Matthew 5:41-48 (NIV)
41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.
42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
When I was about 15 years old, a Christian classmate of mine gave me a Bible. It’s a BM Bible.
It only 1 book, the book of Matthius.
So my first Bible was a BM bible, not an English Bible.
And I read all the pages of the book of Matthew.
And I fell in love with the Bible.
Anything that has to do with the Word of God, I will be interested.
Before I was a Christian, I already like to read, especially self-help book.
I get very motivated every time I read self-help book.
I will always think to myself, these guys, these authors are amazing.
I always admire them, cause they are so successful, and so wise, because they can come up with so many principles of success.
Then I went to Uni. And thank God, I accepted Christ.
And when I accepted Christ during my first year in Uni, God created in me this spiritual hunger.
Suddenly i realise, I know nothing about the real God.
So I always go to UM library, and I will search every shelf, to check for any book that talks about spirituality.
Whatever books that related to religion, I want to touch and smell and read.
I want to know more about God. Anything that talk about God, I want to read about it.
And now i start to realise, that almost all the good principles of success that I read from the self help books, if i would trace it back, it all comes from the Bible.
Books about communication, you can learn from Jesus, the master communicator.
Books about relationship, you can learn from Jesus, where he influenced so many people during His time.
Books about finance, well, you can also learn from Jesus, where he teach, it is more blessed to give than to receive, the parables of the tenant and many more. Do you know that Jesus talk more about the topic of money than the topic of heaven and hell?
The Bible is amazing.
I can find every answer and solution in the Bible.
Why do I need to depend on worldly wisdom, when I can find God’s wisdom here.
And as I ponder about all the self help books that I have read, I discover this one thing...
Do you notice that, in the old time, people thought that by conquering other country, by overpowering other people, and ruling, you are considered as successful. That’s why there were so many wars in the past.
The more you conquer, the more you win, and the more possession you have, the more successful you are.
Every time they conquer, they can take their money, they can take more slaves, they can take the children and the woman.
It’s by taking, not giving. That’s the old mindset.
And I realise, there was a shift in the definition of success as I read all this self help book.
The concept of conquering other nation is not there anymore.
I see that almost all the best sellers, in one way or the other, will talk about giving, and sharing economy, about helping others, about win-win and collaboration.
Do you know that the richest person on earth gives a few billion dollars every year.
Why?
Because you are not consider as successful until you give.
The old mindset is all about winning and subdue your enemy and controlling other people.
But Jesus come to renew our mind.
Only when our mind is renew, we can move to the next level.
The new mindset is not about conquering others, but it’s about loving others.
And it’s not just about loving the people that is lovable, it’s about loving the difficult people in your lives as well.
Matthew 5:41 (NIV)
41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.
Matthew 5:41 (NLT)
If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.
Let me share the context of this passage.
— A Roman soldier or official could require by law any Jew to carry a load for 1,000 paces (a Roman mile).
It was unfair, inconvenient, and often backbreaking.
It’s outrageous.
But since it’s the law, the Jews need to obey.
While they had the right to stop at the Roman mile, Jesus called his disciples to go the second mile.
To the Jews, this is offensive. The Jews was expecting to have a military leader to revolt the Roman empire!
They were under Roman oppression, so they wanted retaliation against the Roman empire, cause they hated this government.
But Jesus suggested a radical response.
Instead of demanding rights, give them up freely.
Jesus always calls us to go above and beyond.
Jesus encouraged His followers to respond in a new and unexpected way, one that would reflect the generous love of God’s kingdom instead of revenge.
Basically, Jesus is asking us to show outrageous love.
Jesus want you to be different.
If someone offended you, God want you to behave differently.
Do not retaliate.
Respond in love.
Don’t just want to get even. That’s the natural thing to do.
But do the supernatural thing. Love and forgive.
Why go the extra mile?
Why it’s so important to go the 2nd mile?
1. The 2nd mile is not common.
Not many people do that.
Imagine someone forcing you to carry their heavy backpack for one mile.
You reach the mile marker. The person stops, expecting you to stop as well, and relieve yourself of the burden.
But you just smile and say, “Oh, I’ve decided to walk another mile with you.”
There’s a shift of power here.
You had no choice in the first mile, but now you are exercising your power.
And you do it in a way that shocks the oppressor.
A bit of power has shifted from him to you.
And what might happen as you walk that extra mile?
Perhaps a conversation takes place.
Perhaps you see each other, on this second mile, not as adversaries but as fellow human beings.
Perhaps the oppressor says to you, “No one has ever volunteered to go an extra mile before,” and you then have the opportunity to say, “Well, the God I worship is a God of grace and generosity so I try to live that way myself.”
You have now witnessed through your actions and your words.
Going the extra mile is a way of saying to the world, “I live according to different values.”
Going the extra mile is living according to different rules, God-centered rules.
It means willing to be different, to stand out.
Going the extra mile is a countercultural way of life.
It’s unselfish, it doesn’t help us make money, it doesn’t bring us prestige or power. It doesn’t look like success in terms of the values of this world. But Jesus came to show us how to be faithful, not how to be successful on the world’s terms.
Someone once said, “There’s not a lot of traffic on the extra mile.” Here’s another way to think about this passage. The first mile is the mile you have to walk.
It’s on the second mile where your life begins to take on character.
This is countercultural. This is not the behavior of the common man.
This is what is called Kingdom Behavior.
Of one thing we can be certain, when we go the extra mile, we will find God’s presence very near.
The first mile is by law.
The 2nd mile is by grace. You do not deserve it, but you give it anyway.
The first mile is by obligation.
The 2nd mile is by generosity.
Doing this will open up an opportunity for people to ask you, why do you do this?
If you want to be a salt and light, do something good, unexpectedly.
