"I only love God as much as I love the person I love the least."
~ Dorthy DayIt's a radical question; one we don't necessarily want to answer.
'Is any person beyond forgiveness?'
Under the system of the Law of Moses, people knew exactly where they stood before God and man.
When a person went to the temple, no oddball was allowed and no abnormal animal would be accepted.
Only the 'clean' and this applied to humans as well as to their worship.
The Law even ranked people according to their race, gender, and bodily health.
The purpose for this was that God's people were to be separated to reflect His holiness.
But that's not the message received by humanity conveyed an ungraceful air of superiority from the Jews towards all other people.
Unfortunately, some Christians have the same attitude towards those not like themselves.
To them, God had established a type of religious caste system; what they failed to realize in the old days is the same thing Christians fail to see today - God had permitted and allowed all people to come to Him in some way.
Today, He offers the same; yet, not through sacrifices but in the person of Himself and His grace bringing forgiveness through repentance.
When Jesus came, people like you and me were able to breathe a sigh of relief; He dismantled the spiritual hierarchy and invited the defective and lame to come to Him.
Rather than being contaminated by our sins, mistakes and errors in life; Jesus made us whole, pure and clean - just as we were meant to be from the beginning.
In a way, Jesus hallowed creation by taking that which we made unclean by our sin, making it clean through his blood.
We didn't deserve His forgiveness, but He graciously poured it out on us anyway.
As such, the Christian, the one who has been made clean and restored by forgiveness and grace; we are the people on the globe who are charged with extending that same grace and forgiveness to other humans that don't deserve it either.
The Christian is to seek to be God's agents in an unclean world; giving His grace while remaining holy because He dwells within us.
Yes, the world is sick and dying; but in His grace and forgiveness, God raises people from the dead everyday through the witness we have in the world.
As the Body of Christ in the world, through us He makes the unclean, clean.Jesus had the reputation of being a 'lover of sinners,' it is a reputation that His 21st Century followers are in grave danger of losing today.
What caused Jesus to earn that title?
Simple - His grace toward them; for grace and forgiveness can only be given through love.
So, back to the original question: 'Is any person beyond forgiveness?'
Truthfully, if nobody is beyond forgiveness then grace is quite the scandal indeed.
What of the murderer?
The elderly abuser, child abuser or the pedophile?
What of the drug addict, the thief, the prostitute or the married man who frequents each of these sins unbeknownst to anyone...or even known to everyone?
The Christian, when confronted with these scenarios will automatically say, 'yes.'
We know God's love covers all things and all one must do is repent, believe by faith and accept His truth. Yet, we find ourselves with an internal struggle not being able to explain the depth of the mercy.
Where we often find ourselves as Christians, is the same place Jonah found himself; we know God will forgive the sinner, but we truly hope He doesn't because we believe they deserve punishment.
And this is heightened when we move from the general to the particular.
It is one thing to speak of a pedophile, murderer or thief; it is quite another to speak about forgiving the person who stole from you, killed your wife or attacked your child.
But if forgiveness is what God says it is and what we hope that it is - then grace must be true in the general and the specific at every turn.
Let me let you in on a secret - forgiveness is unfair.
Hindu's conception of 'Karma' seems so much more satisfying because people get what they deserve; but grace is just the opposite.
Grace and Forgiveness are not fair; yet, we desire not fairness for ourselves but grace.
Over the years, every adult has been hurt - by people they thought were their friends, by their church, by children and even by their spouse.
It's not uncommon, people are people; it has happened to us all.
When they died, it wasn't about who was right or wrong; but rather, it was about the grace God had shown each of them.
In ministry, I have counseled many people; all of which were hurt in some way, particularly married couples.
I have witnessed arguments over the type of soap a person uses and how they use it concerning the laundry. I have seen fits of rage over a parking spot on a lot outside of a restaurant. I have even seen a relationship destroyed over an argument about socks.
Now, how can these things ruin a marriage or permanently scar a relationship?
Easy.
