God the Repayer, Not Us

Matthew 16: 21-28, Romans 12:9-21

In Matthew 16 Jesus rebukes Peter and his philosophy that only good things should happen to good people. Jesus tells him he is setting his mind on human things not on the divine which was the plan for Jesus to suffer and die for our sins. He tells how those that save their lives will lose them, but those who lose it for Jesus sake will find it. Forsaking human wisdom and following the divine Jesus and God’s divine plan of salvation one will truly be saved and find a life worth living. This passage ends with Jesus telling them how when Jesus returns he will repay everyone for what they have done. This is one scripture to claim for those who wonder what will happen to the Hitlers of this life.

Paul in Romans talks about genuine love and how it is shown by holding on to what is good and to outdo one another in showing honor. We are to continually rejoice in the hope God has given us to be patient in affliction and to persevere in prayer.

He lists things we need to do to live this genuine love. One of the hardest is blessing those who persecute us and not repaying evil for evil. We are told not to revenge our enemies but to count on God to repay people for their deeds, especially those who have hurt us. We are to leave the vengeance to God who is the one to do the repaying, not us.

This is so different from human thinking that has movies like Rambo based on revenging one’s enemies. Instead, we are to feed them and give them drink. Being hospitable and showing genuine love to one’s enemies is said to heap burning coals on their heads. We are not to be overcome by evil shown in hating and revenging one’s enemies but to overcome their evil with our good.

This is shown in the story of La Misérables where the thief steals the silverware from the priest who has just fed him. But instead of demanding them back and throwing the thief in jail the priest refers to him as his good friend who forgot to take the silver candlesticks also and he hands them to him. Due to this act of genuine love, the thief changes his ways.

May we show such genuine love to others including our enemies knowing that God will repay everyone for the good or bad they have done. Amen

 

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