“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Never have words sounded so good, yet
been so difficult to apply. When we’re offended by someone else, especially if the offending party is
being, well, offensive, there’s something in us that rages against this kind of generous response.
We want justice! We want action to correct the offense, and it would be awfully nice if it made our
tormentors hurt like they hurt us, if not a little more. Right?
Paul’s words to the Romans in this morning’s epistle reading consists of kind of a scattershot
summary of Christian ethics. I’m going to focus specifically on those last few verses of our passage,
specifically verses 17-21, about loving our enemies. Here Paul really isn’t saying anything
completely unprecedented. Rather, he’s restating a central teaching of Jesus himself. You’ll recall
that Jesus made a career out of popping people’s expectations for a Messiah. His words shocked
people at every turn.
But he was especially unpopular with those who wanted to see those oppressive and uncouth
Romans cleared out of the Holy Land by any means possible. Their horrific treatment of the Jews is
well documented. So what could be fairer and more justified than to at least try to drive out their
tormentors? And just maybe give them a little taste of their own medicine. This was the point of
view of one of the Jewish factions in the First Century—the Zealots. They were well-versed in Jewish
tradition and law. I’m sure they were quick to invoke the standard of fairness and justice laid out in
the Torah—an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But do you remember Jesus’ response? He
said these words: “You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to
you, ‘Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and
if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give them your cloak as well!’” He also directed us
to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. You may recall Gandhi’s remark: “An eye
for an eye and soon the whole world is blind.”
If the Zealots had used blood pressure gauges in those days they would have been breaking right
and left! The med tech manufacturers would have been rolling in the money. And Paul once again
stresses these same teachings. He writes to the Christians in Rome, the very center of the Empire:
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is
possible, so far as it depends on you live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but
leave room for God’s wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’
No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by
doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good.”
Now, the winds of this teaching have set into motion a controversy that continues to this day among
Christians. Does this teaching apply to all circumstances at all times? Do we simply turn our cheek
in the face of genocide, for instance? Or do we take a measured response to protect the innocent?
This is the age-old dispute between the strict pacifist Christians and those who would follow
something called “just-war” theory.
Just war theory outlines when it may be permissible under some circumstances to wage war, as long
as a list of safeguards is followed to ensure as much as possible that evil and vengeance don’t
become interwoven with the protection of the innocent.
I’m going to focus more this morning on the intent of Jesus’ and Paul’s teaching than on doing a
detailed examination of when and when not to live out “its letter of the law.”
One way to look at this teaching is to see its first premise as preventing the spread of evil. We
needn’t look very far at all to see how evil seeds itself when people quench their thirst for justice by
taking revenge. Rwanda and the Balkans are two instances that come quickly to mind. When
human beings decide that it’s their prerogative to repay others for their offenses, the Evil One
quickly takes note and tries to exploit the situation. Human history shows that we can rationalize just
about any atrocity in the name of justice. More about Rwanda in a few minutes.
Jesus and Paul both saw clearly into the human heart. They recognized that to follow God’s ways
we need to safeguard against this kind of bad contagion. Because vengeance really is like a
contagious disease that disables and destroys the lives that our loving God holds so precious. The
fact of the matter is that we’re not equipped like God to mete out justice in a trustworthy way. We
don’t have the benefit of omniscience, or untainted love, or perfect fairness. In our fallen world
which is still being affected by spiritual evil, it’s all too easy for us to fall into life-destroying
responses to others’ offenses. That’s one reason Jesus said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be
judged… Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, and don’t notice the log in your own
eye?” And Paul says, “Don’t avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God. For it is
written, ‘Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay.’”
Really, what we’re talking about is both counterintuitive and countercultural. Our culture doesn’t
exactly encourage us to turn the other cheek, does it? The boys and I saw the new Batman movie,
The Dark Knight, a few weeks ago. The Joker character, played by the late Heath Ledger, was one
of the best rationalizations for vengeance that I’ve ever seen. The Joker was very brilliant,
exceedingly cruel, and apparently without any kind of conscience. I’m pretty sure most of the people
in the theater, myself included, really wanted to see this guy suffer by the end of the movie. And
Batman didn’t fail to deliver. It’s frighteningly easy to track right into a trajectory of hatred.
