Monday, March 9, 2015
A Reflection on Forgiveness from Marion Heinz
Upon first read of these verses, a former pastor from years gone by
came to mind. He was a visionary, with ideas that were outside of the box and
radical for some. There was a contingent of members who could not accept the
“new ideas,” and they were very critical of this pastor. In fact, sometimes
they were really mean. He was a perfect example of these passages. His
philosophy was to “turn the other cheek” and show them love. He would pray
daily for all his members but especially the “few.” He would do nice things for
them – send flowers, cards. His wife would bake things. We marveled at his
kindness, his compassion and his ability to show love in the midst of all the
conflict. (Eventually he did leave and went on to build a large church with his
great leadership.)
Jesus came into this world as a human, who knows and understands our
every feeling- the sad, the mad, as well as happy and glad. And yet he tells us
to love those people who make us sad, mad or hurt us. HE DOES. He sends the
same blessings to those difficult people in our lives as he does to us. How do
we respond? It is very easy to love those who love us. It is very easy to do
nice things for those who love us. In this passage, we are called to be God’s
people in the world today – to show kindness when our human inclination would
be to do just the opposite. It is God’s perfection to forgive, to do good to
those who are evil and unthankful, and it is ours to strive to BE LIKE HIM.
What a surprise it will be when instead of a harsh word, we extend a hand! What
a surprise it will be when we give kindness instead of a kick! When we just
think we simply can’t, we need to ask God to soften our hearts and show us the
way because in so doing we are following his command to “Love our neighbor.”
Dear God who loves us so completely, so
unconditionally, fill our hearts with an abundance of love to share so that
through us others may come to know how much you love them. We ask this in the
name of our Savior and Lord. Amen
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