Text:
II Cor. 5: 16-21 from Today's English version, sometimes called The
good News Bible. This sermon was delivered on Aug. 9, 2015
There
have been some good and bad anniveraries this month. The 50th
anniversary of the voting rights act. The anniversaries of our
dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Forgive
us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Loose the cords
of mistakes binding us as we release the strands we hold of others
guilt.
I
was reminded last weekend that family stories are filled with hurts
and disappointments along with joy and delight. Watching our adult
children interact; seeing old roles emerge at times; observating how
desperately each wanted to be accepted and valued by the other, I
was reminded once again that I am a Jesus follower not because he
promises me eternal salvation but because the Jesus way makes so much
sense. “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to
the Father except through me” may very well be referring to some
kind of eternal salvation, but for me it is a simple yet dynamic
statement of truth. If we are to get along with each other, if we
are to co-exist without violence and ugliness we must learn to walk
the Jesus walk. And as my dad used to say, “ideas are often hard
to put in practice but watching how another person does something can
be very enlightening. That's the role Jesus plays. Through his life
and teachings he shows us how to be.”
It's
ironic then that as human beings, as societies, as cultures, we
spend so much time nursing our hurts and avenging our so called
slights. Even our understanding of God is shaped by out lust for
vengeance and punishment. In spite of our rhetoric we love a violent
and vengeful God and use the Old Testament to excuse our own
violence. Yet Jesus exemplifies in his person a God of love, a God
of forgiveness, a God of new beginnings, a God of hope, a God of
reconciliation and remption. If seeing is believing thepotential for
human interaction in him, how can I not believe and follow?
It
is also human nature to reduce everything to it's lowest common
denominator so we seem to cheapen everything we touch. Forgiveness,
for instance we reduce to simply saying” I'm sorry” or “that's
ok.” But, true forgivenss is radical emotional and spiritual
surgery that allows us to remounce all of our logical claims for
revenge or compensation for the hurts and damage we've suffered.
Forgiveness frees us by cutting the cords and knots, by breaking the
chains of betrayal and PTSD and painful memories that bind us to the
past that is keeping us captive. Forgiveness frees us from
compulsively picking our scabs and opening old wounds so they never
heal.
Popular
understanding assumes that forgiveness is something we do to relieve
the offender of their guilt. And that can be part of the process.
But the forgivenss that Jesus practiced was a conditional transaction
that is more about us than the offender: it's about the role we play in the process. It is conditional because
we cannot forgive without first being forgiven for harboring hate and
judgment and the lust for revenge. When he prays, “Father forgive them
they know not what they do” he is releasing his disappointments and
broken dreams of what he had hoped for; he is recognizing that
Judas's brokenness and attachment to the ways of the world were just
too strong and that governments are rigid ego driven institutions.
He is recognizing that three years wasn't enough time.
We
forgive not for the other's sake but for our own, because
forgiveness looses the strands we hold of others guilt so that we are
freed from all that holds us back. So that we can move on. So that
we can heal. So that we can begin to see the other through a new set
of eyes. And in that process of our healing we set in motion the
opportunities for others to heal.
Forgiveness
is not about condoning evil or wrong. It is not about ignoring,
making excuses or denying what happened. Forgiveness is about facing
reality, accepting what happened even when we hate what happened, and
then by taking responsibility for the part we played in whatever
occurred, in acknowledging that the way we've chosen to respond to
the betrayal, hurt, injury, is what is eating us alive. That
revenge can never undo what has happened so the only way to move on
is by our detaching from that pain. Forgiveness is saying to the
other, “ I no longer give you the power to keep hurting me. I
release you from carrying the guilt of what you did, hoping that you
have learned something from all of this, but even if you haven't, I
release myself from your power over me and my life. Just as I will
what is best for me, I now will what is best for you so that we can
both move into God's open future as non-enemies.
Three
stories defining forgiveness.
A
Jewish survivor of one of the death camps was called to testifiy at
the Nurenberg trial against a very cruel and sadistic guard. As he
painfully recounted his story he began to weep so much that the judge
called for a recess. Asked what memory had upset him so deeply he
replied, “it wasn't what I remembered; it was what I saw in myself.
I got a good look at my deep hatred and contempt for the guard and I
suddenly realized that I am no different than he. I am as capable of
hurting others as he as I wanted him to suffer as we suffered. Thus
I wept in fear and shame.” You see we often react so strongly to
the acts of others because they hold up a mirror in which we are
forced to see ourselves.
And
then there is The Nichol Mines massacre of the Amish girls and more
recently the mass shooting in Charleston SC. In both cases those who
survived stated that they forgave because not to do so would make
their loved ones deaths a senseless traversity accomplishing what the
shooter desired.
In
the early 60's a Korean family came to New York so their gifted son
could study medicine. One evening while walking to the universaity
library he was murdered by 3 teen gang members. His parents were
devastated. At the sentencing hearing the Korean family spoke
against the death penalty and an excessive sentence. Since their son
was no longer alive and able to become a doctor, they'd decided it
was these very boys who must now pick up the dream they'd destroyed
by killing their son. This couple told the court that they would pay
for whatever it cost to have the boys finish high school and get
college degrees while incarcerated. They believed God wanted them to
invest all of their love and resources into these ghetto kids who
killed all they held precious. When the boys came up for parole they
wanted the boys released into their care. This was what they needed
for their own healing for anything less than the complete change of
these boys lives would make their son's death a tragic waste.
And
so the miracle of forgiveness began... and continued through the
years, for this quiet Korean couple visited those boys while in
prison week after week, arranging for their education and counseling
and religious training while incarcerated and even after their
release. By refusing to define the boys according to their
past behaviors, they helped everyone involved see themselves through a
completely different lens. Today one boy is a doctor who runs a
street clinic, another teaches in a ghetto school, and third is a
missionary in Korea.
O
God of love and forgiveness, grant what we need each day in bread and
insight. Loose the cords of mistakes binding us to the past as we
release the strands we hold of others guilt. Don't let surface
things delude us but free us from what holds us back. Amen
Joyce Shutt is pastor emeritus of the Fairfield Mennonite Church.