But in real life God doesn’t give His stamp of approval for this. He reserves for himself the
responsibility of judgment and vengeance. I, for one, find this freeing. That is, when I have enough
faith to fully buy into God’s claim that He’ll work justice out in the end, and that we don’t necessarily
have to volunteer to be His enforcers. The thing is, when we cross over from maintaining social
order to vindictively clobbering those who’ve offended us, this not only perpetuates evil, but is really
is not a very effective way to gain friends and influence people, either. It’s been said that we add as
much suffering to the world by taking offense as by giving it.
That’s the other part of this non-retaliation thing—responding with kindness is much more likely than
vengeance to move the other person in a positive direction. This is exactly what Paul means when
he says that by caring for your enemies, we heap burning coals on their heads. It’s not about
inflicting suffering on them; but it’s about inspiring conviction, or even a healthy kind of shame. Now,
of course there are those who are so hardened that they won’t respond to kindness. They wear
helmets so the burning coals of shame don’t reach their heads. The Joker fits that one.
Nevertheless, the world is watching, and it may be that some of those who witness an act of
kindness in response to offense, will themselves be moved to repentance, and even be attracted to
God and to His people. It’s what Paul calls “taking thought for what is noble in the sight of all.”
So, pillar number one in this teaching is not to respond with vengeance. Pillar number two is much
more proactive and positive. It advocates actually going out of your way to be kind to your neighbor,
including your enemy. Just as vengeance and retaliation are contagious, so is kindness. I had a
school bus driver back in Sacramento who was a graduate student in psychology. Once he
informed us that he was doing an experiment gauging the effects of courteous driving on other
drivers. His hypothesis was that acts of courtesy are contagious. I’m not sure exactly how he
designed the experiment, or for that matter, its results. But when I drive away from a crowded event,
I find that if I let someone in go front of me from a side lane, they very often do the same for
someone else. Courtesy and kindness sure look to be contagious.
If non-retaliation gives a refreshing message of hope to a hurting world, then so much more with
proactive kindness. One of the leaps forward in human ethics is the Golden Rule. With it Jesus
went beyond the idea of not doing to others what you wouldn’t want done to you, to doing to others
what you would want done to you. Going out of your way to be kind. Loving your neighbor as
yourself, even when your neighbor is acting like an enemy.
This says something very basic and important about evil itself. Evil is not something that’s defeated
by another evil act. Rather, evil is defeated by good. Dark is defeated by light. Anger is defeated
by peace. Aggression is defeated by kindness. In the words of William Barclay, “The only real way
to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” Does it always work? Of course not. Not everyone
will respond positively to kindness. But Paul’s words and Jesus’ words are unconditional. We do it
not because we’ll get a positive response from people, but because it’s the right thing to do.
I’d like to conclude by issuing a modest challenge to the people of Hope Church. You may have
seen the bumper stickers that talk about doing “random acts of kindness.” They even have a word
for it: “RAKing.” Random acts of kindness—RAK. I Googled this phrase, and there’s even a
Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.
I’m not going to suggest that you join anything, but I’d like you to try a little experiment, if you’re
willing. This coming week, try to come up with one random act of kindness to do for someone. It
could be any number of things. Something like paying for the car behind you in the fast food drive-
through line, or baking cookies for your local fire or police department, or giving to a charity, or
mowing your neighbor’s lawn, or even something as simple as letting someone else ahead of you in
line even though you were clearly there first. Come up with your own. Just try and observe what
happens, with you or with those you’re “RAKing.” With enough people doing these kinds of things, it
will be something like a little army deployed to overcome evil with good. I wouldn’t be surprised at all
if that little army begins growing. Actually, this is how evangelism works as well, but that’s a sermon
for another Sunday.
So, to conclude, the two pillars of Paul’s teaching are, first, not to exact vengeance. And second, to
go out of our way to be kind. I mentioned Rwanda a little earlier. Well, yesterday at the Matthew 25
Conference at the Cathedral, Fr. Mike Kinman told us what’s happening there now. It seems that
many of the perpetrators of the genocide have served out their jail terms and are now returning to
the communities where they committed their crimes. Rwanda is now engaged in a reconciliation
process wherein the criminals are taking responsibility for their actions, and the families of their
victims are forgiving them. Now many are working side by side in the fields. When we obey our Lord’
s teachings miracles can happen. Let us pray.
Dear Father in heaven, help us to surprise our neighbors and even our enemies with kindness, and
in so doing, to be Jesus’ antidote in a world afflicted by the contagion of resentment. Please send
your Spirit to remind us and empower us in this way to let your will be done, on earth as it is in
Heaven. Amen.
been so difficult to apply. When we’re offended by someone else, especially if the offending party is
being, well, offensive, there’s something in us that rages against this kind of generous response.
