Christian Love and our Enemies

Tonight, we are finishing up our series on 1 Corinthians 13 and also our little study on the end of Romans 12. Last week we looked at verses 9-13 and we focused on how those verses directly connected Christian love between believers. Now we are going to look at love but we are going to look at it from the other perspective: Christian love to nonbelievers. In fact, it is more than just nonbelievers, Paul’s words are applied to those that would be considered our enemies. This is a love towards the haters of Christ, Christians, and Christianity. This isn’t a hard question but is it easier to love someone who loves you or someone who hates you? 99% of the time, we would say it’s easier to love those that love us. From a nonChristian standpoint, we would probably intentionally avoid the people that don’t love us and chances are, if they don’t love us, we probably don’t love them either. Paul says, “Get that out of your mind. Get that out of your vocabulary.” Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:46–47 “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” Jesus is saying, and we will see it in Romans 12, that if we only love the people who love us, if we only love the people that are like us, we miss the beauty of the Gospel. We miss just how different the Christian life is from any other way of live. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer and then we will dive into Romans 12:14-21.

Romans 12:14–21 NASB95

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Highs and Lows of Christian Love (Verses 14-16)

Let’s start by looking at verses 14-16 and it is important to note that while the majority of what Paul writes about in this section appears to apply to those outside of the church, much of it can still apply to believers as well. Paul doesn’t follow a set, neat pattern so there’s no harm in him moving back and forth from non believers to believers back to unbelievers. It looks like we see this sort of pattern in verses 14-16. What’s great with these verses is that they are pretty self explanatory. As we have studied 1 Corinthians 13, we’ve taken a lot of time to go back and identify what Paul meant and we’ve done this by looking at different ways that other translations have translated the verses just so the message can become clearer to us. We really don’t have to do that here. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse is pretty straight forward isn’t it? Really that is half of the message of the entire Bible. That we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Jesus Himself says in Luke 6:27-30

Luke 6:27–30 NASB95

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. “Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

