Forgiveness: A Piece of Pie to Eat and A Hard Pill to Swallow
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. -Matthew 6:12
You are certainly familiar with this portion of the Lord’s Prayer and have prayed those words many times . . . Perhaps, more commonly, you have used “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Either way, these words hit home when Luke 11:4 is translated, “forgive us our sins. for we also forgive everyone who sin against us.“ No matter the name it is given, sin is sin is sin, and it needs forgiveness but before that, repentance and confession.
As I shared on Sunday, God’s forgiveness is an easy piece of pie to eat but often a hard pill to swallow. It is easy because we simply confess our sin(s) to God, express our true desire to turn to Him as we turn away from that direction of sin (repent), and He FORGIVES.
As God promised when Solomon was dedicating The Temple:
4 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:14
and as John wrote to the early believers:
If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9
God's forgiveness is EASY!
Easy to think & type but HARD to accept and live!
Though God's forgiveness is "easy," it can be a hard pill to swallow to believe that God would, and will, actually forgive us for the atrocious or repetitive sin(s) in which we find ourselves continually wallowing. In fact, there is a biblical case for concern over such repetitive sin(s):
6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. . . . 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. - 1 John 3:6 & 9
As John shared, sin and forgiveness can be quite the quandary! That’s one reason I believe sin must be confessed ASAP and not allowed to linger in our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies. When we discount, excuse, divert blame, or flat out ignore our sin, it hardens us to sin's detrimental effects in our relationships with God, one another, and self. As a result, we fail to recognize sin is even present. In fact, when sin remains unaddressed, there will likely come a time when we call sin "good" because we still feel "good", i.e., we don't feel shame or guilt, no one else is questioning us, we are experiencing "benefits," etc. So, we think this behavior, this activity, this attitude, this perspective cannot be sinful. BOY, are we EVER WRONG! ... DARKENED! ... DECEIVED! Remember:
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. - 1 Peter 5:8
Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. - 2 Corinthians 11:14b-15
24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. - Matthew 24: 24
THANKFULLY, when we are convicted of sin, God is gracious and merciful and more than ready and willing to forgive. In fact, Jesus told Peter to forgive 70 times (some translations say 70 times 7); in other words, we are to forgive A LOT! Certainly, God will easily match what Jesus told Peter and SO MUCH MORE. . . . A piece of pie to eat but at the same time, a hard pill to swallow!
To harden this "pill" of forgiveness, Jesus serves up some words that make swallowing even more difficult:
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. -Matthew 6:14-15
OUCH! I might as well GIVE UP!
BUT, know this, I CANNOT forgive others from Terry’s perspective, strength, or grace; even if these exist in me apart from God, all of them are EXTREMELY limited, human, and tainted in my favor. So, I NEED Him in order to live as He has called!
In exploring the context of these words about forgiving and being forgiven, Jesus' teaching is in the midst of His Sermon on the Mount and such a life can only be lived by Him, through Him, in Him, and because of Him . . . a branch connected to the Vine with His Life flowing through it, including His Grace and Forgiveness. Looking at Jesus' opening and closing remarks to this sermon can help us see how crucial our dependence upon Him is to living as His disciples and helping us swallow this pill of being unquestionably forgiving. Consider that as Jesus concludes this sermon, He illustratively shares that we must be wise and build our house upon the ROCK ... Him and His Lordship. Consider as well, that as He beings this message, His first words are:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:3
Living everything between Jesus' initial and concluding remarks requires that we live founded ON the Rock of Who He is and IN the attitude He introduced of being "poor in spirit" ... humble, leaning not on our own understanding but trusting Him with all our heart, acknowledging (submitting) to Him in everything, including forgiveness.
Perhaps in a struggle to express these words, I can write that our grasp and reception of God’s forgiveness and our “capability” and desire to forgive others can only come in the context of a humble and FULL REALIZATION that we are impoverished without His Spirit and we need Him for EVERYTHING in this life of following Jesus.
The GREAT NEWS is that, in the end, God is the Forgiver in and through it all. I just need to continue to surrender to Him in this practice. It may and will take tremendous time, effort, prayer, discussion, and emotional/spiritual energy in some difficult situations but continue to lean into Him and upon Him . . . whether it is a piece of pie to eat or a hard pill to swallow!
Grace and peace in the Name of Jesus!
Terry