Reflecting the Image

Scripture:

Romans 12:²⁰ 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.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (NRSVUE)

Observation:

Paul is admonishing the Roman believers to get along with one another. He has already provided quite the list of things that they are supposed to be doing. They are to live in harmony and not repay evil with evil. God’s people are simply supposed to live and respond in a different way to the challenges that they face in life.

Finally, he comes to this section where he is quoting Scripture.

We are to feed our hungry enemies. People who may not agree with us, and may have actually brought harm to us, will become hungry. Stop, take time to show them kindness and feed them.

Our enemies may become thirsty. We are not supposed to just pass them by and wish them luck! We are to find a way to give them something to drink.

The next phrase is a bit fascinating — “for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” That doesn’t really sound very pleasant! I’m not sure that the point is punishment as much as the discomfort that comes when hostility is met with unexpected kindness. It can be deeply humbling to have been mean or unkind to someone, only to discover that when you are in need, that person is the one who feeds you and gives you something to drink. Kindness has a way of exposing our hostility for what it is. Maybe those are the burning coals we feel.

Overall, the point is that we should not allow evil to overcome us. The way in which we do battle is with good.

Application:

This passage of Scripture made a huge impression on me many years ago. I was a teenager, and our church was worshipping in the chapel at Nazarene Theological Seminary while our new building was being built. The teens were up in the balcony, and Dr. Gordon Wetmore was preaching. He had been preaching an entire series of sermons from Romans. This day he was on Romans 12 and got to verse 20. For some reason, it will always stick with me that he said “burning coals of fire on their heads.”

Somehow, I got tickled at that imagery. I think I got the giggles, right there in church, imagining dumping burning coals of fire on someone’s head — someone who didn’t like me and whom I probably didn’t like either. Ah — the retribution — how sweet!

But that’s not the total image that stuck with me. What remained was the idea that I was to be kind to people who were unkind to me. I was to love those who didn’t love me. Even when people did mean things to me, I was to try and find a way to be nice back to them. That idea has never left me, and that sermon stuck with a teenager.

God’s holiness people are to learn to get along with those who may be challenging to love. It is the Christian’s responsibility to be the bridge. These days far too many people are fighting with one another and trying to prove who is right and who is wrong. Arguing seems to have become some kind of a sport, while genuine goodness is often lacking.

When John Wesley was traveling across the Atlantic toward America and the colony of Georgia, he encountered a group of people who surprised him — the Moravians from Germany. We are often told that he was impacted by the assurance of salvation that they exuded in the midst of a dangerous storm. What’s more fascinating is what he documents in his journal prior to the storm, and that is the behavior of these people. He was amazed that they were willing to do menial tasks without complaint and were willing to serve others on the ship. It was their attitude that caught his attention.

What would happen if God’s people took this advice seriously? Maybe we could begin with other Christians! The witness of the Church might look very different if God’s children modeled another pathway forward in a deeply divided world. We don’t have to win every argument. We don’t have to return every insult. We don’t have to repay evil with evil.

We overcome evil with good.

Prayer:

Lord, I’m grateful for a sermon that I heard so many years ago that has stuck with me. I’ll be honest that my first reaction or response is not always to overcome with good, but I really do want to live this way. Please, help me overcome evil with good. Amen.