Forgiveness Required

    Last week I picked up the book The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Alonso (http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=838521 ), which is a true story written by a pastor’s daughter.  The pastor moved into a small town church, and with his leadership the church began to grow and change.  There was one man in the church and in town who did not wish such changes, and what began as harassment turned into threats.  Eventually, the pastor and his wife were killed by this man whose obsession had become driving the pastor out of town and away from the church.
    It’s unbelievable that such a thing could happen, and just a little more than a quarter century ago, but what is most amazing is how her parent’s teaching and example about forgiveness was lived out in Rebecca’s life.  On the back cover the author says that this is a story about how she discovered that as followers of Jesus Christ, we have to forgive.
    I’m a little more than halfway through the book, and in simply reading the things that that man did to their family, one sees clearly evil at work.  As I read, those words on the back cover continue to haunt me.  “As followers of Jesus Christ, we have to forgive.”  How, in such a tragic situation, filled with such evil, can one forgive such things?  I guess I’ll gain some insights as I complete the book.
  
    This morning when I opened my e-mail there was a correspondence from a former parishioner.  She

is an elderly woman now, but when she was a child in Russian, she was sent away by the Nazi’s to German labor camps.  She was separated from her family and country and forced to work for the enemy.
    Though I never had deep conversations about this with her, I had heard from others with whom she had shared her story, that in order to try and stave off the hunger pangs and to quench her thirst, she used to such on pebbles that were along the road, sucking out as much moisture as she could.
    If you were to meet Maria, you’d know without a doubt that she has a deep and genuine relationship with Christ.  She is one of the gentlest and humblest people I have ever met, and many a sermon I looked out to see an aura of Christ-light which surrounded her.  Always, she was gracious and built others up, and always she found a way to forgive.
    In this e-mail she shared with me that over the past few years, with the help of the internet, she has unearthed information about the fate of her family in Russia.  Her father and brother both died in Siberian work camps, and her family, after 10 years was allowed to return to Russia, but not to their home region.
    She ended the e-mail by saying, “Sad though it has been, getting closure, praying for peace allows me to go on, and accept the “unacceptable” and grateful life.”
    As I read this, that phrase haunted me again, “As followers of Jesus Christ, we have to forgive.”

    Jesus spoke often of forgiveness, and one of the most direct and pointed statements comes when Peter ask about how many times one should forgive another, to which Jesus replies, “...not seven times, but seventy-times seven times.” (Matthew 18: 21-22) In other words, “Forgive, forgive, forgive.”

    As I reflect upon what that looks like and how that might be lived out, I find myself naming a few things.  1) In order to live lives freed from powers other than God, we have to name them.  2) When we name them and forgive, then we take the power away from the other and place it (and ourselves) back in God’s hands.  3) Ultimately, God is control.  4) As hard as the narrow way is, we have to forgive.
    No one said it was easy, and quite honestly, I don’t know how I would respond if I were placed in a situation where evil descended upon my family or my life, but my hope and prayer is that I would be able to forgive...forgive...forgive...


What or who do you need to forgive?  What can you do to make that happen?