‘You will heap burning coals on his head’ (Romans 12:14-21)

‘You will heap burning coals on his head’

 

 

 

[Romans 12:14-21]

 

 

When we read the Bible, there are many difficult words.  Not only there are many words that we don't understand well, but there are also many words that we don't understand at all.  But what is more painful than this is the fact that we are not able to obey even the words we understand.  And because we are not obeying the word of God, we suffer a little from being pricked by our conscience.  But after it passes, our conscience is no longer pricked, and we get used to living disobeying the Word, saying, ‘I guess that’s just how it is.’  Perhaps one of those words is “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Of course, we also have a tendency to love only those who are just lovable and dear to us, asking who our “neighbor” is.  But even then, if we remember Jesus’ words, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you have?” (Mt. 5:46), we know that we must love those who do not love us.  Especially when we hear Jesus' command in the first half of Matthew 5:44-45a, we have no more excuses: “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. ….” 

 

If we look at the second half of Romans 12:20, we will find a word that is a bit difficult to understand.  It says, “…  you will heap burning coals on his head.”  What is the meaning of this word?  To understand the meaning of this word, we must read Proverbs 25:21-22: “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.”  Looking at these words, we can see that the word about putting burning coals on people's heads is related to our enemies.  What does it really have to do with it?  According to Pastor John MacArthur, in the old Egyptian culture, if a person wanted to publicly show people that he had repented of his sins, he would put a brazier with burning coals on his head and walk (MacArthur).  Here, “burning coals” is said to symbolize the person's burning pain of shame and guilt (MacArthur).  That is why the Proverbs writer says, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.”  In other words, the message given to us by the writer of Proverbs and the author of Romans today is to show love even to our enemies.  Why?  Why does God tell us to love even our enemies?  I think there are two reasons for this: The first reason is that if we show love to our enemies, they will feel shame for the hatred, resentment, hatred, and hostility in them (MacArthur).  But a greater reason than this is that if we show love even to our enemies who oppose and persecute us, their cold and hard hearts will melt like fire and become our new friends (Park).  In a word, to summarize today's text Romans 12:20, Paul exhorts the saints in Rome and you and me to love our enemies.  The purpose is to melt the hearts of our enemies and make friends in the Lord.  How is this even possible?  Indeed, how can we love our enemies, melt their hearts, and make them friends in the Lord?

 

I applied this word of God in a narrower way to the church, which is the body of the Lord.  In other words, our enemies can be outside the church, but I think that an enemy relationship can be established even within the church.  So, I applied today's Bible verses to the relationship between our members in the church.  The reason for doing so is that when we look at the context of Romans 12:14-21, just as we meditated on the words under the title of “Community of love” centered on Romans 12:9-13, Paul is writing a letter to the church members in Rome, so we are taught how to participate in the work of the Lord who builds the church, the body of the Lord, into a community of love.  The lesson is that we must melt the hearts of our brothers and sisters, whom we regard as our enemies even within the church, with God's love and make them our friends in the Lord.  How is this possible?  Indeed, what must we do to love even our enemies, melt their hearts, and make them friends in the Lord?  I would like to receive 4 lessons centered on today's text.

 

First, we must bless the enemy who persecutes us.

 

Look at Romans 12:14 – “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”  It is a very difficult word to obey.  It is impossible with our human strength.  How can we bless those who persecute us without cursing them?  I think the secret is in Matthew 5:11-12: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  In order to bless the enemy who persecutes us, we must believe in the fact that it is blessed to be reviled and persecuted because of Jesus, that is, our reward in heaven is great.  Then we can bless our enemies with faith.  Why should we bless even our enemies in faith?  Of course, since the Bible commands us to do so today, we must obey the Word.  However, when we think about it a little more, the reason we must bless even our enemies is that God has blessed us who were our enemies.

 

If we look at Romans 5:10, which we have already meditated on, it says, “When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.”  In other words, the blessing that God bestowed upon us, His enemies, is salvation through the death and life of His Son, Jesus.  The saints who know the grace of always being grateful for this grace of salvation must love their enemies and bless them without cursing them with the attitude, God showed love even to those who were enemies of God like me and gave them the grace of salvation.  Just as Balaam in Numbers 22-23 commanded Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the Israelites, but he blessed the Israelites who were cursed because he spoke only what God told him, we also must bless, not curse those who persecute us.  There seem to be one, two or three songs called ‘Passage of Blessing’ in Korean gospel songs.  If we look at the songs written and composed by Suji Kim, the lyrics for the first verse are as follows: ‘Make me a channel of blessings/ Make me a channel of blessings.  Through me, let all nations enjoy the blessings God has planned/ for them.  Break me within myself/ Let me put on the heart of God/ Let the whole world be embraced with love/ Make me a channel of blessing’ (Internet).  You and I must become channels of the Lord's blessings.  To do so, we must love those who persecute us with God's love.  We must forgive those who persecute us, just as God has forgiven us.  When we sincerely forgive, we will be able to bless (pray) the persecutors with a loving heart.

