Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
May 4, 2014
Forgiveness can restore
broken relationships
There are
few more beautiful stories of reconciliation than the biblical account of Jacob
and Esau. These words paint an unforgettable picture of the power of
forgiveness: “Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell
on his neck and kissed him, and they wept” (Genesis 33:4).
Two brothers, estranged for
more than 20 years, fall into each other’s arms. Tears stream down their cheeks
as they offer each other forgiveness. The chains of hatred, guilt, fear and
resentment are broken. The burden of their separation rolls away. Their hearts
pound with joy. The war between them is over. They are reconciled!
The fear belonged to Jacob.
Imagine what fear possessed him when he saw coming with his brother Esau 400
armed men! Jacob knew his brother had promised to kill him. He must have
thought, “Now Esau is coming to keep his promise! I am a dead man!”
True to his nature Jacob
began scrambling to find a way out of his dilemma. Always the schemer Jacob
figures Esau will not attack him as long as he is surrounded by women and
children. Fear for his life drove him to bow to the ground seven
times in the hope that his brother would have mercy on him.
Then, to Jacob’s complete
surprise, Esau offers him reconciling love instead of a sword. They embrace,
kiss and weep. The pain of the past is forgotten. Yet Jacob still wonders about
his own safety for he refers to himself as “your servant” and addresses Esau as
“my lord.” Hoping to win Esau’s favor, Jacob offers gifts to his brother.
This beautiful story is
similar to two scenes in the New Testament. One is the story of the Prodigal
Son told by Jesus in Luke 15. Esau’s running to embrace his brother is strikingly
similar to what the forgiving father does when he sees the prodigal coming
home: “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled
with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and
kissed him.”
The other scene is that in Acts
where Ananias casts his fear aside and placing his hands on the blind and
helpless Saul, speaks to him as his brother (chapter 9). Jesus helped Ananias to realize that he and
Saul were no longer enemies but brothers.
These stories give us a
window into the nature of God. From the beginning God has helped men who had
become enemies to be reconciled in order to live together as brothers.
Though Jacob may have been
a deceitful man he could still recognize grace when he saw it. Esau must have
blushed when Jacob said to him, “truly to
see your face is like seeing the face of God – since you have received me with
such favor.”
There is no reason to
suspect that Jacob’s words were flattery. He is obviously sincere, deeply
overwhelmed by the forgiving love offered him by his brother. He had expected
the swift hand of justice. He received the gracious hand of mercy.
Centuries later forgiveness
was a central theme in the teaching of Jesus. He made it clear that to receive
God’s forgiveness for our sins we must be willing to forgive others for their
sins against us. We cannot live as citizens of
the kingdom of God without practicing forgiveness.
Forgiveness is the very
heart of the gospel. Jesus died so that through the shedding of his blood our
sins could be forgiven. At the last supper he took the cup and said, "This is the cup of the new agreement,
the new covenant in my blood which is shed for many for the forgiveness of
sins."
E.
Stanley Jones helped me to see how necessary forgiveness is if we are to live
healthy lives. To refuse to forgive those who hurt us is to ruin our own
health. Many of us are “sick” with various ailments because we have chosen to
hate rather than forgive someone.
Brother Stanley told
the story of a man who worked for the railroad in India. The man's job
took him away from home and his wife for long periods of time. On one of those
trips he gave in to sexual temptation and took a mistress. Over time his guilt
about this relationship grew in his heart until finally it became unbearable.
One day while he was home
he called his wife into the room and began to pour out the sordid story of his
sin against her and their marriage vows. Jones said the man’s wife turned as
pale as death. She staggered back and leaned against the wall and
then great tears trickled down her face. As he continued to confess his sin,
she looked as if she had been beaten by a whip.
What the man’s confession
did to his wife profoundly affected him. At the time he professed to be a
Christian but the pain he caused his wife moved him to genuine faith in
Christ. He said, "In that moment, seeing her there in that
state, I saw the meaning of the cross. I saw love crucified by a sin, my sin. I
could see Christ on the cross crucified by my sin, even as I was crucifying my
wife." His wife’s forgiveness helped him become a new man in Christ. Her
forgiving love made possible a new relationship and a stronger marriage.
Hatred creates hell for the
hater. Forgiveness creates the joy that Jesus said erupts in heaven “over one
sinner who repents.” As we travel the journey of life, we are all hurt by
others not once but many times. In our pain we have a choice. We can hate or we
can forgive.
Forgiveness opens the door
to reconciliation, freedom and new life. Esau and Jacob made the right choice.
We have an advantage those two men did not have. We have, if we will but
listen, the living Christ whispering in our ear, “Your sins are forgiven. I
nailed them to the Cross. Now stop hating and forgive so you can live!” That we
must do if we are to become truly alive. Otherwise, though we may be breathing,
we will remain dead in our sins. And dead is no way to live! + + +