Last week, Peter told me, actually I bought you durian mooncake, and I want to share with you.
I remembered last time, they was a case in our church, about this couple that had a baby.
I think it’s their first baby if not mistaken.
And it’s quite common that in the city, that you hire a babysitter to take care the baby while you go to work in the day time.
And one day, due to some mistake by the babysitter, the baby was choked to death if not mistaken.
It shocked the entire church.
Wonderful people of God, leader of the church, serving God passionately, why did this happen to them?
As I visit the family at the night time after 2 or 3 days after the incident, I was weeping, but I will never forget what this couple said, that they have forgiven the babysitter.
I was blown away. Then I cry more.
This is grace. This is strength, This is power.
Power is not the ability to control and take advantage.
But the power to do something that is so outrageous, that only God can help us.
Because of this incident, and though I was a growing Christian, I know God is real.
Only God can do this.
That night, I know God’s love is real.
2. Going the extra mile is about doing more than what is expected of you.
- It unlocks fresh anointing in your life.
If you want to go to the next level, you need to keep on moving.
The Kingdom of God is the one that is keep on advancing.
If you want to unlock anointing in your life, you need to stop measuring and start expanding.
Don’t just serve the bare minimum.
Don’t be a calculative Christian.
Apostle Paul is a second miler Christian.
He serve God with all his heart.
No matter how tough it is, Apostle Paul endured and keep on moving to advance the Kingdom.
1 Corinthians 4:12 (NIV)
12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
Do you see how Apostle Paul follow the command of Jesus?
He give all in.
It’s either all in, or nothing at all.
Do not be a Christian that live by routine - just do the bare minimum.
Just serve the bare minimum.
Give all in.
Do you know that 68% of Christian do not go to church every week. 2 out of 3 Christian do not have a regular commitment to God.
When I was a new believer, I did not go to church regularly.
So i never serve, I never do anything for God.
I have this consumer mindset, not a contributor mindset.
And I thought that was OK.
Today I can tell you, it’s not OK.
God is calling us to be a catalyst of change. Not just an analyst of change.
Analyst - is someone that conduct analysis.
Analyst - well, they just analyse and comment and if not careful, may even complain.
But Catalyst get involved. They are active. They will join in to the team that serve God together and move together with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Are you an analyst? Or a catalyst for Jesus.
When Jesus come and die for us, He gave his entire life to us.
When Jesus came, he serve us with humility.
He is a King of King, but he come and become man.
He not just become man, he become a servant.
From a God that suppose to just siting on the throne, he humble himself and wash the disciples feet.
He become not just the servant, but he become a sacrifice.
He need to go through the suffering if sin, being mocked and flogged and humiliated.
But not just being punished, he went all the way to the cross, though it mean tremendous pain for Jesus to be hung on the cross.
The journey is not short.
Jesus carried the cross am estimated total distance of 650 yards or 594.36 meters. The crossbar weighed between 36kg to 49kg. But bear in mind, he was in pain.
But Jesus kept on going, all the way to the cross.
We are called to love God with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength.
and to Love your neighbour as yourself.
If you want to be different, you need to love God will all that you have.
You need to go all out for the people in your church/campus/office/family.
We cannot have the comfort zone mentality.
The 2nd miler is not for the people that loves comfort zone.
It’’s for the people that believe that God can gives us strength - that He can used us to do amazing things for Him.
Do the extra for the people that is in your church and for the people that do not know Jesus in your life.
The Pizza Hut Story
This story speaks for itself. A Pizza Hut customer who ordered on a regular basis had suddenly gone MIA. The Pizza Hut branch was concerned about its loyal client and called him, asking if he was okay, as he had not ordered from them for over two weeks. To his surprise, they also offered him a complimentary “welcome back” pizza. He did not hesitate to share the story on Facebook.
I remember when I was a student last time and struggling in my exam, someone visited me.
But Bro and Sister - I want to share also some word of wisdom over here:
Going The Extra Mile is not being Extreme.
The Catalyst and the Extremist - it’s different.
Ecclesiastes 7:16
Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise-- why destroy yourself?
So don't be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself?
There is a time for everything.
Timing is very important.
You need to know when go the extra mile, and when not to do.
The Holy Spirit need to give the direction and we need to follow.
Jesus is asking us to go the 2nd mile, He did not say 20 mile.
Jesus only fast and pray 40 days, not 4000 days!
Learn to be wise, not overly wise.
Don’t talk too much what you suppose to talk.
Too much of a good thing is never good.
I love durian, but I will never marry a durian. It will be crazy.
The harvest is here.
Don’t wait for the season to go away.
The season is now.
It’s not very far.
The distance do not stop us from serving God.
The real deal is not really the distance.
The extra mile is all about your attitude.
It’s your passion.
It’s your faith!
You and me need to be intentional.
First Corinthians 15:58 says, “. . .always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
The word abound means “more than enough.”
So here the Bible is teaching the second-mile philosophy—always doing more than enough in the work of the Lord, going the extra mile, doing the unexpected.
Don’t think that when you give so much, there is no return.
It is not in vain.
Believe me, it is not.
When you preach the word, it will not come back void.
Colossians 3:23-24
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the
inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
You must be relentless.
Don’t give the second best to God.
But give the best to God.
YOLO.
Majority of the people do not love the Word, pray and worship, do not serve, do not give, but if you decide now that I will let the Holy Spirit to lead me, you will be uncommon.
The 1st mile is required by law, and that’s the natural thing.
But it takes a supernatural attitude and faith to go the 2nd mile.
Demonstrate outrageous practical love.
Jesus is asking us to love the unlovable.
Let's go all the way for Jesus. He deserves it from us.
Note:
This sermon was preached in Hope Klang on 8 Oct 2017.
Reference:
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