Father, forgive…

Read: Luke 23.26-43

Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord.
Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord.
For He will lift you up
higher and higher
and He will lift you up.

It is interesting that of all the major religions, only within Christianity is forgiveness such a big deal. Indeed, we have in our reading above the best example – Jesus, dying on the cross, watching his created beings crucify and accuse the God they profess to worship. He, of course, has all the right to breathe fire on them. He has the right to destroy his enemies, the Roman soldiers, the teachers of the law and chief priests who sneered at him. But he did not. He only responded with “Father… forgive them…”
We live in a world, unfortunately, where forgiveness is foreign. Just watch the news. Not long ago, Tiger Woods revealed that he had several mistresses. Lindsey Lohan was in court again for stealing. And just today (4/5/2011) Justin Bieber’s cake burned his mom’s hair. The news reports them as if they were not supposed to make mistakes! Tiger Woods may be a sports idol and many respect him and see him as a role model, but one thing I know – Woods was not perfect. Lindsey Lohan, who is very wealthy, was in and out of the courtrooms and rehab. The news made it sound like she’s this “bad girl” who used to be good. The problem is that something is terribly wrong with Lohan, and she needs help, not more media attention gawking at her problems. As my ethics professor put it, “Americans are so finicky. One day their idols and celebrities are extolled as heroes, and when they make one mistake, everyone tries to kill them as quickly as possible.”
We’d be dreaming if we claim that the Church is above and beyond such finicky-ness. A few years ago, the chairman of the National Association of Evangelicals, Ted Haggard, who preached vehemently against homosexuality, was caught with a male prostitute. In my opinion, the response was more interesting than Haggard’s sin itself. Most notable, I think, was Dr. James Dobson’s. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, who used to publicly support Haggard, quickly became silent and withdrew all contact from him. Apparently, “tainted” people such as Ted Haggard are to be avoided from holier people such as Dobson. At least that’s how many of my liberal seminarians interpreted the situation.
Why is forgiveness so hard? Why is following Jesus in this respect so difficult?
Part of the problem, I think, is because we think we’re right. We’re conservative evangelicals; we believe X, Y, and Z; therefore, we must be right. We have to be right. And God must be on our side, because we are conservative evangelicals. We think we’re somehow higher, better, more righteous than others who are not like us. Dr. Duane Litfin, former president of Wheaton College, once said that Wheaton College is “militantly evangelical.” But if Jesus were militantly evangelical, he first words would not have been “Father, forgive…” Thus, forgiveness and humility always go hand in hand. When we truly see ourselves honestly, we will be more willing to forgive others readily. When we dethrone ourselves and put Christ in the throne of our hearts, maybe we can see others with the same eyes as God. When we humble ourselves, we might just see others with the eyes of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who were against Jesus, but with the eyes of our God who saw people in need of healing, in need of love.
Let us spend some time in quiet reflection on the virtue of humility. Are we judgmental people? Just think about our youth group for a second. Maybe you know a few people who have issues. Some might have issues reining in their words. Some might have issues of lust. What’s your first reaction? Eww! They’re not as holy as I am!
Think about school. There, you definitely know a few people who you despise, if you’re honest with yourself. Those inner city kids who are head-over-heels if they get a B-?
Those kids who swear across the hallway?
Those kids who don’t understand the Pythagorean Theorem?
Those kids who have GPAs less than 3.5?
Those kids who are gay?
Those people who had sex before getting married?

Whatever categories and labels you use for them, we are called to be different, to not judge. Think about some of the words we use to hurt. Merely not using those words is not enough. We’re called to eliminate those categories that are intended to cut down and destroy and replace them with the love and mercy that comes from Christ. If our call is for Christ likeness, consider how Jesus see’s these individuals. Not as a label, but as someone in need of compassion.

Origin of all righteousness,
Confronted by You we confess our unworthiness, even our sin. It is a terrible thing to be so found by You. We want You to like us, and so we try to hide who we are. We play at being faithful. Alas, such play only becomes an occasion for more sin. Yet You forgive us in a way that does not destroy. You make us Your own and in the process free us from our enjoyment of our sin. It is good to be forgiven by You.
Amen.