So do I. I wonder very much. Just as when Christianity tells me that I must not deny my religion even to save myself from death by torture, I wonder very much what I should do when it came to the point. I am not trying to tell you in this book what I could do—I can do precious little—I am telling you what Christianity is. I did not invent it. And there, right in the middle of it, I find ‘Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin against us.’ There is no slightest suggestion that we are offered forgiveness on any other terms. It is made perfectly clear that if we do not forgive we shall not be forgiven. There are no two ways about it. What are we to do? C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952; Harper Collins 2001) 115-116.
Thank you, Jack Lewis, for getting right at the heart of the matter! Jesus' teaching on forgiveness is shocking to our sensibilities. The Gospel of Matthew adds Jesus explaining, "But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (6:15). It's radical, shocking and hard, but this is what it means to be a Christian -- one who forgives as the Lord has forgiven us.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter of Mere Christianity actually started out as a radio talk which Lewis gave in 1943, thus the question, "I wonder how you’d feel about forgiving the Gestapo if you were a Pole or a Jew?" While searching for a picture to accompany this reading from Lewis, I stumbled upon "The Second Mile." I was shocked, revolted and sure that it was wrong, until I slowed down and thought about it. I concluded it was the radical teaching of Jesus which the photographer has captured in this picture.
The photographer is Michael Belk, a successful fashion photographer who has recently left that work in order to work on what he calls "Journeys with the Messiah," a photo collection to help people imagine Jesus in the 21st Century. I am quite amazed by his work, so the picture in the blog is linked to Belk's website in case you want to check it out.
This week, the readings will continue working through what C.S. Lewis has written about forgiveness. "It is made perfectly clear that if we do not forgive we shall not be forgiven. There are no two ways about it. What are we to do?"
http://www.thejourneysproject.com/
It is quite clear in the Bible that we are to forgive before we are forgiven by God. I sometimes have trouble getting the words out I forgive you and when I do I wonder if I have forgiven 100%. When we forgive somebody we don't usually forget the wrong that has been done to us and that's when my doubt's creep in, have I really forgiven from my heart?
ReplyDeleteIf God is truly forgiving my hope is that when we come before Him we will get that final chance to forgive those we may have missed or those people we only half forgave or maybe a chance to forgive ourselves for living this Christian life half-heartedly, if that is a word.
Stay tuned, Anonymous. I think you'll like what Lewis has to say in the next couple days.
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