Grace And Forgiveness

SAT., AUG. 13, 1994, 6:45 AM
FARM, STUDY

Forgiving is dangerous. One of the concerns of your culture at this time is crime. Therefore you have police and courts so that those who commit crimes must pay in some way for the wrong they have committed. This is justice, and it is an important concept in human affairs… even as it is I who determine ultimate justice.

But what about forgiving? Is it dangerous? First, I’ll say that it is minimally dangerous when there is genuine repentance. When one who has done a wrong, to others and to society, is truly sorry for what she has done, forgiveness is the necessary ingredient for continued positive living. But how can genuine repentance be recognized as different from “faked” repentance? In some cases it is difficult… to impossible… to determine by human means. Forgiveness allows the criminal to commit further crimes. It even “sends the signal” that it is safe to do so.

In the story that is the basis for your sermon tomorrow John Mark had not committed a crime, but he had shown weakness. He had not been able to stand up under persecution for the faith he was trying to help establish. He couldn’t face the challenge, even as he loved Me, as his Lord, and he loved and admired both Paul and Barnabas, the “senior evangelists.” His faith was not sufficient for this challenge. His fear overcame his love, and he fled the scene.

He had fled before, with Me, as Jesus, on the night I was arrested, he was afraid he would be identified as one of My followers. As someone grabbed him by the robe he pulled out of it and ran away naked. But he had come back from that and had been accepted by Paul and Barnabas as a fledgling evangelist… and he failed again.

Paul had been forgiven for his actions as a zealous Pharisee in persecuting Christians. He knew My grace. He was forgiven. Yet this motivated him to bring this message to Gentiles, as I instructed him to do, and he wanted to succeed. John Mark was an embarrassment, one who could not be trusted when the going got rough. Forgiving him could jeopardize Paul’s mission, and he was as zealous for that as he had been for his “earlier one.” My grace couldn’t come through him.

Barnabas was a different kind of servant. His name meant Son of Encouragement, and this was his forte. He could not have done what Paul did, just as Paul couldn’t forgive, as he did, at that time. Barnabas knew that forgiveness was risky, but he saw the potential in young John Mark. He had come back twice, and he had to be given the chance to redeem himself. Paul’s decision to hold to his standards gave Barnabas the chance to show John Mark how much he trusted him. He said, “You and I are a new team. We’ll go together.” His encouragement “worked.” Mark eventually wrote the first of the Gospel stories.