November 25

Nov 25 - Today from Proverbs 25 we look at verses 21 & 22
"If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head and the Lord will reward you."

In December of 1989 a cruel dictator was overthrown in Romania. It was an incredible 'revolution' as without any formal organization people gathered in the streets of the cities all over the country to pray. The regular army was sent in and eventually told to fire on the people. Most would not, so Dictator Caucesceau's Special Guard was brought in to punish the people. A strange thing happened - the regular army turned on the Special Guard and Caucesceau's regime was quickly overthrown. The Christian relief organization with which I served at the time had been encouraging and supporting the persecuted church of Romania for a decade. In 1990 I made my second trip into Romania - this time to a 'free nation'. While visiting one of our contacts in the Transylvanian region, he told us an amazing story. The regular army moved into the city where he lived. Originally, they were to break the people up and keep them out of the streets and in their homes. It was very cold, and the soldiers were feeling the bitter effects of the Romanian winter. The Christians in the city got together and made sandwiches and hot tea and brought it out to the soldiers daily. Never had the soldiers experienced anything like this. When things became politically critical, instead of turning on the people of the city, the soldiers defended them. It was a living example of this proverb.
If we are to love our enemy, why would we desire to heap burning coals on his head? That sounds cruel. That sounds like revenge.
One must remember that in Bible days people did not walk around with butane lighters or have a box of matches sitting on the kitchen shelf. Fire was important for heating and cooking. The preferred source of heat was charcoal - still the most common form of household fuel in rural Africa, India, and other oriental regions. If a family's fire went out, it was common to go to a neighbor to get some live coals for use in starting a fresh coal fire for cooking or for heating in the cold season. How did they carry the glowing coals? In traditional Eastern style, they would place a thick pad on their head with an appropriate vessel on top. The neighbor would place the burning coals in the vessel and the beneficiary would carry them home on his head. Now does the proverb make more sense? The burning coals were not an instrument of torment, they were a necessity for elevating the quality of life. However, there is an added dimension to the proverb. If the recipient were to contain the coals on his head for too long, it would eventually get uncomfortable. Kind of like the soldiers receiving hot tea and sandwiches day after day - they began to get uncomfortable with their mission. It was the discomfort of unconditional love that turned enemies into protectors.
This is still a kingdom principle for the church today. It is called grace. Instead of damning the off-scour elements of society and distancing ourselves from them, we need to seek God to find ways in ministering grace to them, to the point where they become uncomfortable with their 'mission' in life. Criticism makes enemies. Condemnation burns bridges. Servanthood destroys enemies by making friends of them. Grace builds bridges. People are made in the image of God. We must respect that. Jesus did.