New Thoughts (03/16/09-03/22/09)
Before I begin dealing with the lesson Jesus gives us on this occasion, I want to give some brief consideration to Peter’s question. I ought to say that I am not a big one for giving great significance to this number or that. That said, though, it is clear that the culture of that day did. Perhaps particularly in the case of the nations of the Middle East, numbers meant a lot more than simple accounting accounts for. Seven, in particular, was so deeply associated with a sense of perfect completeness that, as the Encyclopedia articles note, the association would be there in thought even when the number was not being used in that specific sense. In other words, the mere fact of a seven count would suggest perfection, completeness to the mind of the observer.
It is important to recognize this cultural perspective as we hear Peter propose his answer. When he asks if seven times is enough, he is convinced he has given the perfect answer, the complete answer, the godly answer. Seven is, after all, perfection, which is by definition God. So, Peter is speaking in terms he is certain will impress, and to which he is reasonably certain he will hear an affirmative response. It is not the rather small count of offenses tallied that he has in mind, but the godly perfection of being willing to count so far beyond once.
As we see, though, Peter’s cultural training has not prepared him for the real world in God’s kingdom. He has allowed the wisdom of the world to inform his idea of wisdom. He has, in spite of everything, managed to shape his view of God after his own opinions. This is ever the disease of man, even Christian man. In spite of our better understanding, we are constantly downgrading God in our thinking until He fits our opinions, until His wisdom is conformed to our own. So it is with Peter here, and as such, his words get ahead of wisdom. Wisdom, being Merciful, speaks correction to Peter on this occasion. We can be sure Wisdom speaks correction to us on many an occasion, too. And, as Wisdom has provided us with the Holy Spirit indwelling that we might be prodded to attention when attention is needed, we can have some measure of confidence that we will hear Wisdom’s correction when it comes. Whether we will subdue our flesh to respond to correction is another question altogether.
I know the reaction of the flesh is often, maybe even always, a reaction of surprise. If I look back to that day my then fiancé confronted me with her requirement that I be saved, reconciled to her Christ, if we were to be wed, I remember my immediate reaction. Why? I’m a good man. Am I not good enough for you? Don’t you see, though, that this is forever the reaction of the flesh! What? I’m not good enough? This, sad to say, is the way we tend to react to God’s correction, especially as it generally comes to us mediated through the hands of a fellow creature. You don’t think I’m good enough for God? How dare you! Just look at me! Look at what I do for Him, for His house! Sigh. And we don’t even recognize the disease of Pharisaism arising in our reaction! Indeed, we are ready at that moment to look God in the face, as it were, and demand of Him: What’s Your problem? Isn’t perfect good enough for You?
The heart is that deceptively wicked! The mind is that darkened even now. That we would still, in spite of our privileged access to the very throne room of God, in spite of having God Himself as our private tutor in all matters of life, have the bold-faced audacity to come to Him with the attitude (and even belief) that our wisdom is superior to His, that He should be submitting to our clearly greater wisdom! It should be unimaginable, but instead it’s entirely too common.
You know, when I read Lamech’s comment up there in the parallel verses (Ge 4:24), my instant reaction was to think it grand that I would never act as he acted. Hah! Stuff and nonsense! I act as he acted all the time. In every moment that I lose sight of the reality that any good in me has come about solely by the mercy of my God, I have wandered over into Lamech territory. In every moment that I feel I have anything to brag about, I am there. In every moment that I allow my real station as a child of God to become to me an excuse to continue as I was, I have reverted to a child of Lamech, and that realization ought truly to strike fear to my heart. The children of Abraham according to the flesh thought themselves secure enough in that heritage, but the Promise Himself came and called them out as sons of the Devil. That same Promise, even as He welcomes us benighted Gentiles into the family, gives us careful warning that we shall be fruitful children of His household, or we shall be no children at all.
This is not to say that our salvation, if it be real, is any less certain. Not at all! It is a means of God getting our attention and giving us to understand the importance He places on holiness and on our abiding by His purposes, focusing on His purposes. It is even as I saw with the salt (Mt 5:13). True salt, pure salt, can never lose its saltiness. Even when it’s been applied to the field or the ocean, however dissolved and diluted it may become by its use, it remains pure salt. Remove the water, the salt remains. Leech out the soil, the salt remains. The only salt that loses its ‘saltness’ is the impure, the admixture, the dirt as yet unleeched. Real salt was never in danger of becoming un-salt. Real salvation is never in danger of becoming un-salvation. But our flesh, left with no threat of revoked privilege, is ever turning privilege into excuse. Our flesh, left to itself, will all but immediately turn forgiveness into license to proceed unchanged.
