Yesterday, I preached a message from Romans 12:17-21 entitled, "Trusting God's Justice." Because of time limitations, much material must be cut out of the message. This blog dwells on some of that material. You can view the sermon here.

Last night I watched an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents” with my family. In the story, a man comes home from work to find that his wife was assaulted by a traveling salesman. His wife was so traumatized that she could speak only a few words at a time. She did, however, tell her husband that she could positively identify her assailant. The next day, they got in the car to move to a motel. While driving though town, her eyes lit up and she pointed out a man to her husband. “That’s him!” she exclaimed. Her husband parked the car and followed the man into a hotel and then to his room where he took his revenge, killing the man. After returning to his car and starting out again, the man’s wife lit up again, pointed to someone else, and exclaimed, “That’s Him!” 

Alfred Hitchcock seems to have understood this basic principle about revenge: mankind cannot be trusted with it. In fact, God is the only Being ultimately capable of handling revenge. That is why He says . . .

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 

“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19, NKJV)

Taking revenge for yourself is wrong. It is wrong because God says so. Though that ought to be enough for us, He goes on to give us some good reasoning to back up His command. Considering this text, I would like to tell you three reasons why you should refuse to take revenge. 

1. Revenge is Theft. 

Vengeance is property — God’s Property. 

Now God actually owns everything, and He allows us to use what is His. But with vengeance, God says “Vengeance is Mine” in a rather territorial statement. He says, “It’s mine” as if to say, “It’s not yours.” God puts a fence around revenge and posts a “No Trespassing” sign at the gate. 

If I take vengeance for myself, I am stealing from God. In Romans 12:17, Paul wrote, “Repay no one evil for evil.” We feel the need for revenge because we perceive the scales of justice are unbalanced. Revenge is our attempt to rebalance them. We do this by “repayment” in kind — Evil for evil. But God says revenge is His property. He owns it and does not give us permission to borrow it. Revenge is theft. 

2. Revenge is Weak. 

Romans 12:19 instructs us to “give place to wrath.” What does that mean? Whose wrath? I believe it is telling us to give place to God’s wrath. To “give place to” means to get out of the way. Jesus used this language in a parable in which a man took the best place at a feast, and the host came and told him to “give place to” a better man. So the man had to leave his seat and find a lower place (Luke 14:7-9). We are told to get our wrath out of the way because it is in the way. It is God’s job to execute justice in the form of wrath. 

Who is able to execute better revenge: you or God? God’s power makes Him supremely able. His wisdom makes His revenge impeccably just. His holiness prevents Him from going too far — from overstepping into injustice. Any revenge that we devise for ourselves is, by comparison, weak. 

This is closely related to the third reason to refuse revenge. 

3. Revenge is Arrogant. 

Imagine an impossible scenario comes true. The Kansas City Chiefs are in the Super Bowl and they ask you to play quarterback for them in the big game. They also give you the option to decline and allow Patrick Mahomes to play. What kind of hubris would you have to possess to make yourself believe you would do a better job than Patrick Mahomes? 

In real life, though, you are sometimes tempted to tell God to stay on the bench while you play quarterback for team justice. Do you think you can do a better job than God? Whenever we take justice into our own hands we unwittingly and arrogantly say just that. “You sit this one out, Lord. I got this!” 

Refusing Revenge in Real Life

We seek revenge though various means. These means could be small or large, subtle or obvious. We can seek payback through gossip, slander, or insult. It could go so far as physical violence or murder. The possibilities for enacting revenge fill the volume of human imagination. 

Whenever you find yourself longing for justice, and when you feel like the scales of injury have extra weight added on your side, you are tempted to enact revenge. Paul writes, “Refuse it.” God says, “No.” Trust Him.