This month, our meditation has been excerpted from the book entitled Extreme Devotion, compiled by Voice Of the Martyrs. In the following passage, the account of a Romanian prisoner provides us with fodder for reflection and perhaps application:
Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? (Romans 2:4)
Barto was on the brink of starvation. Once a Communist Party official and prosecuting attorney, he was now considered expendable by the same party. He was sentenced to labor in a Romanian prison camp. His stomach, once full, was now wasting away. He wondered how much longer he could go on.
Seeing Barto’s frail stature, a fellow prisoner came up to him and offered to share his rations of food. “Thank you, my friend,” he said to the other prisoner. “How long must you be here?” Barto asked as he wolfed down the food.
“Twenty years,” replied the prisoner. His eyes seemed to question Barto.
“What crime did you commit?”
“I was tried and sentenced for giving food to a fugitive pastor who was being chased by the police,” the man stated calmly. Barto noticed his voice didn’t carry bitterness like Barto had heard from so many others.
“Who gave you such a harsh punishment for doing a good deed?” demanded Barto.
The prisoner replied humbly, “Sir, you were the state prosecutor at my trial. You don’t recognize me now, but I remember you.”
The man went on. “I am a Christian. Christ taught us to reward evil with good. I wished then for you to realize that it is right and good to give food to a hungry man--even your enemy. Now, I can show you.” Barto began that day to understand that his own spiritual needs far outweigh his physical ones.
FURTHER: Kindness is the way to our enemies’ hearts. And it may do something for their souls. God uses kindness as His strategy of choice when dealing with us. Instead of giving us exactly what we deserve for our offenses against him, He deals with us kindly. His kindness is an example of how we should fashion our own approach to those who offend us. Kindness arrests their attention. It is as unexpected as it is undeserved. Like Barto, our kindness toward an enemy may awaken a spiritual hunger for the source of our compassion. However, regardless of their response, we must follow the example of our Lord when dealing with our enemies. Who needs your kindness today?
A moment of consideration: In this devotional, I would have us consider the three “Musketeers” of a Christian life: Forgiveness (or lack thereof), Kindness, and Remembering (of injuries). Each of these has a part in the opening anecdotal material, above. Each of these may easily be a factor in the lives we live as Christians. As Christians, our concern is moving toward Christ-likeness, and so we consider their significance. Forgiveness is good, but unforgiveness is problematic (Matthew 6:15); many of us today find ourselves held hostage by a leash. The links on the chain are many. There is the link of anger, the link of bitterness, the link of resentment, and the link of revenge. But no matter how many links are in the chain, they all boil down to one thing, unforgiveness. Remembering is beneficial, but remembering slights and injuries can be a difficulty (e.g., Psalm 25:7 – “Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of Your goodness, O Lord!” In this the Psalmist and we ask God not to remember our sins from long ago; may we Christians extend forgiveness and forgetting to those who have “done us wrong”. Let us consider the story of Barto and the Christian. “Forgiveness” begins our brief study.
Forgiveness
The Christian befriending Barto had long before forgiven him for what he had done in sentencing the Christian to 20 years in prison. In forgiving him, the Christian surrendered any right to hurt Barto for his prosecution of the Christian. Archibald Hard put this fact into words, saying, “Forgiveness is surrendering my right to hurt you for hurting me.” (in Thoughts of a Christian Optimist) In James Dobson’s Book, Love Must Be Tough, William Arthur Ward was quoted, “We are most like beasts when we kill. We are most like men when we judge. We are most like God when we forgive.” Godliness and Christ-likeness demonstrate a forgiving nature--similar to that of the Christian, above. Barto had treated him badly, and the Christian remembered him. But the Christian had chosen to offer him clemency for his actions. Abraham Lincoln likewise was once asked how he was going to treat the rebellious Southerners when they had finally been defeated and returned to the Union of the United States. The questioner expected that Lincoln would take a dire vengeance, but he answered, “I will treat them as if they had never been away.” The Christian chose to likewise treat Barto as if he had not sinned against him.
