Do We Want To Forgive Others In the Same Manner That God Has Forgiven Us?

Good Morning Friends,

Today we have a sad passage about the Exile of the people of Israel to Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem and a New Testament passage on mercy, repentance, and God’s love. That God ultimately forgave Israel after the Exile is the connecting point. Still, we ask a question in the hope the Holy Spirit will reveal to us the correct answer. So, Do We Want To Forgive Others In the Same Manner That God Has Forgiven Us?

Scripture: The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, you are living in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, who have ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, mortal, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight; you shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile; and you shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as those do who go into exile. Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry the baggage through it. In their sight you shall lift the baggage on your shoulder, and carry it out in the dark; you shall cover your face, so that you may not see the land; for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel. I did just as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands; I brought it out in the dark, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight. In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, “What are you doing?” Say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel in it.” Say, “I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.” And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage on his shoulder in the dark, and shall go out; he shall dig through the wall and carry it through; he shall cover his face, so that he may not see the land with his eyes.

Ezekiel 12:1-12 (NRSV)

Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.

Matthew 18:21-19:1 (NRSV)

The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

 Zephaniah 3:17 (NRSV)

Message: Today we are hiking through some difficult spiritual terrain. And it will be even more difficult for those in the habit of indulging feelings of malice, or resentment, or bitterness, and giving those feelings free reign. If that is the case, then learning to forgive is going to be a challenge. For today’s Gospel reading is about learning to forgive and yes to forget too. And if we are honest, many of us, and perhaps most of us at times, would have to admit that we hope God does not forgive us the way we forgive others. Let’s face it, who gets up in the morning joyously contemplating who they might forgive. So, it follows that we would prefer that God not “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” For we do not want to forgive, and we love so little. Our forgiveness, when it comes at all, is often of pretty poor quality. We forget the severe consequences of not forgiving in the way we would like to be forgiven. It is hard for us to believe that God wants us, not only to refrain from collecting the debt owed to us by the one who has sinned against us, but to forgive it, to wipe it out without resentment. There is not a lot of theological wiggle room here. Friends, this is serious stuff. This is not a warning we should take lightly. It is right there, in our Bibles. These verses are not just telling us that it is a good idea to forgive, or that it is important to forgive, or even that it is essential to our walk with God that we forgive. The Bible verses are telling us that if we do not forgive others—and we all have others we need to forgive—then our sins will likewise not be forgiven. That is sobering, to say the least. Unfortunately, we have so little practice at forgiving others who have failed to keep their end of the bargain that I am not sure that we even know what it means to forgive. We have thought a lot about what it would take to even the score. We want justice. And maybe a little vengeance, too. Thankfully forgiveness does not mean pretending that nothing happened, pretending that no violation occurred. But if we imagine ourselves re-enacting the scene where they caused us pain and imagining how we would even the score with them, we probably have not forgiven. And if we find ourselves not caring at all what happens to them, we probably have not forgiven. If we want to see them broken, bankrupt, and banished to a desert island—or worse—then we probably have not forgiven. At least not completely. You see, forgiveness requires a change of heart. We think that when we forgive others, we are setting them free, but we are really freeing ourselves of the effects of our bitterness and malice. Because over time, our feelings of bitterness and animosity imprison us much more than they do the object of our hatred. When we choose to forgive…when our hearts are changed… then we are setting ourselves free and releasing ourselves from the prison we have created.

And So, maybe I could have asked why we confess our sins if they have already been forgiven or maybe I could have asked if we even feel forgiven or if God forgives my excuses too, but since the object here is to become more like Jesus, the question is slightly different. The issue is a matter of the heart, and by that, I mean as the scripture implies, that it is about our personalities too, not just emotions. The thing is that all Christians believe that God forgives sins, but few feel joys when they forgive others. I doubt many of us feel, deep down in our bones, that God delights to forgive. When we consider God’s forgiveness, few of us imagine a loving relationship or the joy of finding something that was lost. Many of the parables have images designed to stretch the imaginations of sinners like us. They sit like seeds on the surface of our souls. The hope is that our relationship with Jesus will grow roots into a soil that nurtures us. Still, we wonder if God is really that happy forgiving us. Our suspicions easily replace the image of a loving relationship with one of rejection and disappointment. If we are going to feel and not just confess our sins, then we need to realize that God delights to forgive those who come with Jesus to forgive others. It is then in the act of forgiveness that God’s abundant and generous heart is revealed in us. It is then that God’s mission of dealing with the problem of sin is being fulfilled. It is then in the act of forgiveness that the life purpose of Jesus is glorified. Still there must be some sense of repentance, for if we feel, or those we hope to forgive feel no sorrow for sin, no hunger for holiness, no love for Christ, I doubt that even God would delight to forgive people who take forgiveness for granted. God loves the whole world, but we reject that love if we do not repent. We reject the gift if we do not pass it on to others in the act of forgiveness. That is why we pray for God to forgive our sins as we forgive others. That is just the way it works.

Pray we delight in who God made us to be and we encourage others to be who God would have them to be. Pray
we encourage ourselves by asking for forgiveness with a heart that hates sin but is still willing to forgive others. Pray we never take forgiveness for granted. Pray
Jesus helps set us free to delight in forgiving others. Pray
we realize that when we fail to forgive, we sin against God and ourselves. Pray we realize our need for forgiveness. Pray we realize that one of the keys to building, and maintaining, strong relationships is the powerful spiritual discipline of forgiveness. Pray we ask God for help in forgiving others who have sinned against us. Pray we ask that God open our eyes to any remnant of an unforgiving spirit in our hearts. Pray we are merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful. Pray we realize that we can never repay God but that we can forgive others of their debts. Pray we mean what we say when we share the Lord’s prayer. Pray we reflect on what it took for God to forgive us. Pray we have a change of heart. Pray we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to forgive. Pray we realize that the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love and that we too need to exhibit these same characteristics.

Blessings,

John Lawson