Overcome Evil with Good
Homily delivered at BCP Holy Communion in Wells Cathedral on Sunday 26th January 2025, the Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Romans 12.16-end and Matthew 8.1-13.
For a brief moment, let’s be a little controversial with our imagination. Not quite Ignatian imaginative contemplation but, to highlight how immensely loving our God is, let’s instead imagine our Gospel passage where all instances of goodness and love are replaced with actions of evil and spite to see the contrast this creates. Let’s separate our reading from St Paul’s Epistle to the Romans from the equation and picture a world where goodness is overcome with evil. If we do this, rather unsurprisingly, we find a radically altered message of the Gospel and an entirely unfamiliar picture of Jesus Christ’s character and disposition.
Without the foundational motives of love and goodness, our Gospel might instead say: Jesus came down from the mountain with no followers behind him. There came to him a leper who cursed and moaned at him, demanding that Jesus make him clean that very moment. And Jesus, in response, put forth his hand and pushed the leper to the ground saying, “you will remain unclean and suffer for the rest of your days and I command you to tell everyone that I am great and my power should be feared by all.” Jesus then entered Capernaum and a centurion came to him saying, “my servant is ill and refuses to undertake his duties, come immediately to my house and heal him so that he has no excuse but to serve me”. Hearing this Jesus refused and said that he shall not come to his house because the centurion is unworthy to receive him under his roof. The centurion responds, “I am a man with authority, I have soldiers under me. When I say come, you shall come; and when I say go, you shall go; and when I say do this, you shall do it.” Jesus was provoked to anger and said “O you of little faith. You shall be cast into the outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Go away, in your shame, for I will not heal your servant.” And the centurion went away to his house where his servant remained sick.
I suspect we would not find it so easy to respond by saying “Praise be to thee, O Christ”. I must say that I am very sorry for making you endure that unsavory imagined image of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, in response to this little exercise of imagination, I am left wanting to rejoice even more joyfully in our actual reading from the Gospel according to St Matthew. Because in reality, we do not have a God who responds to need with apathy; we do not have a God who responds to fear with mocking; we do not have a God who responds to love with hate. Instead, we have a salvific God. We have a transformative God. We have a present and Incarnate God. We have a God who loves without limit. We have a God who heals, uplifts, encourages, and saves.
Jesus Christ breaks the cycle of hatred with love. He sets us a wonderful example of overcoming evil with good. In the face of darkness in the world, Christ brings light. Where we find sickness and suffering, Christ brings healing. To those who are anxious and worried, Christ brings comfort. When vengeance and anger boil within us, Christ brings forgiveness. In the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, we are all provided with an example of overcoming evil with good.
The inspiration continues to be found in our first reading from the Epistle to the Romans. In this letter, St Paul provides us with beautiful commands that echo the goodness of Christ. We are encouraged to ‘recompense to no man evil for evil’. In doing this we break the cycle of anger and hatred that can so easily spiral within our lives. When we respond to evil with yet more evil, we make the world a darker place. St Paul encourages us to be honest. He does acknowledge that it might at times be exceptionally difficult, but he writes, ‘if it is possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men’. In a sense, we are encouraged to kill with kindness. ‘Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink’.
It would be naïve to interpret this in such a way that would justify turning a blind eye to evil and injustice in our world. We are not called to ignore suffering, or not to challenge unacceptable behaviour. It is not our role to be entirely silent and to allow the victory of hatred within our societies. However, we are told to overcome evil with good. This is not passive but active. It takes courage, strength, and perseverance to love in the face of hate. When those around us speak words of malice and spite, it is difficult to respond with words of kindness. Yet, this is what St Paul encourages us to do. We are to flood out the evil of the world with torrents of goodness. To love more. To forgive more. To uplift more. To pray more. To prevent our world from drowning in hatred, we must fill it with goodness.
Remembering the words of St Paul; the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross; and the unending love of our God, we are invited to break the cycles of negativity within our world. To provide light in places of darkness. To inform the way we respond to the world we should etch St Paul’s words into our hearts: ‘Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good’.
Scripture:
Romans 12.16-end:
Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Matthew 8.1-13:
When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man, but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him, and saying, Lord my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shoudest come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say unto this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. and I say unto you, That many shall come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, and Issac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the self-same hour.