Dear
Friends,
Robert
Louis Stevenson wrote a series of short essays about Edinburgh, Scotland.
In one of his essays, he tells the story of two unmarried sisters who shared a
single room. As is often the case when people share close quarters, they
had an argument. But in their case the argument was over a point of
theology – Christian doctrine – Stevenson does not say what it was. But
the disagreement was so sharp that these two sisters never spoke to one another
again! However, they continued to live together in that small room,
either because neither could afford to move out, or perhaps for fear of scandal
and being talk of the town. They drew a chalk line that went to the
center of both the door and fireplace so that each could go in and out and cook
without stepping into the others’ territory. For years they coexisted in
hateful silence. Their meals, their baths, their family visitors
continued, daily exposed to the other’s unfriendly silence. At night each
could hear the breathing of her enemy. These two sisters continued that
way the rest of their miserable lives.” Taken from a sermon by Ken Brown,
Pastor of Community Bible Church, Trenton, N.J.
Since
the argument was about theology, we can assume the women were believers who
would regularly pray the Lord’s prayer each Sunday in their church.
I
wonder how many times these two women prayed those words, “Forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12). They never could have taken seriously
those words in the Lord’s prayer for if they had, they would have both sought
reconciliation. Instead, they chose to allow their bitterness to be a cancer
that would eat away their souls
In
the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “if you forgive others when they sin against you,
your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others
their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15)
Author
Max Lucado writes, “As long as you hate your enemy, a jail door is closed, and
a prisoner is taken. But when you try to understand and release your foe from
your hatred, then the prisoner is released, and that prisoner is you.” (When
the Angels
Were Silent, Max Lucado, P. 160).
Pastor
John Courson reminds us, “that when people hurt us, we must not rub it in, but
rub it out with the same kind of forgiveness that Christ showed you. When we
pray those words “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors the very act
of forming those words on our lips releases forgiveness within our hearts.” (New
Testament Commentary, John Courson, p.32).
The
late John Stott writes, “Once our eyes have been open to see the enormity of
our offense against God, the injuries which others have done to us appear by
comparison extremely trifling. If, on the other hand, we have an exaggerated
view of the offenses of others, it proves we have minimized our own.” Quoted
from Ken Brown
Paul
writes, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ God forgave you (Ephesians 4:32). When we think of the great cost
to Jesus to forgive us, how can we not forgive another?
Pastor
Brown writes, “The very next verse after this command from Paul, says “Be
imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1). Imitators is the word from which we get the
word mimic. God says, you are to mimic my actions in your actions. If you are
really part of my family, then there needs to be a family resemblance. How do
we show that resemblance? By being kind, compassionate, and forgiving one
another.”
You
can choose not to forgive another for what they have done to you, but if you
do, let me remind you of the cost to you: the cost of a relationship with
another brother or sister, but even more consequential is the cost of your
relationship with Jesus. Think wisely before you decide.
Yours
in faith and friendship,
Tom
No comments:
Post a Comment