City Life Starter

Written by Megan Meier

The Word

“To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Romans 12:20-21 (ESV)

Megan’s Musings

Have compassion on my enemy?! Pouring hot coals on them (while no doubt tempting) doesn’t sound compassionate. The Passion Translation interprets this action as, “For your surprising generosity will awaken his conscience, and God will reward you with favor.” Kindness will guilt them. Maybe not that moment, maybe not for some time. But it will. They will remember it. In moments of boredom or when they are about to sleep at night, they will try to figure out why. Maybe they’ll even ask you, and you can explain it is Christ in you. The hot coals shoveled on their head is the fire of Christ, it starts as a spark and has the potential to become an all-consuming fire. 

In the Apostle Paul’s time, political, racial, and spiritual tension was very high, Christianity brought people of all beliefs, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds together. Paul is imploring not only peace among the varied Christ-followers, but among those non-Christians who do them wrong. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, and His followers are to be the very exemplar of peace and compassion. If they overcome evil with good, the Lord will reward them with favor. 

Paul quotes Proverbs 25:21-22 (he was a Pharisee before his conversion and had memorized the Tanakh, what Christ-followers refer to as Old Testament):

“If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.”

Proverbs 25:21-22 (ESV)

The Book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon after the Lord had granted him great wisdom, God wants His children to show compassion to their enemies. But if it was written 700 years before Jesus’ time, why didn’t the Jews follow this? Who told them to love their neighbor and hate their enemy (Matthew 5:43-45)? Nowhere in the Bible does it say to hate your enemy. Maybe, and I’m guilty of this as well, they obeyed parts of the Law while ignoring those they disagreed with. Jesus was bringing the (difficult) truth back to light. There is no reward for showing compassion to those who will return the favor, but those who love their enemies will be considered God’s children (Matthew 5:45-47). 

Application

These are strange days, where right is wrong and wrong is right. Just saying you’re a Christ-follower has the potential to earn animosity. Love your enemies, show compassion towards them, but maintain wise boundaries. Your compassion will ignite a spark. 

Prayer

            Dear Lord, as difficult as it is, help me to show compassion towards my enemies. Help me to overcome evil with good. Spark the Word of God in their lives. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.