“Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.” (Romans 12:14 KJV)
To some this may seem backwards. To others it may sound nearly impossible. To even others this may sound like enabling thus an undesirable instruction. The key question is, why? What is the logic behind this? To do this is not to be a better person, but to let the light of the Lord shine through you more clearly. To get in a back and forth game of persecution and retaliation shows who can be meaner, but it doesn’t reveal what blessing is. If you want someone to see what blessing is, someone has to go first. Someone who has received grace seems like a great candidate to show what blessing is. Even more, someone who is showing blessing during persecution is being transparent to the blessing that they are currently receiving because it’s nearly impossible to do that in one’s own strength.
It gets even deeper. Notice in Hebrews 6:13-18 all that talk about “oath”. An oath is similar to a blessing. The greater blesses the lesser. News flash. We may not be any greater or better than the other guy. The blessing has to originate from God. We’re passing a blessing though because scripture tells us to. Not necessarily because we are such upstanding people. Which brings us to the idea of closeness. Verses 15 and 16 are possible because you draw near. Scorning someone for well deserved hard times or distancing yourself from their celebrations does not get you close. The Ethiopian was able to hear Philip because Philip came near. It is both true that a person near is a comfort and that a person near will be the first one heard when questions are asked.
Verses 17-21 ratchet things up even further. Why “honest” or “honorable” instead of “just”. As humans we seek justice to a fault. The fault is that we want to be judges and executioners. Honor more honestly reveals grace and allows the appropriate judge to be “just”. Being honest or honorable allows the need to be filled. What need? Filling the immediate need opens a person’s ears. People are often cruel, short, mean, or worse because they have a deep need. They cannot think correctly until that need is met. Meeting the need, despite the bad behavior, allows for a conversation that they can now hear. Which brings us to coals. The only other place in the King James translation of the Bible that “coal” is used is Isaiah 6:6. The seraphim gave it to Isaiah as he was a man of unclean lips. It was used to atone for iniquity and sin so that he might be able to speak. Similarly, a person who does not have the light of the Lord in him has no actual right to speak in the presence of a Holy God. For all their ravings, it’s just hot air in the wind. To really “speak” you must have the atoning grace of Jesus. Now we can begin to see the wonder of what God is doing in the person near us, right through us, by his power when we are willing to bless despite the persecution.
“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21 KJV)