“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable
because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you” C.S. Lewis
It
was the slap heard around the world. What was to be another self-congratulatory
Academy Awards Ceremony went viral after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the
midst of the ceremony. Social media and pundits debated “should he?” or “shouldn’t
he?” on whether Smith should have reacted or if Rock overstepped boundaries with
his cruel joke. Yet, what was missed by many was something that distinguishes Christians
and the Church from every other segment in society – FORGIVENESS.
Denzel
Washington did something increasingly rare these days. He sought redemption for
someone who’d made a serious mistake. After the incident, Washington and
actor/director Tyler Perry reportedly put their arms around Smith and prayed
with him during a commercial break. Why? During an interview, Washington
said, “But for the grace of God go any of us. Who are we to condemn?”
It
appeared that most of the rest of Hollywood, after at first giving Smith a
standing ovation when he won “Best Actor” for his role in the film “King
Richard,” quickly turned on him and condemned his behavior. Smith apologized to
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and later apologized to Rock.
But the Academy has banned Smith from attending a ceremony for ten years and he’s
now resigned from the Academy.
The Academy doesn’t understand God’s forgiveness. God’s desire is redemption. It’s what’s wrong with our world
today. Relationships from marriages to parent-child ones to work ones to even
our penal system know nothing of forgiveness, repentance, redemption, and
restoration.
Condemnation
is the norm in our politics and culture these days. Condemnation only leaves
people condemned. It never gives hope or produces life change. Instead, it has
the effect of hardening hearts, both of the one who condemns and the one on the
receiving end.
The message of the Cross, Easter’s message is that there’s a better way.
It’s what we celebrate today! It’s what believers celebrate every Sunday.
In
her book, Hope Has Its Reasons, Rebecca Pippert, shares of counseling a
woman that could not forgive herself for aborting her unborn child.
The woman told Pippert, “I cannot forgive myself! I have confessed
this sin a thousand times, and I still feel such shame and sorrow. The
thought that haunts me the most is how could I murder an innocent life?”
Pippert took a deep breath and said what she’d been thinking. “I do
not know why you are so surprised. This is not the first time your sin has
led to death; it is the second.”
The
woman looked at her in utter amazement. Pippert continued, “When you look
at the cross, all of us show up as crucifiers. Religious or non-religious,
good or bad, aborters or nonaborters-all of us are responsible for the death of
the only innocent One who ever lived. Jesus died for all of our sins-past,
present, and future. Do you think there are any sins of yours that Jesus
did not have to die for? It does not matter that you were not there two
thousand years ago. We all sent Him there. So if you have done it
before, then why could you not do it again?”
The
woman stopped crying. She looked Pippert straight in the eyes and said, “You
are absolutely right. I have done something even worse than killing my
baby. My sin is what drove Jesus to the cross. It does not matter
that I was not there pounding in the nails, I am still responsible for his
death. Do you realize the significance of what you are telling me? I came
to you saying I had done the worst thing imaginable. And you tell me I
have done something even worse than that.”
Pippert
comments, “I grimace because I knew this was true.” Then the woman said, “If
the cross shows me that I am far worse than I had ever imagined, it also shows
me that my evil has been absorbed and forgiven. If the worst thing any
human can do is to kill God’s Son, and that can be forgiven, then how can
anything else-even my abortion-not be forgiven?”
Pippert concludes: “I will never forget the look in her eyes as she sat
back in awe and quietly said, ‘Talk about amazing grace.’ This time she
wept not out of sorrow but from relief and gratitude. I saw a woman
literally transformed by a proper understanding of the Cross.”
Smith’s
slap is a minor misdemeanor compared to Deicide, the murdering of God. If we’re
honest, we can all relate to the Apostle Paul’s confession of 1 Timothy 1:15: “Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners—and I was the greatest of them all” (Living
Bible). I too am the worst sinner that I know. I am responsible for murdering
God and so are you. The reason that we can forgive is that we have been forgiven
of so much. There is nothing that Christ’s death on the Cross didn’t pay for.
A
constant theme of the New Testament is that Christians, the forgiven, are the
forgivers. We’re following Jesus’ example who from the Cross said, “Father, forgive
them for they know not what they do.”
Ephesians
4:32 commands us, “ forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave
you.” The first Church martyr, Stephen, prayed for the forgiveness of the ones
hurling stones at him. The history of the Church is a constant thread of forgivers.
One of the greatest indications that one is truly a Christ-follower is that one
has not only been forgiven but is also a forgiver.
It’s
the only way you can explain the wives and children of the five missionaries killed
by the Auca Indians in Ecuador who returned to share the gospel of forgiveness with
the ones who’d murdered their husbands and fathers. Other than the power of the
gospel and God’s forgiveness how else do we explain the response of the families
of those slaughtered by White Supremacist Dylann Roof? Roof murdered nine
people during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. He
was convicted and sentenced to death, but the survivors and relatives of the
victims extended grace and forgiveness to him, his wife and his children, shocking
the nation!
Easter
reminds us that two things distinguish Christians from a hateful, vengeful
world. We’ve been forgiven and we forgive! That’s real power! That’s the
gospel! Have you met the One who can truly transform your life? Have you met
Jesus, the One who died in your place? Have you been forgiven? Are you a
forgiver?
Can
we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out
more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at
262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life,
I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My
Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy.
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