Signs of God's Glory: Jesus Loves Hard to Love People

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Luke 6:27-38

    Last week, I mentioned that I recently finished reading The Book of Joy, cowritten by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.  One of the eight “pillars of joy” they list is forgiveness.  In their chapter on forgiveness, Archbishop Tutu says something that resonates well with our scripture readings for today: “No one is incapable of forgiving and no one is unforgiveable.”  Think about that for a minute. Do you believe that “no one is incapable of forgiving and no one is unforgivable?” I believe that forgiveness is always possible, but almost never easy.  Jesus’ words to us today are challenging!  Jesus knows that as human beings we often default to feelings of anger, hatred, and revenge.  We see these negative emotions play out in our everyday lives.
    For example, when I was a pastor in rural Nebraska, I was preparing for a funeral of a wealthy farmer who had three adult children.  The funeral director warned me that the county sheriff would be attending the funeral, on duty, guarding the door.  Why? I hated to ask.  I learned that sadly, within days of the man’s passing as the family was getting affairs in order, there were arguments over the will and how the man’s sizable estate would be distributed. The arguments turned violent, and as a result one of the sons was barred from attending the funeral.  Thankfully, this was at the local funeral home and the family were not my members, but in a small town of 1600 with many people related to one another, the divisions in this family put the whole town on edge for quite some time.  Forgiveness is difficult, but so often necessary for a community to heal.
    In this same town, I was visiting a member who brought out a photo album to show me pictures of her family.  There were pictures missing, and other pictures where someone had clearly been cut out of the photographs.  I learned the missing person was her son’s ex-wife.  The son had moved away after the divorce, but the ex-daughter-in-law and her parents still lived in the same town.  This woman spoke bitterly about the family and how terrible her son’s ex-wife was even though the divorce had happened years ago.  I wasn’t sure what to say!  I was astounded at how someone could be so angry at someone else and carry that anger for so long.  I wish I could have said something like those wise words of Tutu’s, “no one is incapable of forgiving, and no one is unforgiveable.”  I’ve lost touch with this woman; I hope over time she learned to let some of that anger and bitterness go.
     The thing is, I don’t think any one of us sets out in life to be vengeful, angry, grudge-holding people, but when it comes to wanting to forgive someone and being able to forgive, it can be very, very difficult.  I would guess that many of you could tell me stories like the ones I just shared, if not to that extreme, of people you know or even of yourself having a person or group of people you find it difficult to love much less forgive.  If you thought the “woes” from Jesus in last week’s gospel were tough to hear, how about this week, then?!  This is a continuation of Jesus’ sermon we started last week.  You can go back and read all of chapter 6 in Luke for a refresher.  Today, Jesus says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”  “Um, Jesus? I really don’t want to,” we might want to say to Jesus.  It’s too hard. It’s too emotionally painful.  It’s weak. It’s idealistic.  The excuses come easily.  But as followers of Jesus, we take seriously what Jesus asks us to do.  And we can look at numerous real-life examples and stories throughout history that remind us that while vengeance and getting back at someone who’s wronged us may feel good in the short-term, the only real way to fight hate is love. The only real way to heal is through working a process of forgiveness.  Research shows that unforgiveness is even bad for our health – it raises our stress levels, lowers our body’s ability to fight infection and negatively impacts our immune system.  For selfish reasons alone, forgiveness is worth the effort!
    I think the key words from Jesus that can get us started on a road toward living a more forgiving, joy-filled life is Luke 6:36: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”  Forgiveness is possible because God is merciful.  God, our loving heavenly Father forgives us, and THAT allows us to start forgiving and loving others.  Striving to forgive and love those who are difficult to forgive and love is worth it because we become witnesses to God’s amazing merciful grace and love for all humanity.  Each day we can wake up and take a moment to thank God for his mercy, and then take concrete steps to how we might extend God’s mercy to others.  Jesus’ tips are to pray, bless, give, and do for others what we would want others to do for us.  We can’t replicate the perfect mercy of God, but we can be merciful.
    Take the story of Joseph from our first reading in Genesis.  Recall the larger story:  Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son.  At least some of the jealous brothers want to kill him.  They resort to throwing him in a dry well, leaving him for dead, and then sell him into slavery in Egypt when some travelers come along.  His own brothers do this to him!  Most of us would have a very difficult time forgiving in this situation.  And yet, when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers as they come seeking assistance from the famine years later, Joseph not only forgives them for what they have done, welcoming them with open arms and weeping, he asks them to not be angry or distressed with themselves for what they’ve done. He urges them to forgive themselves, too.  He knows that holding onto past hurts is harmful for both the victim and the victimizer.
    In The Book of Joy, both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu share numerous inspiring examples of people who were able to be merciful and forgiving.  From a nine-year-old boy who was an innocent bystander during the conflict in Northern Ireland and ended up years later befriending the officer who blinded him in the crossfire, to the mothers in South Africa who asked for amnesty for the men who had killed their children who were protesting apartheid by dragging them through the streets until they were dead.  If God makes it possible for people to be merciful to one another and forgive one another in these situations, surely, forgiveness is possible.  Jesus urges us today to not only see forgiveness as possible, but necessary for the healing of the world.
    When we think about looking for signs of God’s glory, we usually think first of beautiful sunrises or sunsets, what heaven might be like, Holy Spirit-filled moments and miracles.  Today, let’s remember forgiveness is a miracle and gift from God!  As we move toward Lent in just a few weeks, I can’t help but think of Jesus’ unlikely sign of God’s glory on the cross.  This is where Jesus most clearly and fully reveals God’s mercy – on the cross.  On the cross, Jesus assures the criminal that he will be with him in paradise and prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”  With sacrificial love, Jesus destroys the power of hate and death that nailed him on that cross.  On the cross, Jesus says, “this is my body and this is my blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”  The cross is God’s sign for us that “no one is incapable of forgiving, and no one is unforgiveable.”  Because of the cross, we can be merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful.  Thanks be to God! Amen.