It will be easier for a Christian than a pagan individual to bear, to forgive misdeeds against the Christ follower. Hannah Moore expressed this truth well, saying, “A Christian will find it cheaper to pardon than to resent. Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.” This expense is veritable, for those harboring a grudge or an unforgiving nature; it is not uncommon for such persons to suffer silently under the negative spiritual burden of it, than were they to drop that burden and forgive. This obsessive behavior is called rumination, which is defined as the sustained focus on and repetition of negative thoughts and emotions, or dwelling on distressing experiences without reaching a productive resolution. It is often described as an endless loop of repetitive thinking that can contribute to or worsen conditions like depression and anxiety. A man named John Oglethorpe, in talking to John Wesley, once made the comment, “I never forgive.” Mr. Wesley wisely replied, “Then, Sir, I hope that you never sin.” These were very true words.
Kindness
In the conversation with Barto, the Christian recounted his past kindness which got him arrested. He was engaged at this time in another kindness in sharing his food with Barto. The Christian was a kind person. Much could be said about the treasure of kindness. Even the Holy Scriptures promote kindness. God does not look for big-time, external displays….What is required?
Slow down and read the list aloud:
To do justice…
to love kindness… and
to walk humbly with your God.
Period.” (Charles R. Swindoll; Micah 6:8) God Himself shows kindness; Hosea (11:3) told us that He “...led them with cords of kindness, with bands of love, and I became to them one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down and fed them.” Even God through the prophet Zechariah (7:8-9) urged us: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another…’”
Sometimes we reap kindness because we sowed a little of it. I like the way one poet put it.
I have wept in the night
For the shortness of sight,
That to somebody’s need made me blind:
But I never have yet
Felt a twinge of regret
For being a little too kind.
(Anonymous, quoted in John Lawrence, Down to Earth)
Kindness is a human asset and ideal. And it is the same in the pages of the Bible--it is by the grace of God, His kindness, that maintains us without casting us away with the chaff from the harvest field. “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.” (Romans 11:22) We are to show kindness to those we meet, whether saint or unbeliever. Christ's kindness is an example of how we should fashion our own approach to those who offend us. Kindness arrests their attention. It is as unexpected as it is undeserved. Like Barto, our kindness toward an enemy may awaken a spiritual hunger for the source of our compassion. In the midst of Paul’s description (to the Corinthian believers) of his troubles and hardships in 2 Corinthians 6:3-8, he reported that he and his evangelistic team proved themselves by their purity, their understanding, their patience, and their kindness… Kindness toward unbelievers was a hallmark of his ministry, and should be for our own.
Remembering
For most if us, recalling memories is pleasant—as we remember good times with family and friends, and episodes of healing (spiritually, emotionally, or physically). However, remembrance of injuries is a problem for many people today. The factors involved with remembering injuries are Anger, Hatred, and Spiritual Waste. Hannah Moore suggests that each can be avoided by walking according to God’s Word.
ANGER
Ephesians 4:31 instructs us, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”, and Ephesians 4:26 likewise warns us, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” (Being angry and not sinning means experiencing the emotion of anger without allowing it to manifest in destructive actions or harboring it long-term. This concept, rooted in Ephesians 4:26 [as stated above] and Psalm 4:4, distinguishes between the natural feeling of anger and the sinful behaviors that often follow, such as bitterness, revenge, or violence.)
Anger, today, is too often worn on the sleeves or in the palms of peoples’ hands and is their first response to any slight or misdeed, though the deed may have been minimal and accidental. We know that anger is only one letter removed from Danger. It is dangerous to let anger “get out of hand.” The danger in anger is illuminated in this short anecdote:
Anger won’t fix itself...like a flat tire or a dirty diaper. I remember reading about an eagle that swooped to the ground one day, catching a weasel in its powerful talons. But when it flew away, its wings inexplicably went limp, and it dropped to the ground like a lifeless doll. As it turned out, the weasel had bitten its attacker in mid-flight, killing the proud eagle as it flew. If we cling to an attitude of anger or jealousy, it will, like the weasel, sink its teeth into us when we least expect it.
