Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2, NKJV)rev

Crime and punishment: That has long been one of the most difficult issues facing our social relationships. “Do unto others” - Yea, verily! But not according to the Golden Rule, which emphasizes doing good. More often it is “Tit for Tat” and “This for That.” The old adage of “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” “Don’t just get mad”, they say; “Get even!” We are typically quick to judgment, but slow on mercy. A common adage is, “What we sow, so shall we reap,” and multiple millions of persons can testify to this reality.
While some suffering can be directly traced to sin, natural evil comes without a moral agent: A tower falls, an earthquake shakes, a tornado destroys, a hurricane ravages, a spider bites, a disease debilitates and kills. The world is filled with wonders mixed with dangers. Gravity can save you or gravity can kill you. When a tower falls, it kills. Some persons suffer innocently by the sinful acts of others.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus mentioned an example of such a tragedy when he was told about some Galilean insurgents who were killed by the Romans. Those who told Jesus this may have expected him to say that their deaths were punishment for their rebellious and belligerent behavior. Jesus replied that they were not more sinful than other Galileans, nor were the eighteen killed in the collapse of the tower of Siloam. Jesus taught that death can come upon anyone, regardless of how sinful they are. He went on to teach that the need for all people to repent is the true lesson from such tragedies.(Luke 13:1-5)
One common belief, both in our time and in Jesus’ day, relates to individual or collective misfortune. “Who sinned?, the disciples asked, expressing a trend of thinking that physical limitations, like deafness, or blindness, were served up by God as punishment for sin. Some Christians, like Job’s “friends, simply explain suffering as the consequence of sins, known or unknown. In reality, tragedy occurs whether or not a person or country is either innocent or guilty of sin.
In John 9, a man is blind from birth, and Jesus tells the Twelve that this blindness cannot be traced back to this man's sin, or that of his parents. A common saying in the time of the Old Testament prophets concerned sins of parents inflicted upon their children. Jeremiah writes that a day is coming when “People will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes - his own teeth will be set on edge.” (Jeremiah 31:29-30) Even then, prophesy foretold Jesus’ words, that through repentance, and God’s Grace, The Lord will “forgive iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34b.)
What should we, as faithful Christians, do in regard to the supposed sins of others? First of all, pray for your enemies - and sinners. In the words of Leviticus 19:18 "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” and in Deuteronomy 32:35, ”It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them."
Paul wrote, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
(Romans 12:19 -21)

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Lev. 19:18, NIV

The king’s horse drowned in the river. Enraged at the insolence of the river, the king threatened so to break its strength that in the future even women should cross it easily without wetting their knees. Accordingly he put off for a time his attack on Babylon, and, dividing his army into two parts, he marked out by ropes one hundred and eighty trenches on each side of the Gyndes, leading off from it in all directions, and setting his army to dig, some on one side of the river, some on the other, he accomplished his threat by the aid of so great a number of hands, but not without losing thereby the whole summer season.
(Cyrus Captures Babylon Account in 539 B.C. Herodotus, Book I, para 189-191)
An extreme reaction? King Cyrus never-the-less acted in spite to thwart the river, dividing it into 360 channels
Another Persian king, Xerxes, fighting against Greece, decided to cross the Bosporus, building a boat bridge with each boat connected to the other with planks. This bridge would be over a mile long and required a perfectly calm sea. On several attempts winds and rough seas broke it apart. Frustrated and enraged, Xerxes ordered that the Bosporus receive three hundred lashes with a chain. Properly chastened, the sea remained calm and the bridge was completed.
The kings Cyrus and Xerxes, acting out of petty ill will, attempted to irritate, annoy, or thwart the forces of nature. Now that’s spite!
Yes, I’ve been hitting the Word Books again. As usual, one good word leads to another, and spite has some juicy synonyms, beginning with ‘malice,’ and increasing in severity: malevolence, ill will, malignity, spleen, and grudge.
MALICE implies a deep-seated often un-explainable desire to see another suffer.
MALEVOLENCE suggests a bitter persistent hatred that is likely to be expressed in malicious conduct.
SPLEEN suggests the wrathful release of latent spite or persistent malice.
GRUDGE implies a harbored feeling of resentment or ill will that seeks satisfaction.
The Bible speaks often about the downward path of malice. Paul advises to rid oneself of malice; see Eph. 4:31 and Col. 3:8. Peter, also, calls us as Christians to be holy (1 Peter 1:13-16) and to rid ourselves of malice (2:1).
The old maxim to “cut off the nose to spite the face” speaks well to the perils of spite. Harboring ill will, nursing a grudge, plotting revenge, all stem from anger that ulcerates the soul. We are in danger of cutting ourselves off from the body of Christ. Rather, as Jesus counseled, forgive others their sins (Mt. 6:15.) Turn the other cheek. (Mt. 5:38-41) Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Paul, to Timothy: 1 Tim. 5:15.
July 13, 2003