There was so much joy the day that the roof of the house was torn open and the paralyzed man was lowered down by rope to Jesus from above. Not only was the man healed that day, but it was the forgiveness of his sins that had brought it about. You can almost imagine the huge grin of Jesus’ face as the once paralyzed man skips away in joy with his sleeping mat in his arm. Forgiveness brings joy.
Again, you sense this same type of joy and love found in the words of tender forgiveness spoken to the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with her hair. She was simply described in the story as a sinner, but she acts with the deeply moving joy and gratitude of one of Jesus’ forgiven.
And, then there is that sinner hanging on the cross with Jesus who refuses to join in on the taunts thrown Jesus’ way. Instead, he asks that Jesus remember a sinner like him, and Jesus responds in the middle of this bloody scene with surprising words of joy; “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
There is so much joy to be found in forgiveness. There is joy found in the amazing freedom of having the weight of your sin lifted from your shoulders. But, maybe even more important is the joy that Jesus shows in granting that forgiveness. It is as if forgiveness was the greatest gift that God could think up when considering all the gifts that a heavenly parent could provide the world.
With all that in mind, I am drawn to ask: since forgiveness brings so much joy to the one who is given the forgiveness, and even more joy comes to the one who grants the forgiveness, why is it so hard to do?
Why is forgiveness so hard?
We are not alone in our struggle. Just previous to our gospel reading for today, Jesus let the disciples in on the secret of why forgiveness is so powerful: because it does not end. Jesus teaches in Luke 17:4: “If the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.” Forgiveness is powerful because it is persistent.
God’s mercy is like a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep in order to find one that is lost, and then rejoices when that lost sheep is found.
God’s mercy is like a woman who sweeps the floor looking for a lost coin and throws a party when that coin is discovered!
Forgiveness does not give up. Forgiveness does not give in. Forgiveness does not allow anyone to say, “This time around it is a lost cause.” Forgiveness cannot be defeated by a grave. Forgiveness will go all the way to the cross in order to save a world that rejects the notion of such amazing love.
But, maybe it is exactly the persistence of love that makes it so incredibly hard. I do not know about any of you, but when a two year old throws his dinner plate on the floor for the seventh time that night, and the parent needs to scrub the food out of the carpeting for the seventh time in an hour (What house designer chooses to put carpet in the dining room anyway?)…after the seventh time the parent cannot help but feel like it would be more effective to just say something like, “Fine! We’re done! You can eat again sometime tomorrow!”
If it is that hard to forgive a two year old, imagine how hard it is to forgive over and over again an adult who should know better…who should have figured out by now how to put together some semblance of a life that is decent. But, no, there are plenty of adults who have not figured out life and they make the same mistakes over and over and over again and need to ask for forgiveness over and over and over again. The persistence that forgiveness requires is hard.
“Increase our faith!” the disciples cry out. “Give us more faith so that we can do this!” “This is hard.” “This is discouraging!” “We need more faith!”
Would it not be nice if gaining faith was like charging a super powerful battery that you could just plug in and charge up fully so that you can be ready to accomplish the impossible once again? Would it not be nice if just coming to church once a week were enough to get us going again with no problems or hitches? Heck, a once a month recharge would be even better! Jesus, can we shoot for an increase of faith that lasts for at least a month?
We walk around as if faith were something of which you could have more or less. We walk around as if faith were power packs that you can pick up along the journey to keep the game going longer and make you stronger with some timely upgrades. Jesus thinks all of this talk is absolutely ridiculous.
"If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.” the Lord replied to the disciples, and to us who think we need more faith…who think that faith is something that can be quantified. How much faith do you need to do the hard work of forgiving over and over and over? About one point five millimeters worth of faith is all you need (the size of the average mustard seed).
Maybe, faith has nothing to do with the amount that you have. After-all, according to the original Greek, Jesus actually says, “If you had the faith of a mustard seed.” Jesus actually never says anything about size or amounts, except that a mustard seed, small as it is, inherently has enough faith to do what it does. So much so that it could displace a mulberry tree! “If you had the faith of a mustard seed…” This has nothing to do with having a certain amount of understanding, or having a certain amount of spiritual strength. Maybe, faith is simply trusting that when Jesus says forgiveness is immensely important to the salvation of the world and that we should just do it, we will trust Jesus and just do it.
When we go to the coffee shop and order a coffee, we do not say to the worker, “Go ahead and take a break, I can brew this.” No, we do not do that! Nor do we gush and gush over the fact that they handed us a cardboard cup full of the hot beverage. No, they are baristas. Their job is to get the coffee we paid for. It is simple what they are supposed to do. Maybe, forgiveness works in the same way. Maybe, as followers of Jesus Christ, we simply forgive, not because we got up the courage, not because we feel prepared and willing, but because it is simply what we do. The followers of Jesus Christ forgive, period.
This does not mean that we somehow think that forgiveness will absolutely work and make everything perfectly good and right. It does not mean that we will feel immensely forgiving in the moment. It does not mean that the person deserves to be forgiven. It simply means that we will forgive because Jesus said we should; just like a slave serves dinner without question; or an ice cream store employee gets the ice cream, not because they like the person to whom they are serving the ice cream, but because it is their job.
And so, sisters and brothers in Christ, forgiveness is our job. As followers of Christ, we forgive because Christ forgave us and because forgiveness is what followers of Christ do.
I saw this happen just recently at a wedding. The groom wanted more than anything for his adult son to be present for this special day. But, the groom also knew that was unlikely, because he was not always the best father. In fact, they had not even seen each other for five years. The groom knew it was a long shot, but he left a message for his son, asking for forgiveness and a new start.
The day of the wedding rehearsal came and the groom continually was distracted, looking out the window of the church to see if the impossible might actually become possible. One last look and tears started to fill his eyes. His son, carrying a car seat with the groom’s infant grandson, was walking through the door.
No one needs more and more faith to forgive. Forgiveness is a gift that is simply done. Faith is something that is simply done.
As people of forgiveness we trust that through forgiveness Christ will save the world. We trust that Jesus knows what he is doing. We carry in us the faith of the mustard seed which can uproot trees.
Faith says, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!" We forgive because we have been forgiven.
Find the eternal joy that can be found in the simple faith that is forgiveness.
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