Session 3: Sunday March 13
Most of you want to be seen as an individual—as a unique person—different from anyone else.
No one wants to be just like everyone else.
We don’t want to be just average. But the truth is, we put a lot of time and effort into “fitting in” too. There are certain ways you and I approach and react to our world that are universal—there are certain things about us that are the same for everyone.
We all have reflexes. We all respond to life in certain ways that seem natural.
There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12 NIV).
Responding in the way that seems natural for us may lead us somewhere we don’t want to go.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for an eye’” (Matthew 5:38 NIV).
Jesus was notorious for taking a likely response and calling for a completely unlikely response.
“But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:39-42 NIV).
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy’” (Matthew 5:43 NIV).
“But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons 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. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:44-48 NIV).
Those who were created in Christ Jesus for good works respond differently and live lives that look different and unlikely in the world we live in. Take every way that you want to respond, every way that comes naturally, every way that’s likely, and try something different. I want you to respond in a way that is unlikely.
Because you are an unlikely person that God has chosen to use. He calls us to act like Him, to love like Him, to live like Him in an unlikely world. We all have places and people that are difficult to love. Think about those places and those people, and for each one, write down one thing that would be like an unlikely response. Now is the time to choose to love. God wants to show up in your world. He wants to do something amazing in the place where you think nothing good could happen. He wants to use you in those unlikely places to bring peace, joy and redemption to people who have never experienced those things before. You are an unlikely person who God puts in unlikely places to respond in unlikely ways.
Bottom Line: God asks unlikely people in unlikely circumstances and places to respond in unlikely ways.