Andrew was a young man of 26 years old. He was very responsible and sociable as well.
Since he was 9 years old, Andrew had been working to help and sustain his poor family. And for most of his life he had worked in the fields. But although he was a hard worker, he never had a steady job.
Andrew was tired of the same old routine and instability in his life. Now being married, he longed for something better but wasn’t sure what that would be.
Until one day that changed the course of his life.
Andrew visited a publishing house. Upon seeing the work that went on in there, he was deeply impressed.
Andrew instantly fell in love with that place-the big machinery, the technology, seeing the printed pages roll off the presses.
Since that day, he unequivocally knew what he wanted to do: he wanted to be a press operator.
Andrew went to a trade school. He was very studious and a quick learner. He kept his eye open for any opportunity to work at the presses while he was in school.
Two and a half years later, a newspaper company that was growing and had a fantastic future had an opening: they were looking for a press operator and they were even willing to train a responsible person for that position.
Andrew applied and got the job. He couldn’t have been happier. The career that he dreamed of a couple of years before now became a reality.
Andrew worked hard. He was very responsible and he learned all the different areas of printing. In reality, Andrew was one of the best workers in the entire company. They even gave him a promotion.
Not only was Andrew happy with his job and the money, but there was a side benefit as well: he got along very well with his co-workers.
Here was Andrew’s future. Andrew was in paradise.
It was at this company that Andrew met Michael.
Michael was an employee there before Andrew and quickly they became friends. Michael was apparently a trustworthy person. He was a good listener and never criticized or craked jokes about other employees.
One day, while on their lunch break, Andrew confided something about his past to Michael that he had never confided to anyone before.
"I used to suffer from manic depression. One day, at the job I had back then, I even threatened to commit suicide and the police had to come and control the situation. I even interrupted the services in my church one morning."
He was in a psychiatric hospital for three months.
That same night at home, Anrew’s wife didn’t think it was such a good idea to share his past so openly with Michael.
The following Friday, Andrew’s boss called him into his office.
It turned out that the boss was informed about Andrew’s past. He explained to Andrew how disappointed he was that Andrew had not been honest in his application.
He further went on to say that although he was a good worker, the company had too bright of a future to risk any "incidents."
Andrew was fired.
The career that he had dreamed of, a promising futre-all went down the drain. Instead of being a dream come true, Andrew was now experiencing a nightmare. A nightmare of depression and treason.
Andrew was flabbergasted. He opened up to a friend. There was no doubt in his mind that it was Michael that had informed his boss about his past.
****
If you were Andrew what would your feelings be towards Michael?
Anger? Rage? Sadness? Disappointment?
Without a doubt, this was one horrible experience for Andrew that he would never forget. What a betrayal!
One author said,
"One of God’s better jokes on us was to give us the power to remember the past and leave us no power to undo it."1
All of us-maybe like Andrew in this story-have been willing to trade almost anything in order to be able to erase moments of cruelty or betrayal in our past. The hurtful experiences.
But unlike computers, no "delete key" exists to erase reality.
If it is possible to choose to disregard those moments of cruelty, maybe, with time, we can be free from their pain as well.
But past injustices are fastened in our memories like nails.
This morning I want to share a gift with you. A gift that Jesus himself has given to all of us. A gift that we sometimes value and other times scorn:
FORGIVENESS.
This gift has been wrapped by Jesus himself and was meant to be opened and used. Let me begin by saying that forgiveness did not originate with man, but it was meant for man.
Let me explain why.
When we talk about forgiveness, we are, at the same time, talking about injustice because forgiveness cannot exist without injustice.
If there is no offense, there’s no need to forgive.
I share this for two reasons:
1. God was the first being in history that was offended.
2. God originated forgiveness.
Before sin entered into history, there was nothing to forgive.
But when Lucifer rebelled, followed by Adam and Eve, the offense was against God himself. For the first time in the history of the universe, a Being suffered pain, injustice, and was offended.
And since God was the first Being to be offended, He was the first to take action to forgive as implied in Genesis 3:15. Forgiveness finds its beginning in the heart of God.
So, why does forgiveness originate with God? Because it was He who suffered the first injustice.
That’s why forgiveness didn’t start with man.
But it’s for man.
Why? Because sin exists. And where there is sin and offenses, God’s desire is that we forgive as well.
Jesus stated this in a most interesting way through a story of two debtors:
"Then the master called the servant in. ’You wicked servant,’ he said, ’I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’" (Mt. 18:32, 33).
You see heaven’s expectation is that we forgive as God forgives us. In reality, it’s offensive to God when we DON’T forgive and our refusal to pardon others actually RESTRAINS God from acquiting us:
"But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Mt. 6:15)
This is serious language. I like the way "The Message," a contemporary paraphrase of the New Testament says it:
"If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part."