Our Teacher is entirely too Wise to allow such a thing. Our final state, by His own shaping and effort, precludes it as even an option. He is Faithful to complete the work He has begun in us. Of this we can be certain. We can, I believe, even be certain that He has begun work on us. He is careful to provide us the evidence to prove this to our satisfaction. But, He is not interested in sleepy faith that is satisfied to leave everything to Him. No sluggards are to be found in His family! He wants us as active participants in our own transformation, not as those transformed by their own power, but as those fully committed to and participating in the process. As He invests in us, He seeks that we shall also invest in ourselves. So, even as I was reading in Table Talk today, we come to the realization that while He has declared our salvation, He has already proclaimed it and established it as fact certain, still He calls to us to work out that salvation for ourselves.
Just so might a Master deal with a particularly adept Apprentice. He sees the promise, the talent only temporarily held back by inexperience. He moves, therefore, to provide the experience, and not only through didactic methods. No, he gives the apprentice room and opportunity to explore by his own devices, to learn by his own mistakes. He has already seen enough to be certain of the outcome for that apprentice. He is not so foolish as to put the apprentice in mortal danger in the name of giving him room to learn, but he will leave the opportunity for painful learning experiences because these experiences truly teach. But, the advancement of that apprentice to mastery is never in question.
Peter is in this position as we read of his question. Jesus is not in doubt as to his fitness for the apostleship. He is not wondering whether Peter’s going to turn out ok or not. He knows the end from the beginning. But, for the present, for Peter’s own benefit and greater learning, He will allow that Peter should step in it, and publicly, that he might learn. But, Compassionate Christ that He is, he does not do this so as to shame Peter, but makes of it a lesson for all of His disciples. Indeed, by His order, these lessons have been made available not only to those twelve who sat around Him, but to all of us who have followed after His Way. The lesson is for us as much as ever it was for Peter.
We, too, are naturally inclined to think we’ve hit perfection in our obedience. We, too, are so full of pride that when we manage to get some trivial little matter right for once, we’re all about bragging to our Father about this grand victory. Our Father, being our Father, smiles His reassurance at us, pats us on the head, and generally encourages us to continue in our efforts. But, we get the wrong idea, and think we’ve really arrived, so we parade our little victory before our fellows, and are taken somewhat aback if they are not duly impressed. Perhaps, given their apparent dullness of mind and our clearly superior state of grace, we take their condition to prayer, ask our dear Brother Jesus to shine His light more fully upon them that they might be like us.
Oh dear! We’ve just done the unthinkable and haven’t even thought about it! We have just raised ourselves up as the banner of all that is good, even as we pray to the Banner! We have moved from saying, “Lord, make me like You” to, “Lord, make them like me” and the shamefulness of that movement hasn’t even registered. But, again, our Jesus is merciful. He will not leave us in our darkness. He follows the formula He has laid out here for Peter, and brings rebuke upon us, Godly rebuke well suited to bring about a godly sorrow and repentance. But, what is the more immediate reaction in us?
Why, we have become so impressed with our little victory that we’re pretty sure we’ve achieved perfection, and now, we are shocked and deeply hurt that this Jesus would suggest that it’s not enough. What? How can He say that? Perfection isn’t good enough? Oh, but how we shall need to be reminded of the true state of our righteousness! Oh, but how we are constantly needing the reminder that what goodness there is to be found in us is all of His doing. Oh, how we must be brought back to earth before ever we can attain to heaven.
Thank God, though, that the formula doesn’t end at rebuke. It continues. It moves from rebuke to repentance and from repentance to forgiveness. The Good News is that it continues for the child of God. The child sins, the Father rebukes. The Father rebukes, the child repents – it may take awhile, but the child repents. The child repents, and we have it as written guarantee – He is faithful to forgive us (1Jn 1:9). Yes, and not merely forgive, not even forgiving and forgetting, but forgiving and, were that not enough, cleansing us from all unrighteousness. Oh, praises be to God that He does not abandon the process in the face of our slow progress!
Perfect is, of course, good enough. Indeed, perfect is the unchanging, unmoving goal of transformation. But, that goal lies at the entrance to the heavenly estate. So long as we remain on this sojourn, we remain a work in progress, always approaching the goal, but never reaching it. It is never as if we had arrived until we have departed. In the meantime, the cycle of learning continues, and that cycle continues to be sin – rebuke – repent – forgive. That is, as I said, the Good News. The bad news is that the cycle continues, and always begins with our sin.
