First Baptist Church: Sermon

Text: Psalm 32:1-2; Colossians 1:13-14; 1 John 1:9

Message for February 17, 2002

by Pastor Glenn Layne

First Baptist Church of Temple City, California

Last Message in the Series:
A TOUGH-HEARTED FAITH FOR TRYING TIMES
CAN WE FORGIVE THE TERRORISTS? SHOULD WE?

Does everyone deserve to be forgiven?

Karla Faye Tucker, they said, should be forgiven. The slight, 120 pound, 5 foot, three inch tall, woman was contrite, Christian and soft-spoken. Yet on the night of June 13, 1986, she and her boyfriend, Daniel Garrett, brutally murdered fellow Texans Jerry Dean and Deborah Thornton.

Tucker and Garrett had been high on drugs and booze over a three-day period when they went to Dean's home to steal his motorcycle. They had reason to believe that no one would be home, but they were wrong. Discovered, Daniel Garrett bludgeoned Dean with a hammer, and finished him off with a pickax. As he was doing that, Karla found Deborah Thornton hiding under the sheets in a bedroom. She took the pickax and killed the woman so there would be no witnesses, and later told friends what a thrill it was to kill.
Arrested soon thereafter, she and Garrett were tried and convicted. Karla was given the death penalty-the first woman so found since 1863.

Prison was the best thing that ever happened to her. She got off drugs, she got an education, and, best of all, she was sincerely converted to faith in Jesus Christ. She was, by all accounts, a radiant Christian. She even got married-to the prison chaplain.

Twice by appeal her execution date was delayed. It was now 1997. Word of her sincere conversion had made her case one with which many Texans were sympathetic to desire for commutation. Her cause was even championed by the 700 Club's Pat Robertson. Still, in the midst of all this, her execution date was set for February 3, 1998. Only a commutation from the Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles would halt her death by lethal injection.

Everyone put pressure on them and on then Gov. George W. Bush-everyone from Pope John Paul II to Amnesty International to Bianca Jagger.

The Board of Pardons and Paroles met the day before her execution date. They voted 16-2 to deny her appeal for commutation. She died the next day, 6:45 PM on the 3rd of February 1998.
The Karla Faye Tucker story hints at the complexity of the issue of forgiveness when it comes to the public square. Did God forgive her? Yes, there is every indication that she was. Was she forgiven by the state of Texas? No, she died for what she'd done. Did the relatives of her victims forgive her? Some said yes, others, no.

Karla Faye Tucker is different in this respect as well: she was truly, deeply contrite and repentant. She had made peace with God through Jesus' cross.

But what of an unrepentant killer like Timothy McVeigh? He died with complete contempt for the county that nurtured him and for the victims of his mass murder. If your wife was one of the people killed in Oklahoma City that day, would you, as a follower of Jesus, be obliged to forgive him?

Now we come to the Muhammad Attas and to Richard Reid and John Walker Lyndh-to Usama bin Ladin and Saddam Hussein-terrorists dead and alive. What obligation do we as followers of Jesus Christ have for forgiving these people?

Last week, as I told the between heaven and hell story of Muhammad Atta, I am told that one person was afraid that I'd get the end and have Jesus forgive him. The truth is, there are bounds on the love of God. If there were not, there would be no hell, no judgment, and really, no justice in this world.

Here's a key concept:

There is a world of difference between forgiving someone and asking God to have mercy.
What I mean by that is that we indeed are not obligated to forgive anyone and everyone.
But wait! Didn't Jesus say from the cross, "Father, forgive them; they don't know what they're doing."
Yes He did. And in so doing, Jesus gave us the perfect formula for understanding the dynamic of forgiveness and the undeserving.

But that's rushing ahead. First, I want to show you, from the experience of the early church, the vital difference between forgiving someone and asking God to have mercy on someone. Here are four examples.

Examples

1. Acts 1:15-26: the case of Judas
Between the ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit, the apostles dealt with the reality of the open spot the betrayal and suicide of Judas had created in the ranks of the 12 apostles. In Acts 1:15-26, Peter brings up the issue, and refers to Judas as "the guide for those who arrested Jesus." There is neither hatred for Judas expressed-nor any words of sorrow. There is not the least hint that the disciples believed that Jesus' teachings meant that they were obligated to forgive the unrepentant Judas for his evil deeds.

2. Acts 4:23-31: the church and the hostile authorities.
In Acts 4, Peter and John are briefly imprisoned for preaching in the name of Jesus. They held their ground and then are released. Did they express forgiveness to their captors-the same people who had conspired to kill Jesus? As a matter of fact, no. There is that same attitude shown toward these evil-hearted authorities as toward Judas: neither hatred nor forgiveness, just a tough matter-of-fact recognition of the evil they were a part of. Look to Acts 4:25-27. In worship, they say these words at a time of prayer following their release:

25You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
" `Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

26The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.'

27Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

Again, we have no hint that they believed that the teachings of Jesus compelled them to forgive Herod, Pilate and the Sanhedrin.

Jesus did say (Matthew 5:44), "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Paul says in Romans 12:14, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." In the face of unrepentant evil hurled against us, the Biblical picture is clear: the response of the Jesus-follower is patient and loving endurance. But not once are we told that a Pilate or a bin Ladin is worthy of our forgiveness.

Two more examples:
3. Acts 5:1-11: Ananias and Sapphira. You know their story: two believers who lie to the apostles and to the Holy Spirit, and are struck dead. Again, there is no thought given to the idea that the church needed to forgive them of their deeds, and also no thought that the church needed to hold them up in fury or hatred.

