Forgiveness in the Ashes

Standing by their charred house and the heaps of rubbish piled up in front, a few of my friends (young kids) recounted their story of nearly being burned alive in one of Cairo's slums---just last month. Barred in their house by angry activists, they were able to escape the inferno by jumping from the roof to safety.  A bit later, after leaving them, I was greeted by a neighbor. He immediately asked me why I was visiting this particular family. Despite my saying nothing about the incident, he quickly threw out, “Don’t feel bad for them. They got involved in a situation and one must retaliate. If someone hits me, I must hit him back. That is the way it goes. As often as it happens.”

Is it? Must it be?

Jesus Christ taught a different form of responding to crisis. “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke 6:27-28)

Such words ring absurd to most ears, yet could this be the very liberation for those who would hold onto the past? Could forgiveness be the path to freedom for the hurt and the offender? Is our world trapped in the downward spiral of escalating aggression due to man’s inability to comprehend Christ’s words? Does harboring bitterness and resentment only tighten the grip on unresolved stress, frustration, and anger? Mark Twain put it poetically. "Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

Yet forgiveness is no mere change of mind. Rather, it’s an action; an action which reverses the trend rather than merely stopping the offense. It reaches out to the miscreant in love. It seeks restoration. It bridges the gap making a way for new life.

This is the message of Calvary. “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) We have offended a righteous God by our sins. Chosen to pursue our own path. Yet God, in true love, bridged the gap to offer us forgiveness and restoration. A forgiveness that brings freedom to those who embrace the gift His Son died to provide and rose from the dead to offer.

So the world will continue to war. True. But for those of us who have tasted Jesus' forgiveness, can we respond with any reply other than that of the apostle John, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (I John 4:11)  Not once, nor twice, but with a love which refuses to count the wrongs of another. (Matthew 18:21-22) With such a love we were forgiven and with such a love the world will see our Savior.

It may be in the ashes of our dreams, expectations, and plans, but there we must find and offer love's response. Forgiveness. For it is there we find freedom and there restoration begins. 

Choosing Love

That four-letter word. Love. Lightly and frequently used today. We "love" everything from pizza, to our favorite clothing brands, to a certain someone. For many, the word has casually become a conversational closer. It's thrown around in our vocabulary as fish in Seattle's Pike Place Market. The media world permeates our society with its broad definition of love. From Everybody Loves Raymond, I Love Lucy, Love Actually, or Elvis' Love Me Tender, the word is used to encapsulate our emotions.  

But is love the feeling painted by Hollywood OR is it a choice of commitment and self-sacrifice? Webster's leaves it as "an intense feeling or deep affection" but could it be something far more? What's the deal? What is love? Paul defines love as an action which is "patient, kind...always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails." (I Corinthians 13:4, 7-8) Always. Consistency. A bit different than the world's portrayal, huh? Are you [am I] actually prepared to "love"?

Interestingly, the Scriptures identify love as much by what it is not, as much as what it is. It does not "envy, it does not boast, it isn't proud, it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps NO record of wrongs...does not delight in evil." (I Corinthians 13:4-6) Such actions are not controlled by our emotions, but by a choice. A choice to submit to the Spirit of God. The chaos, frustration, and stress of life will push us to our emotional limits, but are we choosing to "love one another as Christ has loved us"? (John 13:34) This is NOT a natural response.

Love exposes us. Makes our life vulnerable for the sake of another, and at times, requires our life. C.S. Lewis may have said it best. “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable." Love hurts. But love is also the ultimate gift we can give another, for in it, we experience freedom. Freedom to model Christ. Freedom to know Christ. Freedom to know ourselves in a way we never knew existed. Love frees.

Jesus taught, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) The apostle John reiterated, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (I John 3:16) Perhaps saying, "I love you" is actually a statement of sacrifice and self-denial. Not a license to lust, but a call of commitment. 

So before you unleash that four-letter word, pause. It's a choice.