Sermon (Forgiveness Sunday, 2016) Why forgiveness?

Forgiveness is a serious business. Forgiveness is the great gatekeeper of the Kingdom. To those

who can forgive the sins of others, the Kingdom opens up. If we cannot forgive, then we are

shut out.

Love your enemies, Jesus teaches. Pray for them. And by this Christ does not mean to pray for

their misery. “Oh Lord, smite those who have offended and hurt me.” This is not how we pray

for our enemies. We pray for their salvation, that they may know the love and comfort and

hope of the Savior.

Forgiveness is the great command that begins our journey through Lent. A journey we begin

today.

*** But why?

Why forgiveness?

What is so special about forgiveness? In the parable of the Last Judgment, condemnation falls

on those goats who did not show mercy. The Kingdom is opened to the sheep who feed the

hungry and give drink to the thirsty, to those who visit the sick and who clothe the naked. And

those are obvious things. Of course they are good. When someone suffers … bring an end to

their suffering. Isn’t that good enough?

Perhaps the Lord should change His prayer.

“Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we give food to the

hungry and drink to the thirsty.”

“Forgive us our trespasses as we visit the sick and imprisoned, as we give comfort to those

who suffer.”

This makes sense. … But this of course is not what Jesus commands. This is not how he teaches

us to pray,

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Forgive, and you will

be forgiven. Withhold forgiveness, and the Father will do the same.

… But why? What is so special and important about human forgiveness? What difference does

it make if I forgive those who hurt me?

… Here is the answer.

**** Jesus commands us to forgive others, because forgiveness is impossible. [Repeat]

Real forgiveness is beyond us. I’m not talking about forgiving those who cut me off in traffic.

I’m not talking about forgiving those who didn’t write a proper thank you note, or those who

do not appreciate our hard work and fine qualities. I’m talking about deep and abiding harm.

How do you even begin to forgive someone who has damaged you and your life in evil and

unthinkable ways? How do you forgive violence and abuse and murder? How do you begin to

forgive betrayal and abandonment, infidelity? I can forgive someone who steals my wallet, but

what about theft so complete and irreversible that I no longer feel like a human being -- the

theft of my dignity, the theft of hope & meaning, the theft of trust? How do you forgive

someone who laughs and spits on you? How do your forgive cruelty and torture? How do you

forgive the unforgivable?

And the short answer is that you can’t. This kind of forgiveness is impossible for you and for

me. The experience of evil and harm is too raw and too overwhelming. It wraps around our

insides like a python around a puppy. We are powerless against the squeezed-out feelings of

hatred and vengeance that then flow in our veins.

So what do we do? Why does the Lord ask this impossible thing? Why does he command us to

forgive? Where do we start?

*** We start with honesty. We start by doing the only thing we can. We start by admitting to

God that we are too weak to forgive. Step one is to surrender. We give up the illusion that

nothing bothers me, that I am stronger than the evil around me, and that I can just get up, dust

myself off, and be on my merry way. This isn’t baseball. You can’t just walk it off. The hurt is

so often too deep.

We have to begin by admitting that without God’s help, real forgiveness is impossible.

*** Christ’s own love for this world was not strong enough to overcome human hatred. He

could not convince others to choose mercy and compassion and fellowship. But Christ did not

despair. Christ embraced weakness. Rather than take back his love for you and for me --

rather than brush us off or fight back -- he accepted what we were willing to give him. He

accepted the Cross. He accepted death.

And this weakness, the weakness of Christ, is the source of all our hope.

He could not save his children from death, so he became a human being and accepted death

himself. He stands with us in our weakness. He could not raise us by snapping his fingers, so

he emptied himself and took the form of a servant.

And Christ this day says “join me. Unite your weakness to my weakness. Be baptized with me

in a death like mine, and you will be raised with me into the newness of life.” Christ doesn’t

stand on some far away throne and say “pish-posh, you silly people, just get over it and forgive

one another.”

Jesus knows evil. Jesus submitted to weakness. Jesus was robbed by hands just like these of his

divinity and dignity as the Son of God. He knows bitterness. He knows betrayal. He knows

abandonment and cruelty.

Jesus understands. And he waits. He waits for you and for me to say, “But Lord, forgiveness is

just too hard. I can’t do this without your help. I can’t do this alone.” He waits for us to open

our eyes and recognize that He is standing with us in our weakness, and that he offers us new

life in a new kingdom. A kingdom of joy and fellowship. A kingdom the opens up in our

midst every time we gather to celebrate the Eucharistic victory of God over his enemies.

I am not strong enough to forgive everything. But Christ is. And this day we can at least

choose to let Christ forgive others, even though, at this moment, we cannot.

Forgiveness takes time. Forgiveness is a process. But it has a starting point. We begin as Christ

began. From the Cross, Jesus did not say to his executioners “I forgive you.” He prays to His

Father and asks His Father to forgive his torturers. “Father forgive them, for they do not know

what they do.” Did Jesus in that moment also forgive his enemies? … I don’t know. …

Scripture is silent on the matter. But I know that Jesus begins, not with himself. He begins with

his Father.

And that is our call today. If forgiveness is too hard, allow Christ to forgive your enemies, and

ask that his forgiveness becomes your forgiveness of them in time. Pray for the forgiveness of

those who harm you, even as Christ prayed for his enemies from the Cross. “Father forgive

them, for they do not know what they do.” Admit that forgiveness is really hard, and Christ

will begin to replace your weakness with his strength.