Some Things Are Best Done in Person

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Pastor Foley

Part XVI of the Forgiving and Reconciling Series

We’ve spent a considerable amount of time and energy talking about this Work of Mercy of Forgiving and Reconciling.  It’s no small or easy subject and we’re prone to mess it up in all the ways we humans do.  But the goal here isn’t merely to have a good conversation or read a few good blog posts expounding on theology.  Hearing the word is a good thing, indeed.  But if we are not also doing the word we hear, Jesus says it is like building our house on sand.  I’ll skip to the end and tell you: it’s not a smart idea.

So what might it look like for us to do this word of Forgiving and Reconciling?  Watch this old United Airlines commercial and see if it doesn’t generate an idea or two:

What do you think?  Got anything?

In John 1:14 it says this:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The Word – that is, Jesus – became flesh and dwelt among us.  Where the Scriptures and United Airlines agree is this:

Some things are best done in person.

Mirroring the forgiveness of Christ that we have received to those whom we have been wronged by is one of those things.  Jesus didn’t send a postcard and neither should we.  After Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, he breathes his Holy Spirit on his disciples for the purpose of sending them out to share his forgiveness in person.

So, take a trip.  Go and extend God’s forgiveness (not your own) in person to someone from whom you’ve been witholding it.  Or, if you have wronged someone and need to ask their forgiveness, go to them in person and do it.

You might be wondering whether it is wise for you to go alone.  The answer is: maybe, maybe not.

Jesus’ custom was to send his disciples out two by two to mirror his goodness to others.  We are, after all, sheep among wolves.  The good news is, you don’t have to make this decision alone.  In fact, you shouldn’t.  Ask other believers with whom you have fellowship what they think and listen to godly advice.  Share with others about the trip you plan to take and ask for their help in planning so that your trip might be in accordance with Scripture and mirror Christ’s forgiveness as best as possible.

Most of all, though, be sure this is a learning experience.  The way I’ve found most helpful is by doing an After Action Review.  Ask yourself these four questions after returning from your trip:

  • What was the intent?
  • What happened?  Why?  What are the implications?
  • What lessons did we learn?
  • Now what?

Now it’s time for us to go. We’ve heard the word. So let’s do it.

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Forgiving Those Who Trespass Against You, Part 3

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Pastor Foley

Part XV of the Forgiving and Reconciling Series

We concluded our last post noting that when Jesus says, ” “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them” it sure sounds like repentance follows forgiveness.

But it’s important to remember a few things:

Jesus says, “If your brother or sister sins against you.” He is talking here about fellow believers—those who have received the forgiveness of God and been set free from their bondage to sin. The sin of Christians is a major concern in the Scripture and in church history. To modern Christians, that makes little sense. We just think, Christians sin, right?

But look how seriously the writer of Hebrews takes the sin of fellow believers, in Hebrews 6:4-8:

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[c] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

The writer of Hebrews is here referring to the sin of apostasy; spurning the truth of God in favor of one’s own ideas or desires.  While not every sin makes one apostate, every sin that is left to freely reign in the life of the believer sets her on a trajectory towards apostasy.  Such is the end goal of our enemy: to leave us so satisfied, or imprisoned, with our own sin that we turn our backs on God altogether.

So when a fellow believer falls back into sin, we ought to regard it as a four-alarm fire! It’s a big deal! It requires serious action! Having been set free from slavery to sin, they have returned to their former master and are willingly offering their service; even though they have been purchased by Christ with his blood and they rightfully belong to him.

That’s why, when this happens, Jesus says to rebuke the brother! Not for your sake, but for his! Rebuke doesn’t mean feel sorry for yourself and complain to your brother about how hurt you are. Rebuke means to convince, persuade, admonish—in short, wake the brother up! Say, “You’re going the wrong way! You’re crucifying the son of God all over again!”

This is going to happen more than once. In fact, Jesus says, it may even happen seven times a day. And it’s so serious that if it happens seven times a day, you need to rebuke your brother every time to keep him on track. You don’t want your brother to lose the ability to be brought back to repentance and be turned into a land that produces only thorns and thistles.

And, says Jesus, if your brother repents, forgive him—share God’s judgment (his setting things right) and mercy over and over with him every time.

But if you wait to forgive a non-Christian until they repent, you will be waiting a long time. Like forever. Because only a man freed from bondage can truly, meaningfully repent. And only Christ can break the bondage of sin.

But if Christ sets you free, as he promises in John 8:36, then you will be free indeed. Free to repent. Free to renounce your sin and receive his grace. Freed for new obedience, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is that lifelong salvation which we talked about last month: salvation that begins when we accept the judgment and mercy of God, salvation that continues through our whole lives as the Holy Spirit shapes us more and more in the image of Christ, and salvation that delivers us into his presence on the day of Jesus Christ.

Those three aspects of salvation—justification, sanctification, and glorification—remind us of how powerful and comprehensive God’s forgiveness truly is:

  • It sets us free from the punishment of sin: that’s justification.
  • It sets us free progressively from the power of sin: that’s sanctification.
  • It will ultimately set us free from even the presence of sin: that’s glorification.

