Sermon - Peacemakers & Bridge Builders: "Kingdom Relationships" Series

Sermon Outline
Focus: In a world of deep hostility, kingdom followers of Jesus are called not to exercise
revenge but to pray for our enemies. We can get rid of hostility by adopting a posture
of humility and practicing hospitality

I) Finding perspective while heading to camp
        So much hostility and anger over the little things
        Lincoln “You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry”

II) The daunting list of living for Jesus in a hostile and sin scarred world (Romans 12:14-18)
       Bless people who curse you (v. 14)
       Rejoice with those who rejoice, Weep with those who weep (v. 15)
       Live in harmony, do not be arrogant, and do not claim to be wiser than you are (v. 16)
       Do not repay evil, focus on what is good for all (v. 17)
       Live peaceably with all (v. 18)

III) Two extremes of how we approach this list
       A) Ignore because they are impossible and get sucked into world’s hate
       B) Make a checklist on ways to accomplish and get exhausted
       Only through God’s grace can we grow more like Jesus

IV) How do we become bridge builders? “never avenge yourselves” (v. 19)
       Vengeance belongs to God alone “feed them” “give them something to drink” (v. 20)
            The way to bring about real change 
       “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (v. 21)
            becoming a bridge builder is to end the hostility
            Lucado’s illustration of a child playing in the sand

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Peacemakers go to the source of the alarm and help put out the fire. Peacemakers are people who say things like, let's have a hard conversation, let's forgive, let's work towards restoring our relationship. Peacemakers are people who actively engage in ways that resolve underlying issues at their roots.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Welcome to the Church of the Lakes Weekly Sermon Podcast. We're so glad you've joined us and we're honored to be part of your spiritual journey. This year, Church of the Lakes is focusing on having a kingdom mindset in all that we do by living counterculturally to the world to become more like Jesus. Today, Pastor Robbie Strapp starts a new sermon series called Kingdom Relationships, which will help us think about how we relate to each other, our spouses, co-workers, families, and others we know and meet. Today's message is titled Peacemakers and Bridge Builders. Kingdom people just don't keep peace, they make peace by pursuing truth, grace, and reconciliation. And now, here's Pastor Robbie. Be blessed.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

We're launching a new series today, actually. Um, we're launching and heading off into a series that's going to focus on Kingdom of God relationships. Now, since the beginning of January, we've been learning what it means to live as citizens of God's kingdom. We've discovered kingdom values. Remember, we went over the Sermon on the Mount, right? Then we talked about the power of surrendering to the king that was through Alter, right? We've talked about kingdom joy through the book of Philippians. We talked about kingdom wisdom as we've gone through the book of James. And I think throughout all of these series, we've really tried to emphasize the fact that there is nothing off limits to King Jesus, right? But it's one thing to say Jesus is King, and it's another to live as Jesus is king. And I think where this really begins to hit home for all of us is in the way that we relate to one another. Nowhere is our kingdom citizenship more visible than in our relationships. Whether it's the way that you treat your spouse, your children, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors, kingdom relationships are different, friends. It's a reality. And in our culture of the here and now, so often our relationships are measured by the stories we can tell. It's kind of like a scorecard, right? A little bit. But man, kingdom relationships are different. Kingdom relationships are built on Christ-centered love, a love that is always present, that is always given. Let me ask you a question. Is the way that we relate to one another, do we always give love? Is it always at the center? Because that's how Christ loved us, and that's how we are to love other people. Over these next five weeks, we're gonna dig deep into some of the most personal relationships that we have. Certainly, that will include our marriages, our families, our friendships, even our relationships here in the body of Christ. And we're gonna learn that actually following Jesus doesn't simply change what we believe, it changes how we relate to one another, friends. Kingdom people don't just believe differently, they relate differently. And today we're gonna discover why King Jesus is going to push us to always seek restoration in a world that is full of messy relationships. So we're gonna look at together a section of scripture that's written by Paul, Romans 12. Now, I'm really familiar with Romans 12 because we use it quite often in weddings, but we're gonna focus on exactly where I stopped for a wedding. We're gonna go through verses 14 through the end of the chapter, which is 21. You find it on page 9, uh 19 in your pew Bible if you'd like to follow along, or in your personal Bible, smartphones, what have you. This is a really great section of scripture. It's really easy to understand, but as we found out in the book of James, it's oh so hard to live out. Hear the words of Paul, starting in verse 14. Bless those who persecute you. I said it was going to be hard, right? Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. No. If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. For by doing this, you will heap burning coals on their heads. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Friends, this is the word of the God of God for the people of God. Praise be to God. Can we be in an attitude of prayer again this morning? Well, Heavenly Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts, may they be found holy and acceptable in your sight, for you are our rock and our redeemer. Amen. All right, participation time this morning. Show of hands. How many of you have a smoke detector installed in your residence? Show of hands, come on. If you didn't put your hands up, I'm coming over to your house this afternoon because we got an installation job to do, all right? Now, here's the next question. How many of you are like me and have set off the smoke alarm in your own house also? Stephanie would say it's whenever I cook, but that's okay. Good. So what I want you to do is I want you in your mind's eye to kind of think of the sound that your smoke detector makes, right? I want you to imagine it. Right here, right now. You know, there's two ways to deal with that ear-splitting screech. Number one, you can walk over to the smoke detector and rip the batteries out. I pull mine off the ceiling, but I digress. Two, you could actually find the source of the alarm and deal with it. Look, here's my illustration. In our world, we have people that are peacekeepers and people that are peacemakers, and they're very similar to how you deal with a smoke alarm. Okay, peacekeepers. They walk over to the smoke alarm and rip the batteries out, right? Because peacekeepers are famous for saying things like this let's not talk about it. Just let it go. Don't upset the Apple cart. Peacekeepers. They're people who work at all costs to suppress tension and to keep peace and quiet. Peacemakers work a little differently. Peacemakers go to the source of the alarm and help put out the fire. Peacemakers are people who say things like, let's have a hard conversation, let's forgive, let's work towards restoring our relationship. Peacemakers are people who actively engage in ways that resolve underlying issues at their roots, and they actually try and achieve reconciliation. There's a big difference in our world between people who are peacekeepers and peacemakers, a powerful distinction. Our culture will tell you to settle for peacekeeping. But friends, Jesus is going to push us today. He's going to tell us that we need to become peacemakers in all of our relationships. And if there's one universal truth, it's that you that our relationships are awfully messy, no matter which ones or where they are. And Paul kind of walks us through this process of how we are to be peacemakers in Romans chapter 12. And I'm going to try and condense them into three points so that it can help us digest it a little easier and then hopefully apply it to our lives. They're simple. Point number one, Paul's going to tell us in Romans 12 that we are not to seek revenge. Two, we're to be intentional about acting honorably. Don't worry, we'll go over what that means. Three, we're to pursue peace and reconciliation at all costs in all relationships. All three of these steps, if we can follow them, apply them as we've learned through James and Kingdom Wisdom, that means we need to set aside some of our ugly habits that are developed from the world from being in the culture that we find ourselves in today. And then we need to surrender to what we've been talking about all year, which is having a kingdom mindset. Okay. To best hit this home, I think by looking at these three points, I also want to walk through what Sue read to us this morning out of John chapter 8. This amazing section of scripture. I want it to be the background of our conversation of Romans 12 because it's truly amazing. I love this section of scripture. It's a horrifying inquisition of an adulterous woman by the uh religious leaders of the day that they brought to Jesus. And Paul's outline once again that we are not to seek revenge, to be intentional about acting honorably and to pursue peace and reconciliation. We're going to see this come out of John chapter 8, because sometimes it's good to look at what Jesus actually did and not just talk about it, right? So, number one, Romans 12 gives us the first detail. Paul tells us that we are to not seek revenge. Take a look at verse 14. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Hey, if you were with us at the beginning of the year, that might sound a little familiar because when we went through the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5, you're going to hear these words. Jesus says in his most famous sermon, by the way, he says, Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you. Paul doesn't stop there. He echoes this same sentiment again. In verse 17, he says, Do not repay anyone evil for evil. And if we didn't get the point the first two times, he hammers it home a third. He says in verse 19, Beloved, never avenge yourself. All right. In the context of John chapter 8 to try and hammer this home, I want to bring some context to the conversation. Okay. Please be aware. It says it in John 8, but please remember that at this point, the religious leaders were looking to do anything in their power to trap Jesus. The religious leaders weren't interested in bringing a woman to justice for her actual sins. They were more concerned about trapping Jesus. They were out for revenge, which is not what Paul says in Romans 12. Jesus, please remember, preceding this chapter in John, had already offended the religious leaders in a whole host of ways, right? He healed on the Sabbath. Not allowed to do that. He was forgiving sins. That's a big no-no. Miraculously healing other people, socializing with sinners. Jesus. Jesus was embarrassing them. And they were embarrassed by him. They were being outdone. And so what did they do? They tried to trap him by pulling this lady into the street. They set a trap for their deep need for retribution. And in the process, they condemned this woman to death, as in the scriptures, and they were not even slightly concerned about justice. Jesus, friends, he says, No way in John 8. He refuses to join in the cycle of dysfunction. Right? Once you say that today an eye for an eye mentality is still present in our culture, you know, we literally have billboard signs that follow us, it feels like, on the way to work that say, make them pay, right? Jesus refutes it, friends. He says one of the most famous lines of scripture in verse 7 of John 8. Jesus says, Let any among you without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. You know it, you've heard it. It's a reminder to all of us to be careful throwing stones when you live in glass houses. Paul echoes that encouragement that Jesus shows us in John chapter 8 and Romans 12. He goes, Do not seek revenge because, friends, the reality is we are all in desperate need of God's grace because we're all sinners. That's the beauty and the power of Jesus when we get to the root of it. Jesus exposes everyone, and I mean everyone, our need for grace. We're all sinners in desperate need of a savior. Therefore, Paul is going to write to us in Romans 12 that we should refuse to escalate conflict because we all live in glass houses. Be careful if you're going to be the one throwing stones. Number two, Paul also draws out for us in Romans 12 that we need to be intentional about acting honorable. What does that mean? Well, in verse 15, Paul writes this He says, Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Then again, he echoes kind of a similar sentiment in verse 17. He says, Take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. Empathy. We need to recognize others' joy and be joyful for them. We need to recognize other people's pain and weep with them. But in the midst of this empathy, we need to act honorably in the sight of all. What does that mean? That means that sometimes, all the time, we need to be willing to push the truth of Jesus Christ even in the midst of empathy. Let me give you an example. Perhaps uh you were clicking around the news a couple weeks ago and you were like me and you saw the earthquakes, the devastating earthquakes that happened down in Venezuela, right? There was whole homes, apartment buildings that had collapsed under the stress of shifting earth. However, did you know that before you can go back into a home that is in an earthquake zone, you must have your home inspected. The rule is pretty simple that not all homes that are in an earthquake zone are easily detected. You're easily to detect the structural integrity of the home. You have to really inspect the foundation to make sure that it is standing on firm ground. Now, it goes without saying that structural engineers that go into these places to sign off on the homes before a family can move in, they have to have empathy, don't they? Because they have to work with the expediency and the sense of urgency to do their job so families can get back to what is a primal feeling for all of us, a need for a home. But let me ask you this question: would it be bad if, because of their empathy, the structural engineer just signs off on the inspection paperwork