Robert’s Revenge

Robert listened as his teacher read their memory text for the week. “‘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.’ This text can be found in Romans 12:20. Can anyone tell me what this means?”

Before anyone could raise a hand to answer, Robert clenched his fists and hissed, “No!”

“Excuse me, Robert,” Mrs. Burns said, “does that mean you don’t understand the text?”

“Yes, I understand,” he answered hotly, “but I will never do that!”

“Please see me after class, Robert. Perhaps then you can explain why you feel as you do.”

Robert sat sullenly through the rest of the lesson. After class, he waited for Mrs. Burns. When everyone else had left, Mrs. Burns called Robert to her desk and said, “Now Robert, please explain why you behaved as you did during our Bible lesson.”

“It’s just not fair!” Robert burst out. “If you had an enemy like I have, you wouldn’t be nice to him either. You would rather see him starve!”

“Why, Robert!” Mrs. Burns exclaimed. “How can you say such a thing? Whatever happened to make you feel so bitter?”

Anger burned in Robert’s voice as he told Mrs. Burns his story. “Peter lives in the same apartment building as I do. He is always doing mean things to me. Yesterday, just as I was coming home from school, he called to me from a window on the fourth floor. He had Jessie, my favorite cat, and threatened to throw her down. I screamed, ‘No! Please don’t hurt Jessie!’ But he just laughed and threw her down anyway.” Here Robert’s voice broke with a sob and Mrs. Burns put her arm around his shaking shoulders.

“Did Jessie get hurt?” she asked.

“Oh, Mrs. Burns,” he said through his tears, “I picked her up and placed her in my own bed. I slept on the floor and kept checking her all night. But this morning, Jessie was dead! I had to find a place where I could bury her before school this morning.”

“Oh, Robert!” Mrs. Burns tried to comfort him, “What a terrible thing to do. Peter did a very wicked thing, but yet if he was in trouble, our text for this week says that....”

“Never!” Robert interrupted. “Never would I help him! And even if I have to wait until I am a man, I will get even with him!” Before Mrs. Bums could try to reason with him, Robert ran from the room.

Robert ran outside only to find that it was raining and a cold wind was blowing. He decided to go home, even though no one would be home from work yet. He entered the apartment and passed the door where Peter and his father lived. Peter was home alone and his door was partly open. As Robert went by, Peter mockingly said, “Meeooow! Meeooow!”

Robert turned pale with anger. He put his hands over his ears and ran up to his apartment. He went to his own room and throwing himself across his bed, muttered, “And we are supposed to give food to someone like that if they are hungry? Never!” Robert fell asleep that night filled with thoughts of hatred for Peter.

The next morning as Robert hurried past Peter’s door on his way to school, he heard someone crying. He stopped and cautiously approached the door. It was partly open so he looked into the room. There lay Peter on his bed with flushed cheeks, burning with fever. “Oh Robert,” he groaned when he saw him standing in the doorway, “please call the landlady. My dad is gone and I feel so terrible. I need help!”

“Really? You feel terrible? Well, good! I’m glad to hear it!” Robert made an ugly face at Peter and left, closing Peter’s door firmly so no one would hear him cry for help. Robert hurried off to school whistling happily. He hoped that Peter would be sick for a long time.

Robert was happier than usual all day. It didn’t even bother him that he had to deliver his papers in the rain after school. He hurried through his route so he could go home, hoping that Peter was still sick. But going past Peter’s door, Robert saw that a light was on and Mrs. Clark, the landlady, was with him. “Now Peter, just drink this and then maybe you can sleep for awhile,” she was saying. I need to go back to work or dinner will never be ready on time.”

Robert was sorry to see that Peter was being helped. But waiting until Mrs. Clark returned to the kitchen, he went to Peter’s room too. Leaning against the door frame, Robert asked, “Well, how are things going? Are you enjoying yourself now?”

