Today's Scripture Reading (January 10, 2021): John 20
C.S. Lewis argued that "To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable
because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." It is the Christian
obligation. Sometimes, it is harder for us than it should be, maybe because we
have forgotten how much wrong has been forgiven in us or because we don't
really believe that we have been forgiven. If I don't think that I have been
forgiven, then it might be almost impossible for me to forgive you, giving
something to you that I have yet to receive.
Jesus adds this thought to the
Christian imperative to forgive; unless you do it, it will not get done. It was
one of the criticisms directed at Jesus, as he healed people, he often forgave them
of the sins, but the teachers and leaders of Judaism argued that he did not
have the power to forgive, that power belonged only to God.
But Jesus gives his followers not
only the command and the authority to forgive but tells them that if they don't
forgive, that person will not be forgiven. It is an extraordinary thought. Whether or not
someone is forgiven on the earth is up to us. We are the originators of forgiveness,
and we are to hand it out liberally.
I think that there are two prongs
to this imperative given to us by Jesus. First, I have often argued that
forgiveness just might be a selfish act. The reality is that the person who wronged
us sometimes doesn't even know that a wrong has been committed. They are going on
blissfully through life, either unaware of or confused by our anger. We, on the
other hand, as we harbor our grudge, pay for their crime over and over again, sometimes
daily. One of the main factors of forgiving someone is letting go of the wrong
so that it can't hurt us anymore. Forgiveness simply says, "you hurt me once,
and once is enough. I am letting go of the wrong, so it does not re-inflict its
pain on me repeatedly, every time that I see or think of you."
Another aspect of this imperative
to forgive is that if they know of the wrong and ask for forgiveness, but we
refuse to really forgive them, they will never feel the needed forgiveness. As
a result, they might find it harder to believe that God has forgiven them or
that they can forgive others. All of us have likely experienced this kind of
unforgiveness. These are the conflicts that haunt us, often keeping us awake at
night.
Yes, forgiveness is hard. But it is
what we are called to do, and as we grow to look more and more like Jesus, we need
to begin to echo the forgiveness that he so freely gave to those who crossed
his path during his ministry and that he has given to us. It is our responsibility
to let the world know the reality of the forgiveness that comes from the hands
of God.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: John 21
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