War?- what about forgiveness?! WBC Seeker Service 10/11/02 am
Talk 1- National forgiveness
It seems we ALL have racial, national prejudices
- we¡¦re programmed. By things people say. What we pick up. Events
- Nelson Mandela, in his book "Long Walk to freedom¡¨: ¡§No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. people must learn to hate¡¨
- can¡¦t see our conditioning, programming¡K the issue- because we see WITH the issue. Through it
I guess most of us carry grudges, as well
- with v good cause sometimes
o horrific things done to them. Most of us can¡¦t begin to imagine
o (last world wars. Event trauma of Falklands, 20 yrs on)
- with V little cause, sometimes
o Illustr: me and certain nation (Irish) because of Sarah!
I realise some of us have v little to deal with¡K forgive
- but ¡¥each context seems big enough in itself¡¦
Illustr: Archie. Anger¡K. but could have been a child¡K my child¡K
- imagine the bitterness, hatred!
- I have nothing to forgive, really!
- not like those with war, rape, murder, consistent mistreating
Some of our prejudices are: national, social. Some are personal
- or is personal to start with and then we tar the whole nation with that brush
- but really looking at National prejudices caused by war etc, here
Three little things the Bible ( and wisdom¡K common sense) gives insight into:
1. Adam. The story of Adam
= SO full of insight. Tells us:
- we ALL share a common ancestry (science supports this)
o Acts 17:26 ¡§From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth¡¨
- We¡¦re ALL, basically, the same
o ¡§if you cut me, do I not bleed, like you?¡¨
o ¡§I hope the Russians love their children too¡¨
„X Sting, cold war song
- We¡¦re ALL incredible beings. valued. Made in the image of God. Creative. Potential for good
- We¡¦re all fallen beings, too. Flawed. Basically because we each choose OUR way rather than God¡¦s
o ie ¡¥human¡¦: ¡§we¡¦re only human after all¡¨ (level 42, something about you
o potential for incredible evil
This line for good and evil running through EACH one of us.
- "The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor classes, nor between political parties... but right through every human heart and through all human hearts" Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Circumstances, events social conditioning, pier influence, history, ¡¥being flesh¡¦ impinge on us ALL to affect how we behave
ie It COULD have been ME. YOU.
- I know we THINK we wouldn¡¦t- but people adapt so quickly to their changed environment
o The Postman, Lord of the flies. Football team stranded in mountains (¡§Alive¡¨- Heroism and horror)
Self knowledge/enlightenment is key to everything. Maturity even. Seeing ourselves as we truly are helps us understand others
2. The story of Jonah
The Jews, if anyone , had¡K HAVE¡K reason for national bitterness
- nit just from the Holocaust, but from HISTORY. Nothing new!
Babylon was the major threat in 6C BC (modern day Iraq!)
- capital of Babylon was Nineveh.
- God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell them of His love, anger and mercy
- they repent! Change. Jonah gets the hump!
- 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
- I care about them, too¡K about ALL the same. Those people you HATE
The third thing is
3. ¡§Blessed are the peacemakers¡¨
We¡¦ve had the stories of getting rid of Xenophobia. Now Jesus spells it out as a command¡K or an incentive, really.
- they will be blessed and called sons of God. It¡¦s what God wants
Nelson Mandela, in his book "Long Walk to freedom"
I never lost hope that this great transformation would occur. Not only not only because of the great heroes I have already cited, but because of the courage of ordinary men and women of my country. I always knew that deep down in every human heart, there was mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. people must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when my comrades and I were pushed to our limits, I could see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, perhaps just for a second, but it was enough to reassure me and keep me going. Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.
Desmund Tutu
Truth & Reconciliation Commission" that he was on. He just keep believing the good of people and working for reconciliation
James Mawdsley: 8 friends killed in campsite
Jesus!
Kim Phuc (image). Vietnamese girl fleeing in 1982
- who bombed who is in dispute. But the fact of her national forgiveness is clear. Now a UNSECO rep in Canada
- has often spoke to American populous, soldiers
Should we FORGIVE, national grudges, sins, horrors?
- ASK!
- YES! Without condoning the acts. Yes
Should we FORGET?
- ASK.
- Never! ¡§Lest we forget
o those who have lost their lives for our sake
o that it could have been us
o we all must REMEMBER the past, and learn from it (and the present) so NONE of us repeat these things again
Kim Phuc: ¡§Today Kim Phuc says: "Yes, I forgive, but I don’t forget in order to prevent the same thing from happening again." (Source: UNESCO NEWS, November 20, 1997.) What makes this possible? Perhaps a better question is "Who makes this possible?" And the answer is God. (womentodaymagazine.com )¡¨
Talk 2- Personal forgiveness
National forgiveness starts with individual¡K personal forgiveness
But how¡K why should I forgive? And do I HAVE to?
- ¡§aren¡¦t some things unforgivable?¡¨
o Holly and Jessica. Hitler ¡§how can you forgive Hitler?¡¨
o those who kill, harm ¡¥innocents¡¦
- ¡§what if they don¡¦t ASK for forgiveness¡K or show remorse?¡¨
o haven¡¦t ¡¥remedied¡¦ their lives
- and ¡§I can¡¦t forgive or forget. It was so painful!¡¨
Let me try and address these things
Their repentance
There is a section of the church that (truly!) would say- ¡§you don¡¦t have to forgive if they don¡¦t repent¡K say ¡¥sorry¡¦¡K but if they do, you must¡¨
- they¡¦ve got a god case, actually!
