Isaiah 43:18-25 Psalm 32:1-8 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 Mark 2:1-12

Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin is put away! Psalm 32

Forgiving is not just the way of the God of Israel; it is not just for Jesus in Capernaum, or Jesus dying on the cross, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Through the Christian centuries stories of forgiveness abound. In our age of information overload, stories of forgiveness are everywhere. In our newspapers, in our magazines, in TV and radio articles, on the Internet, we can find stories of men and women like us who—with God's help—extend forgiveness. They speak a word of forgiveness where we expect a word of hate or vengeance or cruelty. They serve as powerful reminders that we are called to continue the work begun by Jesus Christ.

Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch woman who helped many Jews escape death before she herself was captured and sent to a Concentration Camp, gives us one such story. Of the many stories out there, this one speaks to me of forgiveness which is only possible with God's help. It reminds me that no matter how much the victim I feel, forgiveness is possible, with God's help. Forgiveness is necessary if I am to heal and if the Kingdom is to be furthered. Here is Corrie's tale of encounter with a person who had caused her great harm and who pressed her to speak words of forgiveness.

It was in a church in Munich that I saw him — a balding, heavily-set man in a grey overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.

It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land. ...

The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room.

And that's when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights; the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the centre of the floor; the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!

The place was Ravensbruck and the man who was making his way forward had been a guard - one of the most cruel guards.

Now he was in front of me, his hand thrust out: `A fine message, Fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!'

And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook, rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course - how could he remember one prisoner amongst those thousands of women?

But I remember him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. I was face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.

`You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,' he was saying. `I was a guard there.' No, he did not remember me. `But since that time,' he went on, `I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well, Fraulein,' - again the hand came out - `will you forgive me?'

And I stood there - I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven - and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place - could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?

It could not have been many seconds that he stood there - hand held out - but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. For I had to do it - I knew that. The message that God forgives us has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. `If you do not forgive men their trespasses,' Jesus says. `neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.'

I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.

And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion - I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. `Jesus, help me!' I prayed silently. `I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.'

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

`I forgive, brother!' I cried, `With all my heart.' For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then. But even so, I realized it was not my love. I had tried, and did not have the power. It was the power of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Romans 5:5, `...because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.' (1)

Do not doubt that the God who calls us by name, the God who has invited us here this morning is the very one who "blots out [our] transgressions"; the very one who "will not remember [our] sins." (Isaiah 43.25)

Do not doubt that the same Jesus who turned to the paralyzed man at his feet long ago and said "your sins are forgiven" will also turn to us today and say the same.

And do not doubt that we are called by the same Jesus Christ to turn to our brothers and sisters and extend the very same forgiveness.

When we gather here each week we confess that we have sinned against God and neighbor, doing things we ought not to have done and leaving undone things we should have done—and we humbly ask God's forgiveness. We expect, we need, God's forgiveness in order to get on with our lives. And every week, in fact, every time we turn to God seeking forgiveness, we receive it. It is quite a gift.

And, like Corrie ten Boom, we know that our receiving of this forgiveness is tied up with our forgiving others because every time we boldly pray as our savior has taught us we say "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Our faith tradition insists that we are all called to carry on "Christ's work of reconciliation in the world." (2) We are called to summon the same words of forgiveness spoken by our Lord and speak them aloud to those who have harmed us. We are called to summon the same Holy Spirit who warmed the encounter between guard and prisoner in 1947 because, like Corrie ten Boom, we have long ago realized that we haven't the power to speak the words on our own, we haven't a love broad enough or deep enough to encompass those who have hurt or harmed us greatly. We need the help of the Holy Spirit.

Let us choose today, in the light of the Good News of God's reconciling and forgiving love in Jesus Christ, to be a minister of forgiveness and reconciliation in the power of the Spirit. In our prayers, and in our communion a little later, let us invite God to send us out into the world to do the work of forgiveness that yet needs to be done. Let us invite God to send us out to the very ones who most need to hear that He has forgiven them. Let us invite god to send us out and let us acknowledge that even today, even through a minister as ordinary and flawed as you and me, God is about to do a new and wonderful thing.

(1) This was taken from Corrie Ten Boom's book Tramp for the Lord (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1971, pp. 55-57) in which she described her missionary work after the war. She described her war experiences in her book The Hiding Place. From the Internet: http://english.ccg.org/english/s/p112.html

(2) Outline of Faith, BCP, p. 855