Sin, unfortunately, is an issue we don’t need to have explained to us. We know all too well how great our propensity for sin is. We know full well how weak we become in the face of sin’s temptations. We know the struggle that Paul describes in writing to the Romans, because it is our own struggle (Ro 7:15-25). We know, even as we step into sin’s way, that this is wrong. We ought not to do so. We should be stronger in ourselves to resist. But, we know we are not stronger. This is not in any way an excuse for us, but it is a reality for us. Yes, there are those who will claim to be above this struggle, but I tell you with the conviction of Scripture behind me that they lie. They lie, perhaps, to themselves first and foremost, but they lie. God has declared that no man is righteous. His own apostles state plainly that the man who says he has no sin is a liar and makes God out to be a liar by that claim.
But, don’t we all like to put on our righteous airs! You walk into the typical church service on a Sunday morning and you will likely meet the most perfected collection of saints ever gathered, at least so far as you could learn from their words and actions for that hour. Of course, we know that’s not the real situation. Of course we know, because we know ourselves, that everybody around us is dealing with some issue or another, some sin or another. But, for this hour, somehow we have it in our heads that we’re supposed to lock that truth away. Somehow, it strikes us as right and proper to worship the God of Truth by lying. Figure that one out!
I tell you, though I am no different, that these things ought not to be! How shall we deal with our sins, how shall we avail ourselves of the aid of our brethren, if we cannot bear the thought of telling them what we’re fighting (or failing to fight)? Instead of putting our energies into dealing with the issue, we’re doing all we can to hide it, cover it up. We’re so used to doing this with ourselves, that we tend to do the same thing if we happen to uncover our brother’s sin. Oh, it’s OK. It’s not a big sin. Don’t let it get to you, brother. In God’s time... Your secret’s safe with me until He decides to free you of it.
What has this got to do with Biblical principle? Just one look at Luke 17:3 should tell us we’re off course. This is not how a father raises his child, nor is it how a brother loves a brother. Brotherly love demands of us that, “if your brother sins, rebuke him.” Brotherly love demands that, “if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private, and if he won’t listen, come back with a few more witnesses. If even then he will not change course, let the church stand with you to bring him to repentance, but if he will not repent, treat him as you would any other member of the mission field. He is no brother in truth as yet” (Mt 18:15-17).
I recall a window sticker I had on my previous car that read, “Real men love Jesus.” In light of this issue of sin and repentance, it occurs to me that, “Real men repent,” might be a better choice. Perhaps, “Real brothers rebuke”? That’d be a big seller. How about, “It’s not OK”? This is a problem. It’s a problem that is rampant amongst believers, real believers who ought to know better. Our reaction to sin isn’t the abhorrence that it ought to be. Our reaction to sin isn’t the strong revulsion and desperate need to get away that ought to be in us, especially the sin we find in ourselves. Our reaction to our brother isn’t to rescue him from his own sins, but rather to help him wallow in it. No, we don’t think of it that way, but that’s only because we’ve blinded ourselves to what we are doing.
The proper way is clear. If you know he’s sinning rebuke him. Be private about it, to the extent you can. Be loving about it by all means. But, loving your brother is not allowing him to go on doing what he’s doing even when you both know it’s leading him to destruction. Real love doesn’t see the child playing in traffic and say, “no, no, that’s fine. If that’s what you’re into right now, go for it!” Real love rescues, in so much as it lies with you to do so. Real love rebukes when rebuking is needed. Do you know what ought to be a prime motivator to do so? The desperate desire that somebody would do the same for us when need arises (as it inevitably will). Am I the only one who’s found himself wishing for just such a thing? God! Just send somebody to see through the façade! Just send somebody to unearth my sins and confront me with them, to walk with me into repentance, that I might be freed once for all! Yes, I know it is but foolish pride that leads me to hide this stuff away instead of dealing with it. The flesh is weak to resist, but seemingly strong as nails when it comes to refusing. No, it oughtn’t be that way, but Lord! Have mercy! Send to my side that brother who sees my real condition and will not settle for saying, “It’s OK.” It’s NOT ok.
In other words, it’s the Golden Rule in action. Do unto your brother as you would want him to do for you when the tide has turned and it’s you who has weakened. In his fallen state, remember that indeed, it could have been you. Remember that it is all but certain that at some point it will be you. Rebuke your brother! If he listens, you have regained him. He will be there when it’s your time of need. If you just let him slide now, you will only find yourself sliding after him later.
