August 3, 2008 First Presbyterian Church

Matthew 6:12-15 Watertown, New York

Mark 11:25 The Rev. Dr. Jerry Benjamin

Luke 6:37

JESUS VALUES: FORGIVENESS

It is, after all, the very essence of our faith. Jesus and Paul both teach us that forgiveness is primary both in life and in the life to come. We are saved by God’s gift of forgiveness.

We are saved from sin, saved from death, saved from condemnation, all by the grace of God. The Apostle Paul spells this out for us time and again. We don’t earn forgiveness. We are saved by grace. None of us is free from sin except by God’s grace. We accomplish many good things, but only with God’s help.

In some ways Jesus teaches us the same thing. But Jesus, you know, teaches us much more about every day life and human relationships. He is less doctrinal that Paul, less rigid, more down to earth.

Jesus teaches us to pray, ‘forgive us our debts,’ but goes right on to say, unless you forgive…your brother, sister, neighbor or enemy; you can lose the benefit of this great gift. A life that could be filled with the joy of grace can end up filled with grudges and paybacks and ugliness.

Paul teaches us to be reconciled to God: Jesus teaches us to be reconciled to each other.

The word ‘forgive’ is related to the Greek words for release, for unchaining captives or slaves, even for setting aside debts. The new community, following Jesus, sees that it must receive from God this forgiveness and as it tells of this gift through Jesus, it also sees that it must forgive. The church becomes the example of forgiveness and mercy for the world.

One of the most remarkable stories of the early church is seldom told, but I’m going to tell it now. During the Roman persecution of Christians, people were tortured and told that their torture and the torture of their families would cease if they just denied their faith in Jesus and worshipped the emperor. Some complied and they and their families lived.

Others stuck to their faith and were tortured to

death.

The growing church was faced with a dilemma: obviously those who died were now among the saints, but what about those who gave in? What about those who denied Jesus and worshipped the emperor, and now wanted to come back to the church? Could they be trusted? Could they be re-admitted?

The church made one of the wisest decisions I’ve ever heard of. The remaining members of the church had not been faced with torture and death for themselves and their families. They called themselves the “never-tested” and decided that they could not pass judgment on those who had been tested and failed the test. They welcomed the threatened people back into the church and deemed them as trustworthy as themselves.

So how did it happen that the church became known for judgment upon others, for rigidity? Well, for one thing we have often presumed to know what is in another’s heart or experience. I talked to a woman recently who said, “You can’t imagine what its like to be in my situation.” She was absolutely right. I couldn’t imagine. I’ve never felt powerless in my life. I haven’t been threatened; either directly or through my children, and even if I had, I still wouldn’t be able to be her. I can’t imagine.

Because I can’t know, I can’t judge. Because those early Christians couldn’t know, they couldn’t judge. Because we can’t know what its like to be someone else, we can’t judge the faith, need or fear of another.

The church has often become involved with authority. We’ve become excessively concerned with property, power, the established order and money. But then we don’t know the homeless, the powerless, the left-out, or the poor. And then, not knowing, we judge. That turns us against our own Good News.

Forgiveness is the way of faith. We trust God to take care of sins: our own and those of others. We trust God to judge and if God judges even a snaky sinner like me to be worthy of the gift of Jesus Christ, then what can I judge.

You and I are called to be forgivers, never judges; and that changes everything. We don’t automatically think the worst of someone we don’t understand. We don’t remember a slight forever. We share the loaf and cup of Holy Communion without regard to membership or appearance or orientation or cleanliness or fine points of doctrine.

Forgiveness leads us to different behavior. Remember what I said earlier. Paul taught doctrine. Jesus taught behavior based on God’s

forgiveness and love. And that love is not a mere feeling: Love is an action and love in action is forgiveness. That’s the Good News for today.

Amen.