Do not take revenge, my dear friends,
but leave room for God’s wrath,
for it is written: “It is mine to avenge;
I will repay,” says the Lord.
On the contrary: “If your enemy
is hungry, feed him; if she is thirsty,
give her something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning
coals on their head.”
Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12.17-21
It's the Monday morning after Super Tuesday AND President Biden's State of the Union address + Senator Katie Britt's Republican response. To understate, the insults have been flying fast and furiously., and enemies abound.
We live in mean and angry times. Our public square is smackdown center, with “when they go low, we go lower” as the main mantra. Social media is Lord of the Flies revisited. My Apple News feed headlines sometimes read like a middle school gang war, with Huffington Post as the young Sharks and FOX News as the junior Jets. Vengeance and retaliation are the law of the land, from our Washington wars to our Main Street mayhem.
And here's the sad truth: you and I hold anger in us. We sometimes rage at enemies we don't now and maybe a few people we do know. Frankly, we could use some help.
This morning, here comes scripture to the rescue! When he wrote his letter to the Roman church, the apostle Paul chose a very challenging chore: he set out to help people in a church he had not met who have the human tendency toward vengefulness -- to love their enemies. Paul knew they (and we) could not get from our retaliatory Point A to a gracious Point B immediately. The kind of divine transformation he pictures in 12.2 -- "be transformed by the renewing of your minds "-- doesn't just happen in a moment. So he met the ancient Roman Christians and us right where we live.
Let's look at the three steps of transformation Paul imagines:
Step One: Rid of Retaliation.
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
Paul's Job One is simple: don't hit back. He knows what happens inside us when we're upset. He starts with a behavior change, because he knows our motives aren’t even close to pure yet. Here's his way station: “If the only way to keep you from hitting back is to let you imagine that God will take out your enemy, "I’ll take what I can get," says he. "Just DON’T HIT BACK!”
Step Two: ACT Generous before We ARE Generous
On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if she is thirsty, give her something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on their head.”
Paul wants us ultimately to become generous and gracious, but he knows we aren't there yet. He knows our motives still aren’t pure, so he offers another partway point: “If the only way to get you to act out love to your enemy is to let you fantasize about how bad it will make them feel -- "heap burning coals on their head" -- I’ll take it. Whatever you need to motivate you, just DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR YOUR ENEMY.”
Step Three: Love Wins
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
If Paul's first and second step have adapted to human frailty, the final step features full transformation. Now we actually live into the character of the Christ who said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” and “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” We no longer have to be coaxed away from retaliation. Now heaven welcomes us into the goodness of God. "OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD!"
Isn’t it fantastic to know that the God who created us can start with us where we are right now? You have political enemies. You roll your eyes at them, comment under your breath about them, unfriended them on Facebook, and derided them with your tribe. You have what Albert C. Brooks calls our latest national sin: contempt. But the God of the universe looks at you and says, “We got this. I can work with you.” Then step one kicks in. Ours is a good God, wouldn’t you say?
Remember this about God, friends, and have a marvelous Monday!
Prayer – God of patience, thanks for your patience with me. God who made and loves my enemies, remake me as one who loves them too, in Jesus. Amen.
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