First Baptist Church
Matthew 6:14
June 11, 2006
Can You Forgive?
I would like to tell you a true story. It occurred during the holocaust and I will do my best to leave out as much of the gruesome details as I can. The story I have comes from the book called “The Sunflower.” Listen to this story and consider how you might have reacted. Again, this will not be a pleasant story. And I will not tell you the conclusion until we are done.
Simon Wiesenthal was a young Jewish architect in Austria. Along with so many other Jews, he was placed into a concentration camp in Mauthausen, Austria. He was certain he would die there. In fact, the majority of the friends Wiesenthal made while he was in the concentration camp, either died or were killed.
One afternoon Wiesenthal was given the job of cleaning garbage from an impoverished hospital outside the concentration camp. The only patients in the hospital were German soldiers who were wounded fighting at the Russian front. A nurse took Wiesenthal by the arm and brought him to the bedside of a German SS trooper, named Karl.
Karl told Wiesenthal about his upbringing, his home and his activity in the German army. Karl told Wiesenthal about the many atrocities he had seen and been involved in. The most poignant story Karl told was the time the German army herded about 200 Jews into a house. They had the Jewish people carry kerosene into the house and pour it all around, then they threw hand grenades at the house, igniting it on fire; and shooting those who tried to jump out. There were very powerful images running through Wiesenthal’s mind through this story.
Wiesenthal wanted to leave the room on a number of occasions, but he did not. Instead he listened to Karl’s story. Finally, Karl asked Wiesenthal for forgiveness. It would be the only way Karl could die in peace.
If it is possible to put yourself in Simon Wiesenthal’s situation, what would you have done?
Thirty years after this occurred Wiesenthal ended his book, with the same question. He struggled for many years about this encounter. So he asked many distinguished religious and spiritual people, what they would have done. In this book he retold the story along with what he did. He also told what others would have done.
- What does your gut tell you?
- Would you have forgiven Karl?
- Would you have walked out of the room?
- Would you have told him he was evil and deserved to rot in hell?
- My friends what would you have done?
As Catholic priest, Matthew Fox his response, he included these words, “Simon did take the man’s hand and hold it. And he did swat away flies that bothered the dying - guilt ridden soldier. By holding his hand, Simon was being present and being human. Though holding his hand repulsed him after more of the horror story was revealed, still he stayed in the room and listened. Listening was his gift, listening was his act of compassion.”
After Karl died, his final belongings were given to Wiesenthal at Karl’s request. After his release from the concentration camp, Wiesenthal made a trip to Karl’s home, and met his mother. She showed him pictures of Karl and spoke of Karl as a “good boy” who went against their wishes and desires. Wiesenthal did not tell Karl’s mother the gruesome stories Karl told him, instead he lied and said he met him on a train when he was dying.
What did Wiesenthal do. He explained, For a long while, Simon Wiesenthal said nothing. He wrote, “At last I made up my mind . . .” Simon Wiesenthal . . . pulled his hand away and walked out of that room, leaving Karl to die alone and without forgiveness and peace.
Was Wiesenthal correct in what he did?
Are there sins that are unforgivable?
Are we called to forgive the unforgivable sins?
Can we forgive acts that are not committed against us?
RESPONSES FROM OTHERS:
Most of the responses were that Wiesenthal should not have forgiven that man. They felt it was good not to forgive him. Some even said that forgiving Karl would have been a very bad thing. Most also admitted that they do not know what they would have done if they were in Wiesenthal’s place. Some of the quotes of these men and women were:
- “I would have strangled him.”
- “We cannot forgive murderers.”
- “I believe you followed a proper and honest path.”
- “To forgive everything means that one is lacking in discrimination, in true
feeling, in memory.”
- “One cannot and should not go around happily killing and torturing and then,
when the moment has come, simply ask and receive forgiving.”
- “I believe that the easy forgiving of such crimes perpetuates the very evil it wants
to alleviate.”
- “You would never have been able to live with yourself had you forgiven him.”
- “This forgiveness is not for those who killed or who orchestrated mass murder
and on their deathbed seek to put their minds at ease.”
