MORNING MANNA 11-24-21
GOOD FOR EVIL
“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”- Rom.12:21
Pastor Lowell Johnson told this true story: It occurred in the Great Depression in America. There was a certain man by the name of Judd Brewster who was a mean, hateful man. Nobody like him. There was a family named Jansen who lost their farm and all their possessions during the Depression. They heard of a sharecropping farm they could work. The only problem was, the property adjoined the property of Judd Brewster, this mean man. Everybody in the area said, “Oh no, you don’t want that farm, because you would have to live next to Judd Brewster, one of the meanest men on the planet earth.” Mr. Jansen said, “I tell you what, if this Judd Brewster gives me any trouble, I’ll just kill him.” That is what he said.
So they moved in and started working this sharecropping farm. One day, their chickens got loose and got over in Judd Brewster’s yard, and Brewster came stomping over to the Jansen’s house, pounding on the door, “Get those chickens out of my yard! If you don’t, you won’t see them again!” So they ran over there, and got the chickens and put them in a hen-house and locked the hen-house.
A couple of weeks later, Jansen’s pigs got loose and got into Judd Brewster’s garden. Once again Judd Brewster came storming up to the front door, pounding on the front door. He said, “Jansen, your pigs got in my garden. But they’ll never get in my garden again. Here they are.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, and there in the wagon that he had ridden up in was a pile of dead pigs. He had shot every one of the Jansen’s pigs. Jansen didn’t do anything except bury his pigs.
One day several months after that, one of Jansen’s sons came running in saying, “Dad! Dad! Get your gun, get your gun quick, because Brewster’s pigs are in our garden!” Already he could taste the sweet flavor of revenge. Jansen said, “No, we’re not going to kill them. Boys, round them up. Load those pigs in the wagon.”
You know, it’s a whole lot easier to load dead pigs in a wagon than it is living pigs. But after a lot of work, that’s what they did. They rounded them up and put them in the wagon. He pulled the wagon over to Brewster’s property. He walked up to the front door , knocked on the door and Brewster came to the door. “What do you want?!”
He said, “Brewster, your pigs got in my garden today.” And all the color just drained out of Brewster’s face, because times were hard and nobody could afford to lose their livestock. Jansen said, “What do you want me to do with them? I brought them back.” Brewster, knowing he killed them, said, “Pile them behind the barn. I’ll take care of it later.” Jansen said, “Well, I can’t do that. If I put them behind the barn they’ll just get loose again.” And Brewster realized this man was showing kindness toward him.
That very afternoon, they had a long conversation. When Jansen left, Brewster had given him half of his pigs. And the next Sunday, for the first time in as long as anybody could ever remember in those parts, Judd Brewster was in church. And he became a Christian. Someone asked Jansen, “What did you mean when you said you were going to kill him if he gave you any trouble?” He said, “That’s what I did. I killed him. I killed him with kindness, because that old mean neighbor we used to have is no more.”
You say, “That’s a pretty good little story, where did you hear it?” To me, this is the best part. It was told by Judd Brewster’s grandson, who is now a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I think mainly because somebody was willing to obey this passage of Scripture and show kindness when they had been insulted.
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
