----------------------------------------------------------- REFLECTIONS ON FORGIVENESS By Dr. Ralph F. Wilson ----------------------------------------------------------- In my experience as a pastor for the past 20 years, I've found that forgiving is perhaps the most difficult thing Christians struggle with. And, the most rewarding as they are able to forgive and find the blessings of forgiving washing them and refreshing them. 1. JESUS' HARD FAMILY EXPERIENCE I am reminded that Jesus had hard family experience with forgiveness. I am thinking of Jesus' pre-Joseph-and-Mary family. Every day I read a couple chapters from the Old Testament. I find the horrendous insults to God delivered by His people, by their thoughtlessness and carelessness, but also by their prostitution and unfaithfulness, their deliberate substitution of worship of Him with worship of idols, their murder of the prophets and apostles He sent to speak truth to them. The list goes on and on. One of the most poignant verses of the Bible appears at Isaiah 65:1-3 I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, "Here am I, here am I." All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, Who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations -- A people who continually provide me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens.... In spite of a history of insult and betrayal, "For God so loved the world, that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16) Jesus' demand for forgiveness must be viewed against the backdrop of God's persistent, steadfast love. Jesus demands forgiveness as a condition of entry into his kingdom, but he also modeled it and models it still today. His love has been forged and tested amidst the wounds of hard family experience. If we can't forgive, we can't understand or know God, for that is what makes Him tick. 2. UNFORGIVENESS IS NOT AN OPTION. Secondly, I am convinced by Jesus' words that unforgiveness is not an option for us. We MUST forgive. We make all sorts of excuses for ourselves. We find doctrinal reasons to set aside the clear teachings of our Lord and not take them seriously. But His words remain. We have studied them this week. Unforgiveness is not an option for a follower of Jesus. We may struggle, we may not have the strength on our own and call out to Him for the will and the power to forgive, but we cannot hold onto our bitterness -- and continue to hold onto Him. 3. WHAT FORGIVENESS IS NOT Third, I've found that many people misunderstand what forgiveness really entails. They confuse it with excusing the offender, minimizing the hurt, etc. I encourage you to read my article which appeared in MOODY MONTHLY in October 1984: Don't Pay the Price of Counterfeit Forgiveness http://www.wilsonweb.com/archive/maturity/forgive.htm It will help you sort out some of the counterfeits that the enemy tries to confuse us with to keep us from forgiving. 4. FORGIVENESS AND NON-REPENTANCE Fourth, and this is a tough one, must we forgive someone who does not repent? Luke 17:4 reads: "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him." I think that forgiveness is something like a pardon. We have to accept it for it to be granted. In a technical sense we can't really forgive someone who does not repent. But that doesn't let us off the hook. I think that God requires us to love our enemies, which on our end of the transaction differs little from what forgiveness would require of us. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is very clear: I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.... Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:43, 48) So technical forgiveness is not the issue, really. It is love from the heart, that is what God requires of us toward even our enemies. Forgiveness is what flows from that kind of heart when there IS repentance. Love must always flow. Not that any of this is easy. Often it is tremendously difficult. But discipleship is following and learning from Jesus. If we fail to learn this lesson of forgiveness and loving our enemies, we miss the essence of God himself. 5. FORGIVENESS AND HELL Finally, we don't hear much about hell today in our churches. We hear the word "hell" much more in the world. Hell somehow offends our sense of love and forgiveness. "If I were God," we say, "I wouldn't send anyone to hell." And so we are more loving than God Himself. In my preaching I have said much more about the love and grace of God than a fear of God and the reality of hell for the reasons stated above. What's more, our generation doesn't respond well to hellfire and brimstone preaching. But we Christians must not be seduced by a better-than-God worldly doctrine which denies the reality of hell. In my study several years ago, I became convinced that I must believe in hell and preach about hell because Jesus Himself talks more about it than anyone in the entire Bible! The passage we just studied says rather clearly that we will be turned over to the torturers by our heavenly Father unless we forgive our brother from our hearts (Matthew 18:32-35). It couldn't be much clearer. This week's lesson alludes to hell in Luke 13:27-28. The following week's lesson does, too (Matthew 25:28-30; Luke 19:27). Oh, yes, we can create hell on earth. But many people say they believe in "hell on earth" but disbelieve in "hell" as a place of eternal punishment. They have accepted the figurative but denied the real. If we are to be faithful to the teachings of Jesus, then we have to believe that at least Jesus himself believed in hell, a place of eternal punishment. And his parable of the unforgiving servant assigned unforgiving servants to that place. "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king ..." he said as he began the parable. My brothers and sisters, let us take this Kingdom truth with all seriousness, and seek to practice the King's love and forgiveness ourselves, so that we might be true disciples of the King. God bless you all, Pastor Ralph