Allen Raynor Weblog:
“The Essential Nature of Forgiveness” (Pt. 1)
(Dec. 12, 2018)
Have you ever had someone make you angry when you were driving? Do you suppose you have ever made other people angry with your driving? When another person does something you do not like out on the road it is very hard not to immediately pass judgment on them. We must keep in mind that it is also very hard for them to not pass immediate judgment on us when we do something we should not. Driving incidents are over in seconds, but memories can linger for weeks, maybe longer. When it comes to driving we can all agree it is much easier to “be forgiven” than it is to “forgive.”
I believe
Jesus knew we would have a hard time with forgiveness because the theme comes
up several times in the New Testament. Out
of all the lines in the Lord’s Prayer, for instance, the only one that is
expounded upon is the one dealing with forgiveness. Mat. 6:12 says “Forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors.” Then in vs. 14 the
Lord further clarifies what He meant.
The fact
that the Lord’s Prayer is absent of words like “me” and “I” but uses “we,” “our,”
and “us” is very instructive at the point of understanding, and seeing the need
for “forgiveness.” Forgiveness goes
beyond the surface and gets underneath.
It exposes things we often wish to remain hidden such as motive and
intent. It even reveals how selfish we
can be and that is something few want known.
While forgiveness is closely
akin to “self-less-ness,” unforgiveness is
closely akin to “self-ish-ness.”
In Mat.
6:14-15 Jesus teaches “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you. But if you
do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.” We have a need to forgive others. Jesus does not teach here that we have a need
to forgive merely “perceived” transgressions against us but instead for actual,
real, painful, wrongs done against us.
Yet, as hard as it may be, we are taught by the Lord that both the
principle and practice of forgiveness should always be on display in the lives
of Christians. Think about a runway
model modeling clothing. The fashion
being featured is meant to be seen, meant to impress, meant to be
coveted/desired. The clothing designers
expect those in attendance to pass judgment on what they see. There hope is that they will like/enjoy what they
see and desire to have it. When the
world sees Christians modeling forgiveness
in an “eye for eye; tooth for tooth,” kind of world they cannot help but take
notice. Forgiveness then holds a certain
shock value to the world; however for the Christian it should all look completely
normal.
We all have
both judgmental tendencies and merciful tendencies. For believers mercy should always rule over
judgment. James wrote “For judgment is
without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13) Many often say “I can forgive but I cannot
forget.” Actually putting being
“wronged” by someone behind us once and for all is undeniably difficult. Ted Kersh, in his book on the Sermon on the
Mount, writes “One of the most challenging disciplines of the Christian life is
forgiveness. In fact, the very word
‘forgiveness’ may dredge up distressingly painful memories of events or people
we’d give anything to forget . . . but for our own sakes, we must cancel the
debt.” (Ted Kersh; The Blessed Life;
104; 106) The most literal meaning of
the word “forgive” means “to hurl away.”
It is a picture of taking something and throwing it away from you as far
as your strength can throw it.
In the Christian movie “A Matter of Faith” perhaps the most
powerful scene comes when Professor Portland looks at Prefessor Marcus Kaman
and says “Marcus, I forgive you.” He had
been blaming him for 12 years for getting him fired from the University,
ruining his career, and basically his whole life besides. He had become a cranky bitter man, but he
finally realized he had to forgive in order to move on.
Forgiveness
is a consistent theme throughout all of Scripture. Believers need to look to great examples of
men like Joseph who forgave his brothers for nearly killing him and then
selling him. Stephen, of whom the texts
says “He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord do not charge them
with this sin.’ And when he had said
this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:20) And
of course, Jesus is the greatest example of all. He cried out from the cross “Father forgive
them for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 22:34) The Lord Jesus, of course, had forgiven many
along the way like the woman at the well (John 4), the woman caught in adultery
(John 8), Zacchaeus the tax collector, etc.
He knew how to forgive and He taught His followers to forgive as
well. He did not ask us to do it because
it was easy, but precisely because it was hard and unnatural. In so doing, attention would be brought to the
unmistakable power of the Gospel over and above human tendencies.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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