Radical Love
“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.’”
Romans 12:20
This verse is one of the most challenging in the entire chapter. It is challenging in both what it clearly says as well as in what the consequence of your actions will be on the other person. The command portion is easy to explain but hard to do. Feeding your enemy or giving him something to drink if he is thirsty is hugely difficult to put into practice. It fights against our normal, sinful tendency toward vengeance. If our enemy is hungry, we are tempted to think, “great!” If he is thirsty, our flesh wants to drink a glass of water in front of him and let him suffer. Vengeance wants payback in our own way in our own terms rather than letting justice take its course.
Instead of vengeance, God calls us to radical kindness. Our response should be one of graciousness, showing good to those who don’t deserve it. We have already seen and discussed that revenge addressing a wrong is never proper, instead we are to show grace and kindness to our enemies. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you (Matt 5:38-42).”
There is debate over what the meaning of the second half of this verse which comes from Proverbs 25. Here are the three possibilities. First, some tie it into verse 19 saying that if we do good to others and they reject the good then it will only bring more judgment when they stand before God. All the Old Testament references to burning coals refer to God’s wrath and judgment. Others take it to mean that when we do good to our enemy it may bring guilt and shame upon them for how they have treated us. Still others tie it into an unreliable but repeated story that some ancient Egyptians would carry a burning censor of coals on their head as a sign of repentance. Then the meaning of this verse would mean that your good causes them to repent. I personally think that all of these are true in the sense that we don’t know how God is going to work through our actions and how the person is going to respond. Our desire is to see people repent and turn from their sin to Christ. But if they do not, then it is right to want to see justice occur to address people’s wrongs.
We see this very thing in Romans 2:4-6 “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works.” We know that God is both loving and just. He takes no pleasure with the guilty being punished but he administers perfect justice and those who do not repent will be punished. God’s kindness should break our hearts and draw us to himself. If it does not, the very kindness shown to us will add to the just punishment that we deserve. The Bible’s message to us is simple, do what is right and leave the consequences to God.