To rebuke, to reprove, this is to raise the price. There is that definition that speaks of taxing the one rebuked with fault. I rather like the perspective of raising the price, though. The issue with sin is that it always seems so cheap, so affordable. Particularly while we are keeping it quiet and under wraps, it seems that there really is no price. It’s practically free, and we just get to enjoy it. The confrontation of our brother begins to return us to seeing a potential cost to what we are doing. If I will not deal with it now, while it’s between the two of us, then soon (because I know my Scriptures and so does he) it will be known to a few more, and before long, it shall be exposed to the whole church. Costly! I might have to leave that church. I might not be given a choice! If the family of God were fully functional, I might well find no other church (at least that was worthy of the name) willing to take me in. The price is rising, and until I find that price too high, so high that the flesh is finally willing to let go of its sinful pleasure, it will continue rising.
Before I move on from this point, there is a way in which this passage gets applied that needs addressing. It begins to rise up even in certain of the translations. Luke 17:3 reads, “If your brother sins,” and various translations may add, “against you,” or note that various transcripts include those two words, while others don’t. So it is that many folks come to this verse and see it as practically a command to confront those who offend us. I’ve seen it play out too often. Somebody’s feelings have been hurt, as often as not due to their own perception of events and through no intention of the one they assign cause to. So, they come with the rebuke. “You offended me, you hurt me.” The one confronted has no clue what they’re on about. Now, do you know how this usually goes? The accuser comes not just with that, “You offended me,” but with, “you offended me, but I forgive you.” Well, you know what? If you forgave me, you wouldn’t need to play this game. Instead, what you’re really doing is seeking a sense of spiritual superiority. See? I did the right thing. Not like you. What you’ve done is to strike back. You’ve laid an unreasonable guilt trip on that one you claim to have forgiven, and frankly, I think deep down you know it, and you’re glad of it.
This is not the Biblical discipline that folks like to say it is. It’s just licking your wounds and inflicting your revenge. Let me start with this: Sin, at root, isn’t the same as hurt feelings, and it isn’t defined by your opinions and emotions. Sin is defined as an offense against God’s definitions of righteousness. Go look at Psalm 51 once again. That great cry of repentance from David came of his lust for Bathsheba, his treachery against her husband, and his abuse of the authority God had entrusted to him as king of Israel. But, when he repents, what does he say? “Against You, and only against You have I sinned” (Ps 51:4). There is a great truth in this, for in reality, all sin is against God. Others may be effected by it, others may suffer the fallout, but in the end, if it is really sin we’re dealing with, then it is against God. It strikes me that a great deal of what we deal with between one another is merely offense and hurt feelings. Even with that, a large portion of it is little more than misunderstanding, but by dealing with it in this pseudo-righteous way, we manage to balloon the matter out to something worse. Except, the something worse is probably back on us.
Look carefully at what is written there in Luke. “If your brother sins rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.” So, how can we translate that as a permit to come with accusation and forgiveness before the matter has even been investigated? “I’m hurt but I forgive you”? I call bull! It sounds all churchy, but really, all you’re saying is, “I’m hurt and I want to make sure you hurt, too.” But, back to Luke. If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. Only then do we reach, “And if he sins against you seven times a day, but comes saying he repents each time, then forgive him each time.” Of course, it is my choice to accent that ‘you,’ but I think it reasonable. It doubles up the accent that Jesus is applying. Even if it’s seven times in one day, and even if it involves you personally, still forgiveness applies. I would also note, still the precedent of repentance applies.
So, what are we to do when the offender, so far as we measure it, doesn’t come? I have seen people just tearing themselves up because of some offense against them that maybe came about decades in the past, and they don’t even know where to find that one who offended them. They don’t see how they can forgive that person unless they can find them, make them aware of the offense (however unfounded), and pronounce their forgiveness. But, again, however prettily it is dressed up, even in our own thinking, this is nothing but seeking vengeance. If you’re going to forgive, forgive, and leave it behind you.
I want to look back, for just a moment, at this verse from Leviticus: “You will not hate your fellow countryman. You are certainly permitted to reprove your neighbor, but don’t go incurring sin yourself on account of him” (Lev 19:17). Notice that: you are permitted to reprove, not required to. What you are not permitted to do is allow the situation to become a root of sin in yourself. What should we make of this? Well, first it must play with what we are reading of discipline as Jesus teaches it to us, such as in these passages. But, I see the Leviticus passage dealing more directly with the personal affront. It is not sin per se except that it be an act in violation of God’s own Law. Sin, if it be sin, is against God and against Him only, even though we feel it is against us. Much, though, of what we consider sin (particularly in others) is just offense against us, falling short of our opinions. This is more where I see the application of this verse.