Repentance is our response at every step of the way. It’s more than us just saying we’re sorry. It’s us drawing ever more deeply on Christ’s forgiveness so that we are ever more fully shaped in his image.

Human forgiveness can’t do any of that. It’s a cheap substitute that God calls us to repent from.

Have you been trying to forgive someone in your life using human forgiveness? Trying to change your feelings (or even asking God to change your feelings)? Trying to forget what happened? Trying to build up the willpower to move forward.

If so, it’s time to repent. It’s time to remember that forgiveness isn’t something you do; it’s something Christ does through you, by the power of the Holy Spirit. When you cry out, “Lord, forgive them!”, you are not making a statement about your emotions or your memory or your willpower. You are invoking the presence of Christ. You are pledging yourself to him as a willing, humble vessel through whom he can pour out his judgment—his setting things right—and his mercy, and through whom he can claim the sin of the other as his own.

And if you are faithful to cry out to him to forgive those who have sinned against you, he’ll be faithful to forgive you, too.

And then, in the words of the writer of Hebrews, you will be a land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to Christ Jesus, for whom you are farmed.

Tune into our next and final post on Forgiving and Reconciling to find out what it looks like to practice this Work of Mercy in real life.

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Forgiving Those Who Trespass Against You, Part 2

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Pastor Foley

Part XIV of the Forgiving and Reconciling Series

Let’s go back to Les Miserables. The part of the story I shared with you previously is probably the most famous part of the book that relates to forgiveness. But I want to share another part of the Les Miserables story with you now. It’s the part that takes place right before the section I shared.

Here’s what happens:

Even before Valjean reappears, Monsieur Bienvenu undertakes to forgive him. When he finds out that Valjean has stolen the silver, Bienvenu actually repents personally before God. He recognizes that he has sinned, too: he has withheld his own wealth from the poor. He realizes that God brought this to his attention through Valjean’s theft. So he repents—he receives Christ’s judgment on himself without protest, and he turns away from his sin and toward the mercy of Christ. And then he knows he must pass on to Valjean the forgiveness—the being-set-free, the setting-right, the delivery from bondage—that he himself received. Christ’s forgiveness of Bienvenu creates new space for Bienvenu himself to act toward Valjean.

But here’s the key point: Bienvenu doesn’t do this as a strategy to get Valjean to change. That’s God’s job. God’s job is to change the human heart. Bienvenu’s job—and our job—is simply to offer to others what God has given us, including (and especially) his forgiveness.

So Valjean may or may not be drawn to repent in the space Bienvenu creates; Bienvenue doesn’t know. But what’s interesting is how Bienvenu’s forgiveness of Valjean in Jesus’ name – which mirrors God’s own forgiveness – confronts Bienvenu’s maid, Madame Magloire, with the generosity of Monsieur Bienvenu’s God, who is revealed through the bishop to be a very generous God indeed.

Madame Magloire says:

“Monseigneur, the man has gone! The silver is stolen!”

While she was uttering this exclamation her eyes fell on an angle of the garden where she saw traces of an escalade. A capstone on the wall had been thrown down.

“See, there is where he got out; he jumped into Cochefilet lane. The abominable fellow! He has stolen our silver!”

The Bishop was silent for a moment, then raising his serious eyes, he said mildly to Madame Magloire:

“Now first, did this silver belong to us?”

Madame Magloire did not answer; after a moment the Bishop continued:

“Madame Magloire: I have for a long time wrongfully withheld this silver; it belonged to the poor. Who was this man? A poor man evidently.”

“Alas! Alas!” returned Madame Magloire. “It is not on my account or Mademoiselle’s; it is all the same to us. But it is on yours, Monseigneur. What is Monsieur going to eat from now?”

The Bishop looked at her with amazement:

“How so! Have we no tin plates?”

Madame Magloire shrugged her shoulders.

“Tin smells.”

“Well, then, iron plates.”

Madame Magloire made an expressive gesture.

“Iron tastes.”

“Well,” said the Bishop, “then, wooden plates.”

Monsieur Bienvenu willingly bears within himself the penalty of Valjean’s sin, for Christ’s sake: he is willing to eat on tin plates or wooden plates. He insists that he himself is also a thief, like Valjean, because he (Bienvenu) has withheld the money from the poor, against the commands of Christ. His acceptance of Christ’s judgment and mercy colors the way he looks at Valjean. He does not judge him by just rendering  a verdict—“You are a thief.” He judges him  with the judgment of Christ, which means he shares with him the same release from bondage that he himself received—“You are a sinner, as am I. Just as my master bore the penalty of my sin in himself, so also he bears the penalty of your sin through me.”

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

But we may feel tempted to say, “Yes, but the one who sinned against me sinned in a way I have not. He is a much worse sinner than me.” Is that so? Well then, remember that to the one whom much is given, much is expected. If you are not a worse sinner, are you an especially profitable servant? If you don’t forgive in Jesus’ name those who sin against you, you most certainly are not.

And this brings us all the way back around to the question about Jesus’ words in Luke 17:3, where Jesus says, “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.” That sure sounds like repentance follows forgiveness.

In our next post, you’ll find out why that’s not the case.

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