We're called to be for others

In a disagreement, not everyone is the silent-treatment type. Some people yell and scream, or trash each other on social media, or try to settle it with a fight after school.

Or maybe this is your style…(Video)

How we fight might be different, but we all have this in common

When we’re in conflict with others, we tend to draw battle lines between “us” and “them.”

Question | What’s the dumbest reason you’ve ever gotten into a fight with someone?

So What?

There are a lot of reason why we sometimes draw imaginary battle lines between ourselves and others. Maybe it’s because someone doesn’t treat us well, or look like us, or believe like us, or act like us.

When God created everything, humans were designed to be in relationship with God and with each other. BUT we messed that up.

We created dividing lines between us and God.

We created dividing lines between us and others.

We’ve always had a tendency to make enemies. We act like our survival depends on seeing the world through the lens of, “It’s me or you and I choose me.”

But God doesn't operate that way. God looks at us and says, “It’s not ‘me or you. ‘It’s ‘ME for you.”

Scripture | Genesis-Jeremiah (Summary)

Last week we talked about how God is for us, and has always been for us. From the beginning of history, God had a plan in place to restore the relationships we'd broken, both with God and with each other.

We talked about how God's promise to Abraham was part of that plan.

God promised to make Abraham's descendants a great nation, which God did. The nation of Israel grew for generations and generations. But that's not all God promised.

God told Abraham he'd be blessed, and here's why: God was going to bless Israel so Israel could bless the whole world.

This idea would have been completely new and revolutionary. The nations of the world were definitely not trying to figure out how to bless each other — they were trying to destroy, conquer, and enslave each other!

Last week, we left Abraham at the moment God called him to leave his land, people, and identity, and follow God on a new adventure. And Abraham did! If we were watching a Disney movie, this is where the credits would roll and we’d say, “And he lived happily ever after.” But that’s not what happened.

Israel got off to a slow start, but eventually Abraham's descendants grew into a large nation.

Then they were enslaved by Egypt.

Then God rescued them.

Then they wandered in the desert for 40 years, waiting for God to lead them to the land God promised to give Abraham's descendants.

Finally, the nation of Israel got some land and a king. They had a few kings, actually, and things seemed to be going well.

But hundreds of years after God's original promise to Abraham, the nation of Israel kept screwing things up.

Over and over again, Israel turned its back on God, choosing to create their own rules, instead of submitting to God's authority.

Plus, they kept forgetting the part of God's promise that said, "you will be a blessing" to everyone on earth. Instead of being a blessing, Israel hurt and oppressed others.

So God sent prophets — people who challenged God's people to get serious about following God and fulfilling God's promise to be for others. But even with the prophets, Israel struggled to learn.

God never stopped being for Israel, but being for someone means you're for their growth — and sometimes helping someone grow means letting them experience the consequences of their own actions.

So God allowed the nation of Israel to be take captive and enslaved once again — this time by the nations of Babylon and Assyria.

Scripture | ,

In their captivity, God sent a prophet named Jeremiah to speak a message Israel needed to hear, but wasn't going to like.

Jeremiah 1:1–9 ESV

1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month. 4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” 9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

Jere

Jeremiah 29:4–7 ESV

4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Jeremiah

For a second, imagine that our country was taken over by an enemy nation — and a pretty evil one. Imagine that your beloved land is now theirs — you are suddenly in enemy territory. Imagine how much you would hate them and pray for their destruction. That was how Israel felt. But Jeremiah tells Israel to do something completely counterintuitive, and maybe even offensive to the angry Israelites. Jeremiah told them . . . Make your home here, in enemy territory.Build houses and settle down.Turn your enemies into friends.Take care of the land.Plant gardens.Seek peace.You can’t do any of those things overnight. They would take time, intention, and love. Instead of hoping their enemies would be destroyed, God told them to hope that their enemies would be blessed.When Israel wanted to say, "It's us or them," Jeremiah said, "No — it's us for them. Because we're called to be for others."God was reminding Israel of the very thing God had promised Abraham so long ago: God's people would do things differently. God's people would be for others, just like God had been for them.But here’s the thing: Israel didn't believe it. They (and a few false prophets) were convinced God would rescue them and destroy their enemies any minute, so it would be ridiculous to try and make peace or get comfortable. They didn't care about Babylon — they cared about themselves.Israel wanted their enemies destroyed, but God had something better in mind.INSTRUCTIONS: Read together.God's plans didn't look like Israel's plans. They would be in captivity for 70 more years, but God said those plans were not meant to harm them, but to give them a hope and a future.Does that last verse sound familiar at all? I hear it a lot at graduations or when someone is going through something difficult. Sometimes this verse is quoted in context, but it's usually not. isn't a promise that God is someday going to make all of our dreams come true. is a reminder about who God is (for us) and who God's people are called to be (for others).Just like God is for us, we are called to be for others. This has been God's message from the beginning.