Their approach is based on:
1- the example of God. He doesn¡¦t forgive if we don¡¦t repent
2- A big chunk of examples of ¡¥forgiveness¡¦ in scripture are after clear ¡¥repentance¡¦, (first)
Lk 17:3 "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, `I repent,’ forgive him."
Bits of Mt 18 that seem to be in clear context of repentance, first (unmerciful servant)
But . We are NOT God. God may not forgive if we don¡¦t repent/return
- but it¡¦s not LEFT at that! He engineers¡K does ALL that He can to move that person¡K bring them to repentance
o HE does all He can. So must WE
These examples of scripture make it clear that ¡§forgiveness isn¡¦t easy/soft)
- I believe in ¡¥tough love¡¦¡K and that freedom from Condemnation doesn¡¦t mean freedom from consequences)
But the ¡¥unforgiving¡¦ approach recognises that only the mentally ill don¡¦t feel true remorse and MOST repent
And they neglect passages like
- MT 5:23 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
- MT 6:12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. MT 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’
- MT 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins..
¡K. and a fuller understanding of the unmerciful servant parable
- and the effect unforgiveness has on US:
MT 18:23 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents (Millions of pounds) was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
MT 18:26 "The servant fell on his knees before him. `Be patient with me,’ he begged, `and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
MT 18:28 "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii (a few pence). He grabbed him and began to choke him. `Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
MT 18:29 "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, `Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
MT 18:30 "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
MT 18:32 "Then the master called the servant in. `You wicked servant,’ he said, `I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
MT 18:35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
As Philip Yancey says ’The only thing harder than forgiveness is the alternative.’
’Bitterness is the poison we swallow, while hoping the other person dies’
And there¡¦s another powerful example from the Bible: THIS
(Jesus of Nazareth ¡§Father forgive them¡¨ clip)
THIS is the example to follow: Jesus forgave. Recognising that what they did (though awful and evil) was through: ignorance, programming
So- in one sense the question is NOT ¡§what about forgiving Holly and Jessica¡¦s murderer(s)¡¨
- leave that to the justice system, mainly. They SHOULD be dealt with
- pray for their parents and those who lost FIRST HAND
¡K the question is: How am I going to deal with the things¡K people¡K that have hurt ME
- it boils down to MY response, MY heart, MY part¡K responsibility
SO; we forgive for 4 reasons
1) Society¡¦s sake Someone must break the circle/cycle.#
2) God¡¦s sake. His example in Jesus. And it¡¦s what He wants
- James Byrd Jnr was dragged behind a car by two white supremacists in Texas during 1998. Dragged until his head fell off.
James Byrd’s son (a huge strapping man) appeared on television in Summer 2002. He was the first to want the murderers dead 3 years ago- but has obviously found faith in the last few years. "Life comes from God", he says and we should not take it away. I am trying to break the circle of hate".
The Lawyer of Lawrence Brewer (now a death row inmate) reported him as saying "he is not offended that a black man is praying for him"
- caught this on cannel 5 news. SO struck by this big black man talking about FORGIVENESS. I thought ¡V¡§that¡¦s the power of God!¡¨
3) Judgement¡¦s sake
- Trust that GOD is big, and (from His all-knowing perspective) He will bring judgement here (if necessary)¡Kand afterwards (certainly).
¡§vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I will repay¡¨.
4) OUR sake
- so WE will be forgiven
- so WE won¡¦t be handed over to the tormentors
- for the effect unforgiveness has on US.
- Simon Weston: (the British soldier who suffered burns over 46 per cent of his body as the result of a bomb in the Falklands/ Malvinas war, underwent 70 operations and will have to have more) ’If you spend your life full of recriminations and bitterness, then you’ve failed yourself, failed the surgeons and nurses and everyone else, because you aren’t giving anything back. Hatred can consume you and it’s wasted emotion.
This almost seems impossible to do. It¡¦s SO hard¡K
¡§Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war. And them, to mention the subject at all is to be greeted with howls of anger¡¨. - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
¡K how can we do it??
- example and encouragement of others:
o James Byrd. James Mawdsley. JESUS
- incentive of our health- here and in eternity
But the point of the unmerciful servant is- you can only really forgive others when you know you¡¦ve been forgiven YOURSELF.
- again- it starts HERE (heart)
- Simon Hattenstone (Guardian) re Desmond Tutu: ¡§There are those who say Tutu’s forgiveness has verged on the autocratic. At times, he seems to have demanded forgiveness from commission witnesses simply unwilling, or unready, to forgive. Does he feel God is too forgiving? Tutu pauses. He delivers his next sentence slowly, ecstatically. "I’m just bowled over by the incredible grace of God. Of course, I too am a sinner, and that God should have chosen me to be an archbishop, knowing just what kind of person I am, is really mind-boggling."
I guess you never forget, but the memories lose their power over you
- as you forgive, and forgive . It¡¦s a process
Queue- Corrie Ten Boom hiding place video. While reading:
It was a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing centre at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there - the room full of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie’s pain-blanched face.
He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. "How grateful I am for your message Fraulein" he said. "To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!"
His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people of Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand to my side.
Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ has died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed forgive me and help me to forgive him.
I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.
As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.
And so I discovered that it is not forgiveness any more than goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.
By Corrie Ten Boom, from ’the hiding place’ P220
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