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FORGIVENESS TIMES SEVEN

Is there something today that you’re having a hard time forgiving? That’s okay; I sometimes have to struggle myself with the temptation to play with and caress a certain mental “list.”

As we start our Tuesday study, though, I’d like to give you both the long form and the short form of what author Vera Sinton suggests are some of the main things a victim might legitimately have a grudge about. Here’s her list of seven hard, hard things that would be agony to forgive . . . and I’m going to give you one or two “snapshot” illustrations of each.

1. An injustice carried out for cynical political ends. My first reaction goes back more than a decade to poor Michael Dukakis, whose presidential campaign was upended by the famous Willie Horton ad. On his deathbed, political operative Lee Atwater confessed to some regret for the unfairness of that racist attack ad.

I guess we could also mention, for you historians, Alexander Hamilton, who didn’t just get his feelings hurt over a political discussion. Vice President Aaron Burr actually shot and killed Hamilton in a duel, clear back in 1804. We happened to notice that tidbit because Burr was born February 6, way back in 1756. But compared to poor Mr. Hamilton, I’d say Dukakis got off rather lightly.

Here’s #2: The jealous destruction of a man because of his good influence over others. A name like Martin Luther King, Jr., or Mohandas Gandhi, immediately comes to mind, doesn’t it?

How about this one? #3: Being betrayed for money by someone you trusted. You’ll understand that a Christian preacher goes right away to that great old Bible story about Joseph, who was sold by his brothers. And maybe, in the realm of fiction and Hollywood, we’d think of, perhaps, Michael Corleone, whose trusted lieutenant, the caporegime, Tessio, betrayed his boss to the Barzini family. That’s not such a good example, because everyone in that story was backstabbing everyone else; the Godfather’s laundry was dirtier than anybody’s. But the illustration of selling out for cash is still there.

Here’s a hard one: Vera’s #4 reason. Desertion by a close companion at the moment of danger, denying all knowledge of you. And I know a good many of you listeners have read the marvelous book from World War II, one of my favorites, entitled Flee the Captor, where a young Christian named John Weidner helped more than a thousand refugees escape from the Nazis. But there’s a story in that book about a man named Joseph Smit, who liquidated his family’s entire fortune and gave it to one of these “passers,” a man skilled in the so-called underground routes out of Germany and occupied France. Things were going just great until right at the crucial juncture, with the most difficult barbed-wire checkpoints just ahead and Gestapo gendarmes everywhere. All of a sudden, this “passer” was gone. Checked out . . . and with all of Joseph Smit’s money with him. Fortunately, Weidner, as a dedicated Christian, stepped in and arranged — using his own funds and risking his own life — to help the family get across the border to Switzerland. But imagine that empty feeling, helpless anger: no money, no food, no friends — and the person who had promised to stay with you and help you: GONE.

Here’s #5 in Vera Sinton’s list, and remember that her book has this title: How Can I Forgive? Can you relate to this one? Beating someone up for a bit of fun. And here in America, we think in shame about men like James Byrd, Jr., and Matthew Shepard, who were both tortured and killed because they were different. Imagine the struggles the parents and relatives are having even now, trying to resolve their anger, trying to give God the deep hurt in their hearts.

Two more. Here’s #6: Allowing an innocent man to be sentenced to death. Here in the U.S. we’ve had a rash of death-row reversals recently and Rampart Division police scandals, as it’s discovered that witnesses have lied and law enforcement officials have manufactured evidence. In Illinois, they suspended the death sentence after finding out that they had had 12 executions, and 13 capital convictions overturned. “We aren’t even batting .500,” said Governor George Ryan, in announcing the moratorium. But imagine the anger if someone were to knowingly and deliberately and willfully allow a wrong conviction to stand — and it was your son they strapped down to a lethal injection gurney.

