DON’T LIGHT FIRES, MEND FENCES

James 2:12-13 NIV
[12] Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, [13] because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:12-13 NLT
[12] So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. [13] 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.

There is so much evidence in God’s grace towards us that encourages us to “pay it forward”. This response to those who sin against us is perhaps one of the most powerful ways we can reach out to unbelievers, and especially those who hate us for our faith in Jesus.

Revenge is the name of the game in modern society, even more than the principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Too many people in our land take revenge to its ultimate end. “You don’t do… give me what I want so, I’ll take your life.”

Both Old and New Covenants record stories of people who acted in mercy towards those who should have received judgment. David is a superb example of an Old Testament saint who received mercy because he showed mercy.

After the death of King Saul and Jonathan, David had every right to secure his throne by exterminating their descendants. Instead, he brought Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s crippled son, into his own household and restored everything he should have inherited from his father and grandfather.

When David sinned against the Lord by committing adultery and murder, his fate should have been death. Yet God showed him mercy. He forgave his sin although David did not escape sin’s consequences.

A glowing example of mercy in the New Covenant is, of course, our Lord Jesus Himself. Peter described Jesus’ way of dealing with His persecutors in these sublime words,

1 Peter 2:22-24 NIV
[22] “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” [23] When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. [24] “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

By His life and death, Jesus mended the biggest rift between man and God, our sin-debt to the Father, and the strongest boundary fence between us and the hostile world. His love for us, and everything that love secures, is the guarantee that we shall be with Him forever.

Some people, including certain politicians in our country, love to light fires. They enjoy watching those burn whom they hate, forgetting that eternal fires await them in the future. This attitude fosters only more pain and suffering than we already have.

So, Paul counsels us to put an end to the fires of revenge in our hearts that perpetuate hatred and bitterness.

Romans 12:17 NIV
[17] “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone….
[19] 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. [20] 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.” [21] Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”

Jesus’ gracious forgiveness opens the way for us to do the same. Imagine the difference we could make if we deliberately and purposefully want about mending the rifts between ourselves and others rather than lighting the fires that will forever burn the space between us and them.