Have You Been Wronged?
Do you have any enemies? I was at a staff retreat for our church when someone broke into my car and stole my iPod. I had owned that iPod since I was a sophomore in college, so we’re talking ten years of legally downloaded music here. I had somewhere around 2,000 songs on it, and I never backed it up on my computer. And this guy stole it. I can’t think of a time that I’ve been more angry at a person. Fuming angry. I literally felt like this guy was my enemy. It took me a good long while before I could move past having hateful thoughts toward him. But I don’t think this guy is actually my enemy. He’s just a guy who wronged me. Most of us don’t have outright enemies, but all of us get wronged from time to time.
Why shouldn’t I go try to find this guy and repay him for how he wronged me? Romans 12:17 says, “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.” God commands that I not repay him. But I think it’s more that just because God commands it. God doesn’t just command things that we have to follow blindly. God’s commands tell us something about who He is. So what do these commands show us about God?
Our God is Merciful
Isn’t this what mercy is, not to repay evil with evil? If I were to have mercy on someone, I wouldn’t treat them how they deserve. We see God doing this all the time. The Bible says that God makes the sun rise on the His children and on His enemies. It says that He does not deal with us according to our sins, or repay us according to our iniquities. Our God is merciful, even to His enemies. And when we live this way, when we are merciful and forgiving to our enemies, we show the world something of what God is like. Harbor Church will be seen as a church transformed by God by how we respond to our enemies; those who have wronged us. You will be seen as a person transformed by God’s mercy in how you respond to those who wrong you.
Our God Satisfies Us
If our hearts are satisfied with God, we won’t be driven to get revenge. If we’re totally satisfied with God and that he calls us his children, we won’t feel the need to defend ourselves to our enemies. We won’t feel the need to defend that we are right, or explain the situation so that we don’t look bad to others, or throw some lady at work under the bus to make ourselves look better. Instead, we’re freed from having to act this way because we have something that is better than our pride or our reputation; we have Jesus. Look at what the author of Hebrews says to Christians, “You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” These believers accepted their property being stolen without retaliating because they knew they had something better, something that would last longer, something that made them so content that they didn’t feel the need to make their life about getting their possessions back. They had Jesus.
Our God is Just
But, what if I’m not experiencing justice? What if I have actually been wronged? In Romans Romans 12:19 God says, “Vengeance is mine: I will repay.” No wrong will go without punishment. God will repay every wrong. Every sin will be paid for either at the cross, for those who follow Jesus, or in hell for those who don’t. But we will all be slaves to trying to get revenge in our current situations if we are not sure and convinced that God will take care of all evil. And if we are convinced that He will take care of all evil, it frees us from seeking revenge.
When we treat our enemies with mercy, it’s not only shows that God is merciful, it also shows that He is just. When we love our enemies and don’t try to get revenge, we display God’s mercy, show that we trust his justice, and prove that He is enough to satisfy us.