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Forgiveness
“And
he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way
off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and
embraced him, and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)
In Luke
15:11-32, Jesus told of a son who essentially “took the money and
ran” from his father’s inheritance, and when it was gone, he went
home to “face the music”. The father WELCOMED the “prodigal” son
and in his love, forgave the son. The love they shared was greater
than any unforgiveness that might have existed between them.
The Moody Bible
Institute’s “Bits & Pieces”
contained an article about a Spanish father and son who had become
estranged from one another. The son ran away, and the father tried
to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last
desperate effort to locate his son, the father put an ad in a Madrid
newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet
me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is
forgiven. I love you. Your Father.” On Saturday, 800 Pacos
showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.
It should be
noted, in the parable of the “Prodigal
Son” (Luke 15:11-32), that another character was involved.
It was the older brother, who felt he had faithfully served the
father all his life, and was irritated at the father’s “easy”
forgiveness of the younger son. In this parable, the father
represents God, and the “prodigal” is actually all of us, because “all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans
3:23). But, in many ways, we are also the older brother, because,
as people, it’s very difficult for us to forgive.
In Ernest
Gordon's “Miracle on the River Kwai”,
we find Scottish soldiers, forced by Japanese captors to labor on a
jungle railroad. One afternoon, a shovel was missing. The Japanese
officer demanded that the missing shovel be produced, or else, and
the officer threatened to shoot them all. Finally, one man stepped
forward. The officer put away his gun, picked up a shovel, and beat
the man to death. The survivors picked up the bloody corpse and
carried it with them to the second tool check point. No shovel was
missing, for there had been a miscount at the first check point.
The word spread - An innocent man had died to save the rest! As a
result, the prisoners began to treat each other like brothers. When
the victorious Allies swept in, the survivors, who were like human
skeletons, lined up in front of their captors insisting: “No
more hatred… No more killing… We need forgiveness.” The
sacrificial love of one man had changed them all. They were able to
forgive those who had done them harm.
That’s precisely
how it is with you and me. If we meet someone we think is “nice”
and they do nice things for us, we like them. We think, “Now that’s
the way people should be.” But, what if they aren’t “nice” to us –
what do we do?
The Moody Bible
Institute’s “Today in the Word”
told of the first missionaries that came to Alberta, Canada. They
were savagely opposed by a young chief of the Cree tribe named
Maskepetoon. But, he later responded to the Gospel and accepted
Christ. Shortly afterward, a member of the Blackfoot tribe killed
his father. Maskepetoon and his warriors rode into the village
where the killer lived and demanded he be sent out to him.
Confronting the man, he said, "You have
killed my father, so now you must be my father. You shall ride my
best horse and wear my best clothes." In utter amazement and
remorse his enemy exclaimed, "My son, now
you have killed me!" He meant that the hate in his own heart
had been completely erased by the forgiveness of Maskepetoon.
Forgiveness has
been extended to you, in the Person of Jesus Christ. As stated, “all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
- all of us have offended God. There is no mountain we can climb or
good deeds we can do that will satisfy His holiness. Jesus was
talking to a “certain ruler” (Luke
18:18), who asked, “What shall I do to
inherit eternal life?” Jesus spoke with him briefly, and the
man became “very sorrowful” (Verse
24). Onlookers who heard the conversation, asked, “Who
then can be saved?” (Verse 26). Jesus responded, “The
things which are impossible with men are POSSIBLE with God.”
(Luke 18:27). In Him, we can forgive.
Chuck Swindoll
told of a seminary student in Chicago who wanted ministry, but could
only find a job driving a bus on Chicago's South Side. One day a
gang of tough teens boarded and refused to pay the fare. After a
few days of this, the seminarian spotted a policeman on the corner,
stopped the bus, and reported them. The officer made them pay, but
then got off. When the bus rounded a corner, the gang robbed the
seminarian and beat him severely. He pressed charges and the gang
was rounded up and found guilty. But as the jail sentence was
given, the young Christian saw their spiritual need. He asked the
judge if he could serve their sentences. The teens and the judge
were amazed. "It's because I forgive you,"
he said. His request was denied, but he visited the young men in
jail and led several of them to Christ.
Watchman Nee, in
“Sit, Stand, Walk” (as quoted by “Paraclete”)
told of “A brother in South China who had
a rice field in the middle of a hill. He used a water-wheel worked
by a treadmill, to lift water from the irrigation stream into his
field. His neighbor had two fields below his, and, one night, made
a breach in the dividing bank and drained off all his water. When
the brother repaired the breach and pumped in more water, his
neighbor did the same thing again, and this was repeated three or
four times. So he consulted his brethren. ‘I have tried to be
patient and not retaliate,’ he said, ‘but is it right?’ After they
had prayed together, one of them replied, ‘If we only try to do the
right thing, surely we are very poor Christians. We have to do
something more than what is right.’ The brother was much impressed.
Next morning he pumped water for his neighbor’s fields below first,
and in the afternoon pumped water for his own field. After that the
water stayed in his field. The neighbor was amazed at his action
and began to ask questions. In time, he too became a Christian.”
Nee continued, “So, my brethren, don’t stand on your right. Don’t feel that because you
have gone the second mile you have done what is just. The second
mile is only typical of the third and the fourth. The principle is
becoming like Christ. We have nothing to stand for, nothing to ask
or demand. We have only to give. When the Lord Jesus died on the
Cross, it was not to defend our ‘rights’; it was grace that took Him
there.”
Forgiveness is not some intellectual
concept. It's the expression of a heart that loves. As you can see
from these examples, forgiveness must be SHOWN. Mere words don't
explain it. The Father sent the Son to die in our place, offering
forgiveness. The utter holiness of God is satisfied in Christ
Jesus, who died so you can live. You can SEE His forgiveness in
history, expressed in the Word of God, and in the lives of those who
have received Him. It doesn't happen any other way. In Christ, you
become 1) forgiven, and 2) able to forgive.
Father, let us
SEE that we are forgiven in Christ, and seeing what He has done for
us, let us become people who forgive. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Ron Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
www.fridaystudy.org
E-mail:
Ron@FridayStudy.org
Tel: (562) 688-5559
PO Box 92131
Long Beach, CA 90809-2131
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans 5:8) |
