Stephen
Terry, Director
The
Wrath of Divine Love
Commentary
for the February 1, 2025, Sabbath School Lesson
"Do not repay anyone
evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is
possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take
revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written:
'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. On the contrary: 'If your
enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In
doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by
evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:17-21, NIV
When I was a child, I attended Vacation
Bible School at a local Baptist church. It did not last very long as our
parents were not church going people, so I had no idea how to behave in a
church environment. In short, we were little hellions compared to the children
of the good church folk. After two days of attending, we were invited by the
leaders not to return. My siblings and I lamented the loss of cookies and juice
more than the fellowship. We knew we did not fit in. Nonetheless, two experiences
I had at that Baptist Vacation Bible School became a foundation that blossomed
into a deeper spiritual experience years later. Both were related to Bible classes.
The first experience was a class
with a colorful picture roll. The instructor flipped through the large pictures
as she told the story of the paralyzed man whose friends brought him to Jesus
for healing. The crowd was so great they could not get near Jesus who was
inside a nearby building. To get him to Jesus, they climbed up on the roof of
the building, dug through the roof and lowered the sick man down through the
hole into the presence of Jesus. Though brought there by loyal friends, he was
healed and was able to walk home on his own. The story resonated with me as I
saw that Jesus really cared about people, and I saw it was possible to have
friends that would do for a person what that paralytics friends had done for
him. I had no friends like that. I doubted even my siblings would do that for
me. I had no idea how to have friends like that. But it set me thinking, even
if I did not have the answers I needed.
The second experience was of a
different tone. In that class, the teacher shared the passage at the beginning
of this commentary. The idea of setting someone's head afire is a very intense
image, and I knew of enemies I had whom I would like to set aflame like that.
It is ironic that the Holy Spirit would use such vivid imagery to reach a child
who saw it as a way of getting back at his enemies. However, while I wanted to
see them burn, I had no idea how to rain blessings into their lives to make
that happen since I had little myself. But again, this got tucked away in my
mind to build upon later.
Eventually I learned other
passages about turning the other cheek (Matthew
5:39), and that vengeance belongs to God not me (Deuteronomy
32:35). I began avoiding fights instead of picking them. But my enemies saw
this as weakness and were not impressed by quotes of Bible verses. This only
caused them to redouble their efforts to provoke a fight. I would have done the
same before the Holy Spriit began to claim my heart. While religion permeated
American society in the 1950s and early 1960s, most put on the cultural
trappings of church attendance and dressed more formally when attending church
or even going shopping. This was a time when people would even wear suits and
dresses to fly on a commercial airline. But the moral messages of the Bible
were often ignored. While I acknowledged the truths of what the ministry of Jesus
taught, I saw in the activities of my associates and the adults they looked up
to a different ethic that valued the use of force and lies to manipulate
others. Segregation and brutal racism were the order of the day. I attended an
all-white school district, and the Black children attended a Black school
district. I did not know why it had to be that way. It just was. I did not meet
a single Black child until my senior year of high school when one young, Black
man enrolled in our high school. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 provided for the
integration of public schools, but students typically were assigned schools
based on where they live, and housing was not integrated until the Civil Rights
Act of 1968. This may be why he enrolled in my school for the 1968-69 school
year. Unlike Little Rock, Arkansas, the students in my school responded by
electing him student body president. I did not know it then, but it was a sign
that Washington State was moving to be a vanguard state for social justice and
progressive policies.
Over time, I learned that just
as I experienced as a child, certain people see social justice and equality of
opportunity for all as weaknesses. They prefer social Darwinism even if it
never benefits them personally. They look at the strong preying upon the weak
and rather than see the injustice, they think that one day they will be the
strong person if they act the same way. They do not understand that that kind
of power is held by so few hands that it is unlikely they will ever catch that
prize. But people will believe in it, no matter how unlikely. The sale of
millions of dollars in lottery tickets shows how willing the people are to follow
a carrot on a stick. It seems ironic that some of those who chase the ghost of
a winning lottery ticket laugh at those who would believe in God because they believe
the likelihood that he exists is too remote. Money seems more real, even if it
is only dream money.
When those dreams never
materialize, we cling to them anyway. We are more apt to blame God for their
failure than we are to accept personal responsibility. We suffer from our bad
choices and then we complain that God does not step in and miraculously heal
our suffering, so he must not exist. And because we are hurting in our
suffering, we will willingly hurt others who disagree with our point of view.
Two thousand years ago we did that to Jesus, nailing him to splintery wood to
make our point and then gloating as his life flowed as a crimson stream from
his body. We say that was those ignorant people back then. We are more
enlightened. But we are not. Every time we sneer at one who would follow Jesus,
we are there sneering at him on the cross. Every four-letter curse we would
hurl at someone today, we are hurling at him hanging on the cross in the
darkness of Golgotha. Every needlessly hurtful thing we say or do is another
drop of blood shed on that holy hill.
We were never intended to be like
this. Repeatedly individuals have arisen that reveal all we could be toward one
another. But they are usually shouted down by those whose only interest in life
is selfishness and greed. Failing that, they murder those saints to silence
their witness. They tell us they are only fools who believe in a God who does
not exist, so it is better to rid humanity of their presence, and we will all
be better off. But it is a lie. Despite all the blood that has been shed to
silence compassion, empathy, and mercy, saints continue to rise to call out injustice,
greed, and selfishness as beneath us. We are not defined by wealth or power,
but by our characters, and most of us have metaphorical halos that have not
been polished in a long time, perhaps never.
It is true that most will reject
the opportunity to change and will instead live miserable and short lives, having
never realized their dreams. It does not have to be that way. A loving God
still provides a way forward, but it can only happen if we believe he exists. "If
you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. for everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9, 13)
One does not make an instantaneous
transition. My life is proof of that. I was not a hellion one week and a saint
the next. In very many ways, I continue to learn more about spiritual growth
even in my seventies. I hope I get some things figured out soon. There is not much
time left. But I am glad I found my way into the right path decades ago as a
child. I have cherished all the time walking with God, and even more the times
he carried me when I was not strong enough to walk. And the memories we share are
like diamonds shining despite the moments of struggle that came. One of the
greatest blessings is to be able to walk together with God and a helpmate who
is on the same spiritual journey of discovery and growth, a journey that does
not end at death. If I can become inseparable from a spouse in a few short
decades because our love has only grown deeper, how much more wondrous can it
become when not limited by only this short life span?