When talking to people about
the Christian faith, one of the areas people struggle to understand and accept
is the whole area to do with forgiveness.
Yet as Christians we are called to forgive others, just as we have been
forgiven by God.
But many people find this a
difficult thing to do, because they think that to forgive someone who has hurt them,
in effect sends out the message,
- That the offence didn’t really hurt me
- That I and my feelings don’t matter much
- That the offender need not face any consequences for their actions
- That it is okay to hurt me again.
But this is not what
forgiveness is about. We are called to
forgive others, because it is linked to being forgiven ourselves. Jesus taught us to prayer Forgive us AS WE forgive others. If we refuse to forgive those who have hurt
us, it will have an impact upon our relationship with God. Jesus said, “For if you forgive men when they sin against
you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men
their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Forgiveness is
also linked to our own spiritual growth.
The more we learn and
practice forgiveness, the more we become like God, who himself is merciful and
forgiving.
And forgiveness is in our
own best interest. If we hold on to resentment, anger or hatred,
it can damage us, far more than the person we are unwilling to forgive.
To truly forgive those who
have hurt us, is not easy, and as our reading indicates it is rarely a one of
event, but something we need to keep on doing again and again. The rabbis taught that we should forgive
those who offend us three times. Peter,
in trying to be especially generous asked Jesus if seven (the perfect number)
was enough times to forgive someone. But
Jesus answered, “Seventy times seven,” meaning should always forgive those who
are truly repentant, no matter how many times they ask.
One of the most powerful
stories of forgiveness I have come across is that of Corrie Ten Boom.
Corrie Ten Boom 1892-1983
Corrie, a Christian, was
sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp along with 9
members of her family, for sheltering Jews feeling from Nazi persecution in
Holland. Although Corrie survived the
camp, many of her family didn’t. In 1947
she came face to face with one of her former guards, and this is what she wrote
about that encounter.
“Memories
of the concentration camp came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh
overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the
floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail
form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment of skin.
Now
he was in front of me, hand thrust out: "A fine message, fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all
our sins are at the bottom of the sea!" It was the first time since my
release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed
to freeze.
"You mentioned Ravensbruck in your
talk," he was saying. "I
was a guard there. But since that time I have become a Christian. I know that
God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear
it from your lips as well. Fraulein--" again the hand came out--"will you forgive me?"
And
I stood there--and could not. My sister Betsie had died in that place--could he
erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? It could not have been
many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I
wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. For I had to do
it--I knew that.
Still
I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is an act
of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the
heart. "Jesus, help me!" I
prayed silently. "I can lift my
hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling." And so woodenly,
mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did,
an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down
my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to
flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. "I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!"
For
a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and former
prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then.
God commands
us to forgive because he loves us. He
knows how refusal to forgive leads to the corrosive and destructive influence
of bitterness, and causes us to miss out on the abundant life that Jesus came
to give us.
The greatest symbol we have for forgiveness is
the cross of Jesus. The cross also
reveals to us just how costly forgiveness can be, but also how necessary it
is. In Christ’s suffering on the cross that not
only do we see true love revealed, but also the power of forgiveness to bring
healing & wholeness. This is what
Corrie ten Boom discovered when she met her former capture, and this is what we
too can discover if we are people who are prepared to forgive.
