2023-01-29 Seeking Justice Without Revenge

SEEKING JUSTICE WITHOUT REVENGE (Acts 16:35-40) January 29, 2023 Read Acts 16:35-40 - Most of us know of Jesus' command to love enemies and pray for our persecutors (Mt 5:44). That's hard given our desire for vindication. Augustine prayed, "O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself." That is a genuine kingdom prayer that we all need. But is it ever right to defend our rights against evil? The answer is Yes. It's a question of motive. Three questions will tell. Am I doing this in defense of myself or in defense of the truth? Am I defending my rights or the rights of others? Is there revenge in my heart or genuine concern for my persecutor? If we can answer those three questions selflessly, the door is open. Paul's actions here help guide us in how to counter evil in a God-glorifying manner. I. Covert Release Paul had cast a demon out of a little slave girl who was making a fortune for her owners by her fortune-telling. The owners seek revenge by stirring up a mob against Paul and Silas. The magistrates, with no pretense of a fair trial, stripped them, beat them and threw them into the dungeon of a jail. An earthquake miraculously opens the jail causing the jailer to start to kill himself, knowing his life was forfeit for losing his prisoners. But all the prisoners remained, Paul got to share the gospel of JC and the jailer and his family came to faith in Christ. It was an incredible night from start to finish. Next morning there is a sudden reversal at the courthouse: 35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, "Let those men go." Why? Some suggest they decided the beating and jail time was sufficient punishment. But nothing in the context indicates they planned a morning release. So what's up? I think the earthquake shook them up. They'd caved to the mob. The trial was unjust. Now they just want the whole thing to go away. The Romans expect them to keep peace. They hope to do that by a covert release of P&S. Get them out of town til the dust settles. It's a cover-up. Make it go away. Covering up - a very human reaction to sin, isn't it? We've all been there. When Adam and Eve sinned - cover up. When David sinned with Bathsheba and she got pregnant, did he repent? No - cover up. We're all cover-uppers! I arrived in Venezuela late one night on business only to find a long line at immigration. I had a pass to get thru quickly - but not this night. After about an hour a great noise erupted on the other side of the wall in baggage claim. An entourage of police emerged leading a man in handcuffs. He wore a General's uniform, protesting loudly. It was a threatening. He was trying to leave the country with a bag full of drug money. The dogs sniffed him out. The bag was not sufficient cover for his crime. Cover-ups seldom work. But we keep trying. Ever since the fall. Rather than living openly before God and others, we struggle to limit the flow of information about ourselves bc nothing is more unthinkable than being unable to control what people know about us. Murray Brett in Growing Up in Grace, writes, "Within every human heart is a deep sense of need to cover. For another person to have complete access to what we are thinking, feeling, and doing is unbearable." Truth is, the desire to cover is a gift of God. Sin does need to be covered. But not by us. We can't hide from God. Only the blood of Jesus will do. This was the lesson of the Day of Atonement. The goat's blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat (capor -- cover) to cover the sin of the people. But it took the death of Christ to make final cover! What we can never cover on our own, He has covered for us. In confessing his sin, David wrote, Psa 32:1: "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3) For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away thru my groaning all day long. . . . 5)I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin." God could forgive bc David's greater Son, JC, would one day die to cover his sins, and those of all who believe in Him. II. Condemning Refusal So, Paul is freed. What a surprise to the jailer when he refused to go: 37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out." Is Paul seeking vindication? No! He needs to set the record straight for the sake of others. So he first lists the wrongs done by the magistrates. An unfair trial. A public beating of Roman citizens. Now they want to sweep it all under the carpet. But these were shameful acts against innocent men. Paul refers to it a year later in I Thess 2:2: having "suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi." It was unfair. And P&S were Roman citizens. They had rights that Paul now claims. No had bothered to check that he and Silas are Roman citizens. According to the lex Julia, a Roman citizen might not be beaten or bound by a magistrate - certainly not publicly without trial! The citizen had only to say civis Romanus sum to be immune from such treatment. Heavy penalties attached to those who violated these citizenship privileges. Had word gotten back to Rome, these guys could have been removed from office, and Philippi might have lost its privileges as a Roman colony. This was no small thing. But Paul's aim is not revenge. That would have made it a sin in God's eyes. Had that been his purpose, he would have appealed to Rome. But his purpose was different. His motive was love. He wanted to protect the new believers in Philippi - almost all commentators agree. In refusing to go quietly, Paul was ensuring any future attempt to persecute Xns would be treated with kid gloves. He was protecting his brothers and sisters in Philippi, including the jailer. AND -- He was making the rulers face their sin, hoping they might repent. Defending rights in the right way, for the right reasons can be good. Jesus did. When Peter cut off