Hello
Friends.
For
today’s message I am going to throw in a few photos of my outing with Bert,
Miss Sophie, Wyatt and our new puppy friend Murphy.
Most
adults recognize it’s their “job” to teach children, and dogs, right from wrong, good from bad, safe from
scary, yes from no.
But
there are some lessons that children, and dogs, are better at teaching us.
Think about celebrations like birthdays, Christmas, Gotcha Day, and Easter, and
any other special days that have the possibility of “presents” attached. Kids, and dogs, LOVE them, anticipate and
adore them. Children, and yes again
dogs, love and accept presents with unabashed enthusiasm. Receiving a gift is “all good.”
For
adults it’s a bit more difficult. They
worry about the cost of the gift. They worry about reciprocating the gift. They worry about whether the gift has invisible
“strings” attached. Suddenly “receiving”
is a bit more complicated than just joyous. Receiving a gift is hard for most of people. People either feel beholden, or suspicious, or
overwhelmed, or unworthy of the freely given gifts that bless us.
The
adult vs. child or dog version of acceptance is even greater with the other
tremendous “gift” young children/dogs are good at offering and accepting. Kindergarten kids and pups might get into a
heated battle over who gets custody of a Ninja Turtle figure or the ball or
stuffie. Tears, growls and blows might even be
involved. But after a truce is called,
and apologies are offered (or sometimes enforced), in a short time all is
forgiven, and play time goes on. Forgiveness
is offered and the play date continues.
There
are no thoughts of revenge. There is no
nurturing of anger. There are no dreams of retaliation. The confrontation is simply over with and
done. For four year-olds forgiveness is
pretty much an “over and out” scenario. The
“wrong” was deeply felt. But the new
reality is that we will start over and stay together.
Not
necessarily so for adults. For adults
extending or accepting forgiveness is an even more difficult concept to embrace
and embody than accepting gifts and grace. When learning how to receive a gift, no matter
how difficult, at least it gains us something. A paperweight. A watch. A spa certificate. Maybe even a friend.
But
learning how to either extend or receive forgiveness always COSTS something.
It costs us our anger. It costs us our right to revenge. It costs us our high road to hatred. Offering forgiveness forces us to retract our
claws and recall our true cause, the cause of Christ and His kingdom.
The
call to forgiveness calls us to hear what drives our heart. Are we driven by love? Are we driven by service? Are we driven by shalom? Are we driven by a
need for superiority? Are we driven by
guilt? Are we driven by grace? Offering
— or refusing forgiveness squeezes out and squishes that which circulates in
our heart.
In Matthew
18:21-35 Jesus surprises Peter by reminding him that before Pharisaic legalism
the biblical text advocated forgiving “seventy-seven fold” (from Genesis 4:24)
— and that was for the murder of a sibling! Jesus also advocated for any general offense
an offering of forgiveness “seventy-seven times” or “seventy times seven.”
These
numbers like “seventy-seven times” or “seventy-times-seven” are metaphors for
“as often as forgiveness is needed and sought after.” Jesus’ challenge to Peter, to all his disciples,
in the first century and in the next twenty centuries, was to find it within
themselves to offer the gift of forgiveness, no matter how many times it took. Did you get that? For as long as you have breath, you forgive.
Helmut
Thielicke, a survivor of the Nazi regime proclaimed that “One should never
mention the words ‘forgive and forget’ in the same breath. No, we will remember, but in forgiving we no
longer use the memory against others.”
Forgiveness
is never forgetfulness. Forgiveness is
more than let bygones be bygones. Forgiveness
is the hardest kind of “gifting” we can either extend or experience. None of us can truly “forgive” without knowing
and accepting the forgiving love that God has given to all of humanity, most
perfectly in the gift of Jesus the Christ, the Ultimate Gift, the Present of
Presence. No one can be forgiving of
others and their human failings until they have felt the power of the
forgiveness that comes from the cross, and crosses all boundaries and all
dividing walls. It took Jesus’ sacrifice
on the cross for forgiveness to “go viral” within the bloodstream of humanity.
Instead
of advocating a “religion,” a set and sworn system of rites, rituals and
beliefs, Jesus offered all humanity who would receive the gift of faith, a
relationship with God that was personal and pulsating — alive to everyday
moments and face-to-face encounters. Jesus offered reasons to receive God’s
love and reasons to reciprocate God’s forgiveness.
Our
ability to forgive is always and ever linked to Jesus’ love for us and God’s
compassionate forgiveness. It was only
this divine, sacrificial love that made it possible for human forgiveness to be
an active player in this world.
It
only takes three minutes of news-cruising to find terrible examples of
“unforgiveness” every day. But as “Mr.
Rogers” retold from his own mother’s advice, “look for the helpers.” Instead of focusing on the horrific, look to
the helpers. In every crisis and
critical situation, as bad as they might get, look towards those who are offering
helping hands and support. The
ability to offer forgiveness cannot start without standing on some common
ground. Helping others, the “first
responders” in every place on this world, are the most forgiving “common
ground” we might have today.
“Vengeance
is mine, says the Lord.” Let’s take that to heart. That gives people of faith
one less thing to stress about. But we
have been taught to go further than not seeking revenge. We have been summoned to offer forgiveness. We have been offered the “seventy-seven times”
(aka, “always”) recipe for forgiveness.
Every
one of you reading this needs to forgive someone this week. It may be yourself. Can you forgive yourself? It may be a family member or friend with whom you’ve
nursed an unforgiving grudge for years. Can
you forgive your relatives or friends? It may be an
enemy that is doing everything they can to make you fail. Can you forgive your enemies?
“Forgive
us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” In the Lord’s Prayer many
say daily, forgiveness is withheld from the person who won’t forgive, not
because God is punishing us for not forgiving, but because the person who won’t
forgive can’t receive forgiveness.
In
the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgive. Now go forgive…yes, even “seventy-seven” times.
Blessings,
Goose