- “Granting the murderer forgiveness would have been the final victory of
nazism.”
- “No one can forgive crimes committed against other people.”
- “How can a criminal be forgiven for an unforgivable crime?”
- “I personally think he should go to hell and rot there. I doubt very much my God
would grant him forgiveness.”
+ “I believe one should forgive the person or persons who have committed
atrocities against oneself and mankind.”
+ “Exercised with love and justice, atonement and forgiveness serve the same end:
life without hatred. That is our goal. I see no other.”
+ “No one, no memory should have the power to hold us down, to deny us peace.
Forgiving is the real power.”
+ “I am afraid not to forgive because I fear not being forgiven.”
Many others, including one of Wiesnethal’s good friends in the concentration camp explained you cannot forgive someone when they have not committed their crime against you.
And that is one of the difficulties of forgiveness. We often project forgiveness upon others, who have never hurt us, directly. You see, Wiesenthal had no right to forgive Karl for what he had done to other people. Only his victims had a right to forgive Karl. We can never forgive someone for actions, crimes and sins that are committed against other people. We can never forgive them for someone else’s pain.
If someone you love is hurt by another person, you cannot forgive them for the act, but you can forgive them for the pain it brought into your heart and soul, because someone you love has been hurt.
The other question to be asked is, “can someone be forgiven for terrible atrocities?” On the one hand, we do not want to let them off the hook. We want them to suffer and squirm, and maybe even, rot in hell. We want to follow the old principle called, quid pro quo, which literally means, something for something, or a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye, a life for a life. That is the Old Testament law. For some of us, to forgive means we are ignoring this principle.
Some would say that to forgive would be a cruel injustice and dishonest. Forgiving can make it seem like this horrible act never occurred.
Some would also say to forgive contradicts human nature. Our nature is to get even. Forgiving may be divine, but it is not natural to us. Getting even is natural. Forgiving is unnatural.
I suppose the best response would be to have the wisdom to ask Karl to pray, and even join him in faith to pray to God, asking God to forgive him.
The passage in Matthew 6:14, can be a haunting passage, can’t it? Have you ever really thought about what it means. Immediately after the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus mentions forgiving others and God’s forgiveness of us, (which we will talk about in 2 weeks), Jesus then says these difficult words ~ “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.”
What does that mean for us? What happens when we don’t forgive others who have sinned against us? Does God really not forgive us when we mess up and hurt others and sin?
I would have to answer yes, because that is what Jesus said. To take this a step further, if receiving forgiveness for you is not possible from God, because you refuse to forgive someone else, then can that mean you have fallen from God’s grace; and even salvation? Frankly, I’m not sure. But it is haunting question for me, that when someone hurts me, I ultimately have to forgive, if I expect to be forgiven.
Why should we be on the hook to forgive? Why will God forgive us only if we forgive? Forgiveness cleans our heart and soul, and removes the bitterness, anger, rage and malice from us. That is why Paul was clear to use these words in Ephesians 4:31 and Colossians 3:8.
- Basically, I believe it is often harder to find forgiveness from another person than it is to find forgiveness from God. God is filled with mercy and grace and love. We can be filled with anger and hatred and revenge.
Forgiveness is a loaded topic. That’s why we are going to look at it for 2 more weeks.
TO THINK ABOUT THIS WEEK:
Who have you not forgiven? How many people do you know who have wronged and hurt you, yet you cannot forgive.
Do you believe God can forgive Karl? Do you think God can forgive those who are truly repentant of their sins? Even on their death bed?
Yet, even here, there are people who cannot wish peace and joy to others. Why? Because they have been hurt and will not forgive. My friends, when you refuse to forgive, you are extending power to others that reopen wounds from days long forgotten, as if they occurred yesterday.
Who do you need to forgive? Someone in this room? Then forgive them. Be at peace in your life. You do not even have to go up to them, simply or difficultly in your heart, ask God to help you forgive. Set your heart, soul, mind and even your body, free. As Paul said in Romans 12, ‘if it is possible, as much as it depends upon you, live at peace with everyone.”
Let us pray,
