Corrosion

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

March 1, 2015

Second Sunday in Lent

Corrosion

Isaiah 1:18

“Come now, let us reason together,”

says the LORD.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

they shall be like wool.”

**********************

Jesus asks much of us;

sometimes, it seems, too much,

and probably no more so than

when he expects us to forgive.

How can we possibly be expected

to forgive someone who has hurt us?

And I am not talking about someone

who has just been a minor irritant;

I’m talking about someone who has caused

searing, stabbing pain

that courses through our body,

leaving us emotionally wounded,

even to the point of despair.

How can we be expected to forgive someone

who has caused so much pain?

Especially if the person hasn’t asked for forgiveness,

if the person isn’t repentant;

if the person even denies causing any harm?

And yet there stands our Lord

saying to us,  

“Just as God has forgiven you,

so you also must forgive.”

The person who lies about us,

who humiliates us,

who pushes us around,

who bullies us –

and bullying isn’t limited to young people;

Adults bully adults.

The person who hits,

who steals,

who injures,

who destroys.

It may be a person we know well;

It may be a person we don’t know at all –

The demand on us is the same:

We are to forgive.

Jesus calls us to forgive

because he knows that forgiving is best for us,

for you and me.

In forgiveness lies wholeness and healing.

Jesus knows that holding onto anger and pain

is corrosive;

it eats away at us,

and Jesus wants us to let go of that pain.

The Reverend Barbara Brown Taylor has written,

“there is a terrible side effect

in refusing to forgive:

it is called bitterness,

and it can do terrible things

to the human body and soul.

It can have a corrosive effect,

eating away at our heart,

our ability to love,

to reach out,

to live as Christ calls us to live.”

And so Jesus calls us to forgive,

to stop the corrosion,

to start the healing.

Forgiveness doesn’t require repentance

on the part of the other person.

Forgiveness is something we can do on our own.

Rebuilding the relationship,

rebuilding trust that was lost in the injury –

though, that does require work

on the part of both;

It takes two to rebuild trust.

But it takes only one to forgive – you.

Read through Old and New Testaments

and count the number of times

God forgives his wayward children.

Time and time and time again;

Story after story;

lesson after lesson;

parable after parable:

God forgives,

and teaches us that we too are to forgive.

There in our lesson,

God is saying to his children

“As bad as your sins are,

though your sinfulness has stained you like blood,

I will forgive you,

and wash you clean.”

In teaching us to pray,

Jesus teaches us to forgive:

“And forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.”

Jesus reinforces the lesson with his words,

“For if you forgive others their trespasses,

your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

but if you do not forgive others,

neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
(Matthew 6:14)

The Yale theologian Miraslov Wolf is right

with his observation:

“Forgiveness is unconditional.

It is not based on what the other person did or said.

[or who the other person is];

… It is what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

… it is the heart of the Christian way of life.”

“Come, let us reason it out,”

says the Lord our God.

Let’s neither of us hold onto anger,

bitterness, resentment.

Let’s both of us banish words like,

“vengeance,”

“revenge,”

“payback,”

“getting even”.

Jesus calls us to new life

that leaves behind “an-eye-for-an-eye”

as much as we might like that idea.

A cartoon in The New Yorker has one person

saying to another,
“I find it much easier to forgive

after I’ve had my revenge.”

Isn’t that how we all feel?

But that isn’t the life we are called to by Christ.

No, we are called to forgive –

as hard as it might be.

Henri Nouwen,

the author of our Lenten devotional,

acknowledges as much, writing:

“Forgiveness from the heart is very difficult. …

very difficult.

[But it is] through forgiveness,

that we become more like our Father in Heaven.

[And] God’s forgiveness is unconditional.

Forgiveness isn’t to ignore wrongdoing;

it is, rather overcoming

[anger, bitterness

and corrosive hostility] inside us …

with love.”

In one of my Lenten devotional books

I found this story of forgiveness:

There is an old legend that after his death

Judas found himself at the bottom of a

deep and slimy pit.

For thousands of years he wept his repentance,

and when the tears were finally spent

he looked up and saw, way, way up,

a tiny glimmer of light.

After he had contemplated it

for another thousand years or so,

he began to try to climb up towards it.

The walls of the pit were dank and slimy,

and he kept slipping back down.

Finally, after great effort, he neared the top,

and then he slipped and fell

all the way back down.

It took him many years to recover,

and then he started to climb up again.

After many more falls and efforts and failures

he reached the top and

dragged himself into an upper room

with twelve people seated around a table.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Judas,” Jesus said.

“We couldn’t begin till you came.”

(from Madeleine L’Engle)

Our Lord Jesus Christ

forgives the man who betrayed him,

Judas, the man who sent Jesus to the cross

for thirty pieces of silver.

It may be a story, a fable,

but doesn’t it make sense;

isn’t that just what Jesus would do?

As you come to this Table,

think of who you need to forgive:

A friend;

a family member;

someone at work;

possibly even a stranger;

possibly even yourself –

for we all need to forgive ourselves.

Think of the pain,

think of the corrosive bitterness

that you’d like to let go.

Then come to this Table

and find forgiveness.

Come to this Table and find mercy.  

Come to this Table and find grace;

Come to this Table and find love;

Come to this Table and find peace.

For here at this Table,

you’ll find Christ.

AMEN