Perspectives on forgiveness

http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,,1725371,00.html


A local Bristol Vicar has steeped down from her post, feeling unable to preach forgiveness and love while she hurts over the death of her daughter in the July 7th bombings last year.

I just want to say at the start of this potentially contentious blog that I completely sympathise with the situation. I myself have taken steps back from doing public church work when I have felt in the wrong place. I have absolutely no idea the depths of the pain that this woman is struggling, and so I am not commenting on this case directly.

It does, however, raise questions on the question of forgiveness. I’m in the position of needing to forgive and be forgiven. This is very hard to do, especially when you need to forgive someone in your heart when that person doesn’t feel the need to be forgiven. This is not to say I'm right and everyone else is wrong, just that where two poeple's wills are involved, there'll hardly ever be agreement on complex issues.

I’m studying Ephesians just now. The first three chapters have really rammed home the depth of grace, the sheer gift of being called into God’s family. Building on this, we are to ‘rooted and established in love’, the self-giving, self sacrificing love of our messiah, Jesus. This is our ‘root’ - not only a source of nourishment, but something that lends stability and firmness to our lives.

Based on this foundation of free grace and lavish self giving love, we are called to ‘get rid of ..’ many things in chapter four, while putting on the stuff of God. ‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, Just as In Christ, God forgave you.

As always, God is the prime mover. While I was dead in my sin, Christ died for me. Sheer grace, pure gift. There was nothing to compel God to rescue me, nothing in me that would make God do such a thing against His will. No, love runs so deep in the heart of God that we are constantly challenged to wonder at its height, length, breadth and depth. His love rescued me, because he values me as His. It’s got a lovely wholeness to it.

If I want to test the depths of this love, I need to put my roots down into it. This means forgiving as Christ forgave me. There is nothing in me that wants to forgive right now, and the world insists that I use my rights and be upset and cynical for a while.

No. Forgiveness is not something we withhold at our discretion. Its something, crucially, we do as worship to God. Anything that lives as a response to God’s movements and action in Love is worship. Freely I’ve received forgiveness. Now freely to give, knowing that I can’t, and He can. Even in the hardest times we can show the world a deeper way of being human, showing signposts to the Good news of the Kingdom.

Let it flow.

Peace,

M