Finally, we have
4. Acts 7:59-60: the final words of Stephen
The first follower of Jesus to die for his faith is Stephen, who was stoned to death in what was certainly a breach of what was permitted by the Romans. Stephen boldly preached the gospel, and showed the history of spiritual rebellion of the people of Israel-his people. As he speaks, he sees a vision of Jesus, the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of God. That was enough-the hearing turned into a lynching. They dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death.

Even as the rocks were flying, Stephen maintained his faith. Acts 7:59-60 tell us:
59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Just as his Lord had prayed, he prayed, "Don't hold it against them. Forgive them, God." He prayed that the sin done that day would not be held against a whole people who needed to hear the message of Jesus.
I think in all these passages, a balance is struck between two errors. Think of them as the rocky sides of a narrow passage at sea: the Straits of Magellan or the Rock of Gibraltar.

Steering Clear:

I have this in your message notes in the form of a simple diagram. Please have a look at it as I try to explain it.

Revenge
Resentment Release into God's Hands Relativism: All's Forgiven
Confusion About who is God!
Romans 12:19 "Leave room for God's wrath"
Romans 12:17-21 "Sloppy Agape"
1 Corinthians 5:1-2

First, on the left side, we have one possible response to the actions of wrongdoing done against us. That attitude is one of revenge and or resentment. As I suggested in the first message of this series, the big problem with this, from a Godward point of view, is that this attitude betrays confusion about who is God. I base this on Romans 12:19:

19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.

"Leave room for God's wrath": that's the key phrase. Retribution is God's business. Whether it's Judas, or Pilate, or bin Ladin, let God take care of them. You are not God.

So let's apply that to this war, and these terrorists. Are we out for revenge? I hope not. Vengeance is God's business. Last fall, I remember a radio talk host, Mike Gallagher, refer to the bombings that began October 7 as "America gets even." I hope that's not what it's all about. Not vengeance-justice.

Over on the right side, we have another error: I call it Sloppy Agape. (Agape is the NT Greek word for love.) Sloppy Agape is when we love without discrimination-to the point that our so-called "love" clouds our ability to see clearly, and to make necessary discernment.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 tells of a classic case of Sloppy Agape. (I noticed this week in my reading; 1 Corinthians is our Bible Book of the Month.)

51 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
The church at Corinth was practicing Sloppy Agape. Because of "love", they didn't want to "judge" this man who was living with his stepmother!

"There but for the grace of God go I" is a good attitude to keep us humble-but a lousy attitude is it makes us lax and loose when it comes to applying standards for ourselves or for others.
The middle represents the right attitude. To get this right, let's hear the passage from Romans 12:17-21 in its entirety:

17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20On the contrary:

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

What I see here is a release into the hands of God those who are unrepentantly evil. This is not forgiveness; it is simply letting God take care of vengeance. It says, "Your forgiveness is outside of my area of authority. So is revenge against you. I do not forgive you but neither will I hate you. You are God's to deal with."

Can we forgive the terrorists? Should we?

The Bible does NOT compel us to forgive the unrepentantly evil. However, Scripture is just as clear that we should flee from hatred even of the evil, and that revenge is simply not our business.
Yet, we Jesus-followers are to have a heart that is tender and that wishes for the good even of the evil and of those who persecute us. Let me just highlight six attitudes of a forgiving heart-and let me say that we'll be taking up some of these concepts in the series I start next week, the series on THE FREEDOM OF THE CROSS.

The Attitudes of a Forgiving Heart

1. Is there something here that will bring God glory either in my forgiveness or in releasing this matter into God's hands? Examples would be a stronger testimony, peace of mind, a reconciliation, and an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus.

2. Forgiveness requires three basic actions:
a. we surrender our right to get even
b. we rediscover the humanity of our wrongdoer (a hard one with terrorism!)
c. we wish our wrongdoer well (Howard Stewart: praying for bin Ladin's conversion)

3. Forgiveness or release takes time

4. Forgiving does not require forgetting.

In Isaiah 43:25, God says,
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

God can forget sin in the sense that it is no longer relevant to our judgment. That doesn't mean He gets divine amnesia and can't remember it; He chooses to know it, but also chooses, because of the cross to render it irrelevant.

That models for us the forgiving heart that all Jesus-followers should have. We want to render past wrongdoing against us irrelevant. We want to be in a position to forgive freely. We hunger and thirst for the opportunity to forgive.

5. Ideally, forgiveness leads to reconciliation. That would be the best outcome: a total restoration of good relations, the reign of God's shalom in our hearts and in our relations.

Finally,
6. Forgiving should come naturally to the forgiven.
In the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6:12 we hear Jesus' admonition, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Jesus assumes that the forgiven should be the most anxious to forgive.

Back in 1989, when we were living in New Hampshire, the Berlin Wall came down and the reunification of Germany was soon being talked about. A patient of Lynann's at the hospital, a WW II vet, was watching the TV reports as she tended to his needs. He let out a string of expletives. "They should never let them! The Krauts will always be trouble!" and on and on.

I understand that man's feelings. Maybe he lost a buddy in the Battle of the Bulge. But I hold to the promise that one day the days of bitterness will be gone. One day I pray there will be peace. The perpetrators of evil will either be in a deep prison or in a shallow grave. One day we will be past all this. And may we, the people of God, be the first to pave the roads of reconciliation and of peace.

"Blessed are the peacemakers…. they will be called the sons of God."