Burning Hot Coals

Proverbs 25:21-22 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For you will heap burning coals on his head and the Lord will reward you.

I got to do construction clean up today. Which means I got to take all the wood and burn it. In Oregon, it rains a lot. So we get to burn stuff. And the little pyro inside of me, (or the firebug as my grandmother use to call it,) just lights up at the idea of burning a ton of stuff. It took me all day, without a break until the sun went down, to finish the job. I guess if I'm honest, the job kept getting bigger as the piles got small. I'd find some yard debris, or something that was also in need of a good incineration.

At the end of the day, the stars were out and the huge flaming inferno had died down to a very large pile of heaping hot coals with some cooled off debris along the sides of the base. As I tossed the sticks on top of the pile, I noticed, they were being stubborn and didn't want to burn as quickly as I'd hoped. They were still green and had a lot of smoke in them. So I took my shovel and started digging in the giant pile of burning hot lava coals, and I casually tossed them on top of the debris. Within seconds the sticks ignited and I had a happy fireball once again. All at once the scripture popped into my head,

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head.” -Romans 12:20

This scripture has always been a mystery to me. Some people take it to mean that the coals of hell will be poured against your enemy and they'll get what they deserve! (Evil laughter).

But that never sat right with me. It seemed that a longsuffering God who sent His only son to suffer and ultimately die to save the world from an eternal separation from Him, who then calls His followers to come and DIE, and suffer with the same suffering of His son!!!...doesn't seem like He's asking for us to secretly wish hellfire on someone while we're plastering a fake smile on our face as we're serving them food and water. No. He's a peculiar Father. He doesn't do what we want Him to do necessarily, nor does He do what we expect Him to do. He's holy: separate from our expectations, desires, wants, and dreams. He looks at all sin equally, whether it's murder or self-righteousness. Our only hope is His Son. And rather than complaining there's only “one way,” I'm thankful that He cared to make a way for me at all.

So, what does this scripture mean, anyway? To me, the answer finally became clear tonight. Watching the soaked, dead, smoking wood on the pile, stubbornly refusing to burn, until I heaped, (literally heaped) hot ashes on it, I realized, why there are so many martyrs in the Middle East...which happens to be the same place there is so much revival happening.

You see, when we love those who hate us, when we return good for evil, when we do the exact opposite of what the flow of the world is doing, we are radical. We are revolutionary. We are sacrificing our reputations, our pride, our families, our homes, our jobs, our position, our human rights....for what? For an eternal reward. For the salvation of the very person who is hell bent on throwing us to the lions, or to the judge, or to the executioner...we are given the pure love of Christ for these people...when we allow Him to work through us.

I'm thinking of stories I've heard, stories I've read in Foxe's book of martyrs, and Jesus Freaks. I'm thinking of the Protestants that were slaughtered in France, who dared to believe they had the right to God's word. I'm thinking of Muslim converts today who, many unknown, have been killed for their faith. And yet...their sacrifice, their humble, willing attitude of submission, has lead to the greatest salvation movement in the Middle East. Multiple times, the story goes, the executioner of the Christian, becomes saved. Former ISIS members, are running underground churches. Could it be, that by returning good for evil, these heaping coals of fire that are placed upon the heads of the persecutors are just igniting the Holy Spirit's drawing them in? 

Looking at the calm coals one minute and the roaring fire the next, I see how fast the raging fire can spread. Is this why the persecuted church grows so rapidly? I'm not saying we need to be martyred to be effective, Christians. On the contrary, if we aren't facing death, and the worst things we are facing in our daily lives are gossip, misrepresentation and slander, can't we make just as much of an impact by returning good for evil? Maybe we've become too political to be effective for the kingdom. If we're too busy defending our rights, how can we claim to follow the One who laid down His rights for our sake? 

My intention isn't to offend. And I definitely haven't got it all figured out. But I want to be more like Jesus. I want to love more. I want to shine more, no matter the circumstances. I don't want to be a circumstantial Christian. But all this means I have to die more. Christ calls us to come and die; die to our wants, die to our needs, die to our dreams...

So, am I the smoking stick needing fresh coals on top of the fire, or am I the shovel heaping coals? I guess it depends on the moment. But I'm praying, for me, and for everyone of you reading this, that Christ would give us enough hot coals, that we would be overflowing with heaping hot coals of His Spirit and Grace, to ignite a world that is cold, dead and stubborn. Will you join me? Can we help each other and encourage one another?

In Him alongside you,

Sonja