Revenge!

Comment on Sabbath School Lesson for 11.20.10

Have you ever wanted to get revenge on someone?  to make someone pay for what they’ve done to you?  Is there something in particular you think of when you think of revenge?  I think of the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  Captain Kirk discovers Khan stranded on a desert planet where 

“Khan reveals that 15 years earlier, Captain Kirk exiled Khan and his followers to Ceti Alpha V after the genetically-engineered supermen nearly captured the Enterprise. …Khan blames Kirk for the death of his wife … and plans to avenge her…”[1]

As the plot progresses, we find out that Khan has spent the better part of the last 15 years plotting his revenge on Kirk.  It has completely consumed every area of his life and it ultimately consumes and destroys not only his life but the lives of all those around him. 

In the classic Alexander Dumas novel, The Count of Monte Cristo,

 “Edmond Dantès, a young and successful merchant sailor …, returns to Marseille to marry his fiancée Mercédès. Leclère, … An anonymous letter accuses Dantès of being a Bonapartist traitor. Villefort, the deputy crown prosecutor …, condemns Dantès without trial to life imprisonment ….”[2]

Dantes spends the next 14 years planning his revenge and then the next many, many years trying to situate himself to carry out his plan. But this story ends differently because Dantes learns forgiveness.

Stories like this don’t just happen in movies and novels, though.  It happens all the time in real life.  If you’ve ever talked to a person who has gone through a bitter divorce, you will often sense a real desire to make the other person pay for the hurt he (or she) has caused.  It’s almost like each person has tunnel vision – neither one of them can think about anything else. 

Matt Woodley of Chicago, Illinois recounts an encounter he had with his friend, Steve:

“Nineteen years ago this guy stole my wife away from me. They got married and moved to Florida while my life unraveled. After I was arrested for assaulting a police officer, this guy smirked through the entire court hearing. When I was convicted, he flipped me the finger. I've hated him for nineteen years. He's coming up here next week, I have a 32-caliber pistol strapped around my ankle, and when I see him I will kill him." Then he chillingly concluded, "I've thought all about it. I'm 63-years-old. I will get a life sentence, but I'll also get free medical and dental and a warm bed and three meals a day. All of this bitterness and resentment feels so right; forgiveness seems weird.”[3]

I believe 19 years counts as premeditation, don’t you?  Anyway, you’ll be relieved to know that Steve changed his mind and chose to forgive the man after all, but we hear on the news everyday about people who have not made that choice.

The Bible also tells us about some folks who chose revenge instead of forgiveness.  Joab is one of those people.  He was King David’s General – he had control of all of David’s fighting men.  During the years when Saul was trying to kill David, Joab stuck right by him.  Somewhere along the way, though, Abner, Saul’s General, ended up killing one of Joab’e brothers in a battle.  That was bad, but things got much worse when Abner switched over to David’s side…Joab could not handle that at all!  As soon as he could, he took his revenge on Abner by killing him, then trying to convince David that he was a traitor.

After that, Joab seems to have become more power-hungry than anything else.  As long as David seemed like the most powerful, Joab was loyal to David (even to the point of carrying out the hit on Uriah), but when David began to look weak in his old age, Joab’s loyalty was all over the place.  Solomon finally stripped him of his office and exiled him because of his collusion with Absalom and Adonijah against both David and Solomon.

It’s not that Joab didn’t know what was right; he did.  He even lectured David about God’s desire for him to show mercy to Absalom.  Joab was one who knew the truth but walked away from it – all for the sake of revenge and power.

Isn’t it a little scary that Joab, a person who knew the truth about God, could become so lost in his own selfish desires.  So lost, in fact, that he eventually he completely lost sight of the “right thing.”  We see almost exactly the same thing happen to Judas.  His bitter, angry spirit heard an insult in almost every interaction.  Following the ancient passive-aggressive pattern for life, Judas never mentioned his  bruised feelings to anyone.  He never asked for any clarification.  He just tucked away each instance in his mind and then replayed them over and over again, until they became the only thing he could see.  Mrs. White describes it this way:

“…his very spirit seemed turned to gall.  Wounded pride and desire for revenge broke down the barriers, and the greed so long indulged held him in control.  This will be the experience of everyone who persists in tampering with sin.  The elements of depravity that are not resisted and overcome respond to Satan’s temptation, and the sould is led captive at his will.”[4]

Do we let ourselves get caught in the same trap?  We file away every perceived slight – “I wasn’t asked to help with VBS this year.”  “The pastor didn’t thank me for the appreciation card I sent.”  “The church board didn’t acknowledge my ideas about…”  Pretty soon, the church family is as fractured as David’s family was.

