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| Father Simon and Brother Andrew |
Now some of the scribes
were sitting there asking themselves,
“Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming.
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
“Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming.
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
The skeptical scribes
ask a very good question. Certainly, without the grace of God no one can
forgive anyone. We might forget an insult or offense for a while, but it
doesn’t take much to jog the memory of past hurts and feel the anger, rage and
resentment sweeping in again.
If I forgive someone it’s because I have first allowed
God’s mercy to heal the wound I have suffered; and then, secondly, I have allowed
God’s grace to open my heart to my “enemy.”
But I find another
challenge in this gospel story. The scribes assume that God forgives sin. That is
an easy doctrine to endorse. Why shouldn’t God the all-power, all-good,
all-merciful etc, etc forgive sin? From his safe place he’s got nothing better
to do than forgive and forget human misbehavior. Since he placed us in this
confusing, disappointing, miserable world in the first place, it’s the least he
can do.
Nor is it hard for a
believer to say to a repentant sinner, “God forgives your sin.” That costs us
nothing; we have no skin in the game yet.
The challenge of the
Pharisaic question is, “Can we who felt the insult and suffered the
offense in our own bodies welcome, readmit
and embrace the offending party?"
God’s forgiveness means nothing if the church
cannot regard this person with compassionate,
sympathetic eyes.
Corrie Ten Boom, in her
book The Hiding Place, tells of a dreadful incident in a World War II prison.
She and her sister Betsy saw a prisoner savagely beaten. They stood by
helplessly as the horror continued. Betsy said, “Oh that poor woman!” Corrie assumed
she was speaking of the victim but Betsy was talking about the prison guard. That
“poor woman” was obviously afflicted with a violent, vicious hatred for herself
and her God and everything else. It showed in her face and body, her words and
gestures. How can such a woman live with so much evil in her heart? She deserves
compassion – if for no other reason – because she was created in God’s own
image and likeness.
If we the Church cannot
demonstrate that kind of compassion, God’s mercy remains only a platitude in
the mouth of Pharisees.
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom was the book I read as a young adolescent that set me on fire. Corrie was so honest in her perspective. I was always challenged and impressed by the deep connection to God of Betsy. Thanks for reminding me of the depths of forgiveness.
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