Forgiveness as a Gift to Self

Apr 272011
 

Rain Storm 3Perhaps its the cynic in me but I get tired of forgiveness as being something for me. “Forgiveness is my ability to leave the pain and scars behind and ride off into the wonderful sunset of wholeness.” I believe that there is very much a sense that forgiveness is meant for us: an end to bitterness and the destruction of sin. There is liberation for us when we forgive.
But I don’t think that the personal benefits are the reason that we should forgive. We forgive for the sake of the other, the offending party. We give them a chance to start over again. We give them the space to make mistakes, to learn, to grow. Do people use this opportunity to change? Not always. Not usually. People take advantage of our forgiveness, they use it as a reason to continue doing wrong. They see the one who forgives as weak and easy to manipulate.
Should we then stop forgiving? Absolutely not! The point of forgiveness is that the person who offends is not worthy of mercy. //But mercy is still given.// Forgiveness is the radical belief in the power of love to transform. It is the relentless pursuit of love, despite the offenders wrongs. It is the way of God.
Remember the greatest “forgiver” in history? Jesus, dying on the cross, says’ “Father forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing”. Our example of forgiveness is definitely not a gift to the One forgiving: He is dying, nailed to a tree because of our wrongs. There is no wonderful wholeness for Jesus, just a radical love gift to those who don’t deserve it.
I guess I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the end of the story: Jesus rises again. Mercy triumphs. Forgiveness wins. Jesus is returned to glory. There is a sense that wholeness is there for the forgiver. But still the resurrection is not only about Jesus being justified in His forgiving us. It is about new life for the ones who are forgiven. Love triumphs and this gives life to the offenders.
Again the gift is to the wrong-doers. Again, isn’t that what forgiveness is ultimately about?

The School of the Small

Apr 032011
 

His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. Matthew 25:21 (ESV)

And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Matthew 25:40 (ESV)

Recently I read an article in the New York Times (also here and here) about Gandhi and how he wasn’t quite as saintly as he has been made to appear. He treated a great-niece horribly and had all kinds of moral failures. Not that I am perfect or even better than he was, but it made me ask some new questions.

If you do great things, does it matter if you are impossible to live with? If you win great prizes but cheat on your wife, does God care? From the verses above, I would say that God does care about those little things. Even if you do great things for God but don’t take care of the little things, God is not impressed. It seems that God wants us to be faithful in the minutiae before we go on to great things. God’s work is the tiny grindings (my brakes have been giving me trouble recently).

Is God OCD? Is God more concerned about the great-niece than the swarming masses who need justice? Do we limit the effectiveness of great men by requiring moral stability before action? Where is the grace of God in all of this?

I work for an Amish crew who install tile. Other crews in the company do trim work. Their work is meticulous and they do it impeccably. It is the small things: making sure the floor is level, your lines are straight, your measurements are accurate that determine how a large job looks when finished. It is the prep, the execution, the questioning, the constant re-evaluation that yields a superior product.

I wonder if the same is true of our Christian life. Other people will take shortcuts in doing the job of social change. The Christian is called to be meticulous, exacting, honest, integral. It takes longer to develop character, to learn to act in love and forgiveness than to slap together a social program. Yet in the end, the Christian’s work smells of integrity, quality, agape. We could finish our job quickly, do the work without thought. But our work will not last, it will fade and crumble. To build for eternity, we must be diligent in the small things.

I think, though, that we need to be careful about this type of thinking. It can lead to a morbid sense of worthlessness, a paralysis of the soul. We can spend all of our time thinking about how we are not worthy or capable of doing the work in the best way possible. We end up not doing it because we are afraid of getting it wrong. We must have the courage to try, and fail.