Matthew 5:38-48 (NIV)

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 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 neighbor 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.

We are to be as the anvil when bad men are the hammers. Charles Spurgeon

“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.” Corrie Ten Boom

To return evil for good is devilish; to return good for good is human; to return good for evil is divine. Alfred Plummer

CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER 



Before beginning your time in the passage this week, consider sharing around unexpected friendships. Have you ever made an unlikely friend? Someone you didn’t expect to connect with at first but over time became important to you?

CONNECT WITH GOD 

Hints on How to Pray: “A Simple Regimen of Private Prayer” from George Buttrick. This week, we focus on the section called “Before Eternal Eyes.” This section is about prayers of petition. Read the quote below (or the whole section) and enter into a quiet time of prayerful petition.   

To try to thwart the prayer of petition is to deny human nature. The New Testament has better wisdom: ​“Be overanxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Yet petition should grow in grace so as to ​“covet earnestly the best gifts”; and it should always acknowledge that our sight is dim and that our purposes are mixed in motive. It should always conclude with, ​

“Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

https://renovare.org/articles/hints-for-how-to-pray

CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER

• Together: Pray in expectation of the passage being read. Read Matthew 5:38-48. 

• Alone: Read the passage a second time, in a different version.  
• As you listen, consider one word of phrase that captures your attention. Write it down. Journal freely about that word or phrase. Listen to God in prayer as you journal.  

• Together: in pairs or smaller groups: Share your reflections with one another.   

CONNECT WITH SCRIPTURE 

If needed, read the passage once more as a whole group. Then select the best questions or customize the questions for your group. 

• Review the message notes. 
• What has stayed with you from Sunday’s message? 
• Who have you considered your enemy? Who comes to mind when you hear the word “enemy”? 
• Name types of enemies you may encounter in your lives. Think broadly and specifically. 
• What actions does Jesus command towards “enemies”? 
• Why does Jesus tell us to love our enemies? 
• What is “turn the other cheek” really about? How could it show up as problematic or misunderstood? 
• Consider verse 46–what kind of love is distinctly Christian? 
• What postures or habits might help to form you as a person of embrace and not exclusion, even towards your enemies?  

ENGAGE AND EXPLORE  (through the Sermon Series) 

Soul Friends - Mark 2:1–12

Celebration - John 2:1–11 (The Wedding at Cana)

Cliques - Luke 14:7–14

Unexpected Friendship - Luke 8:1–3 (Jesus and Mary Magdalene)

Commitment - John 15:9–17

When Friends Fail Us - Matthew 26:14–25, 47–50 (Judas Betrays Jesus)

Friends Become Family - John 19:25–30

Friends Bring Friends to Jesus - John 21:1–14 (Jesus and the Disciples by the Sea)

Love Your Enemies - Matthew 5:38-48

Together: : Reflect on the Soul Friends series. Share which passage or message has most resonated with you and why. Consider digging deeper still as you reflect on how friendship with God has become the foundation of friendship in your life? How does God’s friendship shape how you extend friendship to others? 

“Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans and myself from the community of sinners.”

- Miroslav Volf 

PRAYER 

Pray with and for one another. Pray for God to widen and broaden your capacity for forgiveness and embrace, even with those you most struggle to love. Consider praying this prayer: Loving God, thank you for calling us your friends and for the friendships you’ve grown in this room. Help us to expand our circles. Teach us how to be friends with one another. Help us to respond to your call to love our enemies. May your Spirit do a work within us that we cannot do on our own. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.