On the other hand, God considers it an act of real trust in Him and evidence that we believe in heaven’s system of government when we DO forgive:
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." (Mt. 6:14)
So forgiveness wasn’t created by man, but it is for all human beings.
Forgiveness is much like a credit card. God is the creditor and he gives each of us this card in order for us TO USE; to cash in on it.
Two things about this forgiveness business.
First, when we forgive, we are PARTICIPATING with God in something that is extraordinary and of divine origin.
God invites us to be PARTICIPANTS with him when we forgive our offenders. We participate in his love, his interests, his character. He’s at our side when we forgive.
Second, if God invented it, isn’t it logical to conclude that we should forgive as He forgives? We can’t improve God.
The Scriputre readings says:
"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." (Col. 3:13)
Note the wording!
"As the Lord forgave you" the Bible says.
Well, a good question here would be "How does the Lord forgive?
"If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness." (Ps. 130:3, 4, NIV)
God doesn’t keep a list of offenses.
"Forgive as" is what the Bible entreats us to do. As the Lord forgave, so should we towards our neighbor.
"Who is a God like you who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy…you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:18, 19)
God forgives wickedness and will NOT stay angry until the sun freezes over because He enjoys showing mercy. "Forgive as the Lord forgave you" is what we should do to our neighbor.
God buries our sins. "As the Lord forgave you." We need to bury sins done against us as well.
The famous English preacher Charles Spurgeon once said, "Forgive and forget. When you bury a mad dog, don’t leave his tail above the ground."2
"As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." (Ps. 103:12)
God no longer sees our past sins because they’re so far from us now. "As the Lord forgave" is what we need to do towards our neighbor.
"You have put all my sins behind your back." (Is. 38:17)
God doesn’t look over his shoulder to see what was before. "As the Lord forgave" is what we need to do towards our neighbor.
Jesus said once to his discíples,
"I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." (Jn. 13:15)
Jesus is our example.
If He has mercifully forgiven our ill-spoken words, corrupt deeds and sinful thoughts that make us worthy of being nailed to the cross, shouldn’t we do the same? Is not Jesus our example?
When Christ forgives you, I’ll bet you that He doesn’t remind you of your sins. For Him, it’s not even something to think about anymore. That’s why Isaiah 43:25 says,
"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more."
When the Moravian missionaries first went to the Eskimos, they could not find a word in their language for forgiveness. So they had to compose one.
The word is a compound word made up of 24 letters:
"Issu-magi-jou-jung-nainer-mik."
It’s a word that has beautiful connotation for those who understand it. It means:
"Not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore."3
When Jesus forgives, this is the attitude he takes: "Not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore."
Christ is our divine example. He’s the only one worthy to be imitated without any danger of doing wrong. As he forgave, so should we.
When we forgive, we can pass through at least three phases or levels.
1. We rediscover the humanity in the one who caused us pain.
When someone does us bad, (like Michael and Andrew in the story), we shrink that person to the size of what he or she did; he or she actually BECOMES the bad that he did.
We say things like, "She’s nothing but a traitor," "He’s a monster," etc.
With these declarations and others similar or even worse, we beat the humanity right out of our enemy.
But when we begin the miracle of forgiving, we begin to see our enemy through clearer eyes and less blurred by hatred.
We begin to see a real person; maybe a selfish, cruel or indecent person, a mixture of truth and lies; but we see a person created in God’s image.
And by the way, forgiving doesn’t mean that you two will be best of pals from now on or that he or she suddenly is a person of trust. Let’s not blind ourselves to reality-he/she may do it again.
But we receive that person into our world again as a person who shares in our frail humanity. Still guilty for what happened, but a human being like me.
2. We surrender our right for vengeance.
The Greek poet Homer said about revenge that it tastes so sweet, we swirl it around on our tongues and let it drip like honey down our chins.."4
Our society, especially the entertainment industry, paints vengeance as the solution when someone offends us. And if we don’t do something, we really don’t esteem ourselves so the attitude seems to be.
Those who don’t forgive many times want the offender to suffer. And not only that, but we want the offender to KNOW that his/her suffering is a result of what they did to us.
Vengeance never has an end. If you did something bad to me, the pain that you caused me will always be greater than the pain that I would cause you.
That’s why entire families at times have fought for decades. These are called Family Feuds.
Yes. We also remember that vengeance is extremely subjective. Those of us who do it will always find grounds to justify it. But the only Being who can take vengeance and be justified by doing it is God.
"It is mine to avenge; I will repay" (Deut. 32:35).
"For the Lord has a day of vengeance" (Is. 34:8).
