Scripture Romans 12:9-21 NRSV
12:9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.". No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads."
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
*************************************************
In our prayer this morning we asked blessings on all those affected by natural disasters, including the California wild fires, the inland hurricane in the MidWest, and Hurricane Laura on the Gulf Coast. Week of Compassion is the relief fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and works with partners - like local congregations and Regions of the Disciples - to alleviate suffering throughout the world. If you want to help people who have been affected by any of these recent natural disasters, please send a donation to the Week of Compassion and write what you want the money to go to on the memo line of your check, or in a comment section on their website. You can find the WoC information on our website - www.selmadisciples.com.
I know some people who think that we really don’t need the Old Testament at all. We have a new covenant with God through Jesus Christ, with all new teachings, which replaces all the other. Then we come to a passage in the Gospels that talks about fulfilling the word of the Prophets, or this one in Paul’s letter to the Romans in which Paul quotes Proverbs 25:21-22.
“21 If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat;
and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink;
22 for you will heap coals of fire on their heads,
and the Lord will reward you.”.
This was not new information for the Jewish Christians. It is, in fact, an extension of the law of hospitality which was practiced throughout the ancient world and even on through Medieval Times. If anyone -friend, stranger or even an enemy - shows up at the door seeking food or water or shelter, you provide what they need. Period. “...for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads."
I am probably not alone in having thought that this meant me being helpful to someone who had hurt me would really upset them. AND because It would be silly of them to complain to others that I had been helpful when they needed help, that would upset them even more. They might even spend time and energy worrying about when my real revenge would come and what form it would take. As a method of getting even, that is pretty cool.
But, what to do about that pesky “vengeance is mine, says the Lord” quote from Deuteronomy which comes right before this. If vengeance is God’s, why am I being given instructions for the world’s coolest revenge?
The people of Paul’s time would have read that whole heaping burning coals on their head line entirely differently than we do. In those days, the only fire a family had was kept in a brazier, which they used for simple cooking as well as for warmth, and was always kept burning. If it should go out, some member of the family will take the brazier to a neighbor’s house to borrow fire. She could give them a few coals, just enough to get the fire started again. Or she could be extravagant and heap the coals into the brazier, which they would carry home on their head. To feed an enemy and give him drink was like heaping the empty brazier with live coals – which meant food, warmth and almost life itself to the person or home needing it, and was the symbol of finest generosity.” (Barbara Bowen, Strange Scriptures that Perplex the Western Mind). This kind of generous hospitality is a means of showing extravagant love for the other. In fact, it is more likely to create a friend than hurt an enemy. There is a well known quote, “The only safe and sure way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend.” which was originally said by Mark Twain. Or maybe Abraham Lincoln. Or perhaps the 15th century Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Sigismund of Luxembourg. No one knows for sure. But this sentiment is what the heaping burning coals on your enemy’s head is about - ending hatred and anger through love.
Live in harmony with one another. . . . Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
If we were to condense this passage down to its most basic meaning - without reverting to “love one another” - I think this would be it. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
So far as it depends on you. . . Clearly, it is not possible to control the words and actions of others. Any parent, whether their child is a toddler or a teen, knows this. How we respond to the words and actions of others does, however, depend on us. If we are upset by the words or actions of another, if, for example, we take insults thrown around in political or religious conversations personally, we can choose to respond in kind - repaying evil for evil - or we can respond peacefully, with an attitude of love, taking thought to what is noble in the sight of all.
I have to tell you, it can be really pretty ugly out there. It is one thing when politicians and their handlers throw personal insults at the opposition. We don’t like that. We would prefer if they stuck to the issues. But we all know that this become normal in political campaigning. But . . . when I see my friends and colleagues, ministers and other religious leaders - on both sides of the political divide - also stooping to name calling and demonizing the opposition. . .
Y’know, we are supposed to be better than that. Christians are supposed to be better than that.
Mind you, I do see some who respond to the ugliness and personal insults politely and with respect for that person’s opinion. I see some who are able to ignore the name calling and calmly discuss the issue at hand. I see some who do not lump all whatevers into the same box. I do see some who - while they may indeed become angry over issues and situations - do, nevertheless, control their response. Who seek to show honor to one another, by listening to their opinions respectfully and peaceably.
But I see way too many - on both sides of the political and religious divides - who do repay ugliness with ugliness, who do resort to personal insults and name-calling, for whom logic has flown out the window, for whom every issue has one right and one wrong solution, everything is either this or that - there is no in between, no possibility of both/and, no room for compromise - and who allow their emotions to lead them. Daily I am reminded of a line in the 1967 hit song For What it’s Worth . . . “Nobody’s right, if everybody’s wrong.”
Christians are supposed to be better than that. Christians are supposed to love one another with mutual affection. Christians are supposed to try to outdo one another in showing honor - like Chip and Dale, the cartoon chipmunks, who spend so much time saying “after you,” “no, after you,” “no really, after you,” that they finally have to walk through the doorway together. Christians are supposed to walk through the door together. We don’t have to agree, but we do have to genuinely love one another. We do have to hate what is evil. We do have to overcome evil with good. We do have to live in harmony with each other.
If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. This is hard. Sometimes it really seems impossible. It is so easy to be dragged into an argument, to get sidetracked from important conversations, to allow anger or hurt feelings to take over. Sometimes we think the only way to react to attacks and insults is to attack back, and call it self defense. We might even decide that the best defense is a good offense and engage in what one of our previous presidents called pro-active self-defense. But . . .
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
If your enemies are hungry, give them bread. If they are thirsty, give them water.
We are Christians, the food and drink we have to give is love.
And The best revenge is love.
Radical love.
Extravagant love.
Heaping coals of burning love.
And the world will know we are Christians
- by our love.
No comments:
Post a Comment