Brown's Daily Word 8-4-08

Good Morning,
In his book, "Letters to Malcolm", C.S. Lewis wrote these words, "Last week in prayer, I discovered, or at least I think I did, that I suddenly was able to forgive someone that I had been trying to forgive for over thirty years."
There is a universal longing, a hunger in every human soul for forgiveness, both to be able to give it, and to receive it. In one of his stories, Ernest Hemingway told about a young man who wronged his father and he ran away from home to Madrid. Out of great love for his son, the father took out an ad in the Madrid newspaper, 'Paco, meet me Hotel Montana, 12 noon Tuesday. All is forgiven. Papa.' Paco is a rather common name in Spain, so when the father arrived at the hotel, he found eight hundred young men waiting for their fathers.
Since we long for forgiveness, why, then, is it so hard to forgive? It wasn't any easier for the first followers of Jesus, including the apostles. We live in a "get even" world. Forgiveness, on the other hand, reflects and requires God’s redeeming love.
There are different ways in which we communicate with others. One way, of