It's because neither person involved would say, 'This is ridiculous, it can't go on like this between us. I'm sorry; please forgive me.'
You see, the truth about forgiveness and grace is that it does not settle all questions of justice or of blame or even of fairness.
Instead, forgiveness and grace allows for relationships to start anew; in essence, forgiveness doesn't take away the pain but it does allow for a 'do over' so that we may begin again.
And it is this capacity, the capacity to repent, forgive and move on which makes us different than the animals in the wild.
I once knew a man who had an affair with a friend's wife; as with all such actions, the friend discovered it and confronted his wife and his friend who had become her lover.
Though trust took years to rebuild, forgiveness was immediate for them both; although the pain he feels still surfaces to this day.
As for the friend, there was no repercussion other than spiritual anquish; which was very painful, as it was for each person involved.
The man whose wife had the affair, he did nothing to destroy the other man nor to hurt him in any way; instead, he did something with both his wife and his friend - he chose to love as Christ loved.
He forgave them both and the relationships have been restored.
To this day, I have NEVER witnessed a strong example of grace, love or forgiveness than in that one Christian man.
At times, I speak with people who think they can forgive, trust again, move forward and simply forget about everything that has happened in a situation...and they can't because forgiveness isn't easy.
In fact, it is one of the hardest things any person can ever do.
The only thing which is more difficult than forgiving someone who has injured you is the alternative; not forgiving someone is much, much harder.You see, not to forgive imprisons the one who has been injured. It stops all forward progress in relationships, spirituality and trust.
To paraphrase another, forgiveness loosens the noose of guilt in the perpetrator and it eases the pain of the violated.
Truthfully, forgiveness is easy...until you first attempt to practice it.
Only then will it become difficult; but only then will it become effective for both the person injured and the one who caused the pain.
Several years ago, I stood outside the Civil Rights Museum in Montgomery, Alabama.
I was there with a group of men and women, all being Air Force connected.
The leader of the group was a 40-something black man; while there were other minorities with us, most of us were white.
All of us were amazed at the history we observed; the tragedy of racial hatred struck each of us in our hearts; yet, those who were black did not hold the rest of us responsible for what had happened in the Deep South just a few decades ago.
Instead, we rejoiced together that we lived in a time where we would never know that much hate among ourselves.
How different this is from those who still speak of Selma, Alabama and Bull Conner as if he was the typical police officer of the twenty-first century!
You see the difference in attitude in the past as well; from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. he taught peace and patience, while others were much more radical and violent.
What was the difference between the people I was with at the Civil Rights Museum and those who spoke of the Civil Rights Movement as if no progress had been made?
What's the difference between King and someone like Stokely Carmichael?
The answer is easy - it is forgiveness.
In both instances, the latter had not forgiven.
Only forgiveness rooted in God's grace can thaw such a guilt-ridden situation.
God will not be able to use you as He could until you take the hard step of grace, which is forgiving those who don't deserve it.
Whether it is people, church bodies or even institutions and organizations; we must forgive those who have injured us so that we might be released from the situation in our hearts and minds and God can effectively use us once again.
You see, God did the same that He asks us to do.
God found a way to forgive us for our sin; He did so in Christ's coming.
Until Jesus came, was betrayed, was crucified - God did not know exactly what it meant to be human nor did He know what we endured here on earth in our lives.
But now, according to Hebrews, God does know what it is like to suffer.
He now knows what it is like to be betrayed; to hurt and feel emotional pain as you and I feel it.
And as far as grace and forgiveness is concerned, the Gospels indicate that forgiveness was not easy for God either.
When Jesus was praying in the Garden, He asked that if there was another way, the cup of God's wrath being taken away.
But our forgiveness could not be achieved any other way.
Having become one of us, Jesus now understands.
And in His understanding, He achieved the offer of salvation for all who will seek Him.So, ultimately, the answer is 'no.'
There is not one person beyond forgiveness; for if this was possible, you and I would also be beyond forgiveness.
And God loves us too much for that situation to continue.
Until next time, win one for the good guys.
No comments:
Post a Comment