
Be Real Together:
Take a few minutes to catch up, tell stories, and laugh together. Trust and friendship take time to build. If you’re launching a new DNA, one person should tell their story — what do we need to know about you? Next week, have another person in your DNA share their story.
Read Together:
Matthew 5:43-48 CSB
43 You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Grow Together: Observe and Apply
Loving our enemies is a central idea to the Kingdom of heaven ethic that Jesus calls his followers into. How do we do it, though? What does it look like to be living, walking, breathing examples of God’s grace and love? Let’s find out!
1. We are called to reflect God.
Matthew 5:44-45 // 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Why does it feel like bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people? Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a world where good deeds are rewarded systematically and bad deeds are punished immediately, but that’s just not the world we experience. And the Bible doesn’t depict that kind of world either.
We learn from the authors of Ecclesiastes and Job that life is not as simple as good for good and bad for bad, especially in the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s our opportunity to go with the grain of the universe God fabricated and act graciously, mercifully, and forgivingly to all kinds of people. The theological term for this is “Common Grace” – the kind of grace we don’t have to be saved to experience certain aspects of God’s love and kindness. In other words, it’s not our job to be the keeper of rewards and punishments. Rather, we’re to share this common grace with others as Christ first did with us.
Is common grace easy for you to share with others or a bit more difficult? Why might it be easy or difficult for you?
2. We are called to be set apart.
Matthew 5:46-47 // 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same?”
These verses mark a striking resemblance to John 13:35:
“By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another.”
Our calling has never been to decide who is worthy of love and grace. After the cross, we have only ever been called to love others in a way that leads a trail of evidence back to God and his love for us.
We have a unique opportunity by living in the PNW to counteract something else known as the “Seattle Freeze,” or the widely held belief that it is especially difficult to make new friends in the city of Seattle. What if we lived in such a way that the Seattle freeze ceased to exist and this area became known for the love of Christ?
Do you live in such a way that even those who wrong you know about the love of Jesus? Do you love in an extraordinary way?
3. We are called to be perfect.
Matthew 5:48 // 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Being perfect can seem like a very unattainable goal, so what could Jesus mean by telling us that we are meant to be perfect like our Heavenly Father is perfect? Well, the word used here in the Greek is “Teleios,” which means “brought to its end, finished; lacking nothing necessary to completeness; perfect.” To do this, we have to live as if the Kingdom is now and let ourselves be conformed into the image of Christ. This word also implies a sense of maturation and growth or reaching the point of becoming fully adult in both character and mentality. Meaning that our maturation comes to a certain completion when we finally realize that not a single person is exempt from the love of God, or the love of God through us.
Is there anyone in your life you withhold love from? How can you let yourself be transformed towards perfection by loving this person well? What are some action steps you can take?
Pray Together:
Jesus, thank you for loving us while we were still your enemies.
Give us the strength to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, and teach us what it looks like to love without expecting anything in return.
Our world is hurting, there’s no doubt about it.
Please remind us that we have the antidote, the cure to this poison.
Help us to love and give grace as freely as you have given to us.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.