We might look at it thusly: Rather than let your resentments fester, far better to get it out in the open. If your neighbor is doing something that, while not a breach of God’s Law, is bothering you, don’t let it rot. Don’t let it become a seed of sin in you. Go to that neighbor and discuss the matter. Better a brief argument and eventual resolution than that smoldering resentment. Just recognize the reality of the situation. This is not sin you are dealing with, just disagreement between two who should be friends. So, inasmuch as it lies with you, be at peace with this neighbor. Seek a mutually satisfactory resolution. Are you angry? Well, be angry. But, sin not! Deal with the root of the anger. But, let sin be recognized as against your mutual God and against Him only.
In fact, when it comes to issues of personal affront, it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that God’s rule is exactly the opposite of our preferred approach. We are far more inclined to do something about the brother who has offended us than the brother we have offended. But, isn’t it something, that as part of His lesson on the meaning of, “Thou shalt not murder,” Jesus says, “If you have come to make your offering to God and you recall that your brother has something against you, then leave your offering for later, and go first to reconcile with your brother” (Mt 5:22-23). Notice the thing you are to deal with: When you have wronged another it’s your responsibility to make it right, and don’t come with your holy acts until you’ve done the holy thing. The salt that makes your prayers an acceptable sacrifice to God is the salt of peace, as we saw in the last study, so go get some salt for your sacrifice.
Here, again, I have seen the clear message twisted to make a place for personal vengeance. You will actually find folks making their offended state out to be something their brother (usually completely unaware of any offense) has against them. Oh, I have wronged you because I am so offended with you because you did this. I have sinned against you by being angry at you for saying that. This approach to obeying Matthew 5:22-23 never seems to come without the qualifiers. It’s funny how nobody comes to this one saying, I have wronged you because I was offended with you for no good reason, because I got angry at you without any real cause. Frankly, that’s usually far closer to the truth of the matter, but those who so abuse this Scripture for personal ego soothing aren’t that interested in the truth of the matter. They’re interested in feeling like they won the argument, even if there was never an argument. They do not seek the salt of peace, they seek to transfer their wounded feelings to another.
In terms of the passage that we are studying more immediately, let us recognize that this is what we are addressing: real sin, not offenses between brothers. That is the context we have been in as we read Matthew 18. That is the context that has been in sight as Jesus laid out the proper course of discipline in the community of believers (Mt 18:15-17). It’s the context for that power of binding and loosing, which are matters of legal judgment, not ropes and chains (Mt 18:18). It’s been the context for that promise (or warning, if you will) that Jesus is present as we render our decisions (Mt 18:19-20). Nothing’s changed. This forgiveness we are to address to the repentant sinner is the outcome of the legal process we’ve been learning about. It is the righteous judgment, that the Righteous Judge prescribes for the given circumstance. One could almost go so far as to say this is the Deuteronomy of the Gospel, the recapitulation of the Law of Christ. If he sins, reprove. If he strays, draw him back to the fold. If he repents and returns, forgive and accept. As I have shown no limit in My willingness to forgive you, so you, too, must have no limits in forgiving your brother. Indeed, the worst judgment you are to render is that the one you thought was your brother is not so, but only a candidate for grace (Mt 18:17), another member of the mission field.
I hope, then, that we can recognize that the rebuke we are called to carry to the brother whose sin we have been made to know is an act of love. It is an act of God’s own grace, mirroring, as we should surely expect, His own actions. Jesus, our beloved Teacher, made it clear that what He does, and what He teaches is nothing but what He sees His own Father (and ours) saying and doing. In other words, when our Father in heaven sees us in our sins (which is pretty much an everyday thing), His love moves Him to rebuke us rather than leave us to sit in the mire of our own actions. Indeed, His love demands that He do so, just as we who love our children would find it inconceivable to leave the sins of our children unchallenged as we come across them. If your son or daughter arrives home of a night reeking of alcohol or clothes all in disarray from some encounter that has been entirely too amorous, is it love to just act like nothing is wrong? No! Even if there is anger in your response, it is prompted by concern for the child you love. It is prompted by a sense of personal failure, that they should act so. Of course, it is likely not any personal failure of yours. The sins of the son are his own, not his father’s. But, the sorrow of a loving parent will surely prompt a rebuke of what that child has done, because the love of a father cannot allow the wrong to fester.
I would include mothers in this, but honestly, the love of a mother is a different thing. The mother is not, by nature or by God’s plan, the one to bring rebuke. She is the nurturer, the protective one. It is given to the father, as the one to whom God has delegated authority, the one whom God has set as priest over his household, to be the power of the sword to his children. No, I am not advocating wielding physical power against your children, certainly not in the form of weaponry or abuse. A spanking might have worked well at some younger age, but by this point in their development, it would be no more than fisticuffs and received as no more than that. It’s power as a corrective agent has long passed from you. But, you are still the voice of authority and correction to your household. Love demands that you take that responsibility seriously.