Let’s ask Jesus to keep our hearts free from that kind of bitterness.

---

[1]              "Synopsis for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." n.d. IMDb: The Internet Movie Database. 10 November 2010 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084726/synopsis>.

[2]              "The Count of Monte Cristo." n.d. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 10 November 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo>.

 [3]Woodley, M. (n.d.). Chicago.

[4] White, E.G. Conflict and Courage, Review and Herald

Turn-Coat

Commentary for Sabbath School Lesson dated November 13, 2010

“In SPY: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America, author David Wise tells of his exclusive meetings with Dr. David Charney, the psychiatrist who evaluated Hanssen.

“During his years of spying, Hanssen received $1.4 million from the Russians. Of the possible motives for betraying his country, Hanssen pointed to "financial pressure." According to Charney, Hanssen wanted money for one reason: to assure his wife that he was not a failure.

“Dr. Charney commented: 'Bonnie [Hanssen's wife] was the one person who brought life into his life.

She was the last person he would want to think he was a failure. He reached to prove to her he was a good provider and good husband. So that when she would express wishes for various things, he would always buy them for her.

“'He felt it was necessary to sustain his image in her eyes as successful.

“'That put him into a financial corner, because he agreed to take on various financial burdens, by buying a house out of his reach financially, in Scarsdale. It's not that it's wrong to say that he did it for the money; you have to go deeper and ask why he wanted the money. Why did Bob Hanssen get into a corner financially? Because he had to keep up his reputation with his wife. Because that was the one person in the world whose opinion mattered.'

“Ironically, Bonnie was not the sort to place burdensome financial demands on her husband. According to Charney, Hanssen did not blame her; he blamed himself.”¹

What makes someone change sides? Did Robert Hanssen believe he was doing the right thing that just happened to pay him very, very well? Or did he realize he was doing something terrible, but was able to rationalize what he was doing to make it seem right? Is there ever a good reason for betrayal? Is it still betrayal if you really believe what you're doing is the right thing to do?

Abiathar and King David had something important in common with one another: they both managed to survive their association with Saul and his emotional instability. Abiathar was the only survivor when Saul ordered all of the priests who supported David to be killed. David survived years of Saul trying to kill him. Each of them could probably relate quite well to the other's experience. And knowing that Abiathar had almost been assassinated because of integrity in the face of death, David probably felt secure in his continued loyal service. Abiathar did serve God and David extremely well for years...but then, something changed.

“Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, 'I will be king.' So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. … Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support.” 1 Kings 1:5,7

Why? After all the years, why did Abiathar change his allegiance from David to David's son, Adonijah? After all the years of hearing and recognizing God's voice, why did Abiathar suddenly do something so out of character? Did he really believe God was with Adonijah? Or did he just think God should have been? Or, had he been David's faithful side-kick for so long, that he thought he deserved some recognition finally?

Tragically, Abiathar chose poorly. Adonijah's bid for the throne collapsed and Abiathar was removed from the priesthood (he should have been put to death for treason).

What do you think had to be going on in Abiathar's mind that could make betraying David ok? Did Adonijah offer him some kind of payment or position in his court if he became king? Or did he figure that Adonijah was going to be successful so being on the winning side was the most important thing? We don't know, but maybe Adonijah threatened him, saying that if he didn't go with him, he'd kill him.

What about you and me, what would cause us to change sides? Don't answer too quickly. Remember that everyone of the disciples swore they would follow Jesus no matter where He led, ended up running away or actively betraying Him.

Is our loyalty for sale -- if Satan offered a seemingly better deal? Is comfort and success in the present worth more than eternal life with Jesus? Satan can make his offer look pretty sweet...what is salvation and living with Jesus worth to you?

Well, what was your salvation worth to Jesus?

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3 (emphasis mine)

“For the joy set before Him”, Jesus gave up everything. We are the joy that was set before Him...He gave up everything so that we could be with Him for eternity. What are we willing to give up to be with Him? Can we look past the luxuries and comforts of everyday life to the day when we will see Jesus face to face? Or is there something today that seems more important right now?

Are we willing to set aside what we think is important today for an eternity with Jesus? Are we willing to say, like the song “I've Fixed My Mind On Another Time” by David Huntsinger: “Even so Lord come quickly, this is my fervent prayer. For I've caught a glimpse of glory and I'm longing to be there.”

Are you longing to be there?

1David Wise, SPY : The Inside Story of How The FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America (Random House, 2002)