Evil for Evil

Posted on by korgrocker

“Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.”
1 Peter 3:9

There is an old saying – “two wrongs don’t make a right”. In a situation where someone has been wronged, a natural reaction is for them to lash out in some way. Verbally or perhaps even physically. If someone makes a rude comment about you then the immediate response would be an insult in return. Such behaviour has also been a feature in the adversarial nature of British politics, with the front benches in the House of Commons, the UK lower house of lawmakers, being set apart by two sword lengths plus one inch, a relic from those days when men did indeed carry swords. The best response to insults is to just walk away, preventing the escalation of what could turn into an ugly and offensive situation. Just one wrong remains, not two. The recipient of the abuse can take the moral high ground and move on to get on with the rest of their life.

In these days of social media channels, a generation of keyboard warriors has emerged. Men and women who lack the courage to say what they think to your face but instead have no such scruples with a keyboard in front of them. So people in the public eye can suffer huge volumes of abusive responses to their public messages, just because they perhaps had the courage to stand up and say something that others disagree with. A common response is for those receiving such abuse to close down their own social media apps, because any attempt to explain just pours more fuel into the fire. We do seem to live in a very sad world.

Peter encouraged his readers with an appeal for God’s blessing to be on those who respond to their tormentors in a better way. Perhaps Peter remembered that day when Jesus was teaching on the Mount and when He said, “Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you” (Luke 6:28). This instruction went further than a simple act of ignoring the offender. Not to repay evil for evil is just the start. A passive walking away isn’t quite what Peter had in mind in his advice. Jesus and Peter both advised that there is a better way. To bless and pray for those who curse or insult you.

So the next time another car driver undertakes a manoeuvre that nearly causes you to have an accident, call down a blessing from Heaven on the culprit, and pray that he (or she) sees the error of their ways and not be in such a hurry. The next time someone says something about you in the office that you are perhaps not supposed to hear, bless them with a kind word, or even something practical like a cup of coffee. And for all those who are unkind or insulting in their contact with us, we offer up a prayer to the God who sees what is going on and who wants to bless everyone.

Father God. We thank You for Your words of blessing. Even now we pause and reflect on anyone who has harmed us in some way. And we call down a Heavenly blessing on them, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Showing Kindness

Posted on by korgrocker

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
Romans 12:6-8 NLT

The last of the seven motivational spiritual gifts is the “gift for showing kindness to others”. Other translations refer to this as the gift of mercy. Someone who shows mercy has detected in another person spiritual or emotional needs that others may overlook. We are all very good, most of the time, in covering up what we really feel. So as we walk through the church door on a Sunday morning, we might be asked the usual question – “How are you today?” To which we respond – “Fine”. The questioner doesn’t know that there may be turmoil within us. We may be worried about all sorts of things but to stop at that point and explain why we’re not “Fine” isn’t an option. It would just exacerbate the situation, at least for us. So we adopt a cheery demeanour and push back. The mask holds firm.

But someone with the Holy Spirit gift of mercy has been given a divine insight into the deep and hidden needs of the other person. So they won’t be put off by the “fine” response and will choose a moment when they can show the kindness and love the other person needs. A merciful person won’t be put off by a prickly response. Also, they will always be kind to the underdog, to someone who is different in some way. 

Jesus taught that we should show mercy to our enemies. Luke 6:35-36, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”. Now that is hard. Show mercy to someone who wants to harm you? But as Jesus said, we have a Heavenly Father who shows kindness to the “ungrateful and wicked”. But isn’t that what we were? Did He not show us kindness when we were far away from Him, living a life of sin? When we deserved punishment did He not mercifully forgive us through Jesus and His sacrifice at Calvary? A merciful person will have a different perspective when confronted by images of our enemies because they will see them as God sees them – with kindness and mercy.

In Matthew 5:7, Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”. The implication is that as we are merciful to others, we too will somehow receive mercy, and blessings. James developed this theme, as recorded in James 2:12-13, “So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you”. It looks as though acts of mercy are not optional, if we wish to be shown mercy ourselves.