The Bible talks at fairly great length about anger. The book of Numbers let us know that “the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but He will by no means clear the guilty…” (Numbers 14:18) The Psalmist (Psalm 30:3) also assures us that God’s “...anger is but for a moment, and His fa)vor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”
But even aside from God’s Word, anger is an erroneous zone, a kind of psychological influenza that incapacitates you just as a physical disease would… Anger is a choice, as well as a habit. It is a learned reaction to frustration, in which you behave in ways that you would rather not. In fact, severe anger is a form of insanity. There is some truth to the observation of one of Job’s “friends”, Elihu; he remarked, “The godless in heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when He binds them.” (Job 36:13) Looking at the mob scenes transpiring around the world, this has shown itself repeatedly.
HATRED
Hate at its best will distort you, at its worst it will destroy you, but it will always immobilize you. (Alex Haley, author of Roots, speaking of hate in his own life) Hatred is something Christ knew about in His life on earth. He taught about it in His beatitudes (Luke 6:22, 27) and spoke about it when He said, “You have heard it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. In that way you will be acting as true children of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43-48) James Baldwin said, “My life, my real life, was in danger, and not from anything other people might do but from the hatred I carried in my own heart.”
Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love--this is an old rule. (Buddha) Archibald MacLeish noted that a person who lives, not by what he loves but what he hates, is a sick man. Those we hate, Christ loves--their person but not their sinful actions. The Christian in the beginning account had chosen not to develop any hatred of Barto; for 20 years he had willfully loved his enemy. That enabled him at present, to go on. “I am a Christian. Christ taught us to reward evil with good. I wished then for you to realize that it is right and good to give food to a hungry man--even your enemy. Now, I can show you.” Now, in essence, he could apply the Holy Scriptures to Barto as he once had done for a fugitive pastor.
SPIRITUAL WASTE
We are told that “Barto began that day to understand that his own spiritual needs far outweigh his physical ones.” He began to acknowledge at least to some degree what 1 Corinthians 1:6-7 states: “This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ." He had set aside or ignored the scriptural statement of our and his needs. For Christians, we have the spiritual gift(s) we need, through our Lord. And Christ will keep us strong to the end so that we will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. (1 Corinthians 1:8). Barto had some speaking abilities, knowledge, and skills before he encountered the Christian and Christ that day. Christians continue to have these pre-Christian abilities of our own, and Paul implies that many spiritual gifts are “enrichments” of the gifts such as even Barto had throughout his life.
Spiritual gifts are meant to be used. When Niccolo Paganini willed his finely crafted and lovingly used violin to the city of Genoa, he demanded that it never be played again. It was a gift designated for preservation, but not destined for service. On the other hand, when the resurrected Christ willed His spiritual gifts to us as the children of God, He commanded that they be used. They were gifts not designated for preservation, but destined for service. Have you taken advantage of the spiritual gift survey or inventory available on the internet?
Imagine how a parent would feel if on Christmas Day when the gifts for their children were handed out, the children just took them, said “Thank you,” and laid them aside with no attempt to open the gifts, not even to find out what they were. Imagine how the Lord must feel when He has given spiritual gifts to us that He intends for us to use, and yet we never take the trouble to find out what they are, never put them to work, and then excuse ourselves from serving the church by saying that we can’t do anything.
We have arrived at “the rest of the story” of Barto--what it might mean in our lives. We are blessed by Christ having fulfilled the spiritual needs we require so as to serve Him the best way we can. God would not have us given over to hatred or anger. Though He has acknowledged our past, Paul says we are not to dwell on it. We are not to focus on the rights or wrongs of our past, but to looking forward to what lies ahead--and “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.” (Philippians 3:13-16) Press on, O Christian, kindly press on! Let us reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.