Introduction
I have a confession to make. Some of you are already aware of what I am about to reveal, but to most of you it will be a new insight into my character. It is not a sin that I am going to confess, but an obsession. I am, right now, at this point in my life (when you would think I had grown out of such things) obsessed with “The Lord of the Rings”. The book was one of the great literary achievements of the twentieth century and the movie is already one of the great cinematic achievements of the twenty first.
Did you know when Britain’s Channel 4 conducted an opinion poll in 1997 that LOTR was voted the greatest book of the century? Did you know that when Amazon.com did a global survey in 1999 LOTR was chosen as the greatest book of the millennium?!!
Well, I’m not sure that on literary grounds it deserves quite such high praise, but I love it anyway. And I think the movie of the first part of the trilogy is something special, too. I saw it 8 times and think it deserves every one of its 13 Oscar nominations. (PS – and am annoyed that it didn’t eventually win! Fingers crossed for The Two Towers this year. My obession continues. WB, February 2003. PPS - ah well, perhaps Return of the King, which has already won the Critics’ Choice award. WB January 2004.)
Did you know that the author of LOTR, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, was a Christian? Oh, there are a lot of Sydney Anglicans who would argue that he wasn’t really, because he didn’t write plainly about the gospel in his fiction and that true Christians would be more bold in their proclamation. But he professed Christ as saviour, and he played a part in CS Lewis (who Sydney Anglicans have few doubts about) in becoming a Christian, so I’m going to stand by the affirmation that Tolkien was one of us.
I also stand by it because there is so much of the Christian gospel in the story of LOTR. It is not there in an obvious way, and many of his fans get annoyed when Christians “read all that religious stuff into it” as they say. But the gospel is there if you look.
My talk tonight is not about LOTR. However, it is relevant because one of the themes of the story illustrates our passage from Romans 12. There is a scene in LOTR when Frodo and Gandalf are talking about Gollum. In the movie it is set in the mines of Moria, but it happens a lot earlier in the book and from there I quote:
“What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature when he had the chance!” says Frodo.
“Pity?”, says Gandalf. “It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity and Mercy, not to strike without need. That’s why Bilbo was not harmed by the Ring, because he began his possession of it with Pity.”
“I can’t understand you,” retorts Frodo ….. “Gollum deserves death.”
“Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the wise cannot see all ends.”
This conversation between the wise old Gandalf and the young hobbit – indignant that the creature that had tried to kill his uncle and had now betrayed them all to the Dark Lord, Sauron, was still alive – echoes the words that Paul wrote in Romans 12:17 ff. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil ….. do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Analysis
As we look at the key teachings of this passage, let’s remember the context. Romans 12 presents the idea of Christians being people who are transformed; whose minds are being renewed so that we may live in conformity to God’s will, not the pattern of behaviour in the world around us. We have already seen, in earlier sermons I preached on Romans 12 last year, that this isn’t easy. It involves thinking about ourselves with sober humility, not high and mighty; it involves sincerely loving others, seeking what is best for them and never giving up no matter what comes along.
And now we see that it also involves loving our enemy! Not just loving our friends, our family, those who care about us and love us, but loving those who do us wrong!
This is definitely not the pattern of the world around us. Ever seen that bumper sticker that says, “you toucha my car I scratcha you face”? Doesn’t that sum up the common attitude in the world that says that payback is the way to go? You hurt me and I’ll get you back.
God is calling on us here to adopt an attitude that is totally at odds with the way the world around us typically thinks. Why? Doesn’t wrong-doing deserve to be punished? Surely someone has to pay for the hurt that has been done to me!
What we need to learn, however, is that if we see “payback” as the way to respond to an evil that is done, then we are in effect treating evil as the ultimate power in the world. “Payback” is an attitude that prolongs the vicious circle of hurt - leading to hurt - leading to hurt - leading to yet more hurt. “Payback” is in the end just the doing of evil - one bad turn deserves another. As long as we keep living by the principle of payback, then all that is ever being done is negative. Witness the never ending cycle of violence in Palestine and Israel for a clear example of how true this is.
As Christians we surely should be living lives that show that God’s power is ultimate and that good will prevail. Rather than continue the cycle of evil by paying it back with evil, we should seek to overcome evil with good. Of course there IS a place for wrong doers to be punished – both in this world (see chapter 13 which talks about the rightful place of the civil authorities to punish evil and reward good), and at the end of time when God will judge everyone.
But in our personal lives, in our personal dealings with people, we are encouraged and commanded to overcome evil with good.
