Grace as Forgiveness
Grace as Forgiveness
By Larry Wilson
John 3:17NRSV
17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Forgiveness seems so rare in the public church of America. People who want to be taken most seriously for their faith have a list of people that they exclude from their fellowship because they are sinners. Homosexuals, drinkers, drug users, feminists and Muslims are at the top of the list of those left out of the American Church.
Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God and the main focus of the Kingdom is forgiveness. Jesus’ teachings ask us from beginning to end, what kind of world do you want to live in: a world where you get what you deserve or a world of grace in which we are loved in spite of our sins and other failings. The Pharisees accuse him rightly of eating and drinking with sinners (Matthew 9:11, Matthew 11:19. Mark 2:1, Luke 15:1 – 2). He instructs his disciples to judge not, he teaches them in the Lord’s prayer, Matthew 6:12NRSV “ forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”. He forgives the woman caught in adultery, the woman in Luke 7 who washes Jesus feet is to always be remembered even thou she is a sinner, the Samaritan women at the well who has had five husbands and is now living with another man after talking to Jesus becomes the best missionary in the Gospels leading her village to follow Jesus (John 4). Jesus instructs Peter that he must forgive 7 times 70(Matthew 18:22), He forgives the thief on the cross and then all of us when he forgives those who place him on the Cross, praying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34NRSV,
When people have problems with relationships and they come by to discuss them with me most of the time they want me to agree that the person they are having the problem with has done them wrong and most of the time I agree. When it comes to solutions whether it is a spate between husband and wife, a problem with a child, or a friend who deserts them, the last thing that people want to hear is they need to forgive. Forgiveness is the only answer that can restore their lives but it is difficult. Why? Because it demands that we choose weakness over power. We must give up the power to punish, the power to condemn, the power of separation. The best example of this is Jesus’ best known parable, the Prodigal Son. The kid takes his inheritance early and in doing this he shames his father. The scripture says, Luke 15:13NRSV, “he squandered his property in dissolute living”. After eating with the pigs, he comes to the conclusion that he could eat better as his fathers servant. So he practices his speech, Luke 15:18 – 19NRSV, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” The father sees him a far off and comes and hugs him and will not hear his speech. He restores him as son and throws him a party killing the fatted calf. The father chooses weakness in order to be reconciled with his son. God, through Jesus on the cross, does what we can not do, He chooses weakness for the sake of reconciliation.
In the places where separation could turn to violence Jesus warns against an eye for an eye Matthew 5:38 -39&43- 45NRSV 38“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also …….43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. Jesus knows what Gandhi knew, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” The cross again is the best example of how God handles evil. He absorbs it. Violence continues until someone is big enough, strong enough, and good enough to absorb it. Jesus on the cross does just that.
A most disturbing fact of late is the number of people in prisons in the United States. More people are imprisoned in the U.S. than any other country in the world. The United States comprises only 5 percent of the world population and incarcerates 25 percent of the world’s inmates. The U.S locks up a 6 to 10 times larger percentage of its population than any other industrialized democracy and spends $45 billon annually to do so. Maybe we are that much meaner than anybody else in the world, but I believe these facts point to a spiritual problem of our nation; we don’t trust God enough to show grace.
My grandfather was a magistrate in Madison County a lot of years ago. I know this because at Decoration Service at his home church a man came up to my family and said, “Your granddaddy changed my life. I was a young man and I had committed a crime and when I came to stand for judgment in front of your granddaddy he didn’t give me what I deserved he sentenced me to a year in Sunday School. Now I am a minister, and I have a good life because your grandfather gave me grace.” Grace can turns criminals into Holy Folk.
I know how hard it is to forgive. It is impossible without the example of Christ and the presence of His Spirit. As I began I said that Jesus’ life and teachings ask the question, what kind of world do you want to live in, a world where you get what you deserve or the world of the Kingdom of God that is defined by Grace? I choose grace because I need it and since Jesus is the Son of God I’d be foolish to argue with Him.