Monday, November
5, 2018
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. Romans 12:17-21(NLT)
There are so many illustrations of how we
humans despise the idea that our enemies get away with
anything. A bombing, or jet crashing
into twin towers requires a response. A
murder requires lethal injection. A bop
on the head during recess requires running to the teacher and demanding
justice! We are hard-wired, it seems, to
default with eye-for-an-eye revenge! The
first thing a recruit is taught when learning to be a good soldier is that the
enemy must die!
Doing good to your enemies makes no sense
at all, does it? Yet, that is exactly
what the Apostle Paul is saying. And the
idea wasn’t his at all! In fact, when
Paul was still Saul, the Pharisee, breathing out threats against the church, righteous
revenge was his stock-in-trade; he worked tirelessly to inflict religious
vengeance on the blasphemous Christians[2]. But when Jesus caught up with Saul on the
Road to Damascus, the Lord not only changed his name to Paul, this newly commissioned
apostle had his mind changed as well.
Jesus taught him what he’d taught on the Olivet hillside:
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Matthew 5:43-44(NLT)
Now, that sounds altruistic, and even heroic,
to walk on the high side of revenge; forgiving instead of killing – but does it
work in the real world? Well, that
depends upon in which world you prefer to live – this world’s system of grab
all you can and dispose of anyone in your path who is an obstacle … or the
Kingdom of God. The two worlds are polar
opposites, and you cannot live with one foot in the Kingdom, and the other in
the world. Trying that will make you a
Thanksgiving turkey wishbone! You’ll get
pulled from both sides, and the split will be painful.
So, let’s entertain a slightly different
view of meeting the needs of hungry, thirsty enemies; a view that makes
sense. It has to do with what the
apostle said about heaping burning coals of shame on someone’s head. At first hearing it sounds like you’re
calling fire down from heaven on someone’s head…get that sucker, God;
it’s a real revenge party!
But the meaning couldn’t be more
opposite. In Eastern culture of two
millennia ago, the fires were always burning.
It was much easier to keep a fire going than get a new one started. Smoldering coals were used to transfer fire
from one place to start up a new blaze at another location.
If, by chance, or laziness, your fire went
out during the night, requesting some coals from your neighbor was the first
thought. Doing the neighborly thing
you’d put some fiery coals in a pot, and your neighbor would carry them home,
balancing the pot atop their head.
So, Paul’s imagery contains goodness with
a barb. Fiery coals are a good thing
when your fire has gone out. But these fiery
coals of shame turn it upside down; given to an enemy, a good deed becomes their
shame in counting on the kindness of one to whom they have shown no
kindness. That kind of response changes
hearts from revengeful to kindly.
And changed hearts changes lives,
communities, and whole cultures. It can
change the world!
For You Today
Burning coals; it only takes a spark to
get a fire going.
Go to VIDEO
[2] See Acts 8,
9 & 22
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