We pilgrims are followers of Jesus. And he was the kindest and most merciful man who has ever existed. We walk in His footsteps, praying for the right opportunities to be merciful to others, and praying for the Holy Spirit to work within us, enhancing and transforming our merciful thoughts and deeds. 

Dear Lord Jesus. We thank You for all You have done, and still continue to do, for us. In these brutal and unloving days, please help us to reflect Your love and kindness to those around us. Amen.

Encouraging Others

Posted on by korgrocker

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
Romans 12:6-8 NLT

The next item on Paul’s list of God’s motivational gifts is encouragement. I think we can all agree, in these dark days of high energy and food costs, with inflationary pressures consuming our resources, with our health service under unprecedented strain, with wars and dire warnings about the effects of climate change, that we need encouragement. And lots of it. One thing is for sure – we will get very little in the way of encouragement from the media outlets. Or our politicians. Or the society around us. It seems that discouragement is the dominant force, sapping our motivation, and spawning the feeling, “what’s the point”. In my rambles in the community, I meet some very discouraged people. People who respond to “It’s a nice morning today”, with “Aye, but it will probably rain later”. People who always view a glass of water as being half empty. People who seem to thrive on having a good moan.

We pilgrims are of a different spirit, however. We are infused with the joy of the Lord. That doesn’t mean we go through life with a silly grin on our faces regardless of the circumstances. It means that, as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we have a different perspective, resourced with the riches of Heaven. Within us is an inner strength, fuelled by the certainty that one day we will be in an environment where the worldly negatives and discouragements will no longer be found. 

In Nehemiah 8 we read about the time when the people of Israel asked Ezra the Scribe to read to them from the Book of the Law. The leaders explained what it all meant and we read in Nehemiah 8:9-10, “Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength””. At a time of national challenge, as a remnant of the Jews who had returned after being exiled, they suddenly found that, although their circumstances didn’t change, their perspective did because of the “joy of the Lord”. They found great encouragement through the Word of God and their leaders who explained what it all meant.

In our fellowships, our communities, our families, and even in our workplaces or schools, there may be no-one available to share a kind word, or some encouragement, to counter the debilitating effects of rampant discouragements, except us. And God has provided just what we need. A Gift of Encouragement. Let’s use it wisely and effectively, as our lights shine like beacons in this lost world. If we pilgrims can’t display “the joy of the Lord” and encourage those around us, who will?

Dear God. You have put within us a deep-seated and immovable joy. Thank You! Amen.

Forgiveness

Posted on by korgrocker

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:31-32 NLT

That’s a pretty comprehensive list of negatives. Paul listed “bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander” and then almost as an afterthought, and just to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, he added “all types of evil behaviour”. I wonder what prompted his thinking? Perhaps, as he languished in his prison cell, he remembered his friends back in Ephesus and thought about how they lived. Perhaps he was thinking, “I remember that lady with the blue robe – she was a very bitter woman”. Or, “I wish Sparticus (would that be the name of someone in Ephesus?) wouldn’t erupt in an angry rant every time someone disagreed with him”. Perhaps Paul found himself holding his tongue when he heard the way they spoke about each other. But from his prison cell he found the freedom to write about it. Somehow his suffering added weight to his message. His message was relevant in his day and is still relevant today. It is timeless. Human nature hasn’t changed much over the centuries. So often our behaviour is learned from our circumstances. So a child watching an angry father might copy his behaviour. Another child hearing a gossiping relative might think that they can do the same. Others might see the trolling on social media and join in, trying to outdo the vile comments left by someone else. As an aside today, I wonder if Paul would have had a Facebook page or a Twitter account? If he had the posts would have been amazing, I’m sure. Regardless of what behaviour we learn from others, though, sometimes the ways we speak, the emotions we display, the ways we react – they are all driven by the sinful person we are inside. 

