Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” (Luke 11:4) Jesus illuminated that prayer with the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35) after Peter asked him how often we must forgive those who sin against us.
In the parable, the master forgave the great debt the servant owed him, but the servant demanded payment of the small debt someone else owed the servant. At the end of the parable, the master says to the unforgiving servant, “Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?”
I have been listening to Tim Keller a lot lately. Keller says, “How we deal with our wounds is a model for how we relate to God.” He adds that “’the mercy rule’ demonstrates that God distributes His forgiveness through people. He forgives us as we forgive others” – a simple but profound statement.
It isn’t that we earn forgiveness from God metes by notching sufficient forgiveness of others on our belts. We don’t earn forgiveness from God anymore than someone who has wronged us earns our forgiveness. The whole point of forgiveness is unmerited favor. Forgiveness is never earned; forgiveness is being released from consequences we deserve.
But, forgiveness is still a two-way street. God, apparently, has built into the fabric of His universe the principle that we are forgiven to the extent we forgive. It’s like a law of physics in the moral and spiritual world.
In addition, Keller says, “The way we distribute mercy says a lot about how we relate to God.”
When Peter asked how many times we must forgive?” He offered what he undoubtedly thought was a generous amount: Seven times. You have undoubtedly heard the statement: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. This sentiment is not a new one. Sometimes we say, “three strikes, and you’re out!” Peter upped the ante generously to seven times, thinking that seven times must surely be good enough!
But Jesus said, “No, seventy times seven!” We should forgive people exponentially more than we think! In fact, the real point of what Jesus was saying is that we shouldn’t keep tabs. We should always forgive… if we want to be forgiven.
Like a law of physics, forgiveness cannot flow to us unless we let it flow through us.
As Peter demonstrates in his question to Jesus, this is very hard for us to understand. Surely, there must be a limit to forgiveness! Surely, there is a line that can be crossed, across which forgiveness is not allowed and not required! So it seems to us, but in so thinking, we fail to understand the nature and character of God.
Continue reading “How Our Wounds Help Us Understand God”
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