Peter says in 1 Peter 3:8–9 “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.” What a contrary lifestyle this is to the unsaved world. What so many people believe is that if someone hurts you, get even. If someone is cursing you, it is fine to curse them. You need to look out for number 1. Strength is through power, not weakness but that isn’t the kingdom that Christ builds. No, Christians are part of an upside down kingdom. We are a part of something where to be persecuted is in many ways a blessing in disguise because it makes us more like Jesus. The world doesn’t look at pushback like that. But time and time again through Scripture we see that even those that curse us, we should pray for, that we should bless and seek the good of. We are to do all the good that we can to the people that are trying to do to us all the bad that they can possibly do. I remember listening to Mike Winger and if you don’t know who he is, check out his YouTube page, a great apologist and communicator. He was telling a story about how his pastor was evangelizing to Muslims and while his pastor was talking to this Muslim teacher, the guy said something along the lines of: “If you talk to me and convert me to Christianity, I’ll kill you.” And WInger’s pastor said something so profound, something so out of the ordinary for the unsaved man or woman to understand. He said to this man threatening his life: That’s the difference between your religion and mine. You are willing to kill for yours and I am willing to die for mine. That’s the mindset that says, “Even if you curse me, I will bless you. Even if you persecute me, I will bless you. Even if you kill me, while I have breath in my lungs, I will bless and pray for you.” Moving into verse 15, we see another verse that is relatively straightforward for us. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Paul here appears to switch back to writing about fellow Christians and our lives should be so connected with each other that your victory is my victory and your grief becomes my grief. John Calvin said, “The nature of true love is such that each one prefers to grieve with his brother than to look from a distance on his grief through fastidiousness or unwillingness to act. We should adapt ourselves to one another as far as possible, and whatever our circumstances may be, each should enter into the feelings of the other, whether to sorrow with him in adversity or to rejoice in prosperity. Not to welcome a brother’s happiness with joy is a mark of envy; and not to grieve at his misfortune is inhumanity.” You see to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, there needs to be community. There needs to be a Body of Believers that gather together. When we’re together, we know each others stories, we know each others struggles and rather than use that against each other, it is a token of grace that propels us higher to the throne of God. You see there is something in Christian community and Christian friendship that is so very special. There is a special joy that we are only able to bring out of each other. You all probably know how much I love C.S. Lewis, I’ve said that it isn’t a Brady sermon if one reference to Lewis isn’t thrown in. In his book The Four Loves, one of the loves that he writes about is friendship, it’s a great section. In this section Lewis is writing about his friends, specifically his group of friends that became known as the Inklings. They were a group of literary minded men that would meet on Tuesday mornings at the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford and other than Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams were members and incredibly close friends. Lewis in the book writes about how when Charles died, Lewis could at least say that he still had Tolkien or Ronald as was his nickname. He thought that even though Charles was gone, he still had Tolkien and because Charles had passed, they could be closer than what they were before but here is what Lewis discovered: He didn’t get more of Tolkien, he actually got less. This is what he writes: “In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s reaction to a specifically Caroline joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him ‘to myself’ now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald.” Christians bring out the best of each other. In many ways, we are incomplete without each other. If we say, I love Jesus but I just can’t get connected at church, we like Lewis, have both less of Charles and less of Ronald because Jesus brings the best out of His church and the church points to Jesus in a way that is near impossible for us to do on our own. We need to be there for each other both in times of rejoicing and times of weeping. One more quick thing about verse 15, I think that it is so important for us to look at how Jesus Himself is so connected to us that even He was not above weeping when those that He loves weeps. Just look at the story of Lazarus in John 11. Lazarus dies, Jesus delays going to see him and his sisters Mary and Martha. Do you remember what Mary and Martha say to Jesus when He arrives? “Jesus if you had only been here, my brother would not have died.” Now Jesus knows what He is going to do there. He tells the disciples what He is going to do before He even gets there. We read in John 11:11 “He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.”” The disciples believe that Jesus is talking about Lazarus sleeping and they say, “Lord, if he sleeps, he’ll recover.” Then in verses 14 and 15, Jesus tells them before they even start walking towards the house of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha that Lazarus is dead. He knows that he is dead and he knows what he is going to do when he gets there but what is the incredibly short verse that we read in verse 35 when Jesus arrives at the tomb of Lazarus? “Jesus wept.” Why does He weep when He knows what is about to happen? Because He’s perfect. Instead of refusing to come into their grief, He willingly enters into it! Not all tears are bad but all tears will one day be wiped away. Remember what Gandalf says in Return of the King? “I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.” As we see in Jesus, weeping is a way that we are reminded that He became like us. He isn’t unaware of our hurt, He isn’t oblivious or unloving towards our hurt, but He weeps and He rejoices. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep and be like Jesus. We don’t have quite enough time to go through verse 16 as much as I would like but Paul goes back to pushing for unity with all people as much as possible. We as Christians are to be a blessing to both believers and unbelievers. We are to be humble, we are to be servant hearted and this extends to all people that have been made in the image of God. Before we get to verses 17-18, do you all have anything that you want to go over with what we just looked at?

Christian Peace (Verses 17-18)

Look again at what Paul says in Romans 12:17–18 “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” This isn’t the only time where Paul says something like this. In fact almost word for word in 1 Thessalonians 5:15 he says, “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.” Peter points to Jesus as the great example of this practice in 1 Peter 2:21–23 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” We can all admit that what happened to Jesus was wicked. It was the greatest evil ever performed by man. But when Christ was on trial, when He was beaten, when He was tortured, when He was blasphemed and crucified, He did not lash out. One of the last words from the cross that He says is, “Father, forgive them!” He did not repay that evil for evil. Paul tells us that we are to respect what is right in the sight of all men and 2 Corinthians 8:21 is helpful for us to understand what he means by that: “for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.” Leon Morris explains it like this: “Paul is calling on them to live out the implications of the Gospel. Their lives are to be lived on such a high plane that even the heathen will recognize the fact. They will always be living in the sight of non-Christians, and the way they live should be such as to commend the essential Christian message.” Christianity is not solely a moral religion but it does possess morality. In fact, the Christian life and Christian worldview has the highest standard of morality. Even non believers have a sense of morality, a sense of what is right and what is wrong and we as Christians should so rise above that line that they cannot help but see God working in our lives. I love verse 18 because I think that verse 18 recognizes human nature so well. Paul says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” There are times where it simply won’t be possible. There will be times where others will make peace not possible. Paul says it doesn’t depend on them, it depends on you. They may not want peace but strive for it. As much as you are able to do it, do it. Jonathan Edwards said, “We need not be at peace with their practices, but we must be at peace with their persons.” Paul says later in Romans 14:19 “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” The Gospel is God’s peace between God and man. We must pursue that and we must pursue peace with all that have been made in the image of God. But what if we don’t get it? What if peace isn’t possible? The answer is in verses 19-21

Mercy or Grace (Verses 19-21)

Romans 12:19–21 NASB95

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Here’s another section that I wish we had a little bit more time to look at but what we see happening in these verses is the reminder that we serve a sovereign and righteous God. And this God is judge over all creation. Nothing escapes His notice. Not a single sin will go unpunished. Not a single sinner will escape judgement. The time will come where all wrongs are made right, where the old will completely pass and the new will come. The need to get even is not accomplished by the action of the Christian and the attempt to do so is your attempt to be where God is. Look at what James writes in James 4:11-12.

James 4:11–12 NASB95

Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge. And guess what, it isn’t you. It isn’t me. What Paul and James and all of Scripture is telling us is this: Get off the throne. Get of the throne, you aren’t the judge and any time that we attempt to get revenge, we are saying, “God, I don’t think you’ll get this right. I don’t think this is something that you are capable of handling. If I don’t do it, you won’t.” The author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 10:30–31 “For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” God will pay back perfectly. God will judge perfectly and His judgement is totally free of sin and error, unlike ours. Why would we want anyone else to try the case? Instead of trying to try the case on our own and to deliver the sentence on our own, we must turn to God and trust Him to continue being faithful. In those moments where we really want to lash out, where we really want to grab a gavel and sit on the throne, the greatest “act of revenge” if we want to call it that is kindness. Just think what it is like to hate someone but to be met with love and kindness despite what you have done to them. Think about the early church and the persecution and hatred that it endured. The Roman empire, the great power that martyred Christians left and right, was so blown away by the kindness and grace of Christians that they could not wrap their heads around it. No matter what they did to Christians, they were met with rejoicing, singing, grace, and kindness. In the 4th century, the Roman emperor Julian wrote to the high priest of Galatia and he commented how even though the Roman government had practically abandoned the people in times of poverty and plague, the Christians were the ones that not only took care of their own sick, but they took care of everyone. The greatest “pain” that we can do to our enemies is show them the grace of God in the Gospel. J.V. Fesko writes, “Does this mean that we should be kind because it is really a way to exercise vengeance? No. Rather, either our enemy will see the love of Christ in our action and it will be instrumental in his conversion, or it will be further grounds for God’s judgment against him. Our job is to love, and God ultimately decides whether our love will be the occasion for His mercy or the ground for His holy vengeance.” The kindness that we show, the care that we give, the Gospel that we live out and proclaim very well may be the tool by which God uses to extend His grace to he or she that was once our enemy. God in His sovereignty will see to it that their sins will be judged and He will see to it that they are either judged by Christ or judged through Christ. No matter what, judgement is coming but it is not ours to bring. All we can do is give the Gospel as often as we can to as many as we can in the time that the Lord has given us. F.F. Bruce is right when he says, “The best way to get rid of an enemy is to turn him into a friend.” We do that not by being overcome by evil but by overcoming evil with good. Let’s pray and then we can discuss.