To earn hate, you must love.
Ever tried putting a square peg in a round hole? There is an old children’s toy with multiple
shaped holes, that fit matching pegs.
The goal is simple; match the physical piece in the hole on the board
designed to fit only that piece.
Toddlers begin playing with this toy and as their brains grasp the
concept, they begin trying different pieces in a hole, until they find a
match. Really smart toddlers can
visualize which piece might fit in which hole.
And aggressive toddlers look for a hammer designed to solve every
quandary by pounding it in. The world at
its core is not too much different than the simple board. When you are a part of the world, in harmony
with the world, the world understands you, and you understand it. Everyone is just looking out for number one
all the time. But when you encounter
Jesus. Not the stories about Him, or
even the scriptures about Him, but Jesus Himself, up close and personal in “your”
life – “you” begin to change. Over time,
your shape (who you are, how you think, and how you love) is radically
different than anything the world has to offer.
And so the world hates you for it.
While you were one of them, you were just fine with them, and they with
you. But become something else,
something they do not understand, and you will earn their hate.
And as it happens the world is full of aggressive toddlers
all dragging around sledge hammers they fully intend to use on you to pound you
back into the world-shaped-holes that is the point of the game. But there is another class of player you may
not see coming. As it happens, many
churches, and many more church members claim to be Jesus shaped. They know that, cause they did it
themselves. Honed off a rough edge here
and there and now see themselves as the authentic Jesus shaped pieces. But even a simple view of what the church
looks like, and what the world looks like, is often so close you just cannot
tell them apart. And predictably the
world has no problem with churches that are shaped just like they are. And no old-timers (like me), I am not talking
about electric instruments in worship music, and using drama on the
pulpit. This is not about style. This is about substance. Our hearts look alike. A worldly husband loves his wife (for a while
at least). So does the church goer. But they both call it quits at just about the
same rate. The worldly person takes a
drink on rare social occasions (to fit in).
So do most church goers. The
“sins” of both are pretty much equal, and equally frequent. The church-goer claims the promise of
forgiveness (the only difference) – but it does not keep them from repeating the
same mistakes over and over again.
Aggressive toddlers pass right by this church crowd, because they have
no idea they are a church crowd. They
both live the same.
An encounter with Jesus changes all that. The mind begins to change. How you think begins to change. And it is Jesus that re-creates you, not
“you” doing anything to accomplish the change.
All you do is submit to Jesus.
The church crowd does not it do it that way, and so they look a lot like
the world. The church crowd does it for
themselves. And so they fail over and
over again. Giving up to Jesus does not
makes sense to them. Anyone who would do
that must be evil in some way. And that
aggressive toddler who drags around the sledge hammer, turns out to be the
member of your church sitting right beside you in the pew. When you love, more than you judge, you start
not fitting in at church either. The
transformation Jesus effects in you, saving you, from you – is just too much to
take for most church goers entirely. And
for those of you who think I am exaggerating, or just church bashing, hang on
to your hats, this is going to be a bumpy ride.
When the end is near, all of this was foretold, by Jesus.
Matthew continues his overview of the signs the disciples
had asked for in chapter 24 of his gospel to his Hebrew contemporaries. Picking up in verse 9 it continues saying … “Then
shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be
hated of all nations for my name's sake.”
This imagery is quite a bit more savage than an aggressive toddler
dragging around a sledge hammer. It is
more like living in one of Saddam’s torture prisons, or finding your way into a
horrific train to Auschwitz under Hitler.
We are to be hated. But not just
generic hate. Hated because of Jesus’
name sake. Tortured and killed over
it. If you don’t live under a threat of
torture or death, you may think that is due to God’s blessing. Perhaps it is. But if no one seems to hate you, you have to
ask yourself, are you really any different than anyone around you. And if you are all the same, it might be why
no one has the time to even think about you, let alone hate you. After all, how much difference are you really
making, the way you live today? This is
not about being different for different’s sake either. It is about being different because the core
of who you are has been remolded and remade by Jesus. To the point where you live differently, and
you think differently, and you love differently. To earn hate, you have to love like Jesus
does. That is what would make you
different enough not to be understood, or accepted, just like He faced.
Jesus continues in verse 10 saying … “And then shall many be
offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” And so it begins. The transition from the world to the church,
and yet the same hate finds it way of expression even within church walls, and
church hearts. The world does not need
to betray or hate its own, it is already living in a way to please self, at the
expense of others if needs be. But the
church is supposed to be loving. When
supposed to be, is not reality, offended begins the road to betrayal ending in
full blown hatred. This is us
folks. Don’t look at your neighbor to
find the culprit here, look in the mirror.
We judge, often extensively, before we even begin to speak or
socialize. The least little defect or
sin discovered in our neighbor is cause to hold ourselves in higher esteem, and
shun them for the sinners they are. This
thinking understands judgment, and the hypocrisy of righteous living, but not
the transformative love that would make supposed-to-be line up with reality. Love is stronger than judgment. For it is love alone that can conquer evil in
the first place, and the last place, in us.