But Jeremiah tells Israel to do something completely counterintuitive, and maybe even offensive to the angry Israelites. Jeremiah told them . . .

Make your home here, in enemy territory.

Build houses and settle down.

Turn your enemies into friends.

Take care of the land.

Plant gardens.

Seek peace.

You can’t do any of those things overnight. They would take time, intention, and love. Instead of hoping their enemies would be destroyed, God told them to hope that their enemies would be blessed.

When Israel wanted to say, "It's us or them," Jeremiah said, "No — it's us for them. Because we're called to be for others."

God was reminding Israel of the very thing God had promised Abraham so long ago: God's people would do things differently. God's people would be for others, just like God had been for them.

But here’s the thing: Israel didn't believe it. They (and a few false prophets) were convinced God would rescue them and destroy their enemies any minute, so it would be ridiculous to try and make peace or get comfortable. They didn't care about Babylon — they cared about themselves.

Israel wanted their enemies destroyed, but God had something better in mind.

Jeremiah 29:10–11 ESV

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah

God's plans didn't look like Israel's plans. They would be in captivity for 70 more years, but God said those plans were not meant to harm them, but to give them a hope and a future.

God's plans didn't look like Israel's plans. They would be in captivity for 70 more years, but God said those plans were not meant to harm them, but to give them a hope and a future.Does that last verse sound familiar at all? I hear it a lot at graduations or when someone is going through something difficult. Sometimes this verse is quoted in context, but it's usually not. isn't a promise that God is someday going to make all of our dreams come true. is a reminder about who God is (for us) and who God's people are called to be (for others).Just like God is for us, we are called to be for others. This has been God's message from the beginning.

Does that last verse sound familiar at all? I hear it a lot at graduations or when someone is going through something difficult. Sometimes this verse is quoted in context, but it's usually not.

isn't a promise that God is someday going to make all of our dreams come true.

is a reminder about who God is (for us) and who God's people are called to be (for others).Just like God is for us, we are called to be for others. This has been God's message from the beginning.

Question | Why is it so revolutionary that God tells us to be “for” others - even our enemies?

Scripture |

Many years after Jeremiah, God showed us excatly what it looks like to be for the people who are supposed to be your enemies.

John 3:16–17 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus entered enemy territory to show us that God is for us. Now God calls us to do the same - to make friends with our enemies, to make our home in a place that’s not our own, and to seek the peace and wellbeing of everyone around us.

God calls us to be for others.

Now What?

Through Jesus, God showed us what it means to be for others. But how can we follow Jesus' example? How can we be for people and not against them? Maybe you . . .

RESOLVE A CONFLICT. Identify a battle line that has been drawn between you and someone else, and then cross it — not with hostility, but with forgiveness, humility, and peace.

MAKE A FRIEND. Cross that imaginary boundary line and sit with, talk to, or say hello to someone new.

LEARN FROM SOMEONE NEW. Notice someone who thinks, lives, or was raised differently than you, and then pursue a friendship — not so you can change them to be more like you, but so you can learn and grow together, through your similarities and your differences.

SHARE WHAT YOU HAVE. Like God blessed Israel so Israel could bless others, how can you give to others from the things you've been given?

This way of living is radical, but it's what the world needs. So how can you be for people, like God is for you?