Debby and I look forward to reading Jon Carroll’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle. He can be a bit irreverent, but he can also be exceedingly relevant. Last Wednesday’s article was a good news message about grace, forgiveness and starting over. After attending a memorial service filled with loving family members, he wrote:
My assumption about the people at that memorial service was that they had a normal kind of family, which means there were strains and stresses and probably big blowups and harsh words and bad behavior—the things that make us human. And probably there are scars that have not healed, will not heal…
Don’t we all want do-overs? Don’t we all wish that we could rewind the tape to certain key moments in our lives, and over-dub our lines or walk through the scene one more time, only this time with the wisdom of hindsight? Don’t we all wish we could have done the better thing the first time around?
We shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves. We’re dealing with mysteries here, so no wonder we have a hard time figuring out what’s going on, particularly when it’s going at the speed of life. But here’s what I’m thinking about: It’s not too late. Some people have died, but others live on. They are waiting for our phone calls…They will want to hear what we have to say. Even if they reject what we have to say, they will want to hear it. Because later on, they will remember the words, and meditate on them, and then maybe they’ll make their own phone calls, and the whole grace thing will go around the world again, chasing the demons.
Some of us need to forgive ourselves for being human and making mistakes. C.S. Lewis said, “I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.” God has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) and He remembers them no more (Jeremiah 31:34). We can’t change history, but at the altar of mercy, we can alter the future. In Jesus, there are divine do-overs. We get to begin again, forgiven forever.
And then, as Paul reminds us, “Forgive one another as Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32). C.H. Spurgeon pleaded, “Let us go to Calvary to learn how we may be forgiven. And let us linger there to learn how to forgive.” Love covers a multitude of sins. Embraced by God’s love, we are drawn to forgive the sins of others. James Bryan Smith writes: “Forgiveness is a gift God has given us to wipe away the sins of others, not only for their sakes but for our benefit as well. Forgiving one another sets us free from the stifling grip of an unforgiving spirit.”
Here’s a gospel message we can live with: First, when you fall down, get up. Second, when you look in the mirror and see a wretched sinner, look again through the blood of Jesus--you will always look different through the filter of forgiveness. And third, the time to make things right with someone is right now. Get the “grace thing” going.
Dennis Lynn