We want justice! We want action to correct the offense, and it would be awfully nice if it made our
tormentors hurt like they hurt us, if not a little more. Right?
Paul’s words to the Romans in this morning’s epistle reading consists of kind of a scattershot
summary of Christian ethics. I’m going to focus specifically on those last few verses of our passage,
specifically verses 17-21, about loving our enemies. Here Paul really isn’t saying anything
completely unprecedented. Rather, he’s restating a central teaching of Jesus himself. You’ll recall
that Jesus made a career out of popping people’s expectations for a Messiah. His words shocked
people at every turn.
But he was especially unpopular with those who wanted to see those oppressive and uncouth
Romans cleared out of the Holy Land by any means possible. Their horrific treatment of the Jews is
well documented. So what could be fairer and more justified than to at least try to drive out their
tormentors? And just maybe give them a little taste of their own medicine. This was the point of
view of one of the Jewish factions in the First Century—the Zealots. They were well-versed in Jewish
tradition and law. I’m sure they were quick to invoke the standard of fairness and justice laid out in
the Torah—an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But do you remember Jesus’ response? He
said these words: “You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to
you, ‘Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and
if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give them your cloak as well!’” He also directed us
to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. You may recall Gandhi’s remark: “An eye
for an eye and soon the whole world is blind.”
If the Zealots had used blood pressure gauges in those days they would have been breaking right
and left! The med tech manufacturers would have been rolling in the money. And Paul once again
stresses these same teachings. He writes to the Christians in Rome, the very center of the Empire:
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is
possible, so far as it depends on you live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but
leave room for God’s wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’
No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by
doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good.”
Now, the winds of this teaching have set into motion a controversy that continues to this day among
Christians. Does this teaching apply to all circumstances at all times? Do we simply turn our cheek
in the face of genocide, for instance? Or do we take a measured response to protect the innocent?
This is the age-old dispute between the strict pacifist Christians and those who would follow
something called “just-war” theory.
Just war theory outlines when it may be permissible under some circumstances to wage war, as long
as a list of safeguards is followed to ensure as much as possible that evil and vengeance don’t
become interwoven with the protection of the innocent.
I’m going to focus more this morning on the intent of Jesus’ and Paul’s teaching than on doing a
detailed examination of when and when not to live out “its letter of the law.”
One way to look at this teaching is to see its first premise as preventing the spread of evil. We
needn’t look very far at all to see how evil seeds itself when people quench their thirst for justice by
taking revenge. Rwanda and the Balkans are two instances that come quickly to mind. When
human beings decide that it’s their prerogative to repay others for their offenses, the Evil One
quickly takes note and tries to exploit the situation. Human history shows that we can rationalize just
about any atrocity in the name of justice. More about Rwanda in a few minutes.
Jesus and Paul both saw clearly into the human heart. They recognized that to follow God’s ways
we need to safeguard against this kind of bad contagion. Because vengeance really is like a
contagious disease that disables and destroys the lives that our loving God holds so precious. The
fact of the matter is that we’re not equipped like God to mete out justice in a trustworthy way. We
don’t have the benefit of omniscience, or untainted love, or perfect fairness. In our fallen world
which is still being affected by spiritual evil, it’s all too easy for us to fall into life-destroying
responses to others’ offenses. That’s one reason Jesus said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be
judged… Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, and don’t notice the log in your own
eye?” And Paul says, “Don’t avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God. For it is
written, ‘Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay.’”
Really, what we’re talking about is both counterintuitive and countercultural. Our culture doesn’t
exactly encourage us to turn the other cheek, does it? The boys and I saw the new Batman movie,
The Dark Knight, a few weeks ago. The Joker character, played by the late Heath Ledger, was one
of the best rationalizations for vengeance that I’ve ever seen. The Joker was very brilliant,
exceedingly cruel, and apparently without any kind of conscience. I’m pretty sure most of the people
in the theater, myself included, really wanted to see this guy suffer by the end of the movie. And
Batman didn’t fail to deliver. It’s frighteningly easy to track right into a trajectory of hatred.
But in real life God doesn’t give His stamp of approval for this. He reserves for himself the
responsibility of judgment and vengeance. I, for one, find this freeing. That is, when I have enough
faith to fully buy into God’s claim that He’ll work justice out in the end, and that we don’t necessarily
have to volunteer to be His enforcers. The thing is, when we cross over from maintaining social
order to vindictively clobbering those who’ve offended us, this not only perpetuates evil, but is really
is not a very effective way to gain friends and influence people, either. It’s been said that we add as
much suffering to the world by taking offense as by giving it.
