Before I jump into the message today, let me say a personal thanks to Rick and Steve for preaching the last two Sundays. Our family spent a week in Florida in what was probably our last official vacation as a mom, dad, and three unmarried children. Of course, as usual, the boys all took a friend. I can't imagine why—but two of our boys took their fiancées as their friend. Next summer will be different—maybe the same number of people, maybe not. But it's all good because next summer we can include our two new daughters.

Enough of family stuff. Before I get into the heart of my message, I also want to brag on my church family for a few minutes. Over the last few months I've seen our church family do amazing things to support one another. I've seen you pack hospital hallways when family tragedy strikes. I've seen you go into the community and clean up people's yards and homes. I've even seen you volunteer a kidney to donate to a fellow church member who needs a transplant. So many of our guest response sheets that are mailed back to us write about how friendly and welcoming you have been to those visiting. I could keep going on and on. I'm so proud of you. Shake hands with the person in front of you or pat them on the back and say, "Great job!" Now give God and yourselves a hand.

On the other hand….As great a job as we might be doing in caring for one another, Jesus said what we're doing is no different from what non-Christians do. People who don't follow Christ take care of each other. They love their family and their friends. Those outside the faith will reach out and care for somebody in need—sometimes even better than believers do.

I know I set you up this morning. Please forgive me. But the question for today is not: How can we show love to our fellow Christians? The question for today is: How should you treat your enemies? "I don't have any enemies." Sure you do. And I bet before the message is over, I will enlighten you. What weapons do you use when you fight back? Revenge, ugly words, fists, grudge?

Today, we continue our series of studies on "Did Jesus Really Say That?" What Jesus taught in our lesson for today runs in a direction completely opposite from our get-even world. Even in Jesus' day, people held dearly to the laws of Moses which said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But Jesus went beyond the letter of the law and shed fresh light on it by telling us how we need to treat our enemies.

We talk about helping people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. One way you can tell if you're making progress is how you treat those who mistreat you. When someone persecutes you, how do you respond? When someone attacks your character, how do you handle it? When your enemy goes behind your back, what's your strategy?

Jesus' words about how to fight your enemies are about as simple and straightforward as anything He taught. He doesn't namby-pamby it by taking sides with you. He doesn't say, "Now, now, I know He shouldn't have done that to you. It wasn't fair, was it? Mean man, naughty man. It's going to be okay." No, just straight up, Jesus lays out the strategy for dealing with enemies. And what He said is so relevant for our lives today. Let's read Luke 6:27-31.

In these few verses, Jesus lays out a four-fold strategy, gives a couple of everyday illustrations and then summarizes the strategy. Before we dig in, I want you to formulate in your mind a real, true to life enemy. If you can't think of one, think of someone you don't get along with very well or someone that you don't particularly like. In some sense that person is your enemy. Let me give you Jesus' four-fold strategy, and I want you to apply it to the person in your mind right now.

I won't go into a lot of detail explaining the strategy, simply because it is so straightforward. The first strategy is to love. "Love your enemies." The word here in the original language is the familiar agape. It describes a selfless, Christ-like kind of love. Agape expresses genuine concern irrespective of attractiveness or the likelihood of getting anything in return. The love Jesus advocates is not some kind of warm-fuzzy feeling tucked away somewhere in your inner recesses. No, it is a love that demonstrates itself in concrete action.

The second strategy is to do good to your enemy. "Do good to those who hate you." What is interesting about Jesus' teachings is that He doesn't tell us just to ignore the enemy. No, He tells us to do something positively good for the person. How should we treat hate? By doing good. It's this proactive behavior that separates a genuine Christian from the rest of the world.

The third strategy is to bless your enemy. "Bless those who curse you." Jesus may have had in mind the immediate response we should give when someone curses us. But I believe He had in mind more of the big picture of how we need to need to be a blessing to our enemies over the long haul.

Let me illustrate. Do you remember last October when a troubled milkman named Charles Carl Roberts barricaded himself inside the West Nickel Mine Amish School, ultimately murdering five young girls and wounding six others? Roberts committed suicide when police arrived. It was a dark day for the Amish community. But imagine the dark day that Marie Roberts, the wife of the murderer, and her two children must have experienced.

On the following Saturday, Marie experienced some of what Jesus is teaching in these verses while attending her husband's funeral. About 75 people showed up, about half of whom were Amish families. They came and stood alongside them in the midst of their own blinding grief. Despite the crime against their families, they came to mourn Charles Carl Roberts, a husband and a daddy. The widow was moved by the outpouring of their love. Most would have treated the Roberts family like most people treat their enemies. Instead, these Amish families became a blessing to them.

