There is a baseball bat on the walls of our mind called the past. It celebrates the hard work it took to grab a base or two, maybe even steal one to third, on our way home. All the games were not pretty, but they are part of us. When someone lets you into their room, their mind or deep within their heart, never betray them by taking their past off the wall and beating them with it. Perhaps the scenario I am painting is oversimplified, but we must learn to make our first reaction one of healing and reconciliation.
The woman caught in adultery had several people ready to swing away with her bat. Religious leaders gathered around, ready to carry out her death sentence. They gripped rocks in hand and ready for launching. They were technically following the law. Jesus came to bring the spirit of the law, the principle on which God’s laws were founded. Hoping to put Jesus in a trap, perhaps taking his bat off the wall of public ministry and teaching, the men suggested Jesus cast the first stone. In true rhetorical fashion, Jesus challenged them to allow the sinless one among them to cast the first stone. They each turned and walked away.
The response of Jesus addresses the issue of using someone’s past offenses against them. He lifted her to her feet, reminded her that her accusers were gone. He said He didn’t condemn her and admonished her to never sin again. Keep in mind, he didn’t condone her behavior, he extended grace for another chance to get things right. We can assume our own position should reflect that of Christ, especially in light of His answer to Peter.
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22, HCSB).
Jesus follows up with a parable that recasts everything we’ve known about forgiveness. He gets to the heart of the matter, the very source that becomes our strength to forgive. He also holds up our typical hypocrisy of humans in relation to forgiveness. He tells of a powerful king whose servant owed him a considerable sum of money. The king demanded payment, and since he had no capital to settle the account, the king demanded he give up everything as settlement. The man begged for forgiveness and asked for patience to settle the account. The king had compassion on him and instead, forgave the man all of his debts. In today’s money, the amount would have been in the millions.
The story could end there and be a basic reminder for us to plead for compassion instead of weaseling our way out of a commitment. Christ continued, however, and our picture of grace becomes more enlightening. The servant went out and found someone who owed him a few thousand dollars. The man pleaded with the servant for grace, but instead the servant had this debtor thrown into prison. When the king heard about this, he was angered and had that man tortured and thrown into prison until his debts were paid. He follows up with a very heavy rebuke, suggesting that our Heavenly Father will do the same for us who are unwilling to forgive.
We, who have received immeasurable grace and forgiveness from God the Father, have no proper response but to forgive out of the abundance of grace poured out to us through Christ. When you walk into someone’s room and see their bat on the wall, don’t take it down and beat them with it. Ask them instead about the time they used it to score a home run. When we listen to the heart of God’s message on forgiveness, we have the motivation for rebuilding the bonds of family and friends.