Absolute Forgiveness - Forgiving Others

Absolute Forgiveness – Forgiving Others

Shortly after the turn of the last century, Japan invaded, conquered, and occupied Korea. Of all of their oppressors, Japan was the most ruthless. They overwhelmed the Koreans with a brutality that would sicken the strongest of stomachs. Their crimes against women and children were inhuman. Many Koreans live today with the physical and emotional scars from the Japanese occupation.
One group singled out for concentrated oppression was the Christians. When the Japanese army overpowered Korea one of the first things they did was board up the evangelical churches and eject most foreign missionaries.  Isn’t it odd how conquering nations consistently believe that shutting up churches will shut down Christianity?  It didn't work in Rome when the church was established, and it hasn't worked since. Yet somehow the Japanese thought they would have a different success record. The conquerors started by refusing to allow churches to meet and jailing many of the key Christian spokesmen. The oppression intensified as the Japanese military increased its profile in the South Pacific. The "Land of the Rising Sum" spread its influence through a reign of savage brutality. Anguish filled the hearts of the oppressed -- and kindled hatred deep in their souls. One pastor persistently entreated his local Japanese police chief for permission to meet for services. His nagging was finally accommodated, and the police chief offered to unlock his church ... for one meeting.
It didn't take long for word to travel. Committed Christians starving for an opportunity for unhindered worship quickly made their plans. Long before dawn on that promised Sunday, Korean families throughout a wide area made their way to the church. They passed the staring eyes of their Japanese captors, but nothing was going to steal their joy.  As they closed the doors behind them they shut out the cares of oppression and shut in a burning spirit anxious to glorify their Lord.
The Korean church has always had a reputation as a singing church. Their voices of praise could not be concealed inside the little wooden frame sanctuary. Song after song rang through the open windows into the bright Sunday morning. For a handful of peasants listening nearby, the last two songs this congregation sang seemed suspended in time. It was during a stanza of "Nearer My God to Thee" that the Japanese police chief waiting outside gave the orders. The people toward the back of the church could hear them when they barricaded the doors, but no one realized that they had doused the church with kerosene until they smelled the smoke. The dried wooden skin of the small church quickly ignited. Fumes filled the structure as tongues of flame began to lick the baseboard on the interior walls.

There was an immediate rush for the windows. But momentary hope recoiled in horror as the men climbing out the windows came crashing back in -- their bodies ripped by a hail of bullets. The good pastor knew it was the end. With a calm that comes from confidence, he led his congregation in a hymn whose words served as a fitting farewell to earth and a loving salutation to heaven. The first few words were all the prompting the terrified worshipers needed. With smoke burning their eyes, they instantly joined as one to sing their hope and leave their legacy. Their song became a serenade to the horrified and helpless witnesses outside. Their words also tugged at the hearts of the cruel men who oversaw this flaming execution of the innocent.

Alas! and did my Savior bleed?
and did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I?

Just before the roof collapsed they sang the last verse, their words an eternal testimony to their faith.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay
the debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give myself away
'Tis all that I can do!

At the cross, at the cross
Where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away --
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day.

The strains of music and wails of children were lost in a roar of flames. The elements that once formed bone and flesh mixed with the smoke and dissipated into the air. The bodies that once housed life fused with the charred rubble of a building that once housed a church. But the souls who left singing finished their chorus in the throne room of God. Clearing the incinerated remains was the easy part. Erasing the hate would take decades. For some of the relatives of the victims, this carnage was too much. Evil had stooped to a new low, and there seemed to be no way to curb their bitter loathing of the Japanese.

In the decades that followed, that bitterness was passed on to a new generation. The Japanese, although conquered, remained a hated enemy. The monument the Koreans built at the location of the fire not only memorialized the people who died, but stood as a mute reminder of their pain.
Inner rest? How could rest coexist with a bitterness deep as marrow in the bones? Suffering, of course, is a part of life. People hurt people. Almost all of us have experienced it at some time. Maybe you felt it when you came home to find that your spouse had abandoned you, or when your integrity was destroyed by a series of well-timed lies, or when your company was bled dry by a partner. It kills you inside. Bitterness clamps down on your soul like iron shackles.
The Korean people who found it too hard to forgive could not enjoy the "peace that passes all understanding." Hatred choked their joy.
It wasn't until 1972 that any hope came. A group of Japanese pastors traveling through Korea came upon the memorial. When they read the details of the tragedy and the names of the spiritual brothers and sisters who had perished, they were overcome with shame. Their country had sinned, and even though none of them were personally involved (some were not even born at the time of the tragedy), they still felt a national guilt that could not be excused.

They returned to Japan committed to right a wrong. There was an immediate outpouring of love from their fellow believers. They raised ten million yen ($25,000). The money was transferred through proper channels and a beautiful white church building was erected on the sight of the tragedy. When the dedication service for the new building was held, a delegation from Japan joined the relatives and special guests. Although their generosity was acknowledged and their attempts at making peace appreciated, the memories were still there. Hatred preserves pain. It keeps the wounds open and the hurts fresh. The Koreans' bitterness had festered for decades. Christian brothers or not, these Japanese were descendants of a ruthless enemy.

The speeches were made, the details of the tragedy recalled, and the names of the dead honored. It was time to bring the service to a close. Someone in charge of the agenda thought it would be appropriate to conclude with the same two songs that were sung the day the church was burned. The song leader began the words to "Nearer My God to Thee." But something remarkable happened as the voices mingled on the familiar melody. As the memories of the past mixed with the truth of the song, resistance started to melt. The inspiration that gave hope to a doomed collection of churchgoers in a past generation gave hope once more. The song leader closed the service with the hymn "At the Cross."

