Word of Salvation – Vol. 19 No. 03 – October 1972
Revenge Is Not Sweet
Sermon by Rev. J. J. Van Wageningen on Romans 12:19-21
Scripture Reading: Genesis 4:19-24; Romans 12: 9-21
Psalter Hymnal: 182:1,6,12 (tune 195); 230:1,5. (after grace);
240:1,2 (after 10 commandments);
391:1,2,3 (after sermon); 278 (before benediction)
Recently the horrified attention of the world was fixed on what happened in Munich. The peaceful course of sport-events at the Olympic Games was all of a sudden disturbed by a terrible outburst of violence. Arab terrorists overpowered a number of Israelis, sportsmen who took part in the Games, and held them as hostages in order to obtain the freedom of Arab prisoners in Israel.
We know what the end result was: a massacre; a bloody shoot-out at the airfield – 17 people were killed. In the personal sphere it means deep sorrow; mourning for the relatives. In the International sphere it shows us the tensions, the strained relationships between the nations.
Because of the special circumstances – the time when and the place where it happened – the attention of the whole world was focussed on this awful event. No wonder it made such a deep impact.
But how many innocent people, women and children have died already in Northern Ireland? How many in Vietnam, in Bangladesh? Fires of hatred are burning, and terrible outbursts of violence cause death and destruction.
The Olympic Games are called an expression of the brotherhood of all men, a sign of hope for the bitterly divided nations of the world. Such Games, however, do not change the harsh reality; they do not change the sinful hearts of men; they are a sign of a vain hope, which will never be fulfilled.
When we see all this in the light of Scripture, in the light of God’s truth, then we are struck by the sharp contrast between the mentality of this world, and the spirit of the kingdom of God. It is the contrast between hatred and love.
Our text puts before us our Christian calling, namely to practise Christian love.
Maybe your reaction is: of course, we must practise Christian love. It is, however, clear from Scripture and from the practise of daily life, that this is not a matter of course: we don’t do it automatically. No, it means a struggle, as the apostle writes at the end of our text, we can be overcome by evil or we can overcome evil with good. We can suffer defeat, or we can conquer in this struggle.
What makes us suffer defeat?
What makes us obtain victory?
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves.”
The first word of our text is of the greatest importance. “Beloved”, it is the starting-point, if we leave it out, we get nowhere. It is the basis, if it falls away, we have no ground to stand on – we are called “beloved”. In this way, the apostle expresses his Christian love towards his fellow-believers – they share in his love. What is even more important they share in God’s love, God’s love in Christ. In the first verse of this chapter he appeals to them by the mercies of God, and he uses the greatest part of this letter to explain the wonderful grace of God for unworthy sinners, Jews and Gentiles, for there are no distinctions, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Oh, this is a wonderful reality; in ourselves we are no better than others, we are no better than those Arabs in Munich, but we may believe in Jesus Christ, who really saves us from our sins, who renews us through His Spirit; we are children of God, beloved by the Lord. God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit again: this is of the greatest importance. The apostle does not give us some moral lessons on how to live a decent life, no, we are beloved children of God, beloved of the Lord Jesus, we have been transferred out of darkness into light, out of depths into life. If this is not a reality in your life, the words of our text have no effect, you don’t really hear them, for you are spiritually deaf; you don’t really understand them for your heart and your mind are closed. But if you truly believe, these words appeal to you, for God speaks to us, Christ appeals to us, we are His beloved.
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves.”
Is it really necessary, this admonition? Or, if we know through the grace of God, the depth of our sinful heart, then we must admit that we are not free from such feelings, such desires.
It is the natural inclination of our heart to pay evil for evil. We read in Genesis 4 the song of Lamech – it is a terrible song of a man who cold-bloodedly confesses his craving for revenge:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, hearken to what I say: “I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me . . . If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-seven-fold”.
Here is the power of the brute, the passions of the sinner, who not only gives in to sin, but exults in it.
Throughout the history of mankind we see that destructive power of hatred and revenge, in our present time we see it too. There is no end to it, as far as men are concerned. Every deed of hatred calls for revenge, and every deed of revenge causes a new outburst of hatred. We see it in Northern Ireland, we see it in the struggle between Jews and Arabs. It is not even necessary to look so far away. We can notice the same reactions in our own environment; we may perceive them in our own hearts and life, in the hearts and lives of children and grown-ups.
What do you do, boys and girls, for example at school, when others treat you in a nasty way, or they call you bad names, or they pester you? Is not your first thought: how can I pay them back?
