Dillon Community Church

Not too long ago, I was asked the question: “How do you forgive? The question came from my son who had just been fighting with his brother and as he asked the question, tears were running down his face. In his beautiful, child’s heart—as I can only imagine—was a swirling torrent of emotions. Feelings of love for his brother and a desire to be close with him and loved by him, and feelings of the joy of the friendship and laughter that come with that closeness were all jumbled up with feelings of annoyance, anger, vengeance and hatred and this turbulent storm drove his little heart to the point of breaking and the tears began to flow. Haven’t we all been there?

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit” and went to a synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath. When the scroll of Isaiah was brought to him, he unrolled it and read, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor...” Then, stopping in mid-sentence, he rolled up the scroll and sat down. (Lk 4:14-20) It is interesting to note what Jesus did not read. Jesus, Emmanuel, God-With-Us chose not to read “…and the day of vengeance of our God.” I think he was giving us a clue. Let’s face it, unforgiveness makes us poor in more ways than one. It steals our health, our joy, our freedom. It shackles us to a world of conflict, anxiety and bitterness. It blinds us to the beauty and laughter all around us. And it places upon us an oppressive burden under which we sweat and toil.

So how do we forgive? Perhaps by following the example of Jesus. Perhaps the answer is found in literally doing good to those who hate you, blessing those who curse you, praying for those who mistreat you, turning the other cheek, doing to others as you would have them do to you. (Lk 6:27-31) And in the end, and most importantly, perhaps it is by seeing these people, our enemies, as Jesus saw them… humans made in God’s image; very good and yet fallen. Poor, imprisoned, blind, oppressed and in need of a savior. With his dying breath, Jesus gave us an example to follow when he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34).

Remember to forgive this Advent season.

Rob Schmidt, worship and arts pastor

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