"When I was a kid, I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way... so I stole a bicycle... and asked him to forgive me."
Well, there are 100s of jokes about forgiveness- the one I read is by Emo Phillips- and there are legions of people who actually believe that God's forgiving nature... allows them to do whatever they please... but today I want to talk about forgiveness... in a serious vein because... forgiving lies at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian! Jesus' entire ministry was dedicated to forgiveness and renewal. Among his last words on the cross were, "Father, forgive them...," and when his disciples received the Holy Spirit (John 20), he said, "If you forgive the sins of any, they will be forgiven." In short, our Master lived and died with forgiveness on his mind, and it seems to me that the most quintessential thing we can do as Christians is to FORGIVE others. Friends, if you want to do something today for Jesus, get out there and forgive someone. Release someone from the bondage of guilt, fear, and resentment. You have the power to do it, and in the forgiving... you will free yourself from the same chains. Also, according to Matthew 6:12, every time we say the Lord's Prayer, we affirm that there is a distinct relationship between forgiving others and being forgiven ourselves. In short, apart from accepting Christ, forgiving others is one of our single greatest Christian acts! If you want to do what Christ did, get out there and forgive someone and do it again and again and again- 70 times 7- as a way of life! Forgiving is not just another good trait. It is- more than a clerical collar or church attendance- a sign that a person has experienced rebirth and that he or she is growing in Christ. A forgiving spirit is a Christian spirit... so let me offer a few thoughts that may be helpful... as you seek to be more and more Christ-like:
1. Forgiving others is a choice! It's not a feeling. Each day, when we ask Jesus to show us ways in
which we can witness to Him, we are agreeing to forgive another person if the Holy Spirit opens
the door- no matter how badly that person has hurt us, or how long we have piled up resentments,
or how much we think that the person deserves to be punished. Forgiving others, especially those
who need forgiveness most, is not easy... but If you're waiting to feel like forgiving another
person, you may be waiting a very, very long time;
2, Forgiving others will make you healthy! Yes, it's true. For the engineers and scientifically
minded, let me say that forgiving others... a) helps lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and heart
rate; b) improves sleep quality; c) strengthens immunity among HIV-positive patients;
d) reduces depression, anxiety, and anger; e) lowers risk of drug abuse; and f) allows YOU to
move on with your life In short, forgive... even if you think it's all about you. However,
3. Forgiving others restores our relationship with GOD. Friends, resentment is a deadly
spiritual cancer, which like sin, will block our growth in Christ and hinder our relationship with
God. If we're burdened with anger and resentment, we won't pray, study, or serve God as we
should, and we will deprive ourselves, our neighbors, and our God of the joy that emanates
from a healthy, loving relationship. Refusing to forgive others creates a lose-lose-lose scenario
and the entire world is lesser for it. This is why Christ urges us to restore relationships with one
another... before we come to His table; (Matt. 5:23)
4. Forgiving others... fulfills the new Commandment that Jesus gave in John 13:34- which calls
us to love one another AS he has loved us! As Christians, we are called to love each other AS
Christ loved us, and while this includes a lot of things, it MUST include forgiving one another!
To talk about Christ-like love without talking about radical forgiveness would be nonsensical;
5. Forgiving is NOT the same as minimizing or denying the pain you have incurred! Some
people, even those who have been hurt badly, dismiss the pain that they've experienced. "I'm
fine," they say, or "It's nothing." Well, you're not fine and it is something! We are all God's
children. We are all precious in His sight. Each one of us carries the image of God within us,
and in Christ, each of us is an heir to His throne. In Christ, we are worth loving, even worth
dying for, and no one has permission to violate us, dismiss us, or diminish us in any way.
Therefore, while we must find the grace to forgive, we must also have the courage to confront
the full depth and breadth of the sin that we endured;
6. Forgiving sin has NOTHING to do with tolerating evil! When one of us hurts or offends
another (and it's just a matter of time), we will forgive one another's debts, but that does NOT
mean that, individually or corporately, we will tolerate the behavior involved. Things like
abuse, theft, harassment, bullying...cannot be tolerated in any Christian and/or loving family;
and finally, let me get to the title of this message:
7. Forgiveness MUST have a face! I cannot forgive anyone anything in the abstract. I cannot
forgive all sinners everywhere; I can't forgive the Nazis for murdering the Jews; I can't forgive
Andrew Jackson for the Trail of Tears; and I can't forgive people who haven't sinned against
me. I feel bad about these things, and I'll work to make the world a more compassionate and
just place, but I can't let go of someone else's pain. This means that forgiving others is a
behavior and not a thought, and that it is specific and not abstract (which is why Christ said
that we must actually mend our relationships before we take communion). Forgiveness must
have a face, and to be a forgiving person, I must show the grace and courage that Corrie ten
Boom showed when she met one of the Nazi guards who had abused her at Ravensbruck.
Listen now, because this story captures the essence of real forgiveness. Apart from Calvary's
cross, there is none better:
It was in a church in Munich that a saw him- a balding, heavy-set man in a grey overcoat, a brown, felt hat in his hands. People were filing out of the basement where I had just spoken. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland with the message that God forgives... And that's when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were! Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent... "You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he said, "I was a guard there...but since that time," he went on, "I became a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well... 'Fraulein... (his hand came out... will you forgive me'"
And I stood there- I whose sins had every day to be forgiven- and could not. Betsie had died in that place. Could he erase her slow, horrible death simply by the asking? It couldn't have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours... as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. For I had to do it- I knew that... And still I stood there, with coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion- I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me." I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling." And so, woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. "I forgive you brother," I cried, "With all my heart." For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never know God's love so intensely... as I did then."
Can I hear an "amen"?
