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Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse\u2026Don\u2019t pay back evil with evil. Be careful to do what everyone thinks is right. If possible, live in peace with everyone. Do that as much as you can. My dear friends, don\u2019t try to get even. Leave room for God to show his anger. It is written, \u201cI am the God who judges people. I will pay them back,\u201d says the Lord. Do just the opposite. Scripture says, \u201cIf your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. By doing those things, you will pile up burning coals on their heads.\u201d Don\u2019t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good (14, 17-21).
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This week we finish our Wilderness Wanderings on Romans 12. Hopefully, they have helped some of you in living the central realities of our new life in Jesus Christ: to love sincerely. I have prepared two podcasts on these concluding verses.
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They can sound heavy and negative: \u2018Do not curse\u2019 (14); \u2018Don\u2019t pay back evil with evil\u2019 (17); \u2018don\u2019t try to get even\u2019 (19); and \u2018Don\u2019t let evil overcome you\u2019 (21). Yet, there are also positives slipped in: \u2018Bless those who persecute\u2019 (14); \u2018be careful to do what everyone thinks is right;\u2019 (17); \u2018leave room for God to show his anger\u2019 (19); and \u2018overcome evil by doing good\u2019 (21).
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Today, I will reflect on the possibilities of living this way; while, on Thursday, we will look at it from the perspective of God\u2019s justice and anger. The things in these verses may seem like a tall order. The Heidelberg Catechism teaches us that we have a natural tendency to hate God and our neighbor (A 5). That seems about right.
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As parents, we all observe that our children have a natural tendency towards getting even. Have you ever seen a three-year-old, when another child takes his toy, to offer a second as well? Hardly. The child immediately works to retrieve said toy, usually with violence.
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Darwinian evolutionary theory made popular the phrase, \u2018survival of the fittest.\u2019 This is a reference to species survival on the macro level. However, it seems to be equally true at the micro level of human relationships. Whether its children playing in the park or adults striving to get ahead in the workplace, we do not tolerate others doing us harm. Our immediate reaction is to seek retaliation.
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But God calls Christians to be different. This is one of the unique qualities of the followers of Jesus. Why are we not known for this? Why is it that after 2000 years of Christianity non-Christians do not\xa0 identify the church as that group of people that \u2018doesn\u2019t seek revenge\u2019?
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Romans 12 begins with a view of God\u2019s mercy, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him. This conclusion, not to seek revenge, is lengthy because this is where we keep crawling off the alter! God wants us to return good for evil and we say, \u2018fat chance\u2019, we want justice, in other words, vengeance.
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In the course of life, we encounter truly difficult people\u2013individuals who wound us, wrong us, betray us, and so make us want to strike back. Justice, we think, demands that they both know what they\u2019ve done to us and get punished for it in some way. We believe that this is our right. Yet, as gospel people, a sincere love which forgives evildoers should be our response when we are treated badly.
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This is how we embody the gospel of our God in Christ: \u2018overcoming evil with good.\u201d This is what Jesus did in his ministry and, ultimately, in his death. Jesus met the evil of this world head on with love and grace, not balled-up fists and merciless judgment. Living in love and harmony with difficult and evil people is simply part of what it means to be caught up in the rhythms of the gospel.
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That\u2019s who we are as Christian people. It\u2019s wrong to get the greatest gift of God\u2019s grace and then turn right around and take revenge on others. The phrase \u2018my dear friends\u2019 could also be translated, \u2018my dear agape people\u2019. Agape is that special, divine love that we get by grace alone. People who have been graced with God\u2019s agape can\u2019t turn around and live vengeful lives.
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Bad things happen. That is an unhappy facet to life in this world.\xa0 The gospel calls us to absorb such evil, to show Christ to the world not just when doing that is relatively easy but to display the grace of Jesus precisely when it is most difficult. Society says we have a right to justice; to see the evil doer punished. The gospel demands something else. You cannot walk around as a living example of God\u2019s grace only to be someone who cannot forgive an offense.
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The only way into this life is to keep God\u2019s mercy towards me clearly in view. To remain sacrificed, to remain submitted to God\u2019s way instead of the world\u2019s system, requires something greater than natural strength. We can\u2019t do this on our own. But that has been Paul\u2019s contention all along, \u2018in view of God\u2019s mercy.\u2019 We have received; therefore, we can give.

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