The fourth strategy is to pray for your enemies. "Pray for those who persecute you." Now that is tough because it requires a forgiving heart. You can't pray for someone and have bitterness in your heart at the same time. To pray for someone means that your heart is burdened for him. To pray for someone means that you want God's blessings to be heaped upon her. To pray for someone means that in your heart you have forgiven that person.

After giving this four-fold strategy, Jesus illustrates what He's talking about. If someone slaps you on the cheek, turn the other cheek and let him slap you there also. If someone robs you of your outer garment, let him have your other garments. I believe Jesus is using hyperbole here to stress His point. In no way do I believe He is saying that we should not defend ourselves if someone attacks. Nor do I believe if someone steals your London Fog coat, that you strip down to your Hanes underwear, and say, "Here, catch." Please, for the sake of us all, don't do that.

Jesus is trying to teach that revenge is not the way to respond when someone wrongs you. He's trying to teach life principles which, if applied, can actually melt the heart of your enemy.

Then Jesus summarized His teaching with the Golden Rule. Most of you memorized this when as a child. "Do to others as you would have them do to you." What an awesome philosophy of life. How would your life be different if the Golden Rule became your life's mission statement? To obey the Golden Rule requires that you be proactive. You take the lead in treating others the way you want to be treated. When the Golden Rule becomes your lifestyle, you won't have difficulty knowing how to respond when the enemy strikes.

If you've tuned me out up to this point, wake up and listen up. If you get one thing out of the message today, here's what I want you to get. When it's all said and done, the four-fold strategy can be summarized in three words: ACT LIKE JESUS. Think about it. How did Jesus treat His enemies? Think of His trial when the religious leaders were beating Him and mocking Him. Hanging on the cross, He prayed, "Father, forgive them." The Bible says that He demonstrated His love for us, in spite of all our sins, by dying for us.

So when it comes to a strategy for fighting your enemies, just behave like Jesus did. And you can't go wrong. Jesus modeled the Golden Rule to perfection. Maybe there's something to all those bracelets and bumper stickers: WWJD—what would Jesus do? Here is the strategy. Don't miss it. When others mistreat you, act like Jesus. Follow the Golden Rule. When people curse you, act like Jesus. Follow the Golden Rule. When others hate you, act like Jesus. Follow the Golden Rule.

I try to live these principles out in my life. I like for people to like me, maybe sometimes to a fault. But as a minister, (it just comes with the territory) not everybody likes me. Some people keep it to themselves. Others broadcast it to their friends and neighbors. Sometimes, maybe many times, our enemies come from within the Christian camp. But I always try to treat these folks like I would treat anyone. But I fail sometimes.

One day I was getting ready to head out to a Chapin Area Ministers' meeting, having just spent an hour in the prayer room. I noticed I had a message to call a church member. So I thought I'd go ahead and do that before leaving for the meeting. And for the next fifteen minutes, I got chewed out left and right, inside and out. The missiles were relentless. I've been cussed out at points in my life, and those were gracious compared to this attack.

This thing blindsided me. So I didn't have time to think ahead and say, "Lord, help me be like Jesus." But I listened to this tirade graciously. When she got through wearing me out, she said, "Well, do you have anything to say?" I don't remember my exact words, but basically, I refused to defend myself and chose not to counterattack. We said goodbye and I went off to my meeting. I don't have a clue what went on at the meeting.

Later on I heard through the grapevine that this person was even further upset with me because I didn't offer to pray with her before we ended the phone conversation. That may have been a good thing because had I prayed what was on my heart, well, you can imagine….Like some of those prayers in the book of Psalms.

In some sense I believe I passed the test on how I treated this person. But, you know, I don't believe I went far enough. Did I bless her? No, I took her insults. But I wasn't a blessing to her. And Jesus said, "Pray for those who mistreat you." Prayer was the furthest thing from my mind. Even to this day, I confess that I struggle. You know, I'm not responsible for her actions. But I am responsible before God with how I handle myself.

What about you? Where do you need to put these truths into action? Act like Jesus. Follow the Golden Rule. How do you apply it to your ex-spouse who was unfaithful to you? Apply it to the teacher who wrote you up or who flunked you. Apply it to the co-worker who talked behind your back. Apply it to the enemy you will meet about 8:00 in the morning on your way to work—the guy who cut in front of you on the interstate.

Right now you could probably list some enemies that you hold grudges against. Apply these truths. In your daily flow of traffic, look for opportunities to apply these teachings of Jesus. Be like Jesus. Follow the Golden Rule. "Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you."