Daily Lesson for May 5, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Romans chapter 12 verses 19 through 21:

19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The concept of loving enemies and doing good to them goes against our natural impulse for revenge and desire to return insult with insult and blow with blow. Every natural part of ourselves wants to take revenge, meet out an eye for an eye, and take delight in our enemies getting what's coming to them. It's natural, it's impulsive, and in the end it is totally impractical and far short of the redemptive way Jesus taught. 

Dr. King once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."  The nonviolence Dr. King and the early civil rights movement advocated was a strategy for winning back the soul of America.  The strategy was rooted in Christ's own teachings on how we are to treat our enemies. "Turn the other cheek", "Walk the second mile", "Bless and do not curse", "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also."  Choosing light over darkness, love over hate, and Jesus' way over the ways of this world saved the soul of our nation and the souls of its people. 

The Quakers have a saying, "If in confronting the beast you become a beast then bestiality has won."  The way of the beast is tooth and claw. This is the natural impulse of the animal within us. But we are not merely animals. We are human beings.  And in the face of hatred and enmity we must learn to hold fast to this humanity in ourselves and call it out in others. This is beyond the natural way.  It is the supernatural way. And it is the only hope for our redemption as individuals, as a nation, and as a world.