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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion April 3, 2005 To Forgive or To Refuse to Forgive |
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FRONTLINE DEVOTION FOR SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2005 by Fritz
Foltz
John
20: 19-23
On Easter evening Jesus appeared to the apostles who had abandoned him. They
seemed to be eating a meal while hiding. Jesus comes to share the meal, just as
he did during their former life together.
A lot happened at that meal. It was a special time of forgiveness when the group
was brought back together, because Jesus was willing to forgive them. It must
have been a very emotional affair, moving from fear to joy when it was evident
that their sin against Jesus could be undone. Jesus offered peace in words and
action.
That peace does not come easily. It is always hard to offer and accept
forgiveness. People seem to back off, not wanting such responsibility. Even
pastors often refuse to proclaim, “I forgive you in the name of Jesus”,
choosing instead to say something such as “May God forgive you”. We seem to
be ducking our responsibility to use what might be the most powerful gift of the
resurrection.
Even if we do not want the responsibility, we all have the gift. In fact, all humans have the power to forgive sins committed against them. Christians also have permission to forgive sins committed against God in Jesus’ name. At the resurrection, Jesus calls on his followers to carry on what they had been doing together previously in the ministry. God uses the voices of Christians to make his forgiveness operative in our world. God might have already forgiven us all, but somebody has to speak the message to make it an effective part of our lives.
And, of course, if we have the right to forgive, we also have the right to
refuse to forgive. Common sense says when something is done, it is done. There
is nothing we can do to change it. We have to learn to live with it. Jesus says
forgiveness is the power to undo what has been done. But it all depends on
someone being willing to forgive. If I sin against another, the only way
that can be undone is if that person forgives me. If another sins against me,
the way that deed can be undone is if I am willing to forgive him or her.
We are not talking about damnation or of forgiveness that gets us out of hell
and into heaven. That seems to be what most people mean when they ask Jesus to
forgive their sins. The Gospel proclaims Jesus already has done that. We are
talking about forgiveness that undoes the evil of our present lives so the past
can be overcome and the future opened up to a better world here and now. It is
true Jesus does that for us as well. But that kind of forgiveness is never
totally complete unless the person against whom we sinned forgives us as well.
And that only happens if the person is willing.
Throughout this and every day there will be all sorts of ways you can break the
circle of evil. It all depends on what you are willing to do. You can either
respond in kind, insult for insult, blow for blow. Or you can turn the other
cheek, forgive, undo what has happened, and co-operate with God in creating a
new and better world.
Let us pray: We give thanks that you continually forgive our sins against you,
against each other, and against the world. Grant us the compassion to pass that
forgiveness on to those who offend and sin against us. We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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