Who Needs
Forgiveness?
Who needs
forgiveness? Today’s passage is about the subject “forgiveness.”
While I was meditating on this passage and studying it, I read a very
inspirational sermon preached by Pastor Michael Parker.[1]
In his sermon he tells a story of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who was a Russian
novelist and social activist. Because Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of
the Soviet Union , he was sent to a concentration camp, called Gulag Archipelago. In
the camp he met one of his close friends. The two were in the army together in
WWII, and they seemed to be alike in many ways, sharing the same convictions
and hopes. But after the war they went in different directions. Solzhenitsyn
was caught up in the Soviet gulags. There he and others went through the
unspeakable tortures. His friend, on the other hand, became one of the
interrogators whose job was to force confessions from innocent people.
Solzhenitsyn wondered how two people who had had so much in common could have
turned out so differently. He could not believe that his friend was a totally
evil person. He knew his friend very well. He could not say that he was totally
good while his friend was totally evil. He concluded:
If only there
were vile people ... committing evil deeds, and it were only necessary to
separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing
good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is
willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
Like
interrogators, there are evil people out there. We read the paper and see the
giants of evil almost every day. Are they then totally evil? No! We shouldn’t
say that they are totally evil. We shouldn’t put them beyond forgiveness. They
need forgiveness. In fact, we share the same evil in our hearts. In
Romans 7 Paul cries out in agony, “When I want to do good, evil is right there
with me… What a wretched man I am? Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
Have you felt this frustration? The Bible says that both good and evil are
living in us. In this sense, we need forgiveness and redemption. Every human
being needs forgiveness.
Are You
Forgiven?
One time Peter
asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he
sins against me? Up to seven times?” (Matt 18:21 ) In the
context it seems that Peter thought that he was doing ok and wanted to brag
about himself. But the Lord answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but
seventy-seven times.” Basically, here Jesus was saying that there is no
limit to forgiveness. Pastor Martin Luther King Jr. said, “A man cannot
forgive up to four hundred and ninety times without forgiveness becoming a part
of the habit structure of his being. Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is
a permanent attitude.”[2]
Forgiveness is a permanent attitude.
Then how can
forgiveness become our permanent attitude? Forgiveness
becomes a part of our being when we first experience God’s forgiveness.
For Peter, the night when he denied the Lord three times was probably the worst
time in his life. When he did that, the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter
(Luke 22:61). Imagine that moment. It was too heavy for Peter to bear that
shame and guilt. He thought to himself he was the most bold and greatest
disciple, but it turned out to be the exact opposite. He was a coward and
traitor. He couldn’t forgive himself. So even after he saw the Risen Christ
twice, he decided to go back to Galilee , his old life. He thought, “I am no longer worthy to be called his
disciple.” But now Jesus is there ahead of Peter and waiting for him just as
the father of the prodigal son (cf. Matt 28:10). Peter and six other disciples go
out and get into the boat. But that night they catch nothing. Jesus says to
them on the shore, “Throw your net on the right side.” When they do, they are
unable to haul the net in. Probably, that reminds Peter of the very first day
when he met Jesus on his boat. Jesus prepares breakfast on the beach – bread
and fish. Probably, that reminds Peter of the day when Jesus blessed five
loaves and two fish and fed five thousand people. Probably, that also reminds
him of the last supper with the Lord. After breakfast Jesus asks Peter, “Simon
son of John do you truly love me?” He asks this same question three times. The
other day one of my colleagues shared her story with me. She needed spinal
surgery. She was so anxious and restless. Finally, she went to the operating
room. The doctor held her hands and said to her, “Look at me! I am not going to
hurt you. Do you believe me?” To her surprise, she was relieved and able to
calm down. In today’s passage Jesus asks the same question three times, not
because he doesn’t trust what Peter says, but because he wants to confirm
their trust relationships. “Peter, look at me! Do you love me? Do you trust
me? Do you believe me? Then, feed my sheep. It will be a tough and narrow path.
You will be led to where you do not want to go. But trust me. Follow me!”
At first, Peter
was a common man. He was a man of many moods. He was full of inconstancies. At
one time Peter was the first to boldly get out of the boat and walk on water,
but in a few second, he was terrified by the strong wind and sank. Peter was
the first to confess the divine nature of Jesus. He boldly said, “You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God.” But, in a few minutes, he rebuked Jesus
when Jesus began to explain that he must suffer and die. Peter was the first to
draw a sword to defend his Master, but within a few hours, he denied his Lord
three times. But Peter was not always like this. He became a different person.
He became a man of love, man of forgiveness. The breakfast with Jesus on the
shore was the turning point of his life. Peter experienced God’s
forgiveness. That changed his life. As you know, in the New Testament there
are two letters written by Peter. They were written about thirty years after
these earlier events of his life. In
the letters Peter is solid and steady like a rock. He is no longer
easily moved. He does not fluctuate. Even in the midst of severe persecution he
stands firm and strengthens his fellow believers (cf. Luke 22:32 ).
God uses the healed men and women who understand their personal histories,
handicaps, and brokenness well. God uses the people who have experienced God’s
forgiveness personally. Have you experienced God’s forgiveness? Are you
forgiven?
Forgive and
Forget
When we are
forgiven, we are then able to forgive others. When I
read Martin Luther King’s sermon book Strength to Love, I was very impressed.
Though he went through all kinds of discrimination, racism and threats from the
enemies, in his sermon I couldn’t find any sign of hate, resentment, or
bitterness. His message was full of hope, love, and forgiveness, because he experienced
God’s forgiveness and grace. Look at Joseph! After Jacob died, Joseph’s
brothers were afraid if Joseph would revenge himself on them. But Joseph
comforted them and said, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You
intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now
being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide
for you and your children” (Gen 50:19-21). Joseph did forgive his brothers, not
because they repented first, but because he himself experienced God’s love and
forgiveness. When we try to forgive others with our own strength, we may
forgive but will never forget what they have done to us. But when we forgive
others because we ourselves have been forgiven, we are able to forgive and
forget. In Jeremiah 31:34 the Lord says to the people of Israel
But I am not saying
that it is easy to forgive and forget. In his book Forgive and Forget Lewis
Smedes says that forgiveness is a process that has four stages: we are
hurt, we are angry, we forgive, and we reconcile. This may take a long time. The
Christian writer C. S. Lewis was badly brutalized by his schoolmaster when he
was a very young student. He was a sadistic teacher who tormented and whipped
his students; eventually he was declared insane and put away. When Lewis became
a Christian he tried to forgive him. But it was almost impossible for him to
forget. He couldn’t put it behind him. It kept coming back. And then, not long
before he died, he wrote a letter to an American friend in this way: “... Do
you know, only a few weeks ago I realized suddenly that I had at last forgiven
the cruel schoolmaster who so darkened my childhood.”[3]
Forgiveness is a process. Forgiveness always costs.[4]
On the cross our Lord Jesus Christ endured the unspeakable pain, anger, and
shame. When we determine to forgive, our emotional cost is enormous. We are
hurt. We are angry. Anger will keep coming back. Real pardon is never easy. But
we have hope! Jesus always takes imitative just as he did for Peter. He comes
to our place to restore us, feed us, and reassure us, “Look at me! You are
forgiven. Do you love me? Do you trust me? Do you believe me? Then go, feed my people.
Let them know that they are forgiven. Deliver the message of reconciliation!”
(cf. 2 Cor 5:18 ) Do you have somebody you need to forgive from your heart? Do you
have a hard time to forgive that person and forget his or her wrongdoing to you?
Then, let us go to our seashore, quiet place and meet the Risen Christ there. He
is waiting for us. Let us be honest and vulnerable. Let our brokenness
transparent before him. Let us sit down with him and dine with him. And let us
listen to his words of forgiveness: “You are forgiven! You are beloved!” Then,
we will be able to forgive and forget by the power of Christ’s love and His
Spirit. And we will truly experience the power of this prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Amen.
[1]
http://www.unitedparishbowie.org/parker/sermon_miracle_forgiveness.html
[2] Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love (Minneapolis
[3]
[4] Franklin Brookhart, Living the
Resurrection: Reflections After Easter (Church Publishing Inc., 2012),
Kindle Location 765.
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