[stephenkhoo]

FAITH IN GOD’S FORGIVENESS GIVES US THE CAPACITY TO FORGIVE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: EX 31:7-11, 13-14; 1 TIM 1:12-17; LK 15:1-32

Perhaps, one of the most difficult things in life is forgiveness. On both dimensions, we are not capable whether of receiving forgiveness or offering forgiveness. When we are the ones who have been wronged, we speak in terms of our rights and justice. We haul them to court. If legal means are not possible to redress the injustices, we take things into our own hands through revenge and violence. However, if we were the offenders, we hope we could be forgiven. But quite often even if forgiveness were given, we never feel that that we have really been forgiven. This difficulty of accepting and giving forgiveness is rooted in the fact that in human life we are conditioned in a reward and punishment system.

This affects our ability to experience God’s forgiveness, which is the root of our incapacity to forgive. In our relationship with God, we think God deals with us in the same way as man. We do not believe in unconditional forgiveness. Hence, we feel the need to earn merit so that we can justify ourselves before God. This was the thinking of the Pharisees and the scribes, for when “the tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say”, they complained, “‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” It would be unjust for God to accept sinners without punishing them.

The elder son in today’s parable represents this attitude of the Jewish religious leaders. His grievance was directed not against his younger brother but the father for letting him off so easily. “He was angry and refused to go in, and his father came out to plead with him.” For as he said, how could “this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.” In other words, he should be punished. If the elder son could not accept the generosity of his father, it must also be said that the younger son likewise could not forgive himself. He wanted his father to punish him by treating him as if he were one of his servants. Indeed, when we have done wrong, quite often we feel better if we were punished for our sins so that at least we have paid for our mistakes. It is the human way of settling scores, “an eye for an eye!”.

Hence, it is necessary that we be convinced of the unconditional forgiveness of God. Humanly speaking, it is the justice and right of God to punish us for the wrongs we do. But today, the gospel shows us the heart of God. The three parables speak of God’s mercy, a mercy that seems so illogical and incomprehensible, just like love.

Why would someone who had lost a sheep leave the ninety-nine behind to look for the missing one? Shouldn’t he stay behind lest others stray as well? Or take the case of the missing coin? The point is that the joy of reconciliation is indescribable and beyond logic. The joy of finding a lost one and the joy of reconciliation and forgiveness is something beyond material, logical or quantitative terms. Such joy is captured so vividly in the story of the prodigal son or rather the prodigal Father who lavished his love on his children. Even though his unfaithful son squandered almost everything away, the gospel reveals the heart of God as one who is always anxiously waiting for his lost son to return to restore him to sonship. Similarly when the elder son who became resentful of his love and refused to go in, “his father came out to plead with him.” This is the untiring love of the father. So, if we were to understand the nature of His unconditional forgiveness, we must understand the heart of God.

Firstly, God is faithful in love. When God wanted to destroy the people, Moses interceded by reminding Yahweh of His promise to Israel and he relented. Secondly, God’s love for us is total and all absorbing. When we love someone, we love a person at a particular point of time. Love always demands the full attention of the person in that moment. Thus, when someone is in need, it commands our whole attention. This is not to say that other things or other people are not important to us but at this particular point of time, the person in need is all that matters. Indeed, if one of your sons were sick, surely you would do anything and everything for him, not even counting the financial cost. But that does not mean you do not care or love the rest of your children. This is how God loves us. His love is like the shepherd who would abandon the ninety-nine behind to seek out for the lost one.

Thirdly, God’s love for us is a personal love. God looks at each one of us as individuals, not as a faceless member of a crowd. We are not merely a bunch of sheep. Even though sheep might look alike, yet God regards each of us uniquely. He pays special attention to each one of us. Every one of us is important to God. Each one of us is unique to Him. Hence, God would abandon the rest of His sheep for a while simply to look for the lost one. God is not contented to look after those sheep that are well but He is equally interested in each one of us.

Fourthly, God is understanding in love. He knows that we sin in ignorance. We need to be pitied more than to be blamed when we sin. In the gospel, we are told that through his misery and hunger, the prodigal son came to his senses. Similarly, Paul confessed the same sin when he testified, “Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.” The Israelites were no different. They left the path the Lord had marked out for them. Instead, “they have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have worshiped it and offered it sacrifice.” It was fear and ignorance that drove them to idolatry.

In the light of the aforesaid, the implication is that if we were to forgive those who sinned against us, we must realize that because we are made in His image and likeness, we share in the heart of God. As children of God, we are to imitate the compassion of the Father. “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.” If not, Jesus says, we are pagans, since pagans do good to those who do good to them. We are all sons and daughters of God, not slaves. This privilege makes us His mediators of mercy and forgiveness.

This is possible provided we are open to God’s mercy and forgiveness. It was Paul’s encounter with the overwhelming Divine Mercy of God in Christ that he became an apostle of mercy himself. He said, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me …”.

God wins us over by His mercy and love. Paul in no uncertain terms declared, “nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them.” In St Paul, God wants to demonstrate His patient love for all. St Paul is an example of the unfathomable depth of God’s mercy and what His grace can do for every sinner. Indeed, he testified, ” if mercy has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust in him to come to eternal life.” Indeed, if Paul the great sinner could be saved by God’s grace and mercy, then all of us, regardless of how great a sinner we are, can be confident of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

What is needed is simply our cooperation and our desire to repent by accepting His forgiving love. The Father seeks our repentance. He does not look at our past. The prodigal father said, “it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.” This desire is expressed by a sincere and humble recognition of one’s sins without excusing ourselves. We only have to say with the prodigal son, “I will leave this place and return to my father.” Yes, we must pray with the psalmist, “I will leave this place of sin; I will leave this place of misery and return to my Father.” Once we acknowledge our need to return to the Father’s love, we can be sure that the Father is waiting for us. When we return, He will ask no questions for the joy of union is all that He wishes for us. He can only say, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.”
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