Tuesday, March 24, 2015
A Reflection on Forgiveness from Rob Wedel
In this story, the king
forgave his servant the equivalent of 20 years wages, yet that same servant had
a fellow servant jailed for not being able to pay the equivalent of one day’s
earnings. The king, upon learning of the
harsh treatment by the first servant, had the servant arrested until he too
paid back what was owed.
Forgiveness is one of the
most powerful tools that we have in our toolkit, but often it is one of the
most difficult to use. Why? It is the struggle between being in the
right, in terms of fairness and equity; and, doing what is right, in terms of
grace and mercy. The easier path is
often the path marked with revenge, getting even - doing what is fair. Being fair or “in the right” is a comfortable
position, but God challenges us to leave our comfort zone and do more. It is very difficult to act from the heart,
with grace and mercy, without consideration for equity or fairness, especially
if doing what is right comes at a financial or personal cost. Doing what is right is exactly what God
expects us to do.
God, by sending his only Son
to die on the cross, has forgiven our debt – the sins of omissions and
commissions that we accrue on a daily basis.
By God’s grace, we are saved and able to experience the Kingdom of
God. We cannot repay God for this
selfless act of grace and forgiveness.
To whom much is given, much is expected and we are called upon to do
what we can to live in a selfless manner and forgive others, just as we have
been forgiven. It comes down to treating
others, not only as we ourselves would like to be treated, but treating others
as we have been treated.
Thank you, God, for sending your Son to pay my earthly debts, allowing
me to be part of your kingdom. Please give me the strength to look beyond what
is fair, do what is right, and forgive others as you have done for me though
your never-ending grace and mercy. Amen.
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