The normally stoic Japanese could not contain themselves. The tears that began to fill their eyes during the song suddenly gushed from deep inside. They turned to their Korean spiritual relatives and begged them to forgive. The guarded, calloused hearts of the Koreans were not quick to surrender. But the love of the Japanese believers -- unintimidated by decades of hatred -- tore at the Koreans' emotions.

At the cross, at the cross
Where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away ...
One Korean turned toward a Japanese brother. Then another. And then the floodgates holding back a wave of emotion let go. The Koreans met their new Japanese friends in the middle. They clung to each other and wept. Japanese tears of repentance and Korean tears of forgiveness intermingled to bathe the site of an old nightmare.
Heaven had sent the gift of reconciliation to a little white church in Korea.
Tim Kimmel, Little House on the Freeway,  pp. 56-61.

Many have taken opportunities to speak of the “unpardonable sin” mentioned in Matthew 12 and Mark 3.  And all of us, here tonight, probably can name the unpardonable sin as being that of “blaspheming the Holy Spirit.”  But for the life of me, I cannot remember an effective sermon on that particular sin.  I know many have often worried if they perhaps had ever committed that sin accidentally and have even tortured themselves with the idea that they had perhaps ‘slipped up’ and committed it unknowingly and they didn’t want anything in their lives that could possibly keep them out of heaven “by accident.”

But I want to speak for a few minutes of another sin that Jesus actually spoke of and also called “unpardonable.”  Did you know choosing not to forgive is literally unforgiveable?

We read in:

Matthew 6:14-15

"For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

One of the highest truths of Jesus’ life is that refusing to forgive is not only a sin, but that if we receive forgiveness from God, we must give it to others who hurt us.  Holding grudges and seeking revenge are literally forbidden.

As disciples of Christ, we are supposed to forgive and expect God to hand out justice and revenge.  In fact, Paul told the church at Rome:

Romans 12:14-21

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.  Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.  Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.  Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.  "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD."  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Tonight I am focusing on learning how to forgive others and next week – God willing, I will focus on forgiving ourselves.

So, how do we do it?  What is the secret to learning how to forgive those who have wronged us?

1.  The first secret is realizing that forgiveness is probably one of the most unnatural duties for the Christian.  It goes against our human nature and certainly goes against everything society would expect.  What we must remember is that forgiving is a supernatural act that we can only do through the blood of Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

So, if you struggle to forgive, ask Jesus, through His Spirit for his help.  Be honest with Him and lay out your truth before Him.  Confess your trouble and keep confessing it to Him until you feel He answers you.

2.  Remember who you are.  As a believer, we are one thing more than any other – forgiven.  And through the forgiveness of Christ we have been adopted into the family of God.  But if you look around you will see the true picture.  Every one of us are in the same spot.  Those of us who believe in Jesus and have asked Him to be our savior had to come to a place of repentance and recognition that we are one thing more than any other.  We have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory – Romans 3:23.

So, when you are tempted to harbor unforgiveness – just remember what you are and what your sin cost the Savior.  He didn’t die more for you than anyone else.  ALL OF SIN COST JESUS HIS LIFE!

3.  Remember what your offender is – broken and human.  One of the most painful things you and I have to remember is that even at our best, we are broken.  Sometimes, we forget that truth, and we harbor resentment towards others for the same faults we ourselves possess.

So, when you begin to recognize the seed of resentment or unforgiveness rising in you – remember no matter who wronged you – they are human and they are broken.

4.  Remember who the true offender is.  We are reminded over and over again in scripture who our true enemy is.  But nowhere more than Ephesians 6:12:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

So, if you are tempted to harbor unforgiveness against another human – remember our struggle is not against humans – but against an enemy whose doom has already been sealed.

5.  Remember the Trinity’s role in forgiveness.

I believe once we grab hold of this truth we recognize probably the most mystical and lofty truth we can attain:

            Jesus’ role was to die for our sins.

            God, our Father’s role was to accept Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf

                 and forgive us.

            The Holy Spirit’s role is to enable us to do those things in our Christian

                 walk we cannot do on our own – especially, forgive others.

I am not sure anything cripples us more spiritually than unforgiveness.  It truly becomes like a poison in our spirit.  And after that poison does its work on us, it tends to spill out over onto others and start damaging them.

We read of how God looks on us as unforgivers in Matthew 18 – and the story of how Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother – and thinking he was being gracious said “seven times?”  But Jesus jolted him and us out of our superior thoughts and said, “Nope – 490 times.”  And He went on to paint us the clearest picture of unforgiveness and its consequences we will probably ever read -

²³  "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
²⁴  "When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
²⁵  "But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
²⁶  "So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.'
²⁷  "And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
²⁸  "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.'
²⁹  "So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.'
³⁰  "But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
³¹  "So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.
³²  "Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
³³  ~'Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?'
³⁴  "And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
³⁵  "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."

It is clear –

1.  Unforgiveness is unforgiveable.

2.  Because we have been forgiven – we must forgive.

3.  We must remember who our real enemy is.

4.  We must begin to see the broken state of those who hurt us.

5.  We must recognize the role the Father, Son and Holy Spirit play in our forgiveness.

6.  We must give all our unforgiveness to God and choose His burden instead.

Matthew 11:28-30

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
²⁹  "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
³⁰  "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Prayer – please search your hearts and ask for the discernment of the Holy Spirit in discovering if you are harboring any resentment, bitterness or unforgiveness toward anyone.