Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 18 verses 21 through 33:
21 Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ 22Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
23 ‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” 27And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” 29Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” 30But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. 31When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?”
Many years ago, I was pastor and friend to a woman who had been abused by relative as a child. She had worked through much of her pain and trauma and had amazingly come to a place of deep forgiveness. She said she felt that she had to forgive, lest the the person who abused her would still have hold of her. But her forgiveness was not a once and for all thing. She said had to forgive and then forgive and then again. And her ongoing process led her to a deeply profound understanding of today’s lesson. “You know the Bible where it says, ‘You must forgive seventy-seven times seven?’ Well, I’ve come to the realization that maybe that’s what I am doing and will have to keep on doing. A woman lives to be about 77 years old; and I have to every day wake up and forgive the man who abused me, seven days a week for the rest of my life.”
Not everyone has come to that same deep place of forgiveness this my friend had come to. Not everyone can come to that place right now. Forgiveness is a journey — a long road.
But her extraordinary forgiveness of a great and terrible violation is an inspiration to me, reminding me that though forgiveness hard, it is not impossible. And, her forgiveness is also a challenge to me, requiring me to examine my own unwillingness to forgive and ask myself why it is when she could be able to forgive so much how it is that I’m able to forgive so very little.
To forgive literally means to “let go”. To let go is to take back control, to refuse to let our offenders still have control over us.
My friend took back control of her life by learning to let go daily. And what she taught me was that as we go along in life, if we let go just a little each day, one day we will have let go of a whole lot — maybe everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment