The Forgiveness of Sins: A Blessing & Challenge

Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 18:21-35

On Sunday, 14 November 2004, Mr. Hunter continued his series on the Apostles' Creed by meditating upon the phrase: "I believe . . . in the forgiveness of sins." He began with this story:

[Author] James Harnish tells the story of a friend who owned a small farm in the hills of Tennessee. At one time his friend developed a problem with his drinking water. Although his well normally provided clean, sweet, fresh water from a mountain spring, he said the water suddenly tasted terrible.

His friend went down to the spring house, dug up all the weeds, cleared away the accumulated dirt and trash, and even painted the outside of the structure. It looked better, but the water still horrible. Finally, his friend called a repairman, who was able to reach all the way down to the bottom of the well where he found the decaying carcass of a huge bullfrog that had fallen into the well and died. The point of his story was that it doesn't matter how much you clean up the spring house until you get the bullfrog out of the well.

Sin, Mr. Hunter said, pollutes our relationships and leaves a foul taste in our mouths. Forgiveness, however, is the cleansing that heals our souls.

[8] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9 RSV)

The Bible is full of evidence that God wants to forgive us, with the preeminent evidence being the death of Jesus Christ upon the Cross as reparation for our sins. There are three things the Bible teaches us about forgiveness:

1. We cannot earn forgiveness;
2. Forgiveness is not for sale; and
3. If we accept Christ, we already have been forgiven.

Then Mr. Hunter turned to the flip side of being forgiven: the moral and religious duty to forgive others, even as we have been forgiven. Pondering whether God's grace has limits, Mr. Hunter concluded that we must actively forgive those who have wronged us in order to rebuild our broken relationships with them and with God.

"Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war [WWII]. And then to mention the subject at all is to be greeted with howls of anger. It is not that people think this too high and difficult a virtue: it is that they think it hateful and contemptible." --C. S. Lewis, The Joyful Christian

As hard as it may be for us to imagine, Mr. Hunter concluded, when we have been grievously wronged, we must forgo striking back, replace our anger and resentment with good will, and take concrete steps to restore good relations with those who have injured us. To do so is to initiate a circle of healing that begins with our confession, results in God forgiving us, continues with us forgiving others in turn, and concludes with the restoration of our brokenness.