In reality, many people never take vengeance literally; only in their dreams and fantasies.
But while these dreams of vengeance can never affect the guilty party, they operate much like an I.V., drop by drop injecting its spiritual venom into our own systems.
But while we walk on the path of forgiveness, vengeance is in our hands. And we look at it for one last time and let it fall to the ground like water being poured out. And we say, "good riddance!"
One note here. I agree with author Lewis Smedes when he says that the fact that we don’t take vengeance doesn’t mean that there is now no need for justice.
When pope John Paul forgave the man who tried to assassinate him in 1981, a reporter commented:
"One forgives in one’s heart, in the sight of God, as the pope did, but the criminal still serves his time in Caesar’s jail."5
A father can reject his desire to take revenge and even to forgive the man who raped his daughter, but receiving that pardon doesn’t mean that the criminal suddenly becomes a trustworthy person in a college girl’s dormitory. He needs to be taken to justice.
We cannot ignore the role that punishment plays on the subject of justice.
The spirit of forgiveness toward our fellow man does not lessen the claim of just obligation. When we forgive, we are not encouraging indolence, idleness, or repeat offenses.
3. We review our feelings toward the person that we forgave.
When, by God’s grace, we discover that the offender is a human being like me, and we surrender our desire to take revenge, then I can begin to reexamine my feelings towards that person.
What we felt before was hate. But now, by asking God to help us replace that hatred with benevolence and maybe even pity because our offenders are doing things that actually make them miserable, we can begin to feel different.
Maybe we can even begin to WISH the best for that person.
Obviously, from the beginning, feelings of good will may be weak at first. But if we take Christ’s counsel,
"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven" (Mt. 5:44, 45),
Then we can be sure that we are with God as a team to realize the miracle of forgiveness and healing.
And those of us who do forgive are left free to experience happiness and self healing and to go on with our lives. We aren’t living with the extremely heavy and unnecessary burden of holding a grudge. Those who DON’T forgive are still prisoners confined in their own cells of hatred and bitterness. These are the most unhappy people in the entire world. And what’s more, they don’t even have their OWN sins forgiven by God. He who refuses to forgive is thereby casting away his own hope of pardon.
************
We all know who Leonardo da Vinci is.
He was one of the greatest intellectuals of history as an engineer, thinker and, of course, a painter.
There’s an interesting story that I’m not sure if it’s true or just a myth, but I’ll tell it because it well illustrates this whole business of forgiveness.
Just before he started his painting of the "Last Supper" he had a fight with one of his colleagues, a fellow painter.
He was so angry with him that he determined to paint the face of his enemy as the face of Judas. This way, he would perpetuate his vengeance so that all generations will see the infamous face of his enemy as the face of the world’s most famous traitor.
So, the face of Judas was the first face that Leonardo painted and everyone easily recognized it as the face of the other painter.
Then he began to paint the face of Jesus.
But he couldn’t continue. Something was frustrating his best efforts.
With time, Leonardo arrived at the conclusion that
what was disturbing him was the fact that he had painted the face of his ex friend as the face of Judas.
Leonardo painted over Judas’ face and again commenced on the face of Jesus, this time with such success that has brought the acclamation of all ages.
We cannot, at the same time, paint the characteristics of Jesus in our lives and paint other people with colors of hatred and enmity.6
Dear sister, dear brother: do you have someone you need to forgive? Has someone sinned against you, be it a little or a big offense?
For the love of Jesus, forgive them. Let’s follow our Lord’s example. He forgives us; let us forgive those who sin against us. Not sometimes, but all the time.
Even though these guilty people don’t ask us for forgiveness, we can be in an ATTITUDE of forgiveness and not fill our hearts with spite and animosity. And we shouldn’t question their sincerity when they do ask for forgiveness.
Ellen White says,
"If your brethren err, you are to forgive them. When they come to you with confession, you should not say, I do not think they are humble enough. I do not think they feel their confession. What right have you to judge them, as if you could read the heart?"7
When we forgive, as Leonardo finally did, then a miracle of art takes place-Jesus will masterfully paint over our faces and there, with gentle, divine brush strokes, paint his own.
"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3:13)
Amen.
_______
END NOTES
1. Lewis B. Smedes, "The Art of Forgiving", (Nashville, Tennessee: Moorings, 1996), p. xi. The three main ideas of this sermon are taken from this book.
2. "Speaker’s Sourcebook" (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1960), p. 105.
3. Paul Lee Tan, "Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations" (Assurance Publishers, 1979), No. 1764.
4. "The Art of Forgiving", p. 7.
5. Ibid., p. 8.
6, "7,700 Illustrations", No. 1767.
7. "Christ’s Object Lessons", pp. 249-250.
