Romans 12:9-21 Commentary

Most Christians find it reasonably easy to love people who love and like us. It can be harder to genuinely love people who don’t like us. It may feel almost impossible to love people who have harmed us or shown they wish to harm us. Yet this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson strongly implies Jesus’ friends’ “sincere” [anypokritos*] (1) love extends even to people who have made themselves unlovable.

In Romans 12:2 Paul summons his Roman readers to no longer “conform to the pattern of this world,” but to, instead, “be transformed by the renewing of” our “mind.” It’s basically an invitation to reject the way our culture thinks about things and adopt the way God would have us think about things.

I recently read an account of our culture’s problem of evil. At one time many of us were haunted by questions of why a good God allows bad things to happen to basically good people. The author I read noted a societal shift in that question. He suggests our contemporaries increasingly ask, “If God is so good, why doesn’t God make evil people suffer the way they deserve?”

In Romans 12:3-8 Paul lays out a way verse 2’s godlier mindset shapes our attitudes toward God and our neighbor. Those verses, at least arguably, largely apply to Christians’ views of and actions toward the members of Christ’s Body.

In Romans 12:9ff. Paul seems to shift at least some of his attention toward Jesus’ friends’ attitude toward those who don’t yet believe. He summons us to act toward and think about in Christ-like ways especially those who have caused us pain.

Of course, some of the people who inflict pain on us are our brothers and sisters in Christ. The misery they cause may feel even deeper than what non-Christians inflict. But in especially Romans 12:14-21 the apostle seems to focus on the evil done to us by those who don’t share our faith in Jesus Christ.

As preachers proclaim this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson’s good news, we might first briefly address verses 9-13, perhaps especially noting how they imply a loving response to evildoers and doing, before moving on to a more careful exposition of verses 14-21. Or we might hear the Spirit guiding us to begin with a more detailed exposition of verses 14-21 before offering a slightly briefer treatment of verses 9-13.

Those who choose the second option might begin by noting how others’ failure to love us sometimes manifests itself in their harm of us for our faith. In verse 14 Paul calls God’s adopted children to love such evildoers by blessing [eulogeite] “those who persecute [diokontas] [us]; bless and do not curse [me katarasthe].”

It’s an invitation to Jesus’ friends to speak well of and work for the wellness of those who literally hound us with persecution. It calls us to respond to others’ ill-treatment of us because of our faith with Christ-like love. Yet even as we profess that, we remember that it can be hard to fully grasp the difficulty of this summons for persecuted Christians in large parts of the world.

Others’ failure to love us shows up in perhaps more religiously neutral ways. “Do not repay [apodidontes] anyone evil for evil [kakon anti kakon],” Paul writes in verse 17. The apostle echoes that summons in verse 19’s “Do not take revenge [me ekdikountes], my dear friends.”

Paul at least implies the most natural response to evil done against us is to do evil against its perpetrators. Evil naturally reproduces itself in further, sometimes deeper evil. We might even argue our culture’s motto is, “If you hit me hard, I’ll hit you back even harder.”

Romans 12’s Paul summons Jesus’ followers to a godlier response to evil. We “bless” [eulogeite] rather than “curse” [katarasthe] those who harm us for Jesus’ sake. Christians pray and actively work for the flourishing not of evil, but of those who do it. Rather than multiplying evil, we seek to sterilize it by meeting it with God’s goodness.

It’s part of Paul’s call in verse 17 to God’s dearly beloved people to be “careful to do what is right [kala] in the eyes of everyone.” Our words and actions always reflect on the God we serve. So by the power of the Holy Spirit we publicly foster godly ways of living, talking and thinking. God’s dearly beloved people respond to evil by acting in kala (“right”) ways that attract people to our God rather than repulse them.

In fact, Paul suggests rather than distancing ourselves from evildoers, we look for ways to somehow be present to them. “If it is possible [dynaton],” he writes in verse 18, “as far as it depends on you, live at peace [eireneuontes] with everyone.” Of course, it may not be dynaton (“possible”) or even safe to be physically close to those who have harmed us. But physical distance from Christians’ tormentors doesn’t preclude our staying close to them through loving, forgiving and praying for them.

