3/6/24

If you’re reading the psalms along with us, Tuesday’s Psalm 58 is a perfect example of the “Revenge Psalms” I wrote about last week: “O God, break the teeth in [the wicked’s] mouths . . . Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither. Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime . . .” I don't know why we’ve never used that psalm in one of our services – I’d love to hear Dorene sing about snails dissolving into slime! (By the way, when we sing the sweet old gospel hymn this Sunday, while you’re singing “Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer,” remember those snails. . .)

But don’t miss the point! The psalm concludes, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.” The psalmists–even in their darkest hours–held onto God’s steadfast love and trusted God to vindicate them rather than take revenge themselves.

Then what? You’ve been wounded. You’ve prayed through the psalms, honestly venting your feelings to God and you’ve turned the situation over to God. What’s next? 

Let it go.

Well, that’s easier said than done! Recently on Twitter (which isn’t always a cesspool), I ran across a quote by entrepreneur Naval Ravikant that I thought was helpful:

“Happiness is a choice you make and a skill you develop. The mind is just as malleable as the body. We spend so much time and effort trying to change the external world, other people, and our own bodies, all the while accepting ourselves the way we were programmed in our youths. We accept the voice that talks to us in our head all the time as the source of all truth. But all of it is malleable, every day is new, and memory and identity are burdens from the past that prevent us from living freely in the present." 

I have no idea if Ravikant is a Christian or not, but this quote certainly rings true. I’m not one to offer pop psychology nor easy answers, but honestly, this is just common sense. So many of us are our own worst enemies. We are held captives by our past, by bad decisions, by the bad decisions of others. As Ravikant writes, “...memory and identity are burdens from the past that prevent us from living freely in the present.”  We hold ourselves in bondage, unable to enjoy the present moment much less able to look toward a hopeful future. 

What does this have to do with forgiveness? I believe it has a LOT to do with it.  Refusing to forgive someone (notice I said refusing) is bondage . . . but it’s not bondage to the person who wounded us, but bondage to our own response to the situation. I’ve used the words “captive” and “bondage” a lot because unforgiveness is bondage for the one who won’t forgive. The person who did us wrong? They’ve moved on and we’re the one in chains. 

But that is neither what God wants from us nor for us. God doesn’t want us to be taken captive by our thoughts; God wants us to take our thoughts captive. Paul writes in II Corinthians 10:5, “...we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Yes, we want the Holy Spirit to do the work of transforming us into the image of Christ, BUT we have a part to play in our transformation. Over and over in scripture we’re told to “present our bodies,” to “put to death whatever is earthy,” to “get rid of” –all things we’re responsible to do. 

It’s part of what Paul is writing about in Philippians 3:13, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on . . .” Forgetting and pressing on. Who’s doing it? “I press on.” Me. 

It’s easier to ride the tidal wave of our emotions and let our thoughts hold us captive. I understand that. It’s easier but it’s also miserabler (is that even a word? If not, it is now!). 

There are two Greek words that are translated “forgive.” One means to release and to let go. When the formerly “bad woman” sneaks into the Pharisee’s dinner party in Luke 7 and washes Jesus’ feet, the Pharisee has a fit, thinking that if Jesus were really a prophet, “he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” In this Pharisee’s mind, this is who she was, is, and evermore shall be! 

But Jesus has a new reality for her. Jesus tells the Pharisee, “I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” As much as the Pharisee would love to hold her down, reminding her of her past and that she is an unwelcome party-crasher, Jesus releases her from sin. That’s the meaning of this word translated “forgiven.”

When we forgive someone, we release them. That means that we won’t bring it up again–to them, nor to ourselves. We’ve let it go. We don’t let it take over our hearts and hold us captive. 

The other word is related to the Greek word for grace and means to cancel something. It’s the word Paul uses in Epheisians 4:31-32, “Put away [again, notice this is something WE do] from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” 

When God forgives us, God cancels the sin debt against us. When we forgive, we have to cancel the debt that we believe someone owes us. When we don’t forgive, we are saying, “That person owes me an apology.” But Ephesians 4:32 calls us to forgive others as God has forgiven us. That means concluding that they don’t owe us anything. Not even an apology.

That’s freedom. That’s grace. We extend to others the same grace that God shows us. 

“Happiness is a choice and a skill you develop,” Ravikant wrote. Forgiveness is a choice as well. We can choose to hold on. We can choose to let go.