Daily Dose of the Word of God - Proverbs 25: 21-22

Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor

Transcript

Gregg DeMey  0:08 

Good morning friends and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose of the Word of God. This is Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor at the church and it's Thursday, October 24. We are in Hearts Ablaze campaign season, a time which by God's grace, new sparks are being ignited in us for the things of Go d. Today's reading is from the book of Proverbs, chapter 25 verses 21 and 22

Gregg DeMey  0:31 

If your enemy is hungry, well give him food to eat. If your enemy is thirsty, give him water to drink. And in doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head and the Lord will reward you.

Gregg DeMey  0:46 

Burning coals! For much of my life, I was puzzled by this Proverb. It sounded to me like God was doling out advice for how to best take revenge on your enemies. "Kill him with kindness!" as my father once advised me. Treat your enemies well and they'll feel even worse about their lousy selves because of your kindness. I was further confused by this verse because Saint Paul quotes the same words in the New Testament in Romans 12, when he is encouraging Christians to avoid revenge, so as to overcome evil with good. It turns out, I had totally misunderstood this proverb most of my life. It's not a biblical textbook for how to take revenge, but rather exactly the opposite. This is counsel for how to forgive and let go.

Gregg DeMey  1:36 

This image of burning coals appears across the Bible. For example, in Isaiah chapter 6 (the passage from earlier this week), a burning coal is brought to touch the unclean lips of the young prophet Isaiah. "See this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away, and you're sin atoned for," an angel says to Isaiah. Burning coals are not a symbol of violence or destruction. Burning coals in Scripture are often a symbol of forgiveness, a symbol of God's power to cleanse, as a symbol of God's power and presence.

Gregg DeMey 2:13 

So how is a follower of Jesus supposed to engage with someone who's annoying them? Or worse, pulling you down? Or worse, who is your sworn enemy? The Bible says, "Bring the presence of God to that person. Bring your detractors and competitors and annoyers. Forgiveness, flexibility and leave the judgment up to God. Just treat them like a valuable person - a smile, a disarming word, a playful story might be all it takes. As you do that (because they expect you to give them your worst), they might actually sense the kindness and grace of God through you. Feel the smoldering of the Lord's holy fire in the nearness of those burning cleansing coals. And if that happens, you can be sure that God is honored and pleased."

Gregg DeMey  3:02  

Let's pray. Oh God, show me (even now) someone who is outside of my good graces because of real or perceived harm or bother that they have caused me. I release them to your good care and pledge to do all I can to treat them today, decently, humanly, gracefully, as everyone who bears your image deserves. Help me do it for Jesus sake, Amen.