The Duty of Forgiveness

For the Christian, it is not an option. It is indeed a duty.

Harvard recently began a project to research “human flourishing.” It’s a significant project, studying over 207,000 people from over 20 countries who speak over 40 different languages. The project cost at least $43 million.

One of their major conclusions was this:

Forgiveness…is good for humans.

(If Harvard wants to do any more research, I have some other conclusions I can give them for a fraction of that cost.)¹

Jesus gives a stark command regarding forgiveness in today’s passage. Radical forgiveness. Repeated forgiveness. Similar radical forgiveness is called for in the other gospels. But here in Luke, the disciples’ immediate response in light of such radical forgiveness is perhaps quite appropriate.

Unspoken: Um, Jesus…that’s going to be pretty hard.

Spoken: Increase our faith!

Unspoken: …to be able to do such a thing.

The descriptive illustration Jesus then gives regarding what a master would say to a servant is interesting. It pounds home the notion that such forgiveness is not a bonus virtue. It’s the expected posture of those who dwell in God’s kingdom. As they say, “You don’t get a cookie for doing what you are supposed to do in the first place.”

The study on human flourishing defined forgiveness in some particularly helpful ways: It is not the same as forgetting. It does not forego justice. It is distinct from reconciliation.

But it is letting go. And it is replacing ill with goodwill for those who’ve harmed us, desiring for them to live well and not fail.

Sounds kind of like Jesus’ posture toward us.

Luke 17:1-10

Jesus said to his disciples, “Things that cause people to trip and fall into sin must happen, but how terrible it is for the person through whom they happen. It would be better for them to be thrown into a lake with a large stone hung around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to trip and fall into sin. Watch yourselves! If your brother or sister sins, warn them to stop. If they change their hearts and lives, forgive them. Even if someone sins against you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times and says, ‘I am changing my ways,’ you must forgive that person.”

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“Would any of you say to your servant, who had just come in from the field after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Come! Sit down for dinner’? Wouldn’t you say instead, ‘Fix my dinner. Put on the clothes of a table servant and wait on me while I eat and drink. After that, you can eat and drink’? You won’t thank the servant because the servant did what you asked, will you? In the same way, when you have done everything required of you, you should say, ‘We servants deserve no special praise. We have only done our duty.’”

Psalm 103:8-14

The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
very patient, and full of faithful love.
God won’t always play the judge;
he won’t be angry forever.
He doesn’t deal with us according to our sin
or repay us according to our wrongdoing,
because as high as heaven is above the earth,
that’s how large God’s faithful love is for those who honor him.
As far as east is from west—
that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.
Like a parent feels compassion for their children—
that’s how the Lord feels compassion for those who honor him.
Because God knows how we’re made,
God remembers we’re just dust.

Prayer

God,

Who do I need to forgive? How should I forgive them? Help me to forgive with the same grace I’ve come to know from you. I want a deep ability to offer mercy, grace, and compassion to others.

So help me, God,
By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.

1. Honestly, I’m not trying to be completely snarky. I am grateful for scientific research. Truly.