/You bless the ones persecuting you; you bless, and you do not curse.
Rejoice with those rejoicing; cry with those crying. Think the same in
one another; don't think (of) yourself highly, but accommodate yourself
to the lowly. Don't become wise from yourself. No one give back evil for
evil; think (on) the good before all men. If able, that which is of you,
with all men you have peace. You do not avenge yourself, loved by God,
but give place in wrath, for it is written, "Mine–avenging, I Myself
will give back" says the Lord. "But if ever your enemy hungers, you feed
him; if ever he thirsts, you quench him. For doing this, coals of fire
you pile up upon his head. You do not be conquered by the evil, but you
conquer the evil in the good. /
Revenge! We Lutherans aren't so sure how to approach this topic. We want
those who commit heinous crimes (like in the murder of the 2-y-o Levy
girl) to be not only proven guilty, but severely punished for their evil
deeds. Closer to home, when somebody wrongs you or a member of your
family, you may come out with guns blazing to hurt them even more than
you or your loved one has been hurt. It seems that the way of this world
is that people seeking their own revenge is encouraged.
But in the unique culture of the Christian church, revenge is forbidden.
Why? Because seeking to avenge the wrongs your enemy has inflicted upon
you is not a task that's given to you. It's God's job. Vengeance is the
Lord's and His only, when it comes to the wrongs His Own have suffered.
When you are attacked, God's instruction is simple. Don't do a single
thing in revenge. He tells you to "be still and know that I am God". In
your anger, you are not given to sin by robbing God of His revenge.
But that doesn't mean that you are to be a statue. Though you may not
return hurt to those who have hurt you, there are things God has given
you to do. You are to bless your enemy. Oh...ok... This means you pray
for him, you treat him with kindness, and actually look out for his
welfare by helping him whenever he has a need. Really? Yes. None of
these things sound like what you want to do to an enemy. Whoopie... But
at least you get to dump a pile of hot coals on his head, right? Well,
actually, no.
You see, your merciful kindness to your enemy would cause him to be
overwhelmed with hot coals of guilt as he compares his wicked ways to
your good ones. Hopefully his attitude toward you will change when he
experiences unexpected blessings from you. But I bet I know what you are
thinking, "It's not worth it!" Why would anybody care about an enemy
enough to put up with suffering at his hands, and return the favor with
mercy, love, kindness, and ever forgiveness for all the heinous wrongs?
Of course, inspired by the Spirit, St Paul knows the odds are slim that
sinners like us would refrain from sinning right back at those who have
sinned against us. We are by nature sinful revengers. We like the "eye
for an eye, tooth for a tooth, life for a life" parts of the bible. It's
fair. It's just. It seems right. Surely, if we took an opinion poll, the
overwhelming opinion would be "Go for it!" when it comes to seeking
revenge. They deserve it, after all, don't they? And indeed they
do...but so do you...
You see, you have cursed somebody. You have persecuted a man. You have
sinned against a Person who has been nothing but nice to you in every
way. You have hurt him in a most grievous way, even though He did
nothing to deserve it. This man you've wronged is Jesus! You broke His
commandments; your blame for your revenge-seeking has been cast on Him;
your sins placed God the Father's curse upon Him at Calvary; your
sinfulness caused Him to suffer & die in your place, with all your guilt
& shame at the +.
Wow. You treated the nicest guy ever as though He was your enemy! And
He's coming back on that last day, what's it called? Oh yeah, "Judgment
Day". Ouch. And He's the Lord; vengeance is His! You ought to be just as
scared as Joseph's brothers were that he'd get revenge on them for
selling him into slavery. But just as Joseph realized that all this bad
stuff was used by God for a very good thing, so too does all the sin,
cursing, and death that fell upon Jesus get used by God as a very good
thing!
For a lot of bad things happened to Jesus, but all that evil did not
conquer Him. In fact, by His death He conquers death, and proves it on
Easter by rising to life again! For He is God and God is good, and good
conquers evil! Jesus is your Conqueror of sin, death & hell. And instead
of revenge upon you, He has mercy upon you, proclaiming you absolutely
forgiven by His strong Word, cleansing you from your unrighteousness in
the waters of baptism, and feeding you with Himself in His holy Supper.
This same Jesus who has shown you such great undeserved mercy, blesses
your enemies thru you!
So leave the Vengeance thing to God. He indeed repays a life for a life,
in this case, He pays for your sinful, hell-deserving life with the
holy, precious life-blood of His Own Son, made forfeit for your
salvation. And not just for you, but also for that unlovable enemy of
yours. The Christ died for him as well. Jesus is your enemy's Savior
too. Don't think too highly of yourself, over & above your enemy, since
you are both in the same boat. Instead, rejoice that God did not pour
out His divine wrath on two sinners who deserved it, you and your enemy.
But, by His death you both are reconciled to God, and to one another in
peace, forevermore. Amen.
John C. Drosendahl, Pastor
[email protected]
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