A man in our community (John, for the sake of anonymity) had been dealt some blows by both the church community and by some customers in his recently established business. Bitterness was often close to the surface in his thinking and behaviour. He made it a matter of prayer and personal spiritual growth and gradually was able to put some of these incidents behind him--until the next time something happened to refresh his memory.
Recently, however, he had an experience that illustrated forgiveness from another side entirely. Bill, the head of one of the companies John worked with, and also a Christian, phoned him up and asked him out for coffee. John owed this company a considerable amount of money for work done, and was repaying the amount as quickly as he could. However, John also knew this company could, within legal and moral boundaries, ask for full payment at any time, and that would put him into bankruptcy. When the call for coffee came, John was very apprehensive.
For the first while at the coffee time, the two businessmen discussed mutual concerns and interests, albeit not very comfortably. Then Bill said to John: "I need to ask your forgiveness."
John was taken aback. What possibly could Bill need his forgiveness for? Bill explained. The previous year, the Lord had told him to forgive the debt that John owed him. He had not listened. He had almost avoided contact with John and his company so that he would not have to be reminded of what God had told him. In fact, at a convention attended by John and his wife, as well as by Bill, Bill had greeted them, but had not spent any time with them. This was unusual because Bill had always been very friendly and relational. Then, recently, Bill had been at a prayer retreat and the Lord had very forcibly spoken to him again: "You need to forgive that debt."
So here Bill was, asking John to forgive him for being so slow to respond to God's prodding. Together with that request for forgiveness from John, was the forgiveness of the whole debt that John owed Bill's company.
All this was in sharp contrast to John's dealings with another firm. He also owed this firm money and was on a regular repayment plan. This firm, also run by Christians, reacted quite differently and demanded more from John's company than John's books showed he owed. There was no slack given, no mercy shown if a payment was late.
How does one respond to all this? To the first company, John responded gratefully and humbly. To the second, he responded with the same attitude that had been shown him by the first company. John still is processing what this all means for him, but the lessons are powerful and unforgettable.
Susan Brandt
The young owner of the fingers was very apologetic. We discussed the matter as we walked a mile to the bus that morning. The set is discontinued, and the bowl is not replaceable. However, it was just a bowl. I readily forgave the perpetrator, and assured her of forgiveness. This gave us an opportunity to discuss God's forgiveness. It was, I hoped, a teachable moment.
As we were talking, we saw the bus coming. We ran, but missed it by a few hundred feet. This loss was not irretrievable. We had only to cross the road, walk half a block and catch the same bus as it came back on the return half of its route five minutes later.
However, the perpetrator of the earlier catastrophe was not happy. "How could the bus driver do that?" she fumed. "He saw us. Why didn't he stop?"
I explained that maybe he hadn't seen us, and anyway he knew we could catch the bus on the return trip. Then I reminded the perpetrator that she had already been forgiven earlier that day and that if we expect forgiveness, we should also be willing to give it. The teachable moment had been extended. However, the teachable moment didn't seem to be working that morning. "Mine was an accident," she said. "He did it on purpose." She fumed most of the way to school.
How typical this is of all of us. How often are we like the unjust servant who was forgiven a great, unpayable debt but was unwilling to overlook the much smaller debt of one of his fellow servants (Matthew 18:23-35). How often are we like Peter, who asked eagerly, "What is the limit of my forgiveness? Can I stop forgiving after seven times?" (Matthew 18:21) How disappointed he must have been at Jesus' answer: the unthinkable burden of having to forgive 70 times 7. The math is daunting. No one could keep records that detailed and that long. Precisely. I used to think this gospel story placed a heavy burden on us, laying on us the obligation to keep forgiving. Then I realized that it is a picture not just of how much forgiving we must do but a picture of how much forgiving God does. He
could do the math, but He doesn't. His forgiveness goes on and on--and how much we need that every day!
Audio Herald
Last fall, we proposed beginning to "publish" the Herald in an audio version, and asked how many people would be interested in subscribing to it. For technical reasons, we needed at least 20 subscribers to make the venture financially viable. While we received a number of encouragements to go ahead, we did not receive enough actual subscriptions. We are not sure whether there is no need for the audio version or whether the proposed cost was too high. We have decided not to proceed with an audio Herald at this time, although we may resurrect the proposal at some point if we can find a more economical way to do it.
Editors
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