Jesus tackled the subject of retaliation in his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:38-42. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.  And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”

For those of us who have read Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, you will remember the character of Bishop Myriel.  His many humble deeds of kindnesses and understanding of others are best remembered when he graciously gave Valjean not only the items he had stolen from the good Bishop's home, but also added silver candlesticks that were a family heirloom. This was done in the presence of the police who were about to arrest Valjean and send him back to prison where he had already spent the majority of his life. After the police left, Myriel urged Valjean to understand that this redemption was actually from God, and now it was up to Valjean to turn his life around and begin reflecting the goodness of God in his own deeds.

This kind of thought is foreign to most of us. It is difficult for us to focus on always doing what is right, especially when we are personally wronged. It is much easier for us to seek justice from our enemies and to resort to retaliation. Yet, the meaning of the words of Jesus in his sermon on that mountainside have not lost their truth over the centuries.

Recently I came across a modern-day story about a pastor in the heart of Africa, whose own actions very much resemble those of the fictional Bishop Myriel.  I am honored to share it with you as told to me in the words of this remarkable man.

My intentions on that morning were to sleep until about nine and then head into town for an appointment. But my wife and I were awakened around seven by noise and shouting from the floor below, where our three children sleep and also some older girls whom we have opened our home to. The girls were shouting to call the police because thieves were in the house. I thought, how do you have thieves at 7am in full daylight?

My wife and I jumped out of bed and headed downstairs to see what was happening. When we reached the dining room we were met by a man with a panga, a large cutlass type of machete. Panicking, I grabbed his arm and we started tussling it out. Just as I was about to subdue him and put him to the ground, a second man who had already reached the kids' bedroom jumped out with one of our daughters, holding her neck. He then grabbed my wife. He had some kind of screwdriver that he was holding against her neck and he told me to release his friend or my wife was dead.

I had no options, so I released the guy who had already cut my arms with the panga in different places, and by this time I was bleeding. Once I released him, they ordered us to sit down and call everyone into the room. They tied our arms and legs, and basically sat us down in the dining room where we stayed for the next eight hours. One of our daughters was left untied, and was ordered to accompany one of the thieves throughout the house, pointing out to him where the valuables like money, jewelry, laptops, etc. were kept. 

The guy that was watching us told us that they had been watching our house for a long time. They had spent the previous night in our compound on a balcony and had been waiting for us to open up the house in the morning so they could come in and steal. They knew I was a pastor, which to them meant that I was rich. Everyone here knows about the many prosperity preachers, so they assume all pastors are rich. They expected a lot more money in the house than there actually was. They threatened that if they couldn't find all they were looking for, they would behead each of us.

My family and I were in a big panic, praying all kinds of prayers. It became apparent to me that most likely, me and my family were going to die. Was I ready for heaven? Did I want to leave this earth in a panic? Is this how I would die? I decided to start witnessing to the guy who was guarding us. I said to him, “You already know I am a pastor and you what pastors do. I want to tell you why I became a Christian in the first place.”

He had already told me he was Muslim, and in Islam you can pretty much kill anybody and get away with it. He told me that he had been in prison several times, making it clear that he had nothing to lose by whatever happened at my house. His message to me was that he was capable of anything. If I disrespected him in any way, I would be dead.

However, we kept conversing. I started witnessing to him, sharing the gospel. Helping him to see how a life of robbing and stealing wouldn't get him anywhere. I told him there are options for becoming a decent man who can feed his family with pride, knowing he's getting his money the right way.

To my surprise, he began opening up and telling us the kind of life he had led—one long tragedy. Thieves had entered into his home and killed his son, simply because they wanted some money and he did not have it. When the police came, instead of looking for the thieves, they thought he had killed his own child. So he ended up in jail for eight months before they released him.

This conversation showed us that here was a very helpless young man who did not know what to do with his life. My wife and I counseled him and suggested some things he could do, even offered to help him start a business using the skills he told us he had. He began to calm down and to ask for advice on how best to develop himself. 

I then said to him, “You have come here to steal, but we want to give you these things willingly. Don't take them like a thief, allow us to give them, since you say you want to turn your life around. Take them with a blessing. But make sure when you sell them, this will be the last time you enter someone's home to steal. Sell them, get some beginning capital, start a decent life.”

He then began asking us for some things instead of taking them by force. He asked us for our curtains and asked where they were. As we told him, he removed them and packed them. He asked for some other valuables like necklaces—things he could sell. At this stage, you would think he was actually our friend.

Not his colleague, however. We don't remember having any simple conversation with him. He was tough and rude, busy packing things, pulling down electrical wires, looking for cameras, thinking we had some kind of security system. After packing everything that was in the house, they didn't know what to do next. They had come to simply steal and run, but now that they had the whole house packed, they didn't know how to get it all out in broad daylight. 

They decided to keep holding us hostage until after dark—around midnight, when they would use our cars, since they had the keys, and pack them up and go. I also think most likely they planned to kill all of us, because all this time, the man who was speaking to us did not have a mask nor was he veiled in any way. I think he was confident that even if we remembered his face there would be nobody left to act as a witness.

Unknown to all of us, though, one of the older girls who lives with us had hidden herself away in our bathroom upstairs. These guys knew how many people lived in our home but they didn't know that we had house help. They had tied up the house help with us and didn't realize that one of the girls wasn't accounted for. This girl had been hiding since 7am, and around 3pm we began to hear noise upstairs. Apparently, she was pounding on the bathroom window trying to attract the attention of passersby to see if someone would help. We heard the noise, but the two thieves did not suspect anything, since they thought they had all of us in their sight.

In the afternoon, she was able to attract somebody's attention who was walking by and let them know we were in trouble. This person was able to tell some neighbors who went a short distance away to the village center. Before we knew it, a crowd of 50 people had gathered outside our gate, trying to break it down so they could get inside and catch the thieves.

That was enough for the thief who had packed everything. Grabbing three bags containing small items like laptops and phones, he went through the kitchen, climbed over a perimeter wall and jumped into another compound and escaped. All the rest of the bags were left in the dining room. 

The thief who had been left to guard us and with whom we had been talking all day, realized it was too late for escaping. He knew the crowd was ready to lynch him. He came and knelt before me. “Pastor,” he began, “You are my hope now. You have promised that you will help me and will not take me to the police. I want to start a new life afresh, otherwise, I'm dead tonight.”

I had already given this man my word that no harm would come to him. I was aware that he was entirely right in believing that there would be no mercy shown him from the crowd or from the police. He was indeed looking at a death sentence. The crowd had sticks, stones, and pangas and were looking for someone to kill. I said to him, “We are going to protect you.” He quickly untied us and I escorted him to a bathroom, closed the door and left him there. 

Immediately after this, the police arrived and the scene was chaos. The crowd was aware there had been two robbers, and they had only seen and chased one. But we led them to believe the other had escaped before the crowd had gathered. Eventually the crowd dissipated and the police finished their investigation. 

My wife and I went upstairs and talked with this young man we had hidden in the bathroom. We shared the gospel of Jesus once again. I told him, “You came to kill us and steal from us. That was wrong. We have every right to do the same to you, but that's not how Christians behave. We are going to give you a second chance at life, because we think you could use it. We are going to let you go. The money that you have already taken—we could take it back now, but we are not going to do that. We want you to use it, start something, and be a decent man. If at some time you ever feel comfortable enough, come back and talk with us. We would be happy to see what we can do to help you.”

I gave him two Bibles, one in English and one in the local language. Around eight in the evening, I escorted him out the gate, a free man. His accomplice was not so fortunate. About two weeks later, the thief who had run away was robbing someone else in another village, when he was killed by a mob. 

To this day, I marvel at how the events of that day turned out. I can tell you I see the hand of God in every corner, in every way. I see God showing Himself gracious to us and giving us another chance at life. One time we were helpless, tied down, ready to lose our heads. The next moment, we were the ones praying for the man with a panga, and giving him another chance at life.

I know myself and the kind of anger I can have when I am provoked. It is not within me to extend grace to somebody who tries to hurt my family. Finding myself forgiving him, serving him food to eat—somebody that has invaded my house—while I am cut and bleeding, this is unthinkable. 

But we were able to do it, to extend grace beyond what we were capable of. We were able to forgive him. When we had the chance to hand him over, we didn't. When we had the chance to hurt him back, we didn't. I am sure this was not a natural response. Clearly, God was at work in us and at work in the life of this young man. I have not seen or heard from him since; but if he doesn't have his life turned around, then I don't know what this means.

There was nothing normal about this experience. For starters, thieves don't come to steal during the day. Most of them grab things and run away. They don't have a hostage situation for all these hours. That the girl in the bathroom was able to attract anyone's attention from that window is unthinkable to me. The entire situation was God from the beginning to the end.

The first week after the incident, we didn't know what we were feeling. There was the feeling of panic that we could have been attacked in such a way and looked death in the eye. Some of my family were angry that I had forgiven this man, because they thought he deserved everything he could ever get. But I kept trying to explain how God works mysteriously. I recounted how He had intervened throughout the whole day, trying to get them to understand that what they wanted to do, was not what God would want us to do. He would want us to share the gospel with the thief and maybe even change his life. 

But confirmation that we had done the right thing came afterward, and brought more clarity to my family. The thief who had run with all of our communication devices had dropped my cell phone as he jumped over the fence. It fell onto the neighbors' property, and even though they weren't sure whose it was, it was returned to us the same day. Because I had it, that evening I was able to communicate about the ordeal on social media. Not actually all that happened, just that it had happened. I said nothing about property or money being stolen. 

Yet, people started calling from all over the world and sending money. People we didn't necessarily know or have any previous connection with. In the end, we received about five times more than what had been taken from us. So much more, that it would have taken me about three years to save up that much.

I kept reminding my family what God was doing through what had happened. They soon could see that this was not an accident. As bad as it was, God was in every step of the way from the beginning to the end, and He is not done with us yet. The weeks that followed, people came to visit, bringing us gifts. We had family graciously give us their home to stay in, as we recovered from the trauma. Someone paid for a trauma counselor to meet with us and help us work through it.

I told my family that if we had let that young man get arrested and he was killed in our compound, then we would have more trauma to deal with than what we were already going through. But the fact that we gave him what he didn't deserve or expect, now we can look at each other and say it was worth setting him free. I believe we have all healed from this experience much quicker than what would have been normally expected. My children's faith is stronger than it was before. They have learned that any situation that you find yourself in, God is at work, God is watching. He uses the bad and the good to bring you to the place where He wants you to be.

Because of the robbery, God has opened our community up to us. People we had never known or seen came to our home that day, and have continued to visit us. We have been able to help some that were hungry or needed counsel. To my surprise, these people have become close family friends. I think the Lord is working through us to actually do a great ministry in our community. Pray that we would be good witnesses for Jesus here.