A Holy Charge (16)

 

 

“See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people” (1 Thess. 5:15).

 

As I write this it is early morning, the sun has yet to rise, it is dark and quiet on our cul-de-sac. There are nine other homes on our street, and on the dead-end street that leads to our cul-de-sac are seven other homes. An element of our morning prayer together is, “Lord, help us to be a blessing to others. Please make us a blessing to others.” As we make this request to our Lord Jesus the people who live in these sixteen homes are very much in our hearts and minds, we want to do good to them, we want to be a blessing to them and others in our neighborhood.

 

One of the things I miss about the workplace is the opportunity to do good to others; to coworkers, customers, suppliers, and vendors. In the workplace I engaged with people throughout the day, people to whom I could seek to do good.

 

When my friend Bruce Harrison moved from Fredericksburg to Richmond, VA, he visited a number of dry cleaners, looking for one to which he could take his shirts. He had one question for each one, “What business are you in?”

 

One after another the response was, “We are in the dry cleaning business.” At each of these responses Bruce left the establishment, knowing that was not the one for him.

 

Finally he found the response he was seeking, “We are in the service business. We are here to serve our customers.”

 

In much the same way, are we not in the “doing good to others” business? That is, are we not to live our lives seeking to do good to others, to bless others, to encourage others, to give to others?

 

“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal.  6:10).

 

Since we are to live in koinonia in Christ as His People, since we are to share life together in Him, it is natural that we will especially do good to those with whom we are in intimate relationship; just as a husband ought to especially do good to his wife, and the wife ought to especially do good to her husband, and parents ought to especially do good to their children. A fruit of the members of the Body of Christ doing good to one another is that they also do good to all people, that blessing flows from the People of God to the people of their street, their neighborhood, their broader community, to the ends of the world.

 

What would it look like if churches sought the good of other churches? If churches sought the good of their communities, and sought the good of those beyond their communities?

 

Paul writes, “Let us not lose heart in doing good” (Gal. 6:9). We give because our heavenly Father gives. We do good because our heavenly Father does good, “causing the sun to rise on the evil and the good, sending rain on the righteous and the unrighteousness” (Mt. 5:45). We cannot control what others do, but we can control (by God’s grace) what we do, we can decide (by God’s grace) to do good to all people.

A Holy Charge (15)

 

 

“See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people” (1 Thess. 5:15).

 

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).

 

I suppose there is no better commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5:15 than the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:38 – 48.

 

“Do not resist evil…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…for if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

 

It is quite the passage (Matthew 5:38 – 48), a passage we rationalize away, a passage we seek justification to violate, a passage that is simply not practical; it makes no sense…at least to the “natural” man or woman.

 

And yet, in the Cross we see that it leads to victory over sin, death, and the devil. Yet, in Revelation we see that the Lamb and His followers are victorious as they lay their lives down, not as they take the lives of others (Rev. 7:9 – 17; 12:11).

 

You see, dear friends, you and I are to participate in the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ. The Cross is an event in time and space, but it is also an event in eternity. It is an event in eternity, but it is also a Way of Life in time and space. It is a Way of Life in time and space, but it also reaches into eternity and eternity reaches into our hearts, minds, and souls.

 

In our koinonia in the sufferings of Christ, we participate in the filling up of Christ’s afflictions for His People, His Body (Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24). We simply cannot understand this, but we can experience it.

 

“For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats; but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:20 – 23).

 

“Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (1 Peter 4:19).

 

Not returning evil for evil often involves suffering; suffering the wrong, suffering the effects of the wrong. It also involves blessing those who are propagating the evil – praying for them, sharing Jesus with them, forgiving them. We can only truly live this as we abide in the Vine, our dear Lord Jesus Christ, for without Him we can do nothing (John 15:1 – 5).

 

Not returning evil for evil is a testimony that we will trust our Father to care for us, for He is righteous and He is ever faithful. Not returning evil for evil means that we relinquish control of our lives, of the situation, and that we do not attempt to control others.

 

Not returning evil for evil is anything but passive, for it requires an act of the will, enabled by the grace of God, to surrender ourselves to Christ and to actively seek the good of those who inflict evil upon us.

 

Jesus teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Mt. 6:12). We might also pray, “Forgive us the evil we have done, as we have forgiven others the evil they have done to us.” Or “Forgive us the sin we have done, as we have forgiven others the sin they have done to us.”

 

We are to always be “forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).  

 

When the Thessalonians first met Paul and Silas, they had come from being beaten and imprisoned in Philippi. As Paul and Silas shared the Gospel in Thessalonica persecution again broke out, with the cry, “These men who have upset the world have come here also” (Acts 17:6). Nowhere do we see in Acts that Paul and his friends returned evil for evil during persecutions and hardships they endured. The Thessalonians knew, as they read Paul’s words about not returning evil with evil, that Paul lived what he preached; Paul not only talked the talk, he walked the walked.

 

Nowhere in Acts do we see the followers of Jesus returning evil for evil.

 

Nowhere in the storms of persecution in Revelation do we see the followers of the Lamb returning evil for evil.

 

Nowhere in the life of Jesus Christ do we see Him returning evil for evil.

 

This is not a natural way to live, but it is the way we are to live in Christ, if indeed Christ lives within us. Let us remember that “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His son” (Ro. 5:10). As the death of Christ is manifested in us, as we participate in the sufferings of Christ, others can also be reconciled to God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

If this is the way we are to live toward all mankind, it is most especially the way we are to live in Chrisian community.

 

What does 1 Thessalonians 5:15 look like in our lives?

 

We’ll continue with this verse in our next reflection in this series, the Lord willing.