Now the final point on Vera’s checklist. #7: Standing and jeering at a person in excruciating pain. And going back to #5, we could put on the top of this “Wanted” poster Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinley from the Laramie hanging, and then the trio of thugs from Jasper, Texas — Lawrence Brewer, John William King, and Shawn Allen Berry — who dragged a man behind a pickup truck and laughed as they watched him die. And of course, down through the sad pages of human history, we have men like the infamous Josef Mengele, the doctor whose horrific deeds are chronicled in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Mengele devised “experiments,” which he did on Jewish prisoners, watching impassively, taking notes, as men and women were subjected to the cruelest kinds of torture: measuring how fast a man will freeze to death, for instance.

And again we ask, as we think about this list: how could you forgive if you, or someone you loved, had endured even one of these seven unbelievable atrocities? How could you give such a thing to God? How could the words, “Father, forgive them,” possibly have any meaning?

Well, friend, I guess those three words, “Father, forgive them,” telegraph to you exactly where I want to go for these last few minutes of radio time. Because let’s go right down that whole list of seven outrages, seven forgiveness-blockers . . . and please notice that it’s Jesus, more than anyone, who endured, not one, but all seven of these hurts.

Here’s Vera’s list of shame again. #1: Injustice carried out for cynical political ends. That’s Jesus, certainly. #2: The jealous destruction of a man because of his good influence over others. That’s precisely why the Pharisees and Sadducees were so angry with Jesus. #3: Being betrayed for money by someone you trusted. Do the initials J.I. — for Judas Iscariot — ring any bells?

#4: Desertion by a close companion at the moment of danger, denying all knowledge of you. And of course, what Peter did to Jesus, three times before the rooster crowed — remember? — almost defines the word “denial,” doesn’t it?

#5: Beating someone up for a bit of fun. Listen to this from Luke 22:63, 64, according to the Message paraphrase:

“The men in charge of Jesus began poking fun at Him, slapping Him around. They put a blindfold on him and taunted, ‘Who hit you that time?’ They were having a grand time with Him.”

Does that sound like shades of Jasper, Texas?

On to #6: Allowing an innocent man to be sentenced to one of the cruelest deaths ever devised. That’s precisely what Pontius Pilate did, washing his hands in that basin, saying, “Don’t blame me.” And yet he had to sign off on the D.O.E. — the “Date of Execution” official order.

And finally, #7: Standing and jeering at a person in excruciating pain. Around the cross on that Friday afternoon, the vendors sold soda and Cracker Jack as the crowds hooted at Jesus up on the cross. Luke 23:35-37:

“The people stood there staring at Jesus, and the ringleaders made faces, taunting. ‘He saved others. Let’s see Him save Himself! The Messiah of God — ha! The Chosen — ha!’ The soldiers also came up and poked fun at Him, making a game of it. They toasted Him with sour wine: ‘So You’re King of the Jews! Save Yourself!’” “‘If You’re a king, where’s Your army? Aren’t they going to come and rescue You?’”

Listen, friend, you and I can’t ever say, “My load is too big to ever forgive! It’s beyond grace, beyond forgiving. It’s too much.” Jesus went through this ordeal, this marathon of seven soul-shredding attacks, every single one of them unjustified. And yet He forgave the people involved . . . right at that very moment! While the nails were going in! While the spit was hitting His face. While the taunts were ringing in His ears.

Vera Sinton concludes this list of seven and writes:

“Jesus, God’s Son, is the only sinless person who has ever lived. While all these things were happening to Jesus, He was loving the people involved, offering friendship to the one who betrayed Him, warning His companions of danger ahead. He gently challenged the governor who sentenced Him. He openly prayed for the soldiers who nailed His hands and feet to a cross.”

And how? How did Jesus live up to His own words about forgiving seven times, and even seventy times seven? How did He not only not nurse a grudge, He didn’t even let one begin? He was forgiving as the sins happened.

Well, we’re here in Luke 23. If the challenge is there, maybe the answer is too. And sure enough, you just go down nine verses, and there it is. Verse 46:

“Jesus called loudly, ‘Father, I place My life in Your hands!’”

And friends, whether you’re the relatives of Matthew Shepard, or Coretta Scott King, or just someone whose co-workers have ripped you off at the office, those eight words can really spell the end of our inner torment. “Father, I place my life in Your hands.” “Father, I give it all . . . to You.”