"Father, Forgive Them...." Series

“Chris Carrier of Coral Gables, Florida, was abducted when he was 10 years old. His kidnapper, angry with the boy’s family, burned him with cigarettes, stabbed him numerous times with an ice pick, then shot him in the head and left him to die in the Everglades. Remarkably, the boy survived, though he lost sight in one eye. No one was ever arrested.

Recently, a man confessed to the crime. Carrier, now a youth minister went to see him.

He found David McAllister, a 77 year-old ex-convict, frail and blind, living in a North Miami Beach nursing home. Carrier began visiting often, reading to McAllister from the Bible and praying with him. His ministry opened the door for McAllister to make a profession of faith.

No arrest is forthcoming; after twenty-two years, the statute of limitations on the crime is long past. In Christian Reader (Jan/Feb 98), Carrier says, ’While many people can’t understand how I could forgive David McAllister, from my point of view I couldn’t not forgive him. If I’d chosen to hate him all these years, or spent my life looking for revenge, then I wouldn’t be the man I am today, the man my wife and children love, the man God has helped me to be.” (Seven Sayings from the Cross: A Theology of Forgiveness by Keith Smart) Chris Carrier was a man by the time he met his attacker, but in his heart he had already forgiven the man long ago and that enabled Chris to lead the life that God had called him to and prepared him for. Now hopefully none of you have had to go through something so dramatic, but I know that almost everyone of us have had someone who has hurt us. And many of us have had someone who, to be honest, wasn’t remorseful at all for the pain they have caused us. If we forgive as Christ forgave on the cross that day, we must also forgive.

When we continue to look at the forgiveness of Christ we come across another aspect of it. It was a forgiveness that led to intercessory prayer. Here Christ was praying to His Father on behalf of the people who were literally torturing him. It reminds me so much of what Jesus had said earlier in His ministry. In Matthew 5:43,44 He said, “You have heard that it was said, ’Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Pray for those who persecute you. Pray for those who don’t treat you the way that you deserve. Pray for those who stomp on your feelings and don’t care what they did. That’s hard! Let’s once again make the observation that Jesus didn’t say that and not do it himself. Jesus’ concern for the very people who were inflicting intense pain on him went beyond his personal forgiveness, He was concerned about the state of these men souls. “Father don’t hold this against them, they don’t know what they are doing.” You see when we pray for those who mistreat us, our prayers shouldn’t necessarily be, “Lord, help them to see what they have done to me and how wrong it is. Help them to be sorry for what they have done.” Our prayers should directed at the salvation of their very souls. Our concern should be that when it is all said and done that they are in good standing with God. And guess what, when God comes in and creates a new creation in them, they will eventually realize that the way that they treated you was wrong. But if they don’t, so what. When you have the forgiveness of Christ you are worried more about their standing before your Heavenly Father. And if it was a brother or sister in Christ who stepped on your feelings or did something offensive to you. You still pray on their behalf, and if they are in right relationship with God, God will convict them of what they have done. Although if you are offended enough you may need to go to them and straighten it out, they may not have realized what they did. But the forgiveness of Christ was a forgiving spirit that looked beyond the pain that came to him through those who mistreated Him, and went to bat for them with His Father. Thank goodness that Christ is still the great intercessor and goes to bat for us with the Father. When I think about someone in scripture who failed in this area my mind comes to Jonah. Jonah had a hatred for the people of Nineveh. Nineveh was a wicked city that was known for their atrocities against helpless people, and in war. They were full of idolatry and prostitution. You name it and Nineveh had it. Many of Jonah’s people had experienced the atrocities of these ruthless people. God had called him to go preach to the Ninevites. We all know that Jonah didn’t want to preach to the Ninevites, because he didn’t want them to experience what God had for them. After Jonah experienced three nights in the belly of a big fish, Jonah went back and preached repentance like God told him to. But when they repented and God spared their life, instead of rejoicing at their repentance Jonah was angry that God had spared them. Even though Jonah preached to them he never had forgiven them for their past acts, and he really didn’t want them to respond to the gospel, because he didn’t think they deserved the forgiveness of God. Jonah’s lack of forgiveness and his lack of compassion for those who had mistreated him brought bitter attitudes and a scolding from God. Christ called us to pray for our enemies, pray for those who persecute you. But most of all you must forgive, and when you forgive with the forgiveness of Christ, whether they are sorry or not, it leads to intercessory prayer on their behalf.