Dear Friends:

 

Change is in the air.  I look out the window into the woods and see colors that were not there even yesterday.  The greens of last week are being replaced by yellows and oranges and reds; the beauty of these colors should not be ignored, even as we are conscious that they, too, will give way.  Soon enough, there will be browns and, then, the leaves will fall and barren trees will barely block the sun that is screened by the leaves nearly three seasons of the year.

 

Still, one needs only step outside to note that this season of heat and humidity does not release its grip easily.  There will still be warmth and the overlap--summer and fall--is a splendid time for play and preparation.  So it is a perfect time, as well, to prepare ourselves for the season to come. Just as we might rake away dead leaves and wash out gutters to get our homes ready for the coming season so we should find the "stuff" that clutters our hearts and our lives and gather it all in one place for burning or, better yet, disposal that causes no harm to anyone else.  The shame, the guilt, the regrets, and resentments--all should be raked away and bundled and cast away--far away.

 

I gathered this week with a faithful group of congregants to reflect on the sermon from last Sunday; I had talked about the slave who, having been forgiven an unpayable debt by the king to whom it was owed, nevertheless refused to forgive the more modest debt of a fellow slave.  The king, having heard of the ungracious refusal to forgive of his slave, now called the slave in and cast him--and his family--into debtor's prison, to be tortured until the debt--the unpayable debt--should be paid.  I asked the group--"does God withdraw the forgiveness we receive when we act ungraciously toward others?"

 

The conversation was fascinating and turned, as conversations about forgiveness often do, to the ability or inability to forgive the inexcusable.  "How could you possibly forgive someone who did (fill in the blank) to your (choose one--spouse, child, grandchild)?"  And that is where our discussion, as so many do, seemed to become mired down.  Forgiveness after some pretty significant violence was proposed; so, too, was the notion that forgiveness is more important for the one forgiving than for the one being forgiven.  Both topics are worthy of discussion, though we are called to forego any violence.  But such discussions tend to peter out, and this was no exception.  And I realized that we were, each of us, deeply distressed by the burden of this thing called, "forgiveness."  So I suggested that we explore just what it means to forgive, and I made a proposal: what if we define forgiveness as, simply, having no more expectation of the other. Specifically, can forgiveness consist of, first, expecting no further apology (or none at all), second, expecting no amends or reparations and, third, expecting no suffering by the other?  Would forgiveness be an easier subject of discussion if we framed it as having no further expectations?

 

I think that Jesus purposefully talked about forgiveness in the context of financial debt so that we could consider it as a "clean break" from expectations--expectations of a happier outcome, expectations of a better past, expectations that things might become as they would have been but for the intrusion of some offense, disruption or hurt.  God forgives so that we might be restored to a full relationship with God.  Jesus calls us to forgive as a first step toward restoration of our relationships here on earth.  Forgiveness is a first step, only, in our relationships, but only that.  True reconciliation and restoration of our relationships require much more, including repentance and sincere demonstration of remorse. Forgiveness is but the first step.  

 

God put on human skin and came to walk among us, to stumble over the accumulated clutter of our human lives and to slog through the muck and mire of our messy lives with us, even carrying a cruel cross up the hillside so that the demonstration of God's desire for relationship with us might be so compelling that we could not ignore it.  I don't think such a God as this withdraws forgiveness easily.  Perhaps, we could follow the example.

 

The outline for Sunday's worship experience is attached, and I hope you'll review it and consider whether any change is needed.  One of the great joys of my life--and there are many--is the joy of walking the walk of life beside each of you.  May God bless you and keep you, now and always.

 

Andy