2 Corinthians 2 is an interesting chapter. Scholars like to guess as to the nature of the sin and/or event that transpired here and whether it is referred to elsewhere in scripture or not. We do know a few things from the immediate context. We know that someone in the church family has done something to cause some people some grief. We also know that most of the people who were affected directly or indirectly by whatever transpired took some action; referred to here as a 'punishment';[2] we know that if Paul was not directly involved in this whole mess that someone has brought it to his attention and Paul here is recommending to the grieving parties that indeed they should forgive the person who hurt them. He goes on to get as close as I think Scriptures gets to formalizing the 'forgive and forget' concept. Vs 10, he says, "if you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven - if there [even] was anything to forgive - I have forgiven them in the sight of Christ for your sake."
This forgiveness is key and -of course- forgiveness is central to the whole Christian faith. This is one of the things that actually demarcates a Christian. This is one of the things that shows the world that indeed you are a Christian. It is part and parcel of being a Christian. To be a Christian is to be a forgiven and a forgiving person. As we pray in the Lord's Prayer, 'forgive us, as we forgive those who sin against us.' And immediately after praying this (Matthew 6:14-15) Jesus says, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Forgiveness is very important.
The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians puts it this way for us to understand just how important is forgiveness: Verse 10, 'If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him...', Verse 11, 'in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.'
This is very important for us today in general, I think. Our world, our culture and our very country is surrounded by hate and un-forgiveness right now. An election campaign has been called and the latest round of attack ads against real and imagined enemies has been launched. Our nation since just prior to the turn of this century has left our traditional role as peacekeepers fatally wounded on the field of history. And as this has happened, I have even had to stop watching the news at times as our own country's politicians and media continually promote more fear, hatred, mistrust, scorn, and derision; instead of Christian love and forgiveness in order to justify our own acts of aggression towards people in other countries.
This hate and un-forgiveness is reflected in our entertainment industry: I don't even have cable but even I have seen shows this century where sometimes I cannot even distinguish -by their actions- the 'good guys' from the 'bad guys'. Both sides are equally pursuing retribution and in most shows we are supposed to cheer for the 'good guys' because someone has decided their un-forgiveness and revenge is 'justified' whereas their opponent's is not.
This aggression and un-forgiveness translates into our own life where we feel we can no longer trust politicians, police, churches, officials, or even people in general, or even other people specifically.[3] We have more locks on our doors, we have more alarm systems, we have people who turn the other way when they see others in crisis. We start to call for retributive rather than restorative justice.[4]Our hearts - like Pharaoh's- start to become hardened. And we know where that ends. But do we know where this begins?
This spiral - if not always than almost always - begins with un-forgiveness. This month the world marked the 73rd anniversary of some of the worst crimes ever committed against humanity - the intentional slaughter hundreds of thousands of innocent people by atomic bomb detonation and radiation. Did you know that the US picked the time and place to drop the bomb based on when Japanese mothers dropped off their children for school so that they could kill the greatest number of women and children? Did you know that almost certainly even up to 3 whole weeks before the first atomic bomb, the US had already received the Japanese offer to surrender? Did you know that they then dropped a second bomb before they eventually accepted the offered surrender? Did you know that after the US dropped those two bombs they dropped even more atomic bombs on islands in the Pacific Ocean continuing right up into the late 1950s so that some islands are still uninhabitable to this day? This month Japan remembered this as they have for 70 plus years: campaigning not for revenge and retribution but for peace and forgiveness. There is this one story, related by Bishop Mary Ann Swenson at official remembrance ceremonies about a little girl named Sadako:[5]
We pray for that peace that only comes from being willing to forgive: the peace the surpasses all understanding. Think about your own life. Think about what upsets you the most. Think about what or who makes you really angry. Think about what or who it is that if it is introduced into a conversation your mind starts wandering, frustrating your thoughts and incapacitating you from ministering to others. This is what un-forgiveness can do. Paul says that holding a grudge, failing to forgive people is a way that the devil can beat us.[6]
Here's a quote I want you to remember: 'un-forgiveness is a self-inflicted wound.' Un-forgiveness is the devil convincing you to turn your weapons ('Hoopla', Armour of God) on yourself. When we fail to forgive someone we do them no direct harm at all - not that we should want to do them harm. When we fail to forgive someone we do them no direct harm - that person may not even know that we are upset with them. When we fail to forgive someone we do them no direct harm - but we do hurt ourselves. When we fail to forgive someone it is ONLY ourselves that we hurt. The person you are mad at has no idea what you are thinking about them right then; the person you are mad at is not distracted from his or her work by YOUR un-forgiveness; the person you are mad at is not being made ineffective for the Kingdom of God due to being preoccupied with anger, bitterness and un-forgiveness - you are. The person I refuse to forgive is not being made ineffective for the Kingdom of Heaven by my un-forgiveness, I am. Un-forgiveness is a self-inflicted wound.
