If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink; for you will heap coals of fire on their heads, and the LORD will reward you.
I was a little nervous about Proverbs. There are too many pithy calendars and memes that lack depth. The verses come in two line sentences which lend themselves to pithy calendars and memes. Not only that, there are women’s ministry organizations based on Proverbs that seem to lean far more conservative in a woman’s role in the world, marriage, and ministry than I support. All of that made me apprehensive.
And yet, here we are and I’m enjoying Proverbs far more than I’d feared. This is due in part to the way it encapsulates really important messages in really short, pithy two-line, meme-worthy phrases. Ironic, huh?
For example, the phrase I pulled out today. If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they’re thirsty, give them drink. Yes! I’ve heard we need to hear things multiple times and in multiple ways before it sinks in. Here’s another way to say a key message. This is another way of saying we are called to love our enemies, and it says it in a very practical way. Give them what they need. Period. No exceptions.
This little gem goes on to say that if we are nice to our enemies, it’s like heaping coals on their head. While I understand that to be true, I don’t think that’s the intended motivation. I’m reminded of an instance in Portland. The big cathedral downtown has a great priest who’s in charge and is openly gay. When he was new in his role, an anti-gay conservative Christian group picketed with signs and chants outside the church in the winter. It was cold and rainy, but they persisted. After some time, the coffee-hour guild came out with hot coffee and cookies for them. I know the guild’s intention wasn’t hot coals, but I also suspect some of the protesters felt the heat.
My husband is fond of saying that doing the right thing is always the right thing. That’s his secular way of saying the same thing as Proverbs. Do the right thing. Love your enemies, regardless of coals, and regardless of God’s favor. It is always the right thing.
This morning, I’m thinking about how to feed my enemies, and give them what they need, especially the enemies I find harder to help.
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