After all, your child’s repentance, like your own, can only come after knowledge. You can hardly choose to reject the sin that you are unaware of. You can hardly choose at all if you see no real choice to be made. If you are traveling a one way road with no turn-offs and no intersections, what’s to choose? It is only when you’ve seen the sign advertising an exit ramp that you see a choice to be made, and it’s only when it has been made clear to you either that the road you are on goes the wrong way or that there is something better to be had down that ramp that you will choose to exit the road you’re on.
Repentance is the reward of love. This may seem an odd thing to say, but when we recognize that rebuke is prompted by love, required by love, we must recognize that repentance is the response love desires. Love, if it has wisdom’s company, will realize that the desired response is unlikely to be the immediate response. The wound of a brother remains a wound to the one who receives that blow, and he must have time to treat the wound, before the medicine of rebuke can have its desired effect. Don’t blow it, love, by demanding the instant turnaround! If it happens, rejoice! But, if it does not, don’t lose hope, and don’t figure this means you need to keep poking the wound. Your job has been done, and if your brother repents, it is well. If not, it hardly serves any good purpose to make matters worse.
Look, then, at that last piece of the chain. If he repents, forgive him. No matter how many times it proves necessary, if he repents, forgive him. This is a command. It is a required legal response to a provisioned legal determination that debt has been paid. If you wanted to put this whole thing in financial terms, it would not be much changed from its true form. If your client is late paying his bill, confront him. If he listens, and settles his accounts with you, mark it paid in full. Were the case to come to court because you tried to collect on that bill again, no court would hear your case. The evidence is in. The bill was paid, and no further collection can be made against its claims.
This is forgiveness. This is the command given to every believer in every case in which repentance is shown. Now, we must clearly recognize that repentance is not simple rue over having been caught out. It is not the sorrow that responds to consequences. We know well enough the childish, “I’m sorry,” that comes to the parent during disciplinary actions. We know well enough that in the majority of instances, that sorry is not aimed at what was done, but at what has come of it. It’s not, “I’m sorry I broke the rules,” it’s, “I’m sorry that I’ve lost privileges.” Indeed, often enough, the sorrowful one will do their best not to make the cause / effect connection. There is no sorrow for their own action, only for your reaction. This is not repentance.
Likewise before God, it is not repentance to cry out for the consequences of sin in your life. It is not repentance to express sorrow over the discipline. It is repentance to commit oneself wholeheartedly to not only avoiding that sin, but to an entirely different course of conduct. As I said, repentance cannot come without knowledge. At the same time, that knowledge brings on a certain responsibility. Were it any excuse, you might possibly have pled ignorance beforehand, but now you have been made aware. You have just been brought into a “choose you this day” moment. Repent or continue doing as you’ve been doing, which will it be? And, don’t think the consequences of that choice have been hidden from you. Nope. It’s all laid out: eternal life, or eternal separation. Yes, you have to choose door number one or door number two, but both are wide open, and there’s no mystery as to what’s behind each. Now, choose.
And, if your repentance is real, your brother will forgive you. Else, he’s shortly going to find himself in the midst of this same process, but from the other side. To withhold forgiveness at this point would in itself be a sin, because it would not reflect the Father. He has proclaimed clearly that when we confess and repent, He is faithful to forgive, certain to forgive. There is no question there. So, He calls His sons and daughters to be as He Himself IS. Forgive. How ever often it may become necessary, forgive. And, forgive as He does: with no accounts left open.
Remember that financial parallel I offered? When God forgives, the book is closed. The account is marked paid in full, and there is nothing that can cause any balances, any late fees, or any charges whatsoever to be leveled at you for what is prior to that mark. God has turned a new page in your account book, lest one be tempted to look back up the page. There is a clean slate. There may be (doubtless are) many a page in that account that has ended with that stamp of paid in full, and the rest empty. God isn’t counting. Neither is He expecting us to. Keep no record of wrongs. That’s hard, but it’s not impossible. That may seem unreasonable to ask of a parent, particularly, but it’s asked. Keep no record of wrongs. If you have forgiven, then don’t bring it up again. If you bring it up again, one can only say that you haven’t forgiven.
