Forgiveness, Part One

The past two weeks have been hectic and full of activity! Gram had many visitors come to wish her a happy birthday. Thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes!

In the quietness of the evening last night, Gram began talking to me about forgiveness. She said we should never assume that someone would automatically know we have forgiven them for an offense. Even though we know we have forgiven them, we should be like the father in the parable of Luke 15, who throws a celebration for his son, when he comes home after spending all of his inheritance. In a nutshell, the son was prepared to come back as a servant, but was greeted by his dad with kisses, new clothes and a feast.

Once again, Gram has shown me a viewpoint I never really thought about. I know I have been on both sides of forgiveness. There are times when I never knew (and still don't) whether I had been forgiven or not. The sour taste of what we have done wrong can linger in our throat for years, even after we have apologized to another person, because we are still unsure of our standing with them.

The parable about the Prodigal Son that Jesus talks about in the book of Luke is a story of forgiveness from God to us, his own children.

"A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give to me the portion of goods that falleth to me' (his ineritance). And his father divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the son took his journey into a far country, and there, wasted his substance with riotous living" (Luke 15:11-13)

Not righteous living, but riotous living. He went away and spent all of his inhertance, doing whatever he felt like doing. The purpose of an inheritance is for the children, after the parents die. This son said, in essence, "Dad, I wish you were dead so I could do what I want with your money." After he left, the family stayed at home and continued to work while this kid was having the time of his life doing all of the wrong things. Until...

The money ran out, and the son found himself penniless, sitting in a pigpen feeding the pigs, wishing he could eat their food because he was starving.

The Bible says in verse 17 that the son "came to himself" and realized even the servants in his fathers house have more than enough to eat. He came up with a plan to go back to his father and offer to be a servant, if his father would only let him come back. He rehearsed in his mind what he would say, and got up and began the long journey back home. He was so broke, he didn't even have shoes on his feet!

As I read this passage it occured to me that the son probably wouldn't have gone home if he had still been able to buy his own food and do his own thing. Verse 16 says that no man gave unto him. His last resort and only hope was his dad - the same person he had offended. So he decided to go home, hoping he could be a servant in exchange for food in his stomach and a roof over his head.

His dad must have been waiting for him for a long time. He saw his son when he was still far off, even though it must have been months, maybe even years for his son to travel to a far country, blow his whole inheritance, go through a "mighty" famine, find a local man who would hire him to feed his pigs, then make the long journey back home.

The Bible doesn't say when the son saw the father. He was trudging home mulling his rehearsed speech in his mind over and over again. His dad saw him from far away and ran to this dirty, smelly infidel and fell on his neck, kissing him. As the son began to give his speech about not being worthy enough to be called his father's son, he took a breath to say part two of his plea..."make me as one of thy hired servants". The word servant was also in his dad's vocabulary, as he cut off his son in mid sentence. He called his servants to come serve his son! He told them to bring the best robe to dress, put a ring on his son's finger, to signify that the son was an esteemed member of the family, put shoes on his feet and prepare a feast to celebrate his return. The father tells the entire plantation, including the older son, to celebrate because the child who was lost, is now found!

That is a very short version of a profound story of forgiveness, and how the Father in Heaven receives us all with a celebration when we repent. I remember something my pastor's wife said in the '90's at our Ladies Fellowship meeting. She told us that there will always be someone to forgive. I never forgot her words.

As Gram said, we need to let people know we have forgiven them. It's not enough for us to know in our hearts that we forgive them, if they have no knowledge of it. I'm not writing today to impress on anyone the need to forgive others. God is very clear in His Word that we need to forgive others in the same manner in which He forgives us. The "ah-ha moment" for me, leading to the topic of this post was when Gram said we need to express our forgiveness in a way that the offender understands. When we truly forgive, we need to go above and beyond, putting that forgiveness into action! The parable of Jesus shows us that forgiveness is a verb. What a lovely world it would be if the "forgiver" accepted the added requirement of running to the "forgiven", hugging, celebrating and esteeming the very person who sinned against them!

My pastor in Florida leads a vibrant prison minstry. There are so many souls who come to Christ because Pastor Jay tells them of a forgiving, holy Father. So many have lived for years in the prisons of their own guilt and worthlessness. Many people in jail have already been incarcerated in an unforgiven state long before they ever became punished criminals. Would some of these men be in jail now if they had been freely forgiven and reconciled in love by others throughout their lives? I wonder.

As I've already said, I have been at both ends of forgiveness. There are people who have done devastating things to me, and forgiving them has allowed me to have a better understanding of my own relationship with my Heavenly Father. I have actually found that my walk with the Lord was opened up to higher levels when I truly forgave. I have also done some pretty terrible things in my life, and I still don't know if I have been forgiven by others. It's a horrible feeling, isn't it?

If there's anyone you need to express your forgiveness to - do it, even as you lay your own tresspasses at the Lord's feet and find your relationship with Him mended and repaired. You don't have to kiss your offender and give them clothes and a feast, but wouldn't they be surprised if you asked them out to lunch, or over for dinner! Celebrate your reconciliation in a way they can understand! It can mean the difference of an entire future, in some cases. The power of forgiveness is immeasurable, and it's in our hands, if we will only put it into practice. Remember the feeling you had when you came to Christ, knowing that all of your sins were gone, and heaven was celebrating YOU! What power! Take that same power and use it - practice it - as the Lord requires. Not only will it bring your offender peace and comfort, it will also release you from resentment and pain.

Go and do it today!!!