Revenge, karma and grace

Revenge is a symptom of a sinful heart. It has no place in the vocabulary of the Christian. Or at least it shouldn’t have a place.

In Judith Viorst's children's book, "I'll Fix Anthony" the younger brother complains about the way his older brother Anthony treats him:

"My brother Anthony can read books now, but he won't read any books to me. He plays checkers with Bruce from his school. But when I want to play he says, "Go away or I'll clobber you." I let him wear my Snoopy sweatshirt, but he never lets me borrow his sword. Mother says deep down in his heart Anthony loves me. Anthony says deep down in his heart he thinks I stink. Mother says deep deep down in his heart, where he doesn't even know it, Anthony loves me. Anthony says deep deep down in his heart he still thinks I stink. When I'm six I'll fix Anthony...When I'm six I'll float, but Anthony will sink to the bottom. I'll dive off the board, but Anthony will change his mind. I'll breathe in and out when I should, but Anthony will only go glug, glug...When I'm six my teeth will fall out, and I'll put them under the bed, and the tooth fairy will take them away and leave money. Anthony's teeth won't fall out. He'll wiggle and wiggle them, but they won't fall out. I might sell him one of my teeth, but I might not...Anthony is chasing me out of the playroom. He says I stink. He says he is going to clobber me. I have to run now, but I won't have to run when I'm six. When I'm six, I'll fix Anthony.”

Well, the problem with fixing Anthony is that he will probably want to pay back and the thing will escalate. On a human personal level, vengeful attitudes and actions lead to betrayal, resentment, hurt and grudges. They knock down relationships, sometimes fatally. On a wider human level, vengeance leads to mistrust between people groups, escalations of tension, and outbreaks of war and ultimately carnage.

Do we cultivate a vengeful spirit towards our fellow men and women? Even within the church? It’s a shameful character trait, but it’s one we can all be tempted into. Whatever it is that our ‘Anthony’ figure does to wind us up, our default position can kick in...

‘I’ll sort him. I’ll pay him back. Double. He won’t know what’s hit him by the time I’m finished with him.’

No! Resist. Because you won’t win.

Sure you might beat Anthony. You might even derive some misguided pleasure out of seeing him squirm and suffer. But you’re strangling your own heart in the process. Sin leads to death. A vengeful spirit is a sinful spirit.

“Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath”

Romans 12:18,19

A popular saying has entered our popular culture over the last few years and it has come from the Eastern philosophy of karma. You’ll have heard it. ‘What goes around comes around’.

Sooner or later, they’ll get what’s coming to them. It’s only slightly removed from the old saying, ‘he who lives by the sword dies by the sword’.

Now I don’t, you’ll be relieved to hear, believe in karma.

I believe in grace.

I also believe in a God who’s plenty big enough to deal with my enemies if he so chooses. That’s where my security lies. Not in plotting and hatching schemes. What a waste of time and energy that would be when there’s a world that needs Jesus.

A few years ago U2 recorded the song ‘Grace’

Grace, she takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace...
It's a name for a girl
It's also a thought that, changed the world
And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

She travels outside... of karma

What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings...
Because Grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things

Grace finds beauty in everything

Grace trumps karma.