summed up His life in Matthew 20:28, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. 

In summary one of the premier characteristics of children of God is that they have a heart of a servant. Now when I was very young, I was a child, somebody gave me this acronym and I'll pass it on to you because it is so simple and yet so powerful. JOY; Jesus, others, yourself. JOY; Jesus first then others then yourself is joy. Let's pray. Lord we thank you for Your word and again how clear it is to guide and direct our path. And yet, Lord, we also look at Your word and we are reminded of how often we fail You. When I read these words and I preach this sermon I'm really preaching to me too. There have been times this week when I've not treated others as I would like to be treated. And Lord, I'm so thankful each person here that You're so patient with us. You tell us to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, don't give up. Don't give up. 

Thank you Lord for Your patience with us. Lord, when we think about the calling that You've called us to, to be ambassadors and representatives of Your kingdom in this world and how imperfect we are, we're overwhelmed. Lord give us wisdom and give us strength that somehow for Your glory people's attention are brought to You, that they receive You and accept You as their Lord and Savior. Thank you Lord, thank you for being our heavenly Father. Thank you for never being too busy. Thank you Lord for not being too weak. You're always there to guide us and direct us and love us and encourage us. And Lord may it be that Your example to us is an example that we follow in our relationship with others, encouraging, and loving. In Jesus' name we pray, and together we say, amen.