Return, though, to the instructions: If he repents, forgive him. Some look at that and figure that they therefore cannot forgive what hasn’t been openly repented of. The reasoning goes something like, “I must confront. I must make that one understand what he’s done to me. How else can I forgive him?” Well, the short answer is, by forgiving him. Like that example of accounts, the collector of that debt always has the option of simply forgiving the debt. OK, he hasn’t paid. Maybe he can’t pay. Maybe he could, but it would break him, and perhaps his family as well. Well, I, as the one owed, can be charitable. I can simply go to that account and mark it paid in full. I can choose to swallow the cost. I can choose to swallow my hurt. I can choose to forgive even though I have not seen a change. I can choose to start that relationship over, disregarding all past hurts and calling it a fresh start today. Nothing in these instructions precludes you from doing so. Indeed, hasn’t your Father in heaven done that and more for you?
I must make a correction this morning [03/22/09]. I have made the point that sin is ever and always against God and God alone. Yet, Peter’s question clearly points us towards a more personal matter, and I have missed that in what I have written thus far. It doesn’t remove the context into which Jesus is speaking, but it certainly flavors the response He gives. As such, it is worth noting that particular flavor He gives it. One thing I notice immediately about this matter of personal affront is that nothing is said about the whole rebuke and repent part. The middle exchange that we have in Luke is gone in Matthew. There is only sin and forgive.
Don’t you see, though, that this is exactly as I have been saying? I can choose to forgive. I don’t have to confront that one who upset me. I don’t have to hear their contrition. I don’t need to obtain their promise that they will do their utmost to ensure it never happens again. Rebuke, folks, is for the real sinner, the one who has sinned against God. Those who sin against us, I shall reiterate, have not necessarily sinned against God. They may truly have wronged us. Or, they may have just rubbed us the wrong way. Perhaps we just caught them on a bad day. Rebuke is not required of us in this instance. It’s not even advised. What’s required is forgiveness.
Now, it might be that for you in your weakness to truly forgive, you need to go through these steps of rebuke and repent. But, let’s recognize the reality of what’s going on here, if that’s the case. You are not acting in some superiority of righteousness by insisting on these steps. You are acting from the weakness of your own fallen flesh. You are, by insisting on these intermediate actions, confessing your own sinfulness. Would that we would do so more consciously, for it would greatly modify our confrontations! Some will, of course, come with a show of humility, a show of saying how they are surely as great a sinner as you, but… That ‘but,’ however belies the truth that they don’t really believe what they’re saying. They simply recognize that it’s the holy thing to say.
So, I say it once again: Forgiveness is a command to the believer. I will remove the qualifier of ‘wherever repentance is shown,’ though, except where the offense is truly sin, truly an offense against God and not merely opinion. For personal relationships, and the offenses that must come in the course of those relationships, the rule remains simply: forgive. In as much as it lies with you, be at peace with all men (Ro 12:18). Have salt amongst yourselves, be at peace with one another (Mk 9:50). You can’t obey that rule of peace if you don’t obey the command of forgiveness. Blessed are the merciful, the peacemakers, for they shall receive mercy and be called the sons of God (Mt 5:7, Mt 5:9).
Really, if you have any further need of incentive to heed this command, just consider the prayer that Jesus taught as His model of right prayer. Consider that clause of, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. Consider that. That ‘as’ is not indicating a particular passage of time. It’s not us asking God to do for us while we’re about the business of doing ourselves. That ‘as’ is more by way of saying, “in the same way”. Forgive us like we forgive. My, but how I shudder to pray such a thing! Far wiser for me to pray that I might learn to forgive as He has forgiven. Far better for those around me if He would but answer such a prayer. But, to pray, in my present imperfection, that I would be forgiven in the same way that I forgive others? No thank you! As well I should pray that my body would prosper even as my soul prospers! No, my soul, while it prospers by the guarantees of Christ, is hardly so prosperous at this stage of the maturation process that I should really wish that my body would reflect its condition. Far better that I should pray that my body might prosper in accordance with His grace upon me, that my physical condition might reflect His reality.
While I am still in pursuit of this particular aspect of the message, let me just join the testimony of a couple of the more paraphrastic renderings of the Scriptures to my own understanding thereof. You see, as we look at Luke 17:3-4, there is some question introduced as to whether Jesus began by speaking about sin in its more fundamental form, considered against God alone, or if He was speaking of the personal affront sort of sin from the outset. Some scribes along the way apparently assumed the latter, given the wording of verse 4, and transposed that understanding back into verse 3. But, there is no need to read it that way, and indeed, translations like the Message recognize the emphasis as being much the same as I have seen it. That translation opens verse 4 with, “Even if it’s personal against you.” Yes! That’s exactly the point.
Sin is against God. Period. But, it is in our nature to assume every offense against us must likewise be against God because we are, after all, the apple of His eye. There may even be some truth in that. But, there is as much truth in pointing out that our reaction to these sorts of things are often as bad as the original offense, are in themselves sins in the same category, for the brother we are striking back against because of our hurts is also the apple of His eye. Oh. We forgot to take that into account, didn’t we? So, in this business of personal offense, give it up! “Give up resentment and consider the offense as recalled and annulled” [Amplified].
