Forgiveness (Tuesday, Lent 3)

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The Book of Daniel tells the story of three Jewish men who were thrown into fire for refusing to worship a statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 3:2.11-20 is a touching prayer of Azariah while they were in the heart of the fire. With a humble and contrite heart, he prayed for God’s acceptance, forgiveness, mercy and deliverance because he knew that his people had sinned and worshipped the statue. In His teaching on forgiveness, Jesus ended with the statement: “this is what my heavenly father will do to those who do not forgive others from their heart” (Matt. 18:35).


In the world, it is customary to return good for good. But those who are not of the world are expected to go beyond what is customary-in-the-sight-of-the-world and learn to return good for evil. A Christian is a child of God: a God who does not treat us according to our sins as expressed by Azariah. A Christian is a follower of Christ: the Christ who prayed at the height of his suffering and pains that God should forgive his executioners because they did not know what they were doing. So, a Christian must be humble enough to work for forgiveness and reconciliation when there is offense.


Forgiveness is not easy. When we weigh the damages, the loss and the injustice that others have caused us, we find it extremely difficult to forgive. At that point, we are angry; there is so much pain, bitterness and hate in our hearts. And that is why most often we say: “Justice demands…; and justice must be done”. Yes, God is a God of justice; but often He vacates His seat of justice; and occupies His throne of mercy no longer to treat us according to what we have done but to pardon and cancel our debts for the sake of His name.


If we are humble, forgiveness will not be too difficult for us. When there is offense, pride asks: WHO IS RIGHT? But humility asks: WHAT IS RIGHT? Instead of insisting on knowing WHO IS RIGHT, we can persist in doing WHAT IS RIGHT. IT'S RIGHT to say that I'm sorry even when I'm not at fault. That's humility! IT'S RIGHT to say that I'm sorry when I'm actually at fault. That's humility! IT'S RIGHT to forgive others when they deal me terrible blows. That's humility! To the worldly-minded, humility is weakness. To the heavenly-minded, it is strength under control! Just BE HUMBLE, and you will be strong enough to build lasting edifices of peace.


Prayer:

Lord, as we journey back to You repentant and remorseful, may we never forget that if we don't FORGIVE our offenders we can't have access to Your mercy and forgiveness, Amen!


Have a fruitful Lenten journey!



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