Forgiven Much, Loved Much

Oh, the things kids will do.  You just never know what trouble they may cause.  Broken windows, broken lamps, broken doors, broken hearts — the list could go on and on.

I remember once in my younger days, my older sister and I had an incident.  Like most families, our parents gave us chores to do around the house.  When we were old enough, she and I were given the responsibility of washing and drying the dishes after dinner.  We didn’t have a dishwashing machine back then.  We were the dishwashing machine back then.

On one of those many evenings of cleaning the dishes, I decided to have a little innocent fun with my sister.  You know, providing some levity to the situation, trying to loosen things up.  She was washing and I was drying.  So in between dishes, I decided to start acting like I was going to karate kick her.  I wasn’t really kicking her, just trying to get as close as I could.  Like I said, having a little fun.

For some reason, my sister didn’t think it was as cute and funny as I did.  I guess she just didn’t appreciate good fun.  So finally, being fed up with it I suppose, she turned just as I was giving her one of my wonderfully Bruce Lee-like kicks, grabbed my foot, and flipped me onto the hard kitchen floor.  My head slammed against the tiles.  If we had been in an NFL stadium, they probably would have initiated the concussion protocol.  

I was stunned!  Why did she do that to me?  I was just having some fun.  Who doesn’t want to have fun?  According to Cindy Lauper, girls sure do, but I guess she didn’t know my sister.  Needless to say, I was mad.  Forget broken windows and all that.  I had a broken head!  And I’m not exaggerating.

Okay, so I am exaggerating.  My head wasn’t broken, but my feelings were hurt.  I have no idea how long I was mad at her for doing that to me, but I was mad.  Never mind the fact that I was pestering her like crazy.  Never mind that she was probably sick and tired of me.  Looking back at it, I’m surprised it took her as long as it did to respond.  

Neither one of us has forgotten that incident.  We still talk about it from time to time at family gatherings.  Fortunately, we laugh about it now.  But not everyone is so fortunate.  Some families have virtual feuds over incidents in which two or more parties feel that they were wronged.  These feuds can get to be so bad that they can go for years without talking to each other or even seeing each other.  The anger has boiled over into resentment and bitterness by that time.  There’s little to no room for forgiveness in the aggrieved person’s heart.

Because of real life experiences such as that, some people develop a similar view of God.  They find it difficult to accept that God has forgiven them of every sin they’ve committed.  Like people in everyday life they know, they begin picturing Him as a vengeful, angry God ready to get even by pouring out His fiery wrath.  Yet total forgiveness is exactly what the Bible tells us that God has provided for those who are in Christ.  The forgiving heart of God is the heart of His unquenchable love for you and me.

The life of Jesus illustrates this point beautifully.  In one particular occasion, Jesus was invited to eat dinner at the house of a Pharisee.  While he was at the table, a woman of low reputation in the town heard that Jesus was there.  She wanted to see him very badly.  She found her way into the house, went to Jesus, and began weeping at his feet.  She took her hair and began wiping her tears off his feet and kissed them.  Then she opened up a bottle of expensive perfume and poured it all over his feet.

The Pharisee was shocked.  In his mind he thought, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

Knowing this, Jesus proceeded to tell the Pharisee a story about two people who owed money to a man.  One owed 500 denarii and the other owed 50.  (A denarius was the typical daily wage of a regular day laborer.  So one man owed more than a year’s worth of wages, the other about two months or so.)  The man knew that neither had any money and couldn’t possibly repay him.  So the man decided to forgive both men’s debts.  This led to Jesus’ climatic question, “Now which of them will love him more?”

The Pharisee answered correctly, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

Jesus then revealed the heart of his Father in heaven.  “Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.  Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”  Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”  (Luke 7:36-48)

Now let’s get one thing straight about this story.  Jesus wasn’t saying that some people will love little because they have only been forgiven little.  What he is saying is that our awareness of the magnitude of God’s forgiveness will determine how much we love.  Like the woman in the story, when we fully realize just how insurmountable our debt was before God, we will then realize how great His forgiveness is.  Think about it.  He has completely cancelled your debt.  Your sins are gone.  Every wrong you’ve ever done, every sin you’ve ever committed, wiped out, clean slate.  How could our hearts not be filled with gratitude?  How could we not fall in love with a Father like that?

How can I be so sure that He has wiped out all our sins?  Stay tuned for next week’s article as we continue to explore the depths of God’s love.  Meanwhile, I’d like to leave you with the end of the story in Luke.  After Jesus told the woman “sinner” that her sins were forgiven, the Pharisee and his guests were incredulous.  “Who is he to forgive someone’s sins?” they said to themselves.  Did that stop Jesus?  Not a chance.  He said to her what I want you to know God says to all of His children.  “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  (Luke 7:49-50)  Do that starting today.  Live in peace with your heavenly Father.  He has forgiven you, He loves you, and He will never leave you.