Radical Forgiveness

Tuesday, Third Week of Easter

"Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice,

'Lord, do not hold this sin against them'."

--Acts 7:60

Each day of this Easter season, the scripture seems to be challenging us with ever-more difficult demands.  We have experienced the glory and power of the Resurrection.  Now we study what it means to be a disciple.  If we are not dumb-struck by Stephen's example, we have not fully grasped what new life in the kingdom of God is asking of us.

We all know the difficulties of forgiveness.  To be hurt and to nevertheless offer our heart in vulnerability and openness to the offender is perhaps the hardest task of Christian love.  We say to those who have sinned against us, "I count your action as if it never happened."  And when we do, we often secretly take some comfort in knowing that God might still even the score.

Stephen blasts that little indulgence to bits.  As he is falling in a hail of stones, Stephen doesn't just forgive his attackers, he asks God to count their actions as if they never happened.  He surrenders every shred of attachment to the possibility of vengeance.

This is a forgiveness that we cannot fathom.  And yet, this is the forgiveness we ourselves have received.  God counts all of our failings as if they never happened and then calls us to love ourselves and one another as he has loved us.  How is this possible for frail, broken, well-intentioned but perpetually selfish people such as ourselves?  Only by grace.

God of Reckless Love, I have known the humility, grace, and unworthiness of being forgiven.  There is only one way to respond to such love.  Break my willful spirit and let me abandon myself to your transforming power.  When my own love is insufficient, may your love take over.  Amen.