Malchus' ear, Jesus healed the man and told Peter to desist. Revenge was not on the menu. But when struck on the cheek, Jesus didn't turn the other cheek, but asked Annas: Jn 18: 23 "If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?" He's not seeking vindication; He's revealing sin. So's Paul. He's not about revenge. He's about seeking the lost and protecting new believers. Seeking legal protection for beliefs is wise. But motive is key. We believe abortion is murder, but to kill the abortionist merely adds to the offense and is vengeful in nature. On the other hand, when religious liberty is violated by attempts to force bakers, photographers and others to participate in same-sex marriages against their conscience, legal redress is appropriate - not for revenge, but for the sake of truth. Attitude is everything. We're all sinners, and our goal is that all come to repentance. Paul's model in that regard is exemplary. In our rush to protect our beliefs, we must not forget to love others, including our enemies. Hard, YES! But from the cross Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Lu 23:34). Not kill them, forgive them! We're called to help others, not to bury them. Ten years after release from a Nazi concentration camp, Corrie Ten Boom met a woman who wouldn't look her in the eye. She found she'd been a nurse at the camp, and raw memories flooded in of the woman's cruel treatment of Corrie's sister, Betsy, as she was dying. Her blood boiled and she prayed, "Forgive my hatred, O Lord. Teach me to love my enemies." She began praying for the woman and one day called the hospital where she worked and invited her to a meeting where she was speaking. The woman came and heard Corrie speak from I Jn 4:9: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." At the cross she found the strength to love her enemy, just as Jesus did for us. And at the cross, her enemy became her sister in Christ. That was always Paul's driving motive and must be ours as well. III. Constrained Regret Paul's actions got an immediate reaction. 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. These men could have lost their positions for their hasty decision, so they are rightfully fearful. And trying to sneak P&S out of town adds to their culpability. So what can they do? 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. They saw no recourse. They apologized. Not that their heart was in it. Their apology was coerced by Paul's actions. They had regret, but not repentance. They were sorry they got caught, not sorry that they'd done it in the first place. My dad helped organize a city-wide evangelistic crusade when I was about 12. One night after they took the offering, someone saw a young usher stealing from a collection bucket. Called to account for his actions, he began to cry, apologized profusely and turned up $20. But these men had been around the block before. When forced to empty all his pockets, additional money was found. Dad said, "He cried crocodile tears." I asked what that was and he said, "He wasn't sorry he took the money; just sorry he got caught." True repentance involves genuine sorrow that we've offended God accompanied by a determination to change. Regret could be a first step, but it is not repentance, and Paul's oppressors missed a golden opportunity to get right with God. These men were like Esau who traded his birthright for a cup of soup. Heb 12:17: "For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears." Crocodile tears. Sorry he traded away God's blessing; not sorry he traded away God in the process. Repentance goes beyond regret to change. IV. Considerate Removal The hearts of these men show in their next action. After apologizing, they "asked them to leave the city." Asked, not told. They were done issuing orders to Paul. 40 "So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed." Concerned for the new believers, P&S left town after a brief visit to encourage their converts. They also left behind Timothy and Luke (a "we" section started in 16:10; it's "they" again in 16:40). So the Philippians were in good hands. Paul leaves bc revenge was never his motive. This relieved the pressure for the moment. But it returned, and when it did, Paul's example was of great help. Phil 1:27-30 written ten years later from prison in Rome, Paul says, "27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have." "Walk worthy of the gospel - like you saw me do." They'd seen it in Paul; now it was their turn. Conc - Sooner or later we're all going to face the issue. How will we handle unfair adversity? We'll all face it. Will we defend our rights vengefully, or will we take a higher road that reflects our commitment to a suffering Savior? In The Untouchables, Sean Connery's character advises Elliott Ness (Kevin Costner) about how to bring down Al Capone and his gang. He knows violence is coming and he says, "He pulls a knife; you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital; you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way." Actually, that's the way of humanity, isn't it? "You upset me, I end the relationship. You tell a story on me; I tell the truth on you. You threaten my rights; I'll see you in court." Now, any of those may be legitimate reactions, Beloved. But before defending our rights against evil, we must remind ourselves, it's a question of motive. Then ask these questions. Am I doing this in defense of myself or in defense of the truth? Am I defending my rights or the rights of others? Is there revenge in my heart or genuine concern for my persecutor? This will help us follow Paul in walking worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ - in following his example of selfless sacrifice rather than the Chicago way of brutal revenge. When we suffer, let us suffer well for the sake of the One who suffered well for us. Let's pray. DONE 7