This is what Paul is talking about when he says, Verse 10, 'If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him...', and Verse 11 'in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.'
Satan outwits us by keeping us angry at our fellow Christians so that we are not even able to grow in the love of Christ let alone work together to build the Kingdom of God; one by one the enemy can pick us off - no - one by one the enemy can convince us to pick ourselves off by bottling and/or blowing up from un-forgiveness.[7]
Now I know that many people maybe even reading this today who have been hurt and are hurting. So much that has happened to each of us individually in our lives, yes, and for many of us there is also a lot that has happened collectively. Some of us are still carrying grudges or bitterness and many of us are hurting. Now I don't know what your hurt is from. It could be from many things that have happened in general or to you personally but I do know that if that real hurt is magnified, re-opened, or exploited by our own un-forgiveness than the devil can win by keeping us hurting, long after the cause of our hurt has passed into history.
So today if indeed we are continuing to hurt ourselves -by picking at the real wounds inflicted upon us- through our un-forgiveness, today I invite us to tell the devil that we will not let him do that to us anymore. Today I invite you to throw off the yoke of the enemy, remove his influence and power over you by forgiving our enemies and those who have done us wrong - and as we do, I promise, as you resist the devil in this way, he will flee you and then may God use you to continue to do amazing and wonderful things for His Kingdom.
[1] Cf. International Doctrine Council, The Salvation Army in the Body of Christ, (IHQ, London, UK: Salvation Books, 2008.
[2] Cf. Issiaka Coulibaly, "the purpose of punishment is restoration" in Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi, Kenya : Word Alive Publishers, 2010)1427
[3] Cf. NT Wright, 2 Corinthians,( Paul for Everyone: Louisville, USA: WJK, 2004), 20-21 about the role of forgiveness in community.
[4] Cf. Murray J. Harris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:2 Corinthians/Exposition of 2 Corinthians/I. Paul's Explanation of His Conduct and Apostolic Ministry (2 Cor 1:1-7:16)/B. Paul's Conduct Explained (1:12-2:13)/4. Forgiveness for the offender (2:5-11), Book Version: 4.0., re. justice
[5] Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, 'Peacemakers for Life'. Presented to the joint Anglican-Catholic Peace Memorial Cathedral, (Hiroshima, Japan: 05 Aug 2015).
[6] Cf. Ernest Best, Second Corinthians, (Interpretation: Louisville, USA: John Knox Press, 1987) p. 23
[7] J. Paul Sampley, The Second Letter to the Corinthians (NIB X: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 2000), 53-54: Paul uses the term forgiveness to refer to reconciliation and the restoration of relationships.
This forgiveness is key and -of course- forgiveness is central to the whole Christian faith. This is one of the things that actually demarcates a Christian. This is one of the things that shows the world that indeed you are a Christian. It is part and parcel of being a Christian. To be a Christian is to be a forgiven and a forgiving person. As we pray in the Lord's Prayer, 'forgive us, as we forgive those who sin against us.' And immediately after praying this (Matthew 6:14-15) Jesus says, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Forgiveness is very important.
The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians puts it this way for us to understand just how important is forgiveness: Verse 10, 'If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him...', Verse 11, 'in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.'
This is very important for us today in general, I think. Our world, our culture and our very country is surrounded by hate and un-forgiveness right now. An election campaign has been called and the latest round of attack ads against real and imagined enemies has been launched. Our nation since just prior to the turn of this century has left our traditional role as peacekeepers fatally wounded on the field of history. And as this has happened, I have even had to stop watching the news at times as our own country's politicians and media continually promote more fear, hatred, mistrust, scorn, and derision; instead of Christian love and forgiveness in order to justify our own acts of aggression towards people in other countries.
This hate and un-forgiveness is reflected in our entertainment industry: I don't even have cable but even I have seen shows this century where sometimes I cannot even distinguish -by their actions- the 'good guys' from the 'bad guys'. Both sides are equally pursuing retribution and in most shows we are supposed to cheer for the 'good guys' because someone has decided their un-forgiveness and revenge is 'justified' whereas their opponent's is not.
This aggression and un-forgiveness translates into our own life where we feel we can no longer trust politicians, police, churches, officials, or even people in general, or even other people specifically.[3] We have more locks on our doors, we have more alarm systems, we have people who turn the other way when they see others in crisis. We start to call for retributive rather than restorative justice.[4]Our hearts - like Pharaoh's- start to become hardened. And we know where that ends. But do we know where this begins?
