DON'T TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS (Part II), edited
Don't Take Matters Into Your Own Hands • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 11 viewsEncouragement to not be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good.
Notes
Transcript
Flip The Script (Flip It)
Flip The Script (Flip It)
1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
INTRODUCTION
If you have ever been mistreated, then listen closely:
As long as you withhold forgiveness, the mistreatment and the mistreat-er have power over you.
As long as you refuse to forgive, the injustice has a grip on your heart.
I implore you, don’t let mistreatment hold your heart, your mind, and your spirit captive.
If you haven’t forgiven the mistreatment, you are not victorious over.
There is only one way to win when you have been mistreated.
You have to follow the advice of Paul as he writes in Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
FLIP IT
Allow me to say that differently. Allow me to place a tag on Romans 12:21 when it says “Overcome Evil With Good. ”
The tag, the title of my sermon this morning is, “Flip It.”
The expression "Flip It" is the short way of saying “Flip The Scrip.”
“Flip the Script” or simply “Flip It” is a call to action, to change the direction or outcome of a situation by taking a different approach.
When you Flip It, you respond to mistreatment with positivity, love, and grace.
When you Flip It, transform your evildoers bad into your good.
You take their negative narrative and put a positive twist on it.
You replace their darkness with the radiance of your light."
Consider the story of Harriet Tubman.
Harriet Tubman, often referred to as the "Moses of her people," was a courageous abolitionist who risked her life to lead enslaved individuals to freedom through the Underground Railroad.
Despite enduring unimaginable suffering and abuse, Harriet chose to confront evil with acts of incredible bravery, compassion, and determination.
She didn’t seek revenge.
She didn’t resort to retaliation.
She responded with and fought for the principles of love, justice, and liberation.
Her efforts helped dismantle the institution of slavery.
Tubman demonstrated the transformative power of responding to evil with goodness and courage.
Tubman once said, "I freed a thousand slaves; I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves,. She understood that sometimes in life, you have to Flip It.
“TRUST IN THE LORD”
Easier said then done, right.
The text tells you how to do.
First, you nor I nor anyone else, can flip the script by ourselves.
That’s is why David advises us in Psalm 37 when you have been mistreated, trust in the Lord and do good.
After telling me to fret not, to not be consumed by, do not remain angry over evildoers and wrongdoers, David now tells us “Trust in the Lord and do Good.”
Ooooooweeeeeee.
Really?
You must be kidding me?
You don’t know what they did to me, David?
You can’t even imagine how evil it was, David.
But, you want me to just trust God when they lied about me.
You want me to just trust in God when they backstabbed me.
How in the world can I just trust God when they were scheming against me all along?
I didn’t know anything about it; I was still doing the right thing, going about my business, when I found out what they were up to. Not only that David, I was doing right by them.
You mean to tell me, turn the other cheek, and just trust God. Okay, maybe I can trust God. Oh, but this next thing you tell me is even worse, David. You want me to trust God and do good by them after they have done bad by me.
They did me wrong, but you tell me to do good.
Come on, God.
Who do you think I am?
I am not that saved.
I am not that holy.
Surely you have some better advice.
How about, can I tell them where they can go?
Can I call them everything but a child of God?
Can I stay angry and take this thing with me to the grave?
No. You can’t. Let me tell you, brothers and sisters, trusting God and doing good ain't always easy, no it ain't.
But the Word of God doesn't lie.
Paul tells us in Romans 12:21, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
OOOOOWWEEEE, did you hear that?
Overcome evil with good!
That means even when folks do you wrong, even when they try to tear you down, you gotta rise above it, you gotta show 'em what real love looks like.
And what about Luke 6:27-28, where it says, "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you."
I am so glad God is telling me this now that I am saved.
Because the BC version of Rev. Wells, not that guy, would have done something.
The BC version (the before Christ) version of Rev. Wells was not going to bless those who curse him. He was going to cuss, not curse, cuss them out like a sailor. The BC version of Rev. Wells would not flip the script, he might flip them one of his finger.
Trust God and do good. But that's what the Good Book tells us to do.
See, when you trust in the Lord and do good, you're showing the world the power of God's love.
You're shining a light in the darkness, you're breaking chains of bitterness and resentment.
So, don't let them haters bring you down, don't let wrongdoers hold you back.
Trust in the Lord, do good unto others, and watch how He works miracles in your life.
Can I get an amen?
TRUST IN GOD
But what does trusting God look like and how can trusting God help me to do good? Trusting is defined as finding deep security and assurance in someone or something. If there's one thing in life you should trust, it's God and God alone.
People will let you down.
Money can't buy everything.
You are not strong enough by yourself.
But there's One in whom you can trust unfailingly—God Almighty.
Songwriters said it like this:
In times like these, you need a Savior
In times like these, you need an anchor
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
This Rock is Jesus,
Yes He's the One
This Rock is Jesus, the only One
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
David knew something about trusting God. As a young shepherd boy, he stepped forward to fight Goliath when the grown men were scared and afraid.
With only a sling and a few stones, Goliath towering over him clad in heavy armor, mocking him and daring him to fight—David, undeterred by Goliath’s size and strength declared his trust in God saying, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty" (1 Samuel 17:45).
With total trust in God, David hurled a stone from his sling, striking Goliath in the forehead and brought him down to the ground.
That’s how you trust in God. When the thing before you is difficult to handle or deal with, it is your trust in God that gives you to strength to go and overcome whatever is front of you. Trust is not trust when life is good. It is not trust is all is well and there are not cares in the world.
