THE SABBATH HOUR“FORGIVENESS”

Northern Advocate, 29 November 1937, Page 12

THE SABBATH HOUR“FORGIVENESS”

THE following is abstracted from j an address published in a re- j cent issue of “The Times’'; \ Christ was not the first to | teach that men should forgive, but no ; teacher before Him had given to for- j giveness such prominence. ... 1 Quality of Forgiveness, ; The grounds upon which our Lord j inculcated tire duty of forgiveness were new and original. Men were to forgive their fellow-men for two reasons. They were brothers, members of the same human family, children of the one Father in heaven. And they were made in the image of God and so shared in the Divine nature. It was the prerogative of God, as love, to forgive freely, and because men were i recipients of the Divine forgiveness they should be themselves channels through which the forgiving love of God could flow out upon the world. The unmerciful servant in the parable of the Great Debtor was condemned because, while accepting for himself release from his debt, he failed to release a brother servant. The fault of the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son was that, in his pride and self-complacency, lie refused to share in the common family joy. The ultimate ground of forgiveness is this community of nature between man and man, and man and God. The relation of God lo man provides the standard for man’s dealing with his fellow-man. Thus it is that in the Lord’s Prayer the condition of asking for forgiveness for ourselves is that we have already forgiven others. Remission of Penalty.

Forgiveness is sometimes regarded as being equivalent to the remission of penalty. A father may indeed remit the punishment which his son deserves, but equally he may exact it. Forgiveness is consistent with both remission and exaction of penalty. Often the truly penitent offender will welcome the punishment as a discipline by which he may purge his soul; even if he could escape it he would prefer not to do so. Some forms of penalty cannot be remitted. Sin, for example, brings with it its own inevitable punishment in weakened will and stained character. But though the consequences of sin remain, the Divine forgiveness removes the burden of guilt, and opens up before the repentant sinner the promise of a new and better future.

If we think of forgiveness in terms of the law-court and its penalties, we fail altogether to penetrate into its real significance. Forgiveness looks out beyond penalty, and is concerned with nothing less than the highest welfare of the offender. He who forgives seeks to re-establish the broken relationship between himself and the wrong-doer. If a man says, “I will forgive, but I cannot forget,” he has not really forgiven, for forgiveness faces not only to the past but to the future.

If it takes two to make a quarrel, it takes two to effect a reconciliation. To be forgiven, a man must be forgivable. When he is forgivable, then the opportunity is offered of establishing a new personal relationship. Personal Values, Forgiveness, therefore, moves in a world of personal values. Its prime concern is not with the lower world of law and penalty, but with the higher world of personality, in which love is the supreme motive power. Christian love is put to its supreme test when it is matched against some personal injury which stabs us to our very soul. Can we then look beyond the • affront to the highest welfare of the offender, curbing our natural resentment and seeking to heal the wound? If we can, then we shall be able to forgive. This ideal of forgiveness which our Lord has set before us is hard of attainment. We shall be helped in our pursuit of the ideal if we do two things. Let us, when we are injured by another, think of the many occasions on which we ourselves have done something to a fellow-man which has hurt him. and for which we need to be forgiven. Above all, let us review our lives in the light of God, and reflect how often we have claimed the Divine forgiveness. The thought of God's patience with us may help us to be patient with others. He to whom has been given a living experience of the forgiving love of God will surely be reluctant to harden his heart against a brother-man.