"Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times."
We can imagine Peter's relief as he heard Jesus say, "...not seven times."
"Oh, good!" he might have thought until Jesus continued, "...but seventy-seven times."
That odd number comes from Genesis 4:24 and has been explained as the savage code of vendetta among Cain's descendants. If Cain the Fratricide was avenged seven times for the insult Abel represented to him (by God's preference for Abel), then Lamach has been avenged 77 times by killing a man who had only bruised him.
And so, as the children of Cain who do not know Christ might be satisfied by avenging wrongs seventy-seven times, the disciple of Jesus will refuse vengeance. He will defy the customs of his culture and the expectations of friends and family by forgiving seventy-seven times.
Jesus's code of forgiveness sounds difficult, if not impossible, and is impossible for the uninspired. Those who know nothing of his Spirit, who have not been disciplined by listening to his voice and following his path, cannot possibly be so generous. They have no sense of humor about themselves, and permit no one to laugh at them. Regardless of their apparent modesty, they are solipsists, and others should revolve around them like the planets around the sun (sol.)
Our practice of faith begins with "...forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us," (Matthew 6), and continues with Matthew 6:14,
"If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."
There seems little point in reciting the Lord's Prayer if we do not take those words to heart.
Our practice of faith continues with a daily examen as we recall the different "spirits" which impelled our behavior. As I drove to work was I attentive to God's guiding, patient spirit of the highway or did some distraction make me irritable? When I disagreed with another's opinion did I respect them as persons of dignity and worth first and then consider their ideas, or was all my attention consumed by my opinion and my right to be heard? As I took necessary moments of recreation was my choice of leisure appropriate? Did I feel recreated afterward?
The daily examen is grateful for the guiding presence of God which will not let us veer to the right or left, and will certainly not countenance revenge. We are not children of Cain or Lamech. We are children of the Father who...
"makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust."
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.