On top of that, the apostle adds in verse 19, Jesus’ followers refrain from taking revenge on those who somehow harm us. Instead we “leave room [dote topon] for God’s wrath [orge], for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge [ekdikesis]; I will repay [antadoposo],’ says the Lord.” It is not the job of God’s individual image-bearers to take revenge on our fellow image-bearers who do evil. That job is God’s alone. After all, only God’s evaluation as well as punishment of evildoers are perfectly accurate.

In fact, instead of taking revenge on evildoers, with the Spirit’s help we do just the opposite. In verse 20 Paul quotes Proverbs 25:21-22 to tell Jesus’ friends whom others have made themselves our enemies: “If your enemy is hungry [peina], feed [psomize] him; if he is thirsty [dipsa], give him something to drink [potize].” God’s adopted children meet our tormentors not with what we assume they deserve, but with what God longs for them.

In fact, Paul adds in verse 21a, “Do not be overcome [niko] by evil [kakou]” by withholding what our enemies need. That would give evil the victory. Instead, Paul concludes in verse 21b, “overcome [nika] evil [kakon] with good [agatho].” Jesus’ followers seek to imitate Jesus by subduing displays of evil with the good deeds that manifest God’s loving reign that will someday completely conquer everything that would resist it. Like Jesus, we meet those who harm us not with escalated or even imitative violence, but with the loving way of the kingdom of God.

Having noted at least some of that, preachers might then return to Romans 12:9-13 to explore it in light of Paul’s calls to respond to evil with good. “Hate [apostygountes] what is evil [poneron],” he says in verse 9b. “Cling to [kollomenoi] what is good [agatho].” Jesus’ friends don’t hate evil people; we hate evil. We, what’s more, fiercely hold on not to hate, but to what is good.

The Spirit uses that commitment to equip us to love even those who do evil. “Be devoted [philostorgoi] to one another in love [philadelphia].” Paul writes in verse 10. “Honor [time] one another above yourselves.” The Christian community must do what it can to shelter evil’s vulnerable victims from further evil. Yet Paul summons Jesus’ friends to also do what we can to embrace, as well as pray and work for the good of those who have sinned.

Our work for that good, the apostle goes on to write, includes concrete acts of service. “Share with [koinountes] the Lord’s people who are in need [chreiais],” he writes in verse 13. “Practice hospitality [philoxenian diokountes].” Even when, Paul might have added, those whom we welcome and with whom we share have done evil.

There are so many things preachers might say as we move to end this gospel proclamation. We might choose to note how these summonses reflect God’s ways rather than our culture’s, or even our natural way. We might further admit that this doing good to those who wish us harm may make us vulnerable to further harm. Preachers might also conclude with an example of the way Jesus’ followers have imitated Jesus by responding to evil with good.

*I have here and elsewhere added in brackets the Greek words for the English words the NIV translation uses.

Illustration

In his February 5, 2015, online article in Bearings Online entitled “Seeing the Other Side of the Death Penalty,” William Wauters wrote about a Stanford University graduate student named Amy Biehl. In 1992 she received a Fulbright fellowship to conduct research in South Africa related to post-apartheid public policy. For a year, Amy, who was white, lived in close contact with South Africans from black townships. Amy worked to bring about full participation for blacks in South Africa’s governance structure.

 

However, in late August 1993, as she was preparing to return to California, Amy was attacked by a mob of young black protestors from the township of Gugulethu. She was hit by a brick, then dragged from her car, beaten, and stabbed to death.

 

After Amy’s death, her family received hundreds of letters of consolation from many local black women with whom Amy had worked. They also received correspondence from South African national leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

 

Eventually, the authorities arrested and put on trial four young men for Amy’s death. Since the court determined the crime was committed during a political demonstration and had not been premeditated, it sentenced the young men to a lengthy prison term rather than life in prison.

 

In 1996, in an effort to heal the wounds of apartheid, Nelson Mandela established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission—headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Amy’s story became part of the Commission’s work.

 

Amy’s parents flew to South Africa to see what their daughter had loved so deeply in the lives of the people she encountered there. During their visit, the Biehls came to better understand the context of their daughter’s murder. Face to face with the four young, convicted killers, they graciously spoke words of forgiveness to them.

 

The Commission offered the young men amnesty after serving five years of their sentence. One of those men remarked afterwards, “It wasn’t the amnesty that freed me, it was the offer of genuine forgiveness from Peter and Linda that gave me a free soul.”