“Overcoming Evil” Romans 12:9-21
Pastor Tom Johnson, August 30, 2020
Paul’s letter to the Romans encourages us to live out our Christian faith with authenticity and victory—with sincerity and joy. It’s packed with the wisdom of the Cross of Christ. It helps us navigate the evil. It helps us improve our relationships with sisters and brothers in Christ and our unbelieving neighbors. “Let love be genuine,” our Scripture says, “hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good. ...Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
“Do not be overcome by evil.”
That is what happens when we do not understand or live out the wisdom of the Cross of Christ. We are overcome by evil when we lean on our own understanding—when we think more highly of ourselves than we ought and lack sober judgment. We allow evil to overcome us when we play by evil’s rules and not by the reign of Jesus and his Kingdom. We are actually handing over the victory to our enemies when we retaliate and try to avenge ourselves. Rabbi Abraham Twerski says, “harboring your resentment is allowing someone you don’t like to live inside your head without paying any rent.” “I’m not that kind of guy,” he quips. “I’m not that nice.”
We give our power away to difficult and toxic people when we ruminate and harbor bitterness. They predominate our thoughts. They drain the life out of us. Over 250 years ago, Pastor Johann Bengel said that “to retaliate is to be overcome both by the evil of one’s enemy and by the evil of one’s heart toward that enemy.” In their song, “Cedars of Lebanon,” the Irish Band U2 says, “Choose your enemies carefully, ’cause they will define you. Make them interesting ’cause in some ways they will mind you. They’re not there in the beginning but when your story ends Gonna last with you longer than your friends.” We should not let our enemies treat our minds and lives like a squatter settlement. We should not let evil march in like an army into the prime real-estate of our hearts to calcify, harden, and slowly asphyxiate our life in Christ. This is just as Jesus taught us to pray: “Lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.”
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Our Scripture gives us a full arsenal to war against evil. We remember that our battle is not against “flesh and blood” but a spiritual one. Our strength and victory will come only through Christ alone who has made us more than conquerors. Let’s open this Christian armory and see what we find. It is not the shock and awe of the world we might expect. We find the way of the Cross. Our scripture tells us to cultivate a disgust and repulsion for evil but a taste and appetite for good. With a sense of urgency, we prayerfully endure and hold on to the hope of our faith. We extend generosity and hospitality toward others. We bless those who mistreat us. When “we rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep,” we manifest one of the greatest attributes of our humanity: empathy. Our humility keeps ourselves in check. We live each day mindful that we desperately need Christ’s wisdom and strength.
By our not being vindictive, we leave judgment and vengeance where it belongs—in the Lord’s hands. It’s beautifully expressed with the words: “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” We do our best by Christ’s strength and then surrender the rest to the Lord. We cannot be responsible for someone else’s inability or unwillingness to change, apologize, and become more like the person God created them to be. We can do our part. But the rest is between them and God. We should be kind to our enemies—to love our enemies as Jesus taught us by meeting their needs—body and soul. By doing that we heap burning coals on their heads. These are the “burning pangs of shame and contrition.”
Our kindness in the face of other’s malice will ignite their conscience. This is the ultimate weapon—to love and pray for our enemies as Jesus taught us. By doing this, we are now the ones invading the heads of our enemies without paying rent! The grace of God—so counterintuitive—so divine—so foreign to the ways of the world starts to kindle inside their minds. They ask, “Why is this person repaying my evil with their good? I deserve an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth.” Soon they’re tormented by the unconditional, unmerited, unearned love of God. He is a consuming fire—refining and burning up the dross and polluting sin and evil that has held us captive for far too long.
This is the way of Jesus and the way of the Cross. He was not overcome by evil but is a friend of sinners. He loved and prayed for his and our enemies. He overcame evil but humbling himself to the point of death—even on the Cross. By his death, he won the victory over sin and evil by breaking its power. By his resurrection, he proved that he and we are more than conquerors over death and the grave. He overcame all evil by the goodness of his selfless, sacrificial love.
Praise and thanks and adoration, Son of God for you we give
For you shove to serve creation, died that Adam’s heirs might live.
Dear Lord Jesus, guild my way; faithful let me day by day
Follow where your steps are leading, Find adventures joys exceeding.
(“Praise and Thanks and Adoration,” LBW 470, v. 1)
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