Anyway, Paul encouraged his readers to replace all their negatives with the word “instead”. And the second of our verses today sets out the ways in which we should behave. Instead of being bitter and angry we should be kind and compassionate. The word “tender-hearted” is used. There is a man living near me who had a horrendous upbringing, being brought up in acute poverty with a mother and ten siblings. But now in his retirement, he helps out with feeding and caring for a few animals on a small-holding near him. He is a very soft-hearted man, and I pointed that out to him yesterday. His response was that he was soft with animals but not with people. A man tender-hearted by nature but hardened by exposure to a life of contact with people displaying “evil behaviour“.

How are we with our fellow members of society? Are we pilgrims secure within hard walls that we have erected to protect us from the hard knocks in life? To prevent the barbed comment and nasty insinuations from hurting us? Or are we tenderhearted, feeling the pain of others? Allowing, in a spirit of forgiveness, “harsh words and slander” to wash over us? Responding with kindness and love, compassion and mercy? That is the Jesus way. When nails were hammered into His hands He responded with “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). He loved His enemies even to the end. So what else can we do? We can only echo Jesus’ love for others in the way we face into life. Interface with those around us. Forgiving others as Christ has forgiven us.

Poverty

Posted on by korgrocker

Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor!
The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble.
The LORD protects them
and keeps them alive.
He gives them prosperity in the land
and rescues them from their enemies.
The LORD nurses them when they are sick
and restores them to health.
Psalm 41:1-3 NLT

The very first line of the first verse in this Psalm associates joy with showing kindness to poor people. Sadly, for people in affluent societies, being poor is associated with negative connotations, and perhaps unkind judgements about why they are “poor”. We tend to look at poverty as being a lack of finances, but that is to neglect so many other forms of being poor. There are, perhaps, a few hints in these verses about other kinds of poverty. The poverty of being in trouble. The poverty of being in physical danger. The poverty of sickness. I would add too the poverty of being lonely, without friends or family. 

In Matthew 5, Jesus said to His disciples, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The “poor in spirit” are those people who recognise that they lack the resources God puts value on. Heavenly currency is not anything of earthly value, like gold (we read in Revelation that it is used to make roads!). Having spiritual currency starts with the realisation that we have nothing to offer God of any value. Because of our sins we are destitute before Him and have to recognise this by coming to Him in faith for the salvation He has offered through Jesus. In Matthew 6, Jesus encouraged His disciples to build up “treasure in Heaven” through their service to Him.

But what was David referring to in these verses in Psalm 41? In verse 1, he was, I think, referring to Godly people in his day, who were looking after the needy people around them. And through them God was providing for them. Although God can directly provide the resources people need for life, most of the time He chooses to deliver His provision through His people. So we are encouraged to be His servants by looking out for those who are poor, in our communities, in our families, supplying fellowship, a helping hand. Nursing those in need. Providing a listening ear when needed. The opportunities are endless. There is a young woman in my community who every week, uses her lunch hour to walk the dog of an old lady, now immobilised following a fall. A young woman banking spiritual currency for her future.

So we, as God’s people, have a challenge today. As the King’s servants, what does He want us to do to relieve the poverty around us? There may not just be financial needs, there will be others as well. In our communities, who can we find who is “poor”? 

God’s Shining Face

Posted on by korgrocker

“Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me in Your lovingkindness. Psalms‬ ‭31:16‬ ‭AMP‬‬

God’s shining face. What a lovely picture. A face full of illumination, transparent, translucent and attractive. A face looking at me with love, kindness and grace. A God-face on a faceless God. An expression of a God who cares for me and is interested in everything about me.

God’s shining face. Sadly in our mundane, human-bound world, God’s shining face is eclipsed by the worries and cares of life. But it’s still there, as permanent as the sun by day and the moon by night. Always ready and willing to shine on you, and me. Look carefully into the face of our Creator and see the light of his countenance, shining through. As the old song says:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

God’s shining face. Thank You, God, for shining on me today.