“But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” (Jesus, according to Mark 3:29)
“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors... If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” (Jesus, according to Matthew 6:12–15)
Out of all the things Jesus said and did, at the top of his list were Love, forgiveness, and healing. Jesus taught and acted as if all things could be forgiven and healed, no matter how big or how small. From little children, to squabbling siblings, to women caught in immorality, to a thief dying on a cross, to his best friend denying him in his time of need: Jesus forgave everything, and healed everyone, out of his deep Love.
All except for one thing.
Out of all the things that can be forgiven, Jesus tells us the one thing that cannot: "Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit". This vague term has been argued about for millennia. How does one blaspheme the Holy Spirit? And more importantly, how does one avoid it? If one looks at the texts where this occurs, it seems that blaspheming the Holy Spirit refers to rejecting the Spirit’s influence by calling the work of the Spirit evil, or saying the Spirit is leading someone to do evil. Or put another way: The unforgiveable person is one who is so bent that they call good evil, and evil good, and are thus unable to turn from evil because they think it is good.
And while this might start a good conversation in a philosophy class, I think even Jesus agrees that this definition is way too abstract to help us avoid the unforgivable sin. So, in other texts, like the one above connected to the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus makes it concrete: How do we blaspheme the Spirit, and reject the influence of Love and goodness in our life? By failing to forgive others. Unforgiveness is the only unforgivable sin. All other sins can be turned and healed. But unforgiveness alone is a sign of the terminally ill soul.
This all ties into Love, which is the reason for our creation, and the reason for our redemption. Because God is Love (1John 4.8-16). Love is at its core a desire, a will, for the good of the Other, even at the expense of the self. And forgiveness is an expression of that Love. Forgiveness is to take wrongs that the Other does as a sign of a deep sickness, a bent will turned against Love, at the core of the Other. And forgiveness sees that harm caused by the Other is a symptom of this sickness, and thus forgiveness actively desires for the Other to be healed and made whole.
This is completely consistent with establishing boundaries and distance from the Other, knowing their sickness could infect and harm you if held too closely. Or put another way: Sometimes Love and forgiveness implies establishing a quarantine zone to contain the sickness. That is to say, forgiveness realizes that the forgiven person may still be dangerous even if they are forgiven. But forgiveness always entails a desire for the healing of the Other, and a hope for reconciliation at some time, even if that time may be in the distant future, or even beyond this life.
Thus forgiveness is not only tied up with the healing of the Other, but the healing of the self as well. Because if we do not long for the healing of others, if we do not desire the sickness they suffer from to be removed entirely, it means we think that sickness deserves to live on in humanity. It means we want them to remain sick, and thus we want them to keep spreading their sickness. Unhealed. Untreated. Unresolved. And only a sick person wants sickness to continue.
And this is why unforgiveness is the only unforgivable sin. Unforgiveness— to not even want the sickness to be healed— is a sign we are still very sick ourselves. And unrepentant unforgiveness means we want to embrace the disease, to coddle it, to pet it, to keep feeding it in a certain sense. And so long as we hold on to our disease, we cannot be healed of it. The only way to be healed is to desire that the sickness be taken out entirely, and healed completely. Not only in ourselves, but in everyone, especially in those who spread the sickness. And the only way this happens is if we desire healing for everyone, including those who have hurt us the most.
This forgiveness does not imply becoming best friends, or close acquaintances, or even allowing them close enough to keep harming us, especially if they are still in the midst of their sickness, and are a danger to us. But it does entail wanting the best for them, praying for the best for them, hoping that they will find healing from their sickness so that they will stop harming you, harming others, and harming themselves. By forgiving others, we thus open wide the gates of healing within our own selves. And that is why Jesus is so insistent that if we want to experience healing and wholeness and forgiveness, we must forgive others as God has forgiven us in Christ.
So, how do we forgive? How do we open ourselves to forgiveness so that we do not fall into the unforgiveable sin?
The simple answer is this: Do it. Now. Forgive them. Now. Go to God in prayer-- as Jesus prescribes in the Lord's Prayer-- and sincerely pray "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors". And if you have problems praying that sincerely, be honest with God. Realizing our insincerity is the first step to becoming sincere.
Say: LORD, I don't feel like forgiving them. I feel like they don't deserve forgiveness. But I realize that you, O LORD, do think we are all worthy of forgiveness. So for your sake I forgive them and ask you to heal them.
And then, the next time you feel angry with them, do that again. And again. And again. And again. And again.
Do it until it becomes second nature. Do it until weeks later, months later, years later, you might actually start feeling like you want to forgive them.
And then, once you feel like you have forgiven them, if they are safe enough to have in your life, you might seek reconciliation with them. Or maybe not. If they are not safe enough to have in your life, you have done your duty in seeking healing for yourself and for them in as honest of a way as you possibly can.
Forgiveness isn't easy. It is messy and painful and frustrating. It is often slow and grueling. But as hard as it is, it is better than allowing a root of bitterness and hatred to grow inside like a spiritual cancer, sucking all of the Love and Hope out of you until you are nothing but an empty husk of yourself. Because becoming empty and hollow is the very definition of death and hell. But God made us for so much more. Christ redeemed us for so much more. The Spirit beckons us to so much more.
So, by God's grace, strive for more. And start by forgiving.
No comments:
Post a Comment