Forgiveness for All, even those who irk me…

Scripture: 2 Cor. 3-6

2 Corinthians 5:14-20
Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.

Observations: Resurrection life is impossible without repentance (acceptance of the new life that Jesus offers). Faith alone makes this possible. Sanctification is the living out and “living in” this new life.

Application: The Bishop preached about radical generosity. It is a doorway to forgiving people in that people receive what they do not deserve. So give the tip to the waitress who brings your food cold. It may be the difference between a bad day and a good day. Or a good life and a bad life. Who knows?

All of that bad day behavior points back to the root of unforgiveness in our lives. There is a middle ground. Until we get permission to meddle in their lives and recommend some new behaviors, do we get to loathe and despise the people who wrong us — even those who just irritate us? No. “Now we look inside.” We have entered into God’s work of making things right between ourselves and each other.

I’ve got to stop evaluating people based on appearances. Really, I have to stop evaluating people on the basis of even their stated beliefs and mores. I have to start evaluating everyone first as a forgiven child of God; even those who have not yet received that forgiveness; even those who have but are doing nothing with it.

Prayer: Thank you for loving me, God. Sorry about not loving others the same way. Thank you for the grace to do so. Amen.