I know you can trust when times are good.
I know you can trust God in the mini-size battles.
I know you can trust when all is right with the world.
I know you can trust him when everybody loves you.
But can you trust him when you have to face your giants?
Can you trust him when they don’t love you and call you all manners of evil?
You know what allows you to trust in God?
You can trust in God when you have a personal relationship with Him. Coming to church does not mean you know God. People in the church can be just as wicked as those outside of the church. When you know him, you can trust him.
Also, when you have seen him moved in your past, you can have faith that he can move in the present and in your future.
Trust God.
"DO GOOD”
Then, David says, do good. Paul said, overcome evil with good.
The word translated as "good" is the text means good, morally excellent, beneficial, or virtuous. The word “good” in Psalms means good, pleasant, or beneficial. Do good is not just in your actions. It is also about your attitude. You do good with your actions and say your forgive with your mouth and still have evil in your spirit. Like the small child that his is sister and he tell him to say “I am sorry.” He says I am sorry while rolling his eyes and not meaning it is his hearts. We adults do the say thing.
Both Paul and David understand that a relationship with God changes you. It transforms you. When God’s love transform you, it does not just happens in your actions, it happens in your attitude and your spirit. Part of that transformation is care, love, and concern for other people. God loves us and expects us to love others. Some people are hard to love, but we are still expected to love them. Evildoers and wrongdoers are hard to love. But when you are transformed, you also engage in self care. Now loving someone and forgiving does not always mean you will reconcile with them.
Reconciliation is not always possible or advisable, especially in situations involving severe harm or trauma. It's important to understand that loving and forgiving someone does not necessarily require reconciling the relationship or maintaining close ties with the person who caused harm.
You can be understanding and compassion towards them without reconciling with them.
You can release the resent your feel towards them, without reconciling with them.
You may need to set boundaries so that you do not allow them to hurt you again.
You can experience and take care of yourself, without reconciling with them.
You can wish them well without reconciling with them.
But here is the thing, I am glad that David told me to trust God before he tells me to do good.
Because if I had to do good unto those who have wronged on my own, it would be a lost cause. I can’t do it on my own.
But because I trust God, I can surrender my desire to hurt them, trusting that God word is true and His will will be done.
To do good, you have do two things:
1. You to surrender your will to God, and
2. You also have to depend on God to lead you in how your respond.
When everything inside of me tells to “get them back and get them good” it is my trust that helps me to do good instead. It is my dependence on God that guides me in my response.
I cannot love my enemies and pray for them in my own strength, but I depend on God to give me the strength. I don’t want to do it on my own, but I surrender to the will of God.
Remember David and King Saul.
King Saul unknowingly entered the cave to relieve himself, the very same cave where David and his men were hiding. Saul was seeking to kill DAvid. David's men urged him to seize the opportunity and kill Saul. They said, "David, this has to be the hand of God for Saul, who is looking to kill you, ends up in the very cave where you are hiding from him." However, David refused to harm Saul, even though Saul was seeking to kill him.
Why, maybe David found it difficult to respect Saul personally at this point, but he still respect Saul’s position as King and as A Child of God.
The same is true for you and me. There are times in this life when I can’t respect the person but I can respect their position and the fact that they are a child of God.
Guess what, your haters and your wrongdoers are still children of God.
It is when you realize and see your haters as God’s children, that you can pray for them.
When you realize that your wrongdoers were created by God, then you can do good unto them, even when they do bad unto you.
WHOOP
So this morning, as I bring this to a close, can I celebrate this thing. Can I celebrate that because I trust God, because I have seen what God has done in the past, because even my haters are God's children, I overcome evil with good. I can flip my script.
Flip It, Church.
When they criticize your actions — Flip It — praise them for their efforts.
When they spread rumors about you — Flip It — say good things about them.
When they ignore your contributions — Flip It — acknowledge their achievements.
When they show hostility towards you — Flip It — show hospitality unto them.
When they compete with you — Flip It — offer compassion to them.
When they belittle your ideas — Flip It — affirm their creativity and their perspective.
When they attack your character — Flip It — defend their reputation with integrity.
When they exclude you in isolation and coldness — Flip It — extend them an invitation with openness and warmth.
When you flip the script on them on earth, God will flip the script for you in heaven.
When God FLIPS IT, the weak shall inherit the earth.
When God FLIPS IT, the last shall be first in His kingdom.
When God flips FLIPS IT, those who mourn will find comfort in His arms.
When God flips FLIPS IT, the foolishness of the world confounds the wise.
When God FLIPS IT, the poor are rich in faith.
When God FLIPS IT, the brokenhearted are made whole in His love.
When God FLIPS IT, the persecuted are blessed with His kingdom.
When God FLIPS IT, the rejected are accepted as His children.
When Jesus died for my sins and your sins, he flipped the script.
He let them whip him, so that by his stripes I am healed.
He let them spit on him, so that I might be cleansed.
He let them put a crown of thorns on his head, so that I might receive the crown of life.
He let them pierce him in the side, so that I might be washed by his blood.
He let them nail his hands to the cross, so that I might find freedom.
He let them nail his feet to the cross, so that I might walk in newness of life.
They crucified him on Friday, but early Sunday morning, he flipped the script.
He got up out of the grave.
He overcame death,
He rose again.
He defeated death.
He won the battle against hell and the grave.
He got up, thank God Almighty, He got up.
My Savior,
My Redeemer.
My Healer,
Heavy load sharer,
Burden bearer,
He got up,
He got up,
He got up.
Hallelujah and Praise the Lord!