Month: September 2020

Out for Revenge?

With God we will gain the victory,
    and he will trample down our enemies. (Psalm 60:12)

David wrote several Psalms that anticipate how his enemies will get their just desserts. Even so, he never said “revenge is mine.” Because he knows God is the one who will take care of it and pay back.

I had a real problem with a harsh boss I called “the Nazi” when I worked in IT. Looking back, I was wrong to keep fretting about her unfairness. I lost sight of God’s truth: “I will take care of it.” Yes, God always takes care of it; sometimes it’s in this lifetime; other times it won’t be until eternity.

 (Ironically, after I retired, my former colleagues informed me that the harsh boss was marched out of the door by security due to being caught stealing from the company!)

I bet David would have been rooting for my boss to get a quick comeuppance. But I am asked to have a different attitude: Like David, I am to rely on God to set things right, but unlike David I am called to live at peace with my enemies in the meantime. This command is binding for all who believe:

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18)

Here is a command Jesus makes that is even harder:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:43-44)

Yes, Jesus commands something from us that goes beyond what was asked of David: Love your enemies. Be peacemakers even when people have done us evil. Some are impatient with God for dilly-dallying. But God has a great reason for the delay!

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

How should we react?

Even though we know that the day of reckoning is coming, we can be glad that, so far, God is delaying it. Why?  We now have time to give people a loving warning. We yearn for them to repent. Jesus makes an offer: Repent and believe in me. We are wooing people to freedom and bidding them to accept Jesus’ offer of entering Shalom before it is too late.

Jesus’ Heart Monitor

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

This passage always seemed vaguely menacing to me. After all, the deeds listed sound so good and spiritual. Aren’t they all things that God loves seeing done? So what is wrong? Do we need to be scared that Jesus would say ‘I never knew you’ to us, after we thought we were living for him?

Here’s a clue: We know that Jesus says he wants us to put his words into practice. And there is a way we can know we are on the right track as we try to do that. When I go running, I like to wear a heart rate monitor to track my level of effort. And Jesus has given us a spiritual heart monitor.

How does that work? First, note that all three of the activities in verse 22, prophesying, exorcizing and healing, are activities that are done in public. But that means there’s a huge danger that they can become public displays that draw attention to the doer rather than to Jesus!

The Beatitudes give us a remedy for this risk: they focus not on what we are doing but on our heart attitude. Look at this one especially:

 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.(Matthew 5:8)

It’s far better to be doing quiet stuff that few people see while having the right heart attitude, than to do flashy visible stuff with the wrong heart attitude.

So now we see that Jesus kicks out people who seek after self-glory rather than his glory.

Do you ever wonder whether you are seeking his glory or your own glory? Sometimes it is hard to distinguish.  But the mere fact that you are even bothering to wrestle with this issue, admitting that it might be a problem, is a great sign that you are on the right track.

We press on with good deeds, not worrying about publicity or recognition. Inviting Christ to keep working in our hearts leads to an excellent result: At life’s end, Jesus welcomes us into his kingdom, saying “Well done, good and faithful servant”!