How does this work?
a) First, it lets God be God and sets appropriate limits for us to act within. You see, when we take it upon ourselves to repay evil with evil, then we are taking on God’s role as judge. Friends, we are not equipped to do that. Whereas God will always judge truly and rightly, knowing all the facts and all the circumstances, we are often just hasty and emotionally charged. Even in the law courts there are all sorts of checks and balances in place to try to ensure that someone is only declared guilty when the evidence shows this “beyond any doubt”. How much more in our personal situations, where we are ignorant and biased.
Gandalf was right – “even the wise cannot see all ends”.
Furthermore, when God judges, the punishment is fair and just. He will always determine what the evil-doer really deserves. We tend to want them to suffer EVEN MORE than their actions have made us suffer. We aren’t very good at justice – in fact, we are downright lousy at it. Rather, we merely end up repaying evil with evil, and thus become an evil-doer ourselves.
b) Second, be aware that evil is always expecting to be repaid with evil. Evil wants to grow, to be perpetuated. That’s why it plays upon our more explosive emotions and draws anger out of us, leading to hurtful responses that create even more harm. Evil thrives on cycles, often gaining momentum with each retaliation, with each payback. However, evil is often totally disarmed when it doesn’t perpetuate itself, when the response to it is grace and mercy and kindness.
When the circuit is broken, its power is broken. We are called on as Christians to be circuit-breakers.
So many of Jesus’ mighty works amounted ultimately to Him breaking the cycle of evil in someone’s life and thus bringing them new life and hope. For example, we will never know what He wrote in the sand when the woman who was going to be stoned for adultery came before Him. That and His famous words about those who were without sin casting the first stone broke the cycle of evil in her life, and she went away cleansed, forgiven and renewed.
c) Of course, sometimes evil merely reacts to kindness with scorn and goes on being evil. If I may be permitted to refer to LOTR again, when Frodo finally does meet Gollum and has the chance to kill him, he decides not to. He decides to be kind to him, to pity him just as Bilbo had done. But Gollum repays this kindness merely by leading Frodo into a deadly trap – for those who haven’t read the second book and want to wait for the second amd third movie I won’t say any more about what the trap is. The cycle of evil is not broken in that case.
But in such situations, the doers of evil become even more guilty, if I can put it that way, than they were in the first place. To repay kindness with more wrong-doing is adding a new layer of evil to what has already been done. I think that this is part of what it means in verse 20 when it talks about heaping burning coals on the head of your enemy.
That verse tells us how far we are to go in repaying evil with good:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink”.
Don’t just pat him on the back and wish him well, but actually do something good for him. If your enemy then responds by continuing their hurtful behaviour towards you, then they are doubly to blame and are merely storing up God’s judgment upon themselves. But you have done well and have proven the good and perfect will of God.
d) At the very least, isn’t it better to try to bring harmony into the situation? God’s commandment to us to “live at peace with everyone” is surely the best advice anyone could give. How much better off will we be if, by disarming those who are doing us wrong we can turn around our relationship with them and bring about peace and friendship! It mightn’t work, and Paul qualifies what he says by saying’ “so much as it depends upon you”, but it is our responsibility to try.
I take it that this requires some sort of positive action – it is not telling us merely to let someone have their head and keep doing whatever it is they are doing without being challenged, or without asking them to change their behaviour. But it is telling us that friendship, kindness and mercy are far better ways to respond to evil than by doing more evil and perpetuating the situation.
Nor is it saying that wrong-doers should not be punished in this world. There is a place for punishment – but that is in courts of law, properly set up for such matters to be undertaken without immediacy and emotion. It is not for our personal responses.
Conclusion
No one says it is easy, but when we repay evil with good, we are following the example of Jesus. As Peter said in his first letter:
“… Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
I don’t know if any of you wear one of those WWJD? bracelets. But it’s worth asking what would Jesus do if someone treated him badly or did the wrong thing by him. We know the answer – he would not repay with evil, but would repay with good. For that is the way of victory, that is the way that evil is overcome, that is the way of life and salvation.
That is indeed what Jesus actually did, for us, so that the cycle of sin and death would be broken in our lives. We, too, should then follow in his steps.
Let’s pray ……
Father, the world around us wants an eye for an eye, repaying evil with acts of retaliation.
But we have heard your commandment tonight to love our enemies and we ask for your grace and the enabling power of your Holy Spirit to help us to do so.
Help us to be people who are circuit breakers, bringing to an end cycles of hatred and violence by repaying evil with good; help us thereby to live peaceably with others and so play a part in bringing peace into our world.
May our lives be so transformed and renewed that we show the world your good, perfect and acceptable will declaring to all people that you are worthy of all praise and honour and glory, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