 

Second, we must have compassion even for those who persecute us.

 

Look at Romans 12:15 – “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”  This too is impossible on our own.  How can we sympathize with those who persecute us when we cannot sympathize with our loved ones?  For some reason, don't you feel that the love that the Lord requires of you is very difficult?  Don't you think it's almost impossible?  I always applied the words of Romans 12:15to my relationship with my brothers and sisters in the church.  The reason is because while meditating on today's text, I thought that there are those who make us hard, suffer, hurt, and persecute us even in the church.  When we are persecuted because of such people, instead of loving them, we will hate them.  But Paul is telling us to empathize with them.  How does he tell us to have sympathy with those who persecute us?  We should rejoice with them and weep with them.  In other words, we must rejoice with our brothers and sisters who give us a hard time, harass us, and persecute us when they rejoice and weep with them when they cry.  How is this possible?  How can we rejoice with him when he rejoices and weep with him when he weeps?  On the contrary, shouldn't we rejoice when he cries and be angry when he rejoices?  I found the secret in Hebrews 4:15 – “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.”  Since Jesus, the High Priest, loves sinners like us and feels our weaknesses, we also have to love our enemies and feel their weaknesses.  Why does Paul exhort the saints in Rome to have experience with you and me?  The reason is because our church members want to keep the unity of the church with one mind.  So, Paul says this in Romans 12:16 – “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”

 

We must be of one mind with one another.  In other words, our church must have one mind.  What kind of mind is that mind?  It is the mind of Jesus (Phil. 2:5).  The mind of Jesus is a humble mind.  It is the mind that does not place it high but stays low.  We must not pretend to be wise ourselves.  Rather, we must humble ourselves and rejoice with the brother who rejoices with the heart of Jesus and weep with the brother who weeps.

 

Thirdly, we should do what is right in the eyes of everybody.

Look at Romans 12:17 – “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.”  Here, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil” means not to take revenge (Park).  Why should we not take revenge on the person(s) who have done us evil?  Dr. Yoonsun Park cited six reasons for this, and among them, looking at the last six, he said: ‘It is because those who act in retaliation lose the grace of God’ (Park).  The thought of retaliation itself is a sign that we are already losing God's grace.  We should think of retaliation, and rather than act in retaliation, we should leave it to God to take vengeance.  Look at Romans 12:19 – “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”  What does it mean?  It is said that vengeance is not in us, but in God.  God will avenge Himself, so we must leave the vengeance to God.  We should rather do good than repay evil with evil.  When someone has done us evil, how can we plan good rather than repay evil?  To do so, we must overcome evil with good (v. 21).  If we do not overcome evil with good, we will never be able to plan good works.  Rather, we will seek to repay evil to those who have done us evil.  We won't be like that.  Rather, because we overcome evil with good, we should seek to do good rather than repay evil to those who have done evil to us.

 

Fourth and last, we must be at peace with everyone.

 

Look at Romans 12:18 – “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  When writing a letter to the saints in Rome, Paul not only said, “Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody” (v. 17), but also exhorts them to “live at peace with everyone” (v. 18).  When we say here to be at peace with everyone, it is not just to love us and be at peace with only those we love.  This word tells us to be reconciled with those who persecute us and with our enemies.  How is this possible?  Ephesians 2:14-16 comes to mind: “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”  Because Jesus, the Peacemaker, died on the cross, He not only reconciled us, who were enemies, with God, but also reconciled Jews and Gentiles, who were enemies, so that they could become one body.  Therefore, Jesus is telling us: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Mt. 5:9).  We must be at peace with everyone.

 

God is giving us four lessons today in Romans 12:14-21: (1) We must bless the enemies who persecute us, (2) We must be sympathize even with those who persecute us.  (3) We must be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  (4) We must be at peace with everyone.  Who do you think of when you think of these lessons?  I thought of Jesus: Jesus who loved even the Jews who persecuted Him and those who crucified Him, Jesus who loved even our enemies, knowing our weaknesses and having compassion on them, and crucified and died in our place, He did good things for us and died on the cross, reconciling us to God and to one another.  Indeed, what should we, the disciples of Jesus, do?