Robert was trying to sound mean, but Peter was too sick to notice. “Oh Robert!” he groaned “I am so full of pain, and I have such a bad headache. My head is burning like coals of fire.” Hearing the words, “coals of fire,” Robert turned pale. Fresh anger swept through him as he remembered the words of the text. Without saying another word, he spun around and ran back to his own room.

That night Robert went to bed as usual, but he could not sleep. In his mind he clearly pictured the words of the text over and over again. “Coals of fire,” “coals of fire,” “coals of fire.” Everywhere he looked he seemed to see these words before his eyes. He could hear the hours passing; the clock in the church tower struck one o’clock. Finally he spoke aloud, “Okay, I will do it. I will do it!” He felt as though he were speaking to an invisible enemy.

Robert fell asleep immediately, but the next morning he remembered his promise. When he came to Peter’s door, however, he saw that Peter’s father was with him. “Good. Then I don’t have to stop,” he thought. With this excuse, Robert continued on his way to school. But everything seemed to go wrong that day. He could not keep his mind on his work. Robert hurried straight home to his room after school. Still thinking about the promise he had made, he finally decided he would keep it. He did not want to lie awake again tonight.

Peter’s door was partly open when Robert went down. Peter was lying with his face to the wall. Robert went up to the bed and asked in a sharp tone, “Hey, Peter. Do you need anything?” How he hated even speaking to Peter! But he was determined to keep his promise.

“I am so thirsty. They forgot to bring me some water.” Peter’s voice sounded very weak.

For several nights he brought food and drink to Peter, but only because he felt he had to.

“Give him to drink!” muttered Robert as he got a glass of water. Then he grudgingly asked, “Are you hungry?”

Peter’s answer was a terrible groan. Now Robert was faced with a problem. How could he keep the second part of the text? Leaving the room, he quickly walked to a nearby fruit market and asked to speak to the owner. “Sir, do you have any jobs that I could do for you?” he asked.

“Well, let me see. Yes, here’s a fruit basket that needs to be delivered to this address.”

“Thank you, sir.” Robert took the basket and soon returned from delivering it. He did not get paid very much, but he used the money to buy a large, juicy orange. Returning to the apartment to Peter’s room, Robert broke the orange into small cubes and helped Peter sit up to eat it. Peter’s thankful expression made Robert uncomfortable. But he soon reminded himself that he was only feeding Peter because he had to. When Peter finished the orange, Robert jumped up to leave saying, “There! I fed you and gave you something to drink. Now I have done my duty.”

As Robert started to leave, Peter called out, “Please don’t go yet. It gets very lonely with nobody here.”

“No way! That’s not included in the text,” Robert said and calmly left for the night, leaving a puzzled Peter behind. But Robert continued to do small jobs at the fruit market. For several nights he brought food and drink to Peter, but only because he felt he had to.

Then one evening when Robert came as usual, Peter suddenly asked, “Robert, do you think I will ever get better?”

“I don’t know. What makes you ask such a question?”

“Dad asked the doctor to come, but after examining me, he just shook his head. I think I am going to die. Oh Robert! I’m so afraid! And before I die, I want to tell you I’m sorry for what I did to your cat.” Peter began to sob and the ice around Robert’s heart melted.

“Aw, Peter, that’s okay. Jessie was pretty old and probably would have died pretty soon anyway. Don’t think about it anymore. But I hope you are not going to die! I will help take care of you as much as I can, Peter.”

That night Robert knelt beside his bed. He saw that the text was right. He must not try to get revenge. Now he could pray for Peter to recover. “Oh Lord,” he prayed, “please help me to always do what the text says — but help me do it from my heart. Please make Peter well again, and give us both a new heart.”

How thankful Robert was to see that the Lord heard and answered his prayer. Three weeks later he was supporting a weak Peter as they went for a walk on a warm spring day. The boys soon felt as close as brothers. They began to sit in the sun, taking turns reading from the Bible. Both boys learned to search and value God’s Word. They prayed that God would teach them to always obey His will.

— JL

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