March 9, 2013

• "Are You Gonna 'Show', Lord?"

            

        Questions were raised concerning the  authority a minister may appropriately exercise when individuals within said congregation disagree concerning what the Scriptures teach.  This is not unusual.  People will never see eye-to-eye on many things. The thorny question at issue was this: Who or what has the final say in my life and yours, and may we disagree with each other without becoming disagreeable? In my attempts at resolving this concern, an accusation from the leaders surfaced that ‘blindsided’ me.  None of the particulars of this situation were ever revealed or discussed with me and no serious attempt at getting this matter resolved has ever been pursued despite my continuing efforts in discussing this with one leader in particular who I had considered a dear friend of mine for many years.

        I have briefly outlined these circumstances for an important reason.  Last week I asked the small group of people who regularly meet in my home, this question: "How many of you have ever had a real difficulty with forgiveness in your lives? Raise you hand."  Would you be surprised if I told you that every single person in that room raised his/her hand?  Probably not.  Forgiveness is obviously a universal problem from which no one can truthfully claim exemption.  Considering the circumstances in which I found myself with regard to the afore mentioned church leaders, I too have struggled through the thorny issues of forgiveness.  What do the Scriptures teach concerning the mechanics of forgiveness?  What is an appropriate expression of forgiveness?  What would this forgiveness look like if I were to initiate it?  How in the world could I truly be able to forgive these people especially in light of their seeming negligence in seeking an appropriate resolution?  Are there certain conditions that will be met before forgiveness should ‘kick in’?   These were among the many questions and issues that I needed to get settled in my heart if forgiveness/release was to be granted.

        I am very much aware of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount regarding forgiveness--this was probably the very first principle that came to mind as I considered all of the questions that flooded through my mind.  Jesus said; "If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14-15).  Yep, that’s pretty clear and straight-forward.  No questions need be asked here--If someone sins against you, just flat-out forgive  him/her.  That’s what Jesus says and ‘come Hell or high water,’ that’s what you have  to do; no doubt about it!  That’s the end of it, right? But it doesn’t feel  that simple (After all,  How many people have felt a profound sense of guilt who have found it nigh impossible to forgive others despite the clear and direct statement that Jesus levels against them here?)  Are there no issues or conditions that must be resolved before our hearts can actually accomplish this? (I honestly think that there is definitely a difference between what we must/should  do, and what we are able to do--a big  difference).

        In the struggles that I had with this whole issue of forgiveness, I was reminded also of a singular teaching of Jesus (though the same theme is discussed by Peter and Jesus in Matthew 18:21-22) in which He said; "If your brother sins, rebuke him, if he repents, forgive him.  If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him" (Luke 17:3-4).  Wha-aaa . . . . t?  Jesus seems to be saying here that forgiveness may not necessarily be ‘carte-blanche’ or blanket forgiveness,--that an element of condition may or could be involved.  Jesus uses the term ‘if’  at least three times.  Does Jesus tuck a component of ‘condition’  into this whole dilemma of forgiveness?  In my mind, this was a distinct possibility.  But what could that condition be?

        I had to be very careful here.  It could be convenient and very easy to misapply what Jesus actually said in order to use His words to selfishly dismiss this whole mess and outright refuse to forgive these leaders, justifying my decision based on His words in Luke 17:.  In my mind it sounded like Jesus was saying, forgiveness may not necessarily be triggered until repentance and a request for forgiveness are forthcoming.  Thus I had no obligation to God to release them until those components were freely offered to me by them.  Case closed, Right?!  And yet . . , the nagging thought that Jesus had planted in my head--and heart resonated over and over again;  ". . . If you do not forgive them their sins, your Father will not forgive your sin."  It was critical that I not force what Jesus said on two separate occasions and make them support two very different and contradictory conclusions.  What did Jesus say and what did He truly mean by what He said?  What a confusing and troubling dilemma!

        For a period of years, I have continued to work through many of the questions and issues surrounding this problem of forgiveness.  I kept these thoughts and other conflicting ideas fairly close to my heart, speaking openly and rarely to only one or two good friends during that entire time.  The conclusions that I had finally come to, I kept to myself because they sounded foreign and rather unorthodox, but the time was fast approaching when I could no longer have the comfort of keeping them close to heart.  We had scheduled that very evening a study in our home.  A small group of good friends were going to be there to discuss these same issues involving ‘forgiveness’.  One of the Scripture lessons was to be Luke 17:3-4.  I had to to decide how I should deal with these ‘if’ statements from Jesus.

       That’s where Steve Brown comes in (by now you are surely wondering about the connection between him and my discussion of forgiveness in this piece).  During the previous week I had been praying--asking for God’s guidance and wisdom in this whole matter and how I was going to teach these things.  Well, the next week (that is, last week) on Tuesday morning (our study was to be that evening), my radio alarm came on and as usual there was Steve Brown’s mellow resonating voice speaking of something that I no longer remember.  But the very last thing he said (and I will never forget that) was; "It is vital that we do for God what He has done for us!"  My mind very naturally and immediately turned to the obvious theme that had been on my mind for well over a week (actually years)--God has forgiven us and so we are obligated to Him to forgive others!

        That was the end of Steve’s program and I promptly hit the ‘snooze’ button.  In the six or seven minutes that I had before the radio would again come on and beckon me to climb out of bed, I prayed.  Again I asked for the wisdom, insight and courage for what I was facing for that coming evening’s study.  I asked our Lord to give me a better understanding of what I had studied and learned and what I would be compelled to teach in just a few hours.  And finally, I did the one thing that I have never done before--I said (more as an afterthought than anything else); "Are you gonna show, Lord?!"  At that very moment, the radio came on and the exact first word I heard was; ‘Forgiveness’ .  During the next ten minutes, the round table discussion of participants on ‘Radio Bible Class’ spoke to every single point, question and issue right down the line, that I had ever considered in my struggle for peace regarding our quest to forgive others!  I had my lesson for the evening and confidently presented it without a hint of concern or hesitancy!

         But, here is the rest of the story! The next day, I pulled Steve Brown’s entire lesson up on my computer because, like usual, due to my tendency to fall in and out of sleep during his broadcasts, I had only heard bits and pieces of it.  I wanted to hear the context of what he had to say, but I especially wanted to hear what he had said in the final moments of his lesson.  I wanted to hear the exact words (the terminology of the quote I had used in my Tuesday evening lesson) to make sure I had gotten it right.  I was astounded!  Though I carefully listened to every syllable of that message two or three times over, I found that he had NEVER said;  "It is vital that we do for God what He has done for us!"  I had distinctly heard the statement in that deep resonating voice with my very own ears, but . . , Steve Brown had  never said it!   . it!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       [more to come]                                                                                                                                         

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