The Cost of Forgiveness

It is no secret to us that when crimes are committed that someone ultimately has to pay the price.  Retribution is the natural outcome of sin as no sin goes without the notice of a righteous God.  We even see in the end times the angels coming and separating the weeds and the wheat, weeding out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil and throwing them into the fiery furnace (Matt 13:41-43).  Justice will be done as the existence of God demands it. The justice we employ in America is the same retributive justice.  It is a justice that demands the transgressor pay for his actions.


But there is a second side to God as retribution is not his only option.  God is not only just, but merciful, generous, loving, and compassionate.  He is a God who relents at sending calamity and forgives the sins of his people.  But how can this be?  In order for justice to occur, sin and evil MUST be paid for and called into account.  The one who did wrong must be brought to answer for his crimes.  The law demands it.  I demand it!  Evil doers should not get away from the hurt they've caused for that would be more evil than the evil itself.  The man who steals from me or wrongs me must pay me back everything he owes and more!  He is in debt to me until I see fit to release him.  How is it that justice is done when evil goes unpunished?  How can such a God exist, that both forgives transgression and yet calls it into account as to be just?


There was a man who owned a convenience store, and every day he saw a boy come in and take a few snacks, put them in his bag, and walk out without paying.  Eventually he had had enough.  Angrily, he confronted the boy and emptied out his bag, all of the stolen snacks now scattered on the counter.  As he went to call the police to have the boy arrested, the boy burst into tears and cried, "Forgive me please!  I am sorry, I will never do it again!"  Having compassion on him, he put the phone down, reprimanded the boy, and sent him home with one of the snacks.  He never saw him again, but he had a feeling his days of stealing were over.


Now the question is, "Who pays for all the stolen goods?" 

A wise man would answer, "The storekeeper."  


So it is with our Father in heaven, against him and him alone we have sinned (Ps 51:4).  He, in choosing instead to forgive us of all our iniquity, has chosen to bear the penalty on himself.  He is the one who was robbed, but he in choosing to forgive us thieves has bared the cost of it all and gives us for free what we would have gladly stolen.  He sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the cost of all our sin.  On him was the wrath of God laid as he was crushed for transgressions (Isaiah 53:5).  Justice is done because the price has been paid, this time not by the transgressor, but by the one who was transgressed.  To forgive someone, then, is to pay the cost of their sin.


So we see two forms of justice: retribution in which the sinner pays, and forgiveness in which the one who was wronged pays.  Let me take this a step further.  Jesus calls us not to the way of the world, which is retribution, but to forgiveness.  In 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."  In the parable of the unmerciful servant, Jesus says, "Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”"

Having been forgiven, we are clearly not to resort back to retribution as our primary model of justice else God will also treat us according to as our sins deserve and to no longer have us covered leaving us to pick up the tab which we cannot pay (unless it be with our lives in Hell).

Having said this, forgiveness is not easy.  We cannot pay the cost of forgiveness in taking the burden of someone else's sin upon ourselves.  We are not Jesus, nor do we have to be for Christ died once for all sin.  Going back to the parable I told, what if the storekeeper was having a hard time providing for his wife and two young children?  What if business had been bad lately and the creditors were threatening to take his store?  What if what was stolen wasn't just a few snacks, but thousands of dollars?  Who could afford to forgive then?  In fact, is forgiveness even possible with these circumstances?


What needs to be realized is that Christ isn't asking us to forgive out of our own abundance and generosity, but out of His.  In the parable of the unmerciful servant, the servant owed his master more than he could pay back in a lifetime while the servant's servant owed what was probably like 20 dollars today.  It was out of the generosity of being essentially given millions of dollars for free that he was supposed to forgive 20 dollars.  It is out of the grace shown to us that we are to extend grace to others.  God knows our needs and provides richly and generously for all of them so that we are able to forgive in every circumstance.  God provides for us emotionally, physically, materially, spiritually, mentally and in every way possible that which of us can say we have nothing with which to forgive others?  No, God has given us the riches of his grace and it is out of what God has given (not what we have in ourselves) that we give grace.  We love because we were first loved by God, comfort because of the comfort given to us, are generous because God is generous to us and forgive because of the richness of His mercy in forgiving us more than we will ever know.


However, you must understand that forgiveness for this reason is a process.  I am not asking you to go out and forgive the man who abused you growing up or the one who cheated you out of so much immediately.  It is out of the grace you receive that you forgive and if you have not that grace do not even attempt saying the words "I forgive you" without meaning it.  The process of forgiveness first begins with receiving the depths of the forgiveness God has given you.  Spend time with the Lord and as he richly empowers you and meets your needs, you will naturally be able to say, "You know what?  Now that I have Jesus I release you of any obligation of debt that you owe me.  It is nothing compared to what I have in Christ.  Whatever hurt you've caused me Christ has healed so that I don't need you anymore to give me anything.  You are forgiven and may the peace of Christ be with you."  In a sense you are saying, "Now that I have all the richness of Christ, I don't need your pitiful twenty dollars anymore as that no longer will satisfy."  I tell you the truth, you will forgive all sorts of things, even the most painful of things, after spending time with the Lord and knowing the riches of his mercy and glory and the depth of his love and understanding.  After inheriting spiritual wealth beyond your wildest imagination, 20 bucks just doesn't matter anymore.


May God bless this word.
Amen.