But let me reiterate: that sequence of rebuke and repent belongs solely to the truly sinful sin. It is not properly applied to the personal affront. There, the rule remains in simplified form: Sin / forgive. For you, the victim, if you must think of yourself that way, the rule is simplified to: Forgive. Just forgive. Period. Put it behind you, because frankly, your resentment is not wounding that other one, it’s poisoning yourself. The chains that you think to remove from that other one by confronting him with this issue are not upon him at all – not unless you put them there yourself by your actions from here forward! No! The chains are on you. You are the one bound, and you are not bound by his offense, you are bound solely by your own resentment. If you would be free of that prison stand up! Forgive! Annul the offense in yourself, and put it behind you!
Your sense of justice may be offended by this. Maybe your mind is crying out about how unfair it is that this brother should be allowed to walk away from what he has done to you. Listen, if it is truly sin, if it is truly a matter more insidious than simply disagreeing with your perspective of what actions are congruent with a holy life (about which things we all rarely find agreement) then that brother really is being oppressed by the power of sin. Then, it is your duty to liberate that sinner from sin’s power. No, you have no power to do so in yourself, but by the authority vested in you not by the state but by the King of kings, you do have the power. What you declare legally satisfied on earth has been declared so in heaven. The forgiveness you pronounce under the authority and guidance of the Christ Who is Judge of the whole earth is His own legal pronouncement. The forgiveness you withhold? Well, the grounds have been clearly laid out under which you ought to withhold. In any other circumstance, though, I dare say that your abuse of authority will be overruled by the Author. In failing to wield your authority in accordance with His own, you have negated your own authority. He shall reign.
Again I call you to look back at that prayer format that Jesus promoted to His disciples. So important was this matter of forgiveness to Him that He reiterates the point, lest His students get Him wrong on the subject. “For”: because, this is included on the power of the following reason. “If”: based upon this condition. “you forgive men for their transgressions,”: and given the predicate prayer of Mt 6:12, it is clear that we are talking about those who offend against us. “[Then] your Father will forgive you”: for those sins you have committed against Him. Not a bad trade, is it? The question you and I need to ask ourselves is, what if I don’t? What if my failure to forgive means He absolutely will not forgive me? Was it worth the pride? Was it worth the satisfaction of that grudge I held?
Some will argue that God’s mercy is such that He will doubtless forgive anyway. That may even be true. But, I hear something of Clint Eastwood answering that viewpoint. Sometimes you’ve just gotta ask yourself if you’re feeling lucky. Of course, luck doesn’t enter into it, but when it comes to my eternity, the last thing I want to hear is, “you feeling lucky, punk?” If you are counting on mercy trumping justice when that final day comes, might I suggest that it’s time you repent? It’s time you start seeking to get back to the place of justice lest you come to the end of your race only to find out you ran to the wrong finish line.
Let me close with the simple reminder that Jesus, by His own confession, does solely what He has seen His Father doing. He teaches us only what He has learned from His Father and ours. Of His disciples, He requires no more – and, no less. His students, if they are truly His students, do as He does. If Daddy forgives, Junior forgives. If my dearest Brother the Christ forgives, I am practically bound by my own need to forgive. There is no room in the house for resentment. There is no closet in which to store my grudges. These things have no place in my Father’s house, so let me be one who refuses to try and carry them in with me.
They are like the spoils of the battle of Jericho. They are things dedicated to destruction, not to be taken to oneself, not to be stored up like some treasure. If I insist on trying to hide them in my tent, I not only condemn myself, but I threaten the wellbeing of all who travel with me! Resentment is that glittering gold of the enemy that God has said not to keep. Burn it utterly! Let it be destroyed from the earth, for that resentment is an offense in His nostrils. It is the poison that currently pollutes the land of promise, and He sent you here to clear it out. It is that same Canaanite influence that will destroy you if you let the least trace remain. That is a warning, and it is a guarantee. If you will not deal with the issue, it will destroy you. Forgive!
God, what is there to say to this? Whatever hidden roots of unforgiveness there may be in me, or whatever little pockets of treasured resentment may be there that I know but convince myself aren’t there: bring them into the light. Holy Spirit, attune me to those places where forgiveness has not yet routed out the poison of offended ego. Let it be burned from me. Let me be as I am called to be, just in my forgiveness, instant in setting behind me the due penalty, even as You have done on my behalf – even as You do for me daily. Let me be as You created me to be. Let me reflect Your own character more fully even today.