Jesus gets even more direct with the church in verse 11
saying … “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” The world is not endangered by false prophets
per se, they are only looking to make a buck off of them. But the church depends on prophets to light
the way forward. When a false prophet
arises, the message behind them is inherently selfish, and therefore pleasing
to many – thus adopted by many. A message
of loving others unconditionally and passionately looks “hard” to the untransformed
heart. In fact, it looks
impossible. And it is. At least for a human to do it. But for Jesus, that is just a no-brainer He
does every second of every day for each and all of us. The “ease” false prophets preach is appealing
to hearts lined up with the world. We
all look for ease and comfort. It is
natural. But for the transformed heart,
there is no time for, or interest in ease, there is interest in seeing you next
to me in kingdom of heaven. If that
causes me a little discomfort it is worth it.
In fact, if that takes everything I have, it is still worth it. And so, only post transformation, does the
new way of loving begin to impact a new way of thinking, that finds the message
of the false prophet dangerous to souls.
Then Jesus boils down to the heart of the matter continuing
in verse 12 saying … “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall
wax cold.” Ouch!!! When sin abounds, love waxes cold. When I try to fix myself, by deciding to be a
good person, and then doing my best at it.
Iniquity continues to abound in me, and my love, my real love for
others, waxes cold. This result of
failed self-salvation leaves me looking just like my worldly counterparts. For all my religious “trying” I am no better
than them. This is because we love the
same, think the same, and want the same things (most of it bad for us and
others). It is only my submission to
Jesus that sparks a fire in me. And the
converse rule is also true. When
passionate love for others burns hotly through you from Jesus, sin is chased
away. Not just from your feet and hands,
but from your hearts and desires and motives.
Change the core of who you are through submission to Jesus, and find
love abounding and sin on the retreat because of it. But that is not most of us. At least not most of us today. Too many (perhaps me included too often) are
content to keep control of our own salvations, and thus watch our love wax cold
in real time in our mirrors. Just as
foretold by the Savior we so desperately need.
But not all hope is lost as Jesus continues in verse 13
saying … “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Jesus did not fail, no matter how often you
do. And Jesus will not fail you, no
matter how many times you might keep messing His victory up with your
stupid. Jesus truly is and forever will
be the author and finisher of your salvation, your faith, and your
re-creation. For those who can humble
themselves, relinquish the illusion of control, and turn over their own
salvation to Jesus who does not fail, He will not fail. The Kingdom of Heaven can begin immediately
in the here and now for you, and grow every day until the end of all
things. That is way nearer than you
might of thought. This is not about the afterlife,
this is about the now. To be saved, is
more than to be saved from fire, or death.
It is about being saved from the type of person you are now – barely
distinguishable from the world. It is
about taking that personage of you dipped in sin, and re-creating it, infusing
the passionate love of Jesus in your heart for others. So much so, that you think differently, love
differently, and start to have different priorities. That is the gospel message. Not the stories and parables – the real-life
witness of Jesus in your heart every day.
Changing you from who you were, to who you will become. “That” is the gospel. To find living differently here and now and
forever.
The stores in scripture were all written to introduce you to
Jesus, who could then make them real, make them come alive in you. Without the coming alive part in you, the
rest is just words. There is no gospel
without your life as a witness of it.
Without “your” testimony of what Jesus has done in you, for you, perhaps
in spite of you – the Bible is only a book other people may understand. The power of the gospel is the power to
actually change lives, yours, mine, anyone who hears it. But better than to hear it, for anyone to see
it come alive in you because of how much you truly love others (like only Jesus
could). That is the power of a gospel
that must be preached. Jesus concludes
this section in verse 14 saying … “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the
end come.”
The world does not need your “church” or your denomination
or even your doctrines. It needs your
love burning so brightly it forces them to turn their eyes to the same Jesus
who turned your life around. The world
is in need of example, not speeches about possibilities of what could happen
with Jesus, but realities lived every day because of Jesus. That hate must face our love. The hate will see that no physical pain, not
even death, can cause a transformed heart to relent – because one taste of Jesus
is worth everything else you ever had or will have. There is a reason we will all cast our crowns
at His feet and proclaim Him alone worthy.
It is because we are not worthy, nor will we ever be worthy. But He loves us anyway. And He will save us anyway. Each of us from the person we messed up, to
the person that only He can envision for us to become. Once embarked on that journey; all
persecution because of it is only ironic.
Because no amount of persecution would ever change in us what only Jesus
could create in the first place.
It is this gospel that must be preached in all the
world. Not the concept of Jesus, but the
reality of Jesus. Not the judgment of
the followers of Jesus always judging others and the world, but instead the
passionate love of the followers of Jesus so steeped in love they begin to look
like Him. What that kind of love can do
in the world is something we have yet to see - it could actually save it. If those who dare to call themselves by His
name would submit, and embrace that love, the world will turn over again. The square peg round hole thing could hardly
begin to describe what a difference that will be and perhaps is already
becoming.
And Jesus was not done yet on looking forward …
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