VENGEANCE IS MINE!
INTRODUCTION: Revenge-we’ve probably all plotted it at one point or another. We’ve lived out the famous saying, “don’t get mad-get even!” "Cash, check or charge?" I asked, after I folded the items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet, I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse. "Do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked. "No," she replied, "but my husband refused to come shopping with me and I figured this was the best way I could get him back." We think revenge will make us feel better. We think through revenge we right the wrong. Let’s take a look at the dangers of revenge and the benefits of refusing to seek it.
1) What are the problems associated with a vengeful heart?
• We justify it. When we have a vengeful heart we feel so strongly about it that we will justify it. In this we are actually calling an evil thing good. Woe is us for doing so. Isa. 5:20, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Vengeance is such a strong emotion that we will have a hard time not rationalizing and justifying. “How can you sit there and tell me I shouldn’t get even with him after what he did to me? He’s going to pay for what he did. He’s going to get what he deserves. Besides, the bible says, ‘eye for an eye’. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” Eye for an eye was not meant to be for the purpose of revenge. It was for correction and it was also for the establishment of a limitation. It was a statement of principle; the punishment was to fit the crime, not exceed it. However, for too many of us, it’s not about getting even it’s about getting one up on. We feel our actions are justified when someone wrongs us. ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right’. There’s no justification for revenge.
• Being vengeful has its consequences. One of the consequences is the hindering of productivity. Because we are consumed by bitterness and hatred toward our offenders, and because it rents so much space in our head we can have a hard time focusing on other things. We may spend way too much time thinking and plotting how we can get back at the one who wronged us. We can also become less productive in that all the stress and pressure we put ourselves through causes us to become run down, we can become depressed which will lead to escaping from our necessary duties. Because of a vengeful spirit God may actually halt our productivity. “Leonardo DaVinci, just before he commenced work on his "Last Supper" had a violent argument with a fellow painter. Leonardo was so bitter that he determined to paint the face of his enemy, the other artist, into the face of Judas, and thus take his revenge by handing the man down in infamy and scorn to succeeding generations. The face of Judas was, therefore, one of the first he finished. And everyone could easily recognize it as the face of the painter with whom he had quarreled. But when he came to paint the face of Christ, he could make no progress. Something seemed to be baffling him, holding him back, frustrating his best efforts. Finally he came to the conclusion that the thing that was frustrating him was that he had painted the face of his enemy onto the face of Judas. He painted out the face of Judas and was then able to resume his work on the face of Jesus and this time did it with the success that the ages have acclaimed. When DaVinci moved past his right to take revenge and made the right response instead, he broke the power of hatred and allowed the love of Christ to have the last word.” When we are plotting revenge we are consumed by our hatred and malice towards the offender. That eats away at our being. An attitude of vengeance causes us to be ugly, inside and out. It causes us to be centered on anger, not Christ. We are centered on doing our will, not his. And if we succeed in doing our vengeful will, we risk suffering the consequences. We can end up being charged with crimes. It would be pretty interesting to see the number of illegal offenses that are committed as a result of vengeance.
• A vengeful heart is never satisfied. Philip Yancey speaking on revenge said, “The problem with revenge is that it never gets what it wants; it never evens the score. Fairness never comes. The chain reaction set off by every act of vengeance always takes its unhindered course. It ties both the injured and the injurer to an escalator of pain. Both are stuck on the escalator as long as parity is demanded, and the escalator never stops, and it never lets anyone off.” Taking revenge won’t make it turn out alright and it won’t make you feel alright. There’s a quote that goes, “There is no passion of the human heart that promises so much and pays so little as that of revenge.” When we seek revenge we might feel good in the moment but that doesn’t change anything. We’re still angry, we’re still hurting. Not only do we not feel better, we may end up feeling worse. The odds are not good when you’re trying to get even. A vengeful heart is never satisfied.
2) How do we combat vengefulness?