That’s the other part of this non-retaliation thing—responding with kindness is much more likely than
vengeance to move the other person in a positive direction. This is exactly what Paul means when
he says that by caring for your enemies, we heap burning coals on their heads. It’s not about
inflicting suffering on them; but it’s about inspiring conviction, or even a healthy kind of shame. Now,
of course there are those who are so hardened that they won’t respond to kindness. They wear
helmets so the burning coals of shame don’t reach their heads. The Joker fits that one.
Nevertheless, the world is watching, and it may be that some of those who witness an act of
kindness in response to offense, will themselves be moved to repentance, and even be attracted to
God and to His people. It’s what Paul calls “taking thought for what is noble in the sight of all.”
So, pillar number one in this teaching is not to respond with vengeance. Pillar number two is much
more proactive and positive. It advocates actually going out of your way to be kind to your neighbor,
including your enemy. Just as vengeance and retaliation are contagious, so is kindness. I had a
school bus driver back in Sacramento who was a graduate student in psychology. Once he
informed us that he was doing an experiment gauging the effects of courteous driving on other
drivers. His hypothesis was that acts of courtesy are contagious. I’m not sure exactly how he
designed the experiment, or for that matter, its results. But when I drive away from a crowded event,
I find that if I let someone in go front of me from a side lane, they very often do the same for
someone else. Courtesy and kindness sure look to be contagious.
If non-retaliation gives a refreshing message of hope to a hurting world, then so much more with
proactive kindness. One of the leaps forward in human ethics is the Golden Rule. With it Jesus
went beyond the idea of not doing to others what you wouldn’t want done to you, to doing to others
what you would want done to you. Going out of your way to be kind. Loving your neighbor as
yourself, even when your neighbor is acting like an enemy.
This says something very basic and important about evil itself. Evil is not something that’s defeated
by another evil act. Rather, evil is defeated by good. Dark is defeated by light. Anger is defeated
by peace. Aggression is defeated by kindness. In the words of William Barclay, “The only real way
to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” Does it always work? Of course not. Not everyone
will respond positively to kindness. But Paul’s words and Jesus’ words are unconditional. We do it
not because we’ll get a positive response from people, but because it’s the right thing to do.
I’d like to conclude by issuing a modest challenge to the people of Hope Church. You may have
seen the bumper stickers that talk about doing “random acts of kindness.” They even have a word
for it: “RAKing.” Random acts of kindness—RAK. I Googled this phrase, and there’s even a
Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.
I’m not going to suggest that you join anything, but I’d like you to try a little experiment, if you’re
willing. This coming week, try to come up with one random act of kindness to do for someone. It
could be any number of things. Something like paying for the car behind you in the fast food drive-
through line, or baking cookies for your local fire or police department, or giving to a charity, or
mowing your neighbor’s lawn, or even something as simple as letting someone else ahead of you in
line even though you were clearly there first. Come up with your own. Just try and observe what
happens, with you or with those you’re “RAKing.” With enough people doing these kinds of things, it
will be something like a little army deployed to overcome evil with good. I wouldn’t be surprised at all
if that little army begins growing. Actually, this is how evangelism works as well, but that’s a sermon
for another Sunday.
So, to conclude, the two pillars of Paul’s teaching are, first, not to exact vengeance. And second, to
go out of our way to be kind. I mentioned Rwanda a little earlier. Well, yesterday at the Matthew 25
Conference at the Cathedral, Fr. Mike Kinman told us what’s happening there now. It seems that
many of the perpetrators of the genocide have served out their jail terms and are now returning to
the communities where they committed their crimes. Rwanda is now engaged in a reconciliation
process wherein the criminals are taking responsibility for their actions, and the families of their
victims are forgiving them. Now many are working side by side in the fields. When we obey our Lord’
s teachings miracles can happen. Let us pray.
Dear Father in heaven, help us to surprise our neighbors and even our enemies with kindness, and
in so doing, to be Jesus’ antidote in a world afflicted by the contagion of resentment. Please send
your Spirit to remind us and empower us in this way to let your will be done, on earth as it is in
Heaven. Amen.
Conquering Evil with Good
Romans 12: 9-21
Romans 12: 9-21
August 31, 2008
Fr. Dan Tuton
Fr. Dan Tuton