This spiral - if not always than almost always - begins with un-forgiveness. This month the world marked the 73rd anniversary of some of the worst crimes ever committed against humanity - the intentional slaughter hundreds of thousands of innocent people by atomic bomb detonation and radiation. Did you know that the US picked the time and place to drop the bomb based on when Japanese mothers dropped off their children for school so that they could kill the greatest number of women and children? Did you know that almost certainly even up to 3 whole weeks before the first atomic bomb, the US had already received the Japanese offer to surrender? Did you know that they then dropped a second bomb before they eventually accepted the offered surrender? Did you know that after the US dropped those two bombs they dropped even more atomic bombs on islands in the Pacific Ocean continuing right up into the late 1950s so that some islands are still uninhabitable to this day? This month Japan remembered this as they have for 70 plus years: campaigning not for revenge and retribution but for peace and forgiveness. There is this one story, related by Bishop Mary Ann Swenson at official remembrance ceremonies about a little girl named Sadako:[5]
Sadako was two years old when the atomic bomb struck one mile from her home. Soon she began to experience the devastation of radiation disease. Her response was to set about making a thousand paper cranes, because one crane symbolizes a thousand years of peace and happiness. After her death, her classmates continued making cranes; and today there is a statue of her holding a peace crane in Memorial Park [ground zero]. In response to unspeakable violence, a powerful cry for peace was born.
We pray for that peace that only comes from being willing to forgive: the peace the surpasses all understanding. Think about your own life. Think about what upsets you the most. Think about what or who makes you really angry. Think about what or who it is that if it is introduced into a conversation your mind starts wandering, frustrating your thoughts and incapacitating you from ministering to others. This is what un-forgiveness can do. Paul says that holding a grudge, failing to forgive people is a way that the devil can beat us.[6]
Here's a quote I want you to remember: 'un-forgiveness is a self-inflicted wound.' Un-forgiveness is the devil convincing you to turn your weapons ('Hoopla', Armour of God) on yourself. When we fail to forgive someone we do them no direct harm at all - not that we should want to do them harm. When we fail to forgive someone we do them no direct harm - that person may not even know that we are upset with them. When we fail to forgive someone we do them no direct harm - but we do hurt ourselves. When we fail to forgive someone it is ONLY ourselves that we hurt. The person you are mad at has no idea what you are thinking about them right then; the person you are mad at is not distracted from his or her work by YOUR un-forgiveness; the person you are mad at is not being made ineffective for the Kingdom of God due to being preoccupied with anger, bitterness and un-forgiveness - you are. The person I refuse to forgive is not being made ineffective for the Kingdom of Heaven by my un-forgiveness, I am. Un-forgiveness is a self-inflicted wound.
This is what Paul is talking about when he says, Verse 10, 'If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him...', and Verse 11 'in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.'
Satan outwits us by keeping us angry at our fellow Christians so that we are not even able to grow in the love of Christ let alone work together to build the Kingdom of God; one by one the enemy can pick us off - no - one by one the enemy can convince us to pick ourselves off by bottling and/or blowing up from un-forgiveness.[7]
Now I know that many people maybe even reading this today who have been hurt and are hurting. So much that has happened to each of us individually in our lives, yes, and for many of us there is also a lot that has happened collectively. Some of us are still carrying grudges or bitterness and many of us are hurting. Now I don't know what your hurt is from. It could be from many things that have happened in general or to you personally but I do know that if that real hurt is magnified, re-opened, or exploited by our own un-forgiveness than the devil can win by keeping us hurting, long after the cause of our hurt has passed into history.
So today if indeed we are continuing to hurt ourselves -by picking at the real wounds inflicted upon us- through our un-forgiveness, today I invite us to tell the devil that we will not let him do that to us anymore. Today I invite you to throw off the yoke of the enemy, remove his influence and power over you by forgiving our enemies and those who have done us wrong - and as we do, I promise, as you resist the devil in this way, he will flee you and then may God use you to continue to do amazing and wonderful things for His Kingdom.
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Originally presented to 614 Regent Park, Toronto; 09 August 2015 by Captain Michael Ramsay on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the largest mass murder of innocent people in history.[1] Cf. International Doctrine Council, The Salvation Army in the Body of Christ, (IHQ, London, UK: Salvation Books, 2008.
[2] Cf. Issiaka Coulibaly, "the purpose of punishment is restoration" in Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi, Kenya : Word Alive Publishers, 2010)1427
[3] Cf. NT Wright, 2 Corinthians,( Paul for Everyone: Louisville, USA: WJK, 2004), 20-21 about the role of forgiveness in community.
[4] Cf. Murray J. Harris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:2 Corinthians/Exposition of 2 Corinthians/I. Paul's Explanation of His Conduct and Apostolic Ministry (2 Cor 1:1-7:16)/B. Paul's Conduct Explained (1:12-2:13)/4. Forgiveness for the offender (2:5-11), Book Version: 4.0., re. justice
[5] Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, 'Peacemakers for Life'. Presented to the joint Anglican-Catholic Peace Memorial Cathedral, (Hiroshima, Japan: 05 Aug 2015).
[6] Cf. Ernest Best, Second Corinthians, (Interpretation: Louisville, USA: John Knox Press, 1987) p. 23
[7] J. Paul Sampley, The Second Letter to the Corinthians (NIB X: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 2000), 53-54: Paul uses the term forgiveness to refer to reconciliation and the restoration of relationships.
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