Kindness and Forgiveness

             Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32) 

          And if we follow the process commanded yesterday of going to a brother or sister who has sinned alone, returning with one or two witnesses if refused, and taking the matter before the church/assembly as a last resort before withdrawing from the person, it follows that we must forgive that person. If we’re going to accuse and demand repentance, we must forgive and (if possible) reconcile. Three aspects of this idea should be considered this morning.

          The first is that we are to be kind to one another. I like the description of kindness as lending others our strength. We are being kind when we do something for someone that they can’t do (as easily) themselves, or withholding deserved punishment by us, also known as forgiveness or mercy. If we forgive the brother who has sinned against  us, that kindness on our part may give them the strength or freedom to act. This isn’t a suggestion that all the consequences of their sinful behavior must be ignored or enabled, but that we don’t add more links to the chains that are binding the person. Forgiving is part of kindness.

          The second is that we are to be compassionate. We’re to “feel with,” and show sympathy or concern for one another. What they do matters, but more importantly, they matter. This is why we confront someone with their sin – not just because we’re mad and want revenge. What their sin is doing to them is the central focus.

          The third is that we are to forgive “just as in Christ God forgave” us. He didn’t wait for us to seek forgiveness. He didn’t wait until we didn’t need forgiveness anymore. He didn’t even wait until we did something to deserve forgiveness or prove that we either wanted or were worthy of it. In this, we are supposed to become “like the Most High.”

          One of the things I like about some of the history books I’ve read in the past two decades is that they show how things are interconnected. This is something I see in my meditation on Scripture. We fell into sin because we wanted to be like God (a natural and positive desire) in the wrong ways and using the wrong means. We put aside being like God to be like some other god that is reduced from the true God in some ways. We want His power, but not His strength; his control, but not His gentleness. This verse reminds us what being like God means, and quite often, our response is (effectively), “Well, if that’s what being like God, I don’t want it. I want to make the rules about being what like God means.”           

          I need to think about kindness and forgiveness as a way to open doors for people that are not physical.