Keith M. Doyle
Lead Pastor, Winnetka Bible Church
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
A four year old was praying one night having been listening in church, “And forgive us our trash-baskets, as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets!” Out of the mouth of a child comes great wisdom!
Lewis B. Smeades tells this story of Corrie ten Boom to illustrate the power of forgiveness: She was stuck for the war years in a Nazi concentration camp, humiliated and degraded, especially in the delousing shower where the women were ogled by the leering guards. But she made it through this suffering, and eventually felt she had, by grace, forgiven even those fiends who guarded the shower stalls. So she preached God’s forgiveness all over Europe. One day, after giving her testimony at a church in Munich, she saw a man come walking over to her. “Ja, Fraulein, it is wonderful that God forgives us of our sins, just as you said.” She remembered his face – it was the leering, lecherous, mocking face of the S.S. guard of a shower stall. Her hand froze by her side. She could not forgive. She truly thought she had forgiven all, but how could she forgive this guard as he stood before her? Ashamed and horrified at herself, she prayed, “Lord, forgive me, I cannot forgive!” As she prayed, she sensed the Holy Spirit remind her of the forgiveness that was hers in Christ – God reminded her that she was accepted by Him, in spite of her shabby performance as a forgiver. Her hand was suddenly, miraculously unfrozen. The ice of her heart melted instantaneously. Her hand slowly reached out…and she forgave as she had been forgiven.
The cross of Jesus Christ stands as the climax of God’s forgiveness and makes all future forgiveness possible. For all who will come to God through Christ will find forgiveness from the penalty of their own sins. Then, on the basis of Jesus’ cross, we have the spiritual power to forgive others. That is - being forgiven by Christ - we are enabled to grant this to those who have offended us. As someone said, “You can only give what you have received!” Until you have experienced the stain-washing, sin-absorbing, guilt-destroying forgiveness of God through Christ, you will not be able to forgive others – no matter how hard you try. The reason for this is because in our sinful, human capacity we cannot unconditionally extend forgiveness to those who have wronged us. It is unnatural…even impossible! Our humanity demands we be right…selfishly nurturing our grudges against others. We don’t want to forgive someone who has sinned against us and we feel quite justified in our own positions, passions and pride. It is only through Jesus’ power that this proposition of forgiveness is even possible. We must appropriate His forgiving power by asking Him to consume us with His mercy and forgiveness - just as in Corrie’s story. I have some parting questions for us to ponder as we consider this verse and story:
· Have you nurtured a grudge against someone and refused to forgive them on the basis of your own sense of ‘rightness’ or justice?
· Have you ever expected others to forgive but have simultaneously harbored an unforgiving spirit towards someone else?
· Have you said you ‘know Christ’ or ‘love Christ’ and yet have used ‘circumstantial reasons’ to refuse to obey our verse above, ‘forgive each other…just as in Christ God forgave you’?
I invite you to come to Christ today and ask for His help…He is gracious to save, heal and empower you to forgive your worst offender or offense. Have you encountered Jesus as your compassionate forgiver? Has He captured your heart with His love? Only with His forgiveness working in you will you be able to forgive others.