What do you do, my brother and sister, when somebody else, maybe a fellow-member of the church, or one of your relatives, wrongs you, humiliates you, deceives you? Is not your first reaction: how can I pay him/her back? Your self-esteem, your pride is hurt. This is the reason why we want to avenge ourselves.
Our own dear self is in the centre. Not the honour of God, nor the cause of his kingdom but our own dear self. We have lost sight of everything else. The evil done to us becomes bigger and bigger in our own eyes. We say to ourselves that we cannot take it; we are not such weaklings, that others can play around with us; we must show them what we are worth, and we think of ways and means to repay evil for evil. In this way we suffer defeat; we are overcome by evil; we yield to our own sinful desires; we feed the fires of hatred and revenge.
Maybe you think: hatred and revenge are such big words. It is not that bad with me; I do not hate. Remember what the Lord Jesus says, “I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘you fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matt.5:22).
Beloved never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ The apostle quotes here Deuteronomy 32:35. We find the same truth in Psalm 37:5,6, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your vindication as the light, and your right as the noonday.”
God is the Holy and Righteous One, and He maintains justice. Sin does not remain unpunished – the sinner will not be able to get away with his sin. God clearly reveals Himself as the Righteous One at Calvary, where the Lord Jesus hung on the cross. His holy anger against sin is so great, that he, rather than leaving it unpunished, has punished it in His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, with the bitter and shameful death of the cross.
He has highly exalted His Son and made Him judge over all. Through Christ God will judge the world with a righteous judgment. Everyone must appear before Him and the books will be opened. We must leave it to Him. If you ask, “Should all evil and injustice have its way here on earth, should we let it pass unhindered?”, then the answer is: No, there are the governing authorities who do not bear the sword in vain; as servants of God they have to execute His wrath on the wrongdoer, as the Apostle writes in the next chapter. There are the courts and the judges, and their God-given task is to maintain justice among men. But this has nothing to do with personal hatred and personal revenge. Even a judge must not be emotionally involved in a case, because this would hinder the course of justice. Our text here treats us as individuals in our relationships with our fellow-men. And God says to us that we are not allowed to avenge ourselves; to sit down, as it were, in God’s judgment seat, taking our cause into our own hands. We must leave it to Him. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. WE are called to practice Christian love.
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink, for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” This is squarely against the natural inclination of our sinful hearts. Imagine that there is somebody who is hostile to you. Not just a person who is not very friendly or likeable, but a real enemy: somebody who hates you, who seeks to insult you, to humiliate you, who would even like to rob and kill you, (And the Christians in Rome knew all about persecution and suffering – there were many enemies of Christ and of His circumstances, if he is in difficulties and troubles, what do we do? Do we leave him to himself? Do we feel some satisfaction, some secret pleasure? Do we think: It serves him right!? Or do we do what God says in His Word, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food; if he is thirsty, give him drink.”?
The word used for giving food does not simply mean that we provide him with some food. No, it means to help somebody, to feed him with tender care, with love; it says something about the way in which you feed him, the love of your heart, the love of Christ behind it all.
“By so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” Do you understand the meaning of this expression, ‘Burning coals on his head’? It means something unbearable: one cannot stand it. Thus your enemy will feel shame about his wrongdoings. Your deeds of love will burn into his soul. They will make it impossible for him to maintain his enmity; he will realise he is wrong. Maybe your works of love will lead him to repentance; will lead him to Christ. For this is the greatest blessing: that your enemy becomes your brother in Christ.
In this way you overcome evil with good; you obtain the victory, the victory of love. Our text is well known. All of us know this word. And the Lord Jesus says the same, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:44-46)
Many in the world think this is nonsense. There are others who consider it a nice theory, but something which is impractical and impossible. What do you think about it? What do you DO about it? We know it and we admit that we ought to act in this way. But is it possible, is it practical, in this world full of hatred and violence and self-assertion? Should everyone have it their own way, and should you permit them to walk over you, to trample you under foot?
We have many excuses to justify our wrong attitudes: if you don’t like somebody, well, leave him to himself, behave as if he is not there. If we do this even to fellow Christians, what about our attitude towards a real enemy? What about our relation- ship with Christ? And so we are back at the beginning: at that first word of our text: ‘beloved’. Are we really beloved of the Lord? Do we really belong to Him who prayed for His enemies; who when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered did not threaten, but trusted to Him who judges justly”? (1Peter 2:23)
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sins and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Do we really belong to Him?
Do we really follow Him?
Let us then show it by practicing Christian love.
AMEN.