• Forgiveness. When Jesus was being nailed to the cross he said in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Now, in one sense they knew perfectly well what they were doing and probably didn’t care. However, Jesus knew that they had no clue they were driving nails into the king of Kings and Lord of Lords. They didn’t know they were crucifying an innocent man. They didn’t know they were driving nails into the hands of the Savior. Instead of Jesus having a heart of vengeance toward them and asking his Father that the same be done to them, he asked his father to forgive them. Forgiveness instead of revenge brings about the greatest good. Amy Biehl died a violent death in 1993. She was a 26-year-old Fulbright scholar who had gone to South Africa to help register black voters for their first free election. But even though she was seeking to help the people of South Africa, as she was driving one day, she was dragged out of her car, stabbed and beaten to death by a mob which was committed to violence in order to overthrow of the apartheid government. Soon afterward, Amy’s parents, Linda and Peter Biehl, quit their jobs and moved from their Orange County, California home to South Africa—not to seek revenge, but to start a foundation in Amy’s name. Today, two of her killers work for the foundation. They call Mrs. Biehl “Makhulu,” or grandmother, because of the way she treats them. She says, “Forgiving is looking at ourselves and saying, ‘I don’t want to go through life feeling hateful and vengeful, because that’s not going to do me any good.’ We took Amy’s lead. We did what we felt she would want.” Amy’s parents displayed God. One of the greatest things we can do to show Christ to the world is to show forgiveness instead of vengeance. Few things resonate more with people that exchanging understandable hatred with undeserved love. E. H. Chapin said, “Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble as when it forgoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury.” If I seek revenge, I become like my enemy. If I seek to forgive I become like Jesus. Yubis was filled with grief and didn't know where to turn. Yubis' husband--a pastor--was brutally murdered as a martyr in Colombia for his faith and teachings of Jesus Christ. As a result, their two-year-old daughter was despondent--and she stopped speaking. She would only draw pictures with each one just saying one word ... "Daddy." With the help of The Voice of the Martyrs, Yubis was able to receive practical assistance along with counseling for her daughter. Taking it a step further, she is now enrolled in Bible school. In a recent interview she told VOM ... "I wanted vengeance on those who killed my husband--I know who they are. But God has shown me that the best vengeance would be for me to tell them about Jesus. So that is what I plan to do." Let’s be vengeful toward Satan, not each other. If we are going to combat vengefulness we will need a heart of forgiveness.
• Love. Lev 19:18, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” “A newspaper columnist named George Crane told once of a woman who was full of hatred toward her husband. Someone counseled the woman to act as if she really loved her husband, to tell him how much he meant to her, to praise him for every decent trait, to be kind, considerate, and generous whenever possible. Then, when she’d fully convinced him of her undying love, she’d make her move and file for divorce. With revenge in her eyes she said, "That’s perfect, I’ll do it." And so she did...but guess what happened...the more she demonstrated sacrificial love toward her husband, the more she began to actually love him, and at the end of a few months divorce was the furthest thing from her mind.” Luke 6:27-36. Jesus wanted us to stand out. What better way than to love those who hate us. Would there be a more striking example than to do the unnatural and not strike back those who strike us? When someone takes from us we give them more? To not demand what’s rightfully ours. To not expect to be paid back. The world’s rule is do to others as they do to you. Jesus’ rule is to do to others what you would like to see them do to you. If we do this, then there will be a much better chance that what we want done to us will be done to us. Not so if we act upon vengeance. “Michael N. Hart, the historian, says that Christianity enjoys its greatest uniqueness in this, for no other great religion tells its adherents to love their enemies. In most religions, revenge is not only justified but commanded." Because we have been greatly forgiven and loved by our Creator we can forgive and love even our enemy. Forgiveness is only one of many examples of how biblical instruction for faith and for living is morally superior.”
• Let go and let God. Prov. 20:22, “Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!” wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.” One of the reasons why it’s hard to let go and let God is because of impatience. We feel God isn’t avenging us fast enough so we’re inclined to take matters into our own hands. This is not good. We should instead practice Pr. 19:11, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” Impatience and revenge is not to my glory. Patience and overlooking an offense, putting it in the hands of God, however, is to my glory. What about when we do get to see God avenge us? How should we react? Prov. 24: 17-18 tells us how we should not react. God is not happy when we are happy over our enemy’s misfortune. God told the nation of Edom in Ezekiel 35:15, “Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, that is how I will treat you. You will be desolate, O Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” God does not want us wishing evil on our enemies. He doesn’t want us to rejoice when our enemy suffers. Instead, he wants us to bless them. Rom. 12:17-21. Vs. 20, “Heap burning coals on his head.” This seems like a vengeful statement but it is not, otherwise this would be hypocritical. Albert Barnes’ commentary puts it this way: ‘Coals of fire are doubtless emblematical of pain. But the idea here is not that in so doing we shall call down Divine vengeance on the man; but the apostle is speaking of the natural effect or result of showing him kindness. Burning coals heaped on a man's head would be expressive of intense agony. So the apostle says that the effect of doing good to an enemy would be to produce pain. But the pain will result from shame, remorse of conscience, a conviction of the evil of his conduct and an apprehension of Divine displeasure that may lead to repentance. To do this, is not only perfectly right, but it is desirable. If a man can be brought to reflection and true repentance, it should be done’. Vs. 21: when we are vengeful, we are overcome by evil. Christian principles go out the door. Having a bitter, vengeful spirit opens the door for sin upon sin to enter in. However, if we will overcome the evil leveled against us with good we will cause great and wonderful things to happen for God’s glory.