without actually doing it? So often I think in this life we have to walk this remarkably hard line of being empathetic and then telling people the truth in love. All right. In reality, many times we often become empathetic and we bend the rules in order to be compassionate. But you know what we're actually doing, friends, in those moments? We're degrading a person. We're subjecting them to external and dare I say eternal harm. What good is it to be empathetic if you compromise the real holy truth of our of our God, friends? That's what Paul calls us to do in Romans 12. He tells us that we are to act honorably in the sight of all, to yes, rejoice in other people's rejoicing, to weep in other people's weeping. And a great example once again is John chapter 8, friends. Jesus walks this incredible line so amazingly well. Please note, Jesus doesn't ignore the sins of the woman who committed adultery in John chapter 8. If you read the story, he doesn't ignore the law of the Israelites. He also doesn't ignore the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, by the way, might I add. Instead, as Paul says, he takes thought for what is noble in the sight of all. He honors God's holiness and righteousness by acknowledging her sin. He honors the women's dignity by refusing to humiliate her. That's Jesus showing empathy, by the way. But he also honors the truth by calling for repentance. Once again, in John chapter 8, he doesn't call just for the repentance of her, but all of those who join, including the ones that are holding the stones up high. Jesus has shown us, friends, that honor isn't about always protecting your reputation. It's about reflecting kingdom values and a kingdom mindset, even when motions run high. And that's what pushes us into point number three by Paul, where he finally concludes and tells us that we are to pursue peace and reconciliation in all relationships. You know, friends, there is a universal truth that all of our relationships they get messy. Now, there's different levels of mess. There's the mess that is my bedroom, and there's the mess of my six-year-old's bedroom, okay? They're not equivalent, but they're both messy, okay? Right? Paul puts it this way: he says in verse 16 that we're to live in harmony with one another. He tells us in verse 18, if it is possible, so much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. He says in verses 20 and 21 that if your enemies are hungry, you're to feed them. If they're thirsty, you're to give them a drink. Man, I cannot say this strongly enough, friends. Relationships, yes, they're messy. But Jesus tells us as much as it depends on you and me, we are to pursue peace and reconciliation in every instance, no exceptions. Jesus doesn't say to cancel your enemies. I didn't read that today. He doesn't say to settle for peace and quiet either by compromising the truth. No, Jesus calls us to love our enemies and to pursue real peace and real healing and real reconciliation. You know, in John chapter 8, I think perhaps my favorite part of the whole entire part of that scripture reading is that Jesus doesn't just create a peaceful ending for the woman. Certainly, Jesus pushes away the murderous mob, does he not with his words? In fact, friends, he does something even better than that, doesn't he? He creates the possibility of a restored future for this woman. Think about it for a second. This amazing lines of scripture, this woman is left all alone in the street. The group has left. And Jesus looks up and he says, Has no one condemned you? And she replies, No one, sir. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you. Now, oftentimes we we read that part and it registers. But hear these next words. Jesus says, Now go your way and from now on, do not sin again. Notice the two parts. He says, Neither do I condemn you. And then he says, Go your way and from now on, do not sin again. How many times do we remember the first phrase? Because that's God offering grace in that moment. We understand grace. We understand how we're all sinners and how we're all in need of no condemnation. But the second part, ooh, that gets tricky. Now and go sin no more. Friends, if you hear nothing else today, hear this. God isn't just in the business of saving you and me, He's in the business of transforming. You and me. Look, in John 8, we see God offer this amazing grace. And I could point to the cross behind me and tell you about the story of his blood and how Jesus came willingly into a world, lived a perfect life, did not sin, he taught us his ways, gave us a purpose, gave us integrity, gave us the words in which to live our lives after. He was betrayed, ridiculed, slandered, tortured, crucified. His blood poured out of his side, and from that extension of his grace and his life, giving it for you and me, we are given the forgiveness of sins. And praise be to God that his death wasn't the end of the story. Because three days later, guess who came back? Who resurrected from the grave and gave us once again an example of how God can heal everything that is broken, not just some things, friends, everything. But friends, if you are only allowing that to be the end of the story, you're missing the second part of John chapter 8. Jesus says, go and sin no more. The power of Christ is not just the restoration, friends, it is the transformation to become whole, to go out into the world and to breathe life into one another in such a way that we can go sin no more. Paul says, he says, as far as it is possible by you, live peaceably with everyone. Do you believe that you can actually do that? Look, if friends, if we believe in the power of Christ, then we believe that his power and his grace it can heal sins. Forgive them. If you believe that, then guess what? You can live peaceably with all people, no exceptions, and you can go your way and sin no more. Now that's gonna be hard. A kingdom mindset. Certainly, Pastor Robbie can tell you how I messed up this morning alone on my drive here when I hit traffic cones and got upset again. But those who accept the grace of God in their hearts, transformation is real. It is something that is not pie in the sky. It is something we can do here and now. And perhaps maybe the best way to look at this is to look at our relationships. How many relationships do we have in our lives that are messy right now? You know it in your own mind's eye. You can imagine that person you're thinking of that you've just been keeping the peace with instead of making the peace with. And you know, as much fun as I had at Royal Family Kids Camp this week, I couldn't help but when I drove home, I took a look at the state of my yard from being away for six days. And uh it was a little hot, so the grass didn't grow. But guess what did grow my yard while I was gone? The weeds. And I'm gonna give you an illustration. I want you to imagine your yard right now. Imagine Robbie's yard if your yard is pristine, but imagine your yard with weeds in it. Okay. You know, oftentimes it's easy to mow over weeds. And actually, I would argue mowing over weeds for a little bit, your yard looks pretty good. It looks green, it's full, it's evenly cut. But over time, guess what's gonna come back? You know what a real gardener does when they get down and dirty into the yard, they kneel down, dig into the soil, and pull out the weeds by their roots. They get to the root of the problem. They allow the transformation process to take hold. Friends, the peacekeepers, they mow it over. They look for quick fixes, to compromise empathy with a lack of truth. Friends, Jesus tells us to be peacemakers. If you got a relationship that needs restoring, friends, could I encourage you to accept the love of grace in Jesus Christ and then to allow it to become an overflow out of you, to extend the same forgiveness that he says to you and me, extend it to another person today. For certainly, we don't want to be key uh peacekeepers in a world where we're made to be peacemakers. Let us join in prayer this morning. Oh Heavenly Father, we're so grateful for the ways that you move in our lives. We think of how such an amazing week we had at Royal Family Kids Camp. We think of all these children who have come down with a lot of baggage, maybe a lot of messy relationships with those who were indoctrined to take care of them the most. But Lord, we're so grateful for the example that you give us of your son, of your spirit, so that we can allow the transformation that flows out of us and into the world around us to teach people that it's not okay just to keep the peace. We are to work hard in our relationships to teach how we are to make peace and to provide peace to those around us and teach this process over and over and over again. For that's what your son did. Lord, we're so grateful for your son who went to the cross and restored this pathway for us to accept your grace, to believe it, to confess it with our lips. And that's why we come here to worship this morning to sing your glorious praise and to give back what little we have been given to give to the world. Lord, we love you. So in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

Thank you for listening to the Church of the Lakes podcast. If today's message encouraged you and helped you grow as a devoted follower of Christ, we invite you to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can also help others discover this podcast by leaving a five-star rating or review and sharing it with your friends, family, co-workers, and others in your circle of influence. We're also very grateful for your generosity, which helps make messages like this available to more people. If you feel led to give, please check the link in the description. And if you're in the Kent, Ohio area, we'd love to invite you to join us in person on Sunday and worship together. To learn more about Church of the Lakes, visit churchofthelak.org or click the website link in the description. Until next time, stay encouraged and keep walking in faith.