Sermon: Love & Mercy
Scripture Text: Luke 6
Quotes for Reflection
J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke
The Christian must be altogether another style of man. His feelings of love and his deeds of kindness must be like his Master’s – free and gracious. He must let men see that he loves others from higher principles than the ungodly do, and that his charity is not confined to those from whom he hopes to get something in return.
Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love
Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says ‘Love your enemies,’ he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition. Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies—or else? The chain reaction of evil—hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars—must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
Michael Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement
You have a storeroom. It’s called your heart. If your heart is good, only good things will come out of the storeroom. If it is evil, then all you’ll have stored up is evil. Out of the overflow of the storeroom of your heart your mouth speaks. Whether it’s the image of the house or the storeroom or the good tree or the thorn bush, Jesus is painting images to recapture our imaginations. I don’t want my life to count for nothing, just as I wouldn’t want my house to be washed away by a storm. I don’t want to fall blindly into a deep pit, just as I don’t want my discipleship to be shallow and meaningless. If it is an unimaginable kingdom into which you and I are being called, then only the parables and the Spirit can enable us to imagine our way in. If it is an impossible command that Jesus demands that we follow, then only by his hesed will we be able to obey.
Application Questions
1. How can scholar J.C. Ryle say that Christians are altogether ‘another style of man’? What does that actually mean?
2. How can gospel-centered love help you love someone in particular this week?
3. Of the five illustrations that Jesus uses in Luke 6:37-49 to paint a picture of the Christian life, which picture speaks to you the most right now and why?