Forgiveness is hard. There is no doubt about it. It is a process in many cases.
People are sometimes too quick to say, "I forgive you", and then hold things against folk.
Forgiveness means that it is wiped out, the debt is forgotten. When someone wrongs us and is prone to wrong us again, that does not mean that we need to put ourselves in a position to be hurt by them again. Rather, we can trust people as they are able to be trusted. But to forgive means that we do not hold against someone what they have done to us or owe us. We do not make them pay consequences for it. We do not exact a price for what they owe or have done. We let it go.
God does that with us. The price I owe is too great for me to pay with regard to my redemption. I know what I deserve, but God gives me Grace anyway. God forgave the debt, even paid the price on the Cross. God bought back what I owed at great cost to God. That is Grace. It comes from Agape Love. When Jesus commanded us, "Do not judge..." and "Forgive...", it was given as a command to live Agape Love and be Gracious with one another. Agape Love is active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger or enemy, according to Jesus. Grace is undeserved loving mercy, given freely. God gives that to us debtors.
God expects us debtors to live by the Great Commandment, given by Jesus in a new way and simplified for us with "Do to others as you would have them do to you." When we have done wrong or owe someone, we are thankful and grateful when it is not held against us - when it is forgiven. God does that with us. Are we thankful for the gift? Are we grateful to God? God then commands us to be loving and gracious with one another as God has been with us, not because they deserve it, but because they need it and because we need to be loving and gracious, forgiving and not judging in how we live with God and one another. If I love myself enough to want that for myself, then I must love my neighbor as much, at least according to Jesus.
It is a command. The parable here makes it very clear that God expects this from us.
Receiving Grace and Love from God and then insisting that we be punitive with those around us or hold them to a different standard is inconsistent with how this works with God. Jesus taught that very clearly.
Loving neighbor as self demands something else.
If you believe that you should not be hindered from voting for elected officials, then do not believe that others should be hindered from voting.
If you believe that you should have affordable healthcare, then do not begrudge others who have a way of receiving affordable healthcare.
If you believe that you should be paid a living wage, then do not hinder others from making a living wage.
If you believe that you should be allowed to remain in the country, though your ancestors came and stole and killed and exploited those who were original inhabitants, then do not support deporting others who have come peacefully and productively to live here.
If you hope to get federal funds for your area because of a hurricane, then do not vote against others getting aid when their area is hit by a hurricane.
If you want your children to get a high quality education, then do not work so that ONLY your children can get a high quality education.
If you want to be treated with equal respect and have equal opportunities to others, then do not claim some false superiority over others and treat them shamefully because they are different from you.
If you want to have your marriage honored and family accepted, then do not hinder others who love from being able to get married or have their family accepted.
If you want to enjoy breathable air, safe land and drinkable water then do not pollute, waste and destroy those things that future generations will need.
If you hope to have gainful employment and provide for your family, then do not insist on cheap goods that require that someone else in the country or world to be exploited for sub-standard pay.
While those who are duplicitous, hypocritical and corrupt may believe that they are getting away with things because of the power and wealth they have to manipulate the rest of us, it will be torture for them in the end, at least according to Jesus. While some believe they are entitled to have privileges in life while denying others the basic needs and rights in their lives, Jesus says there is a price to be paid for such hubris, arrogant pride and hatefulness.
The great turn-around is coming. The first shall be last and the last, first. Jesus promised that. A whole lotta folk who think they are sheep may find themselves in the goat line.
And yes, politics and economics have EVERYTHING to do with your faith in Jesus. How you live in this part of God's Kingdom here and now has ramifications for life in the other part of God's Kingdom later. Jesus promised that.
We are all beggars at the foot of the throne of God. All of us. According to Martin Luther and others, it is absurd for one beggar to feel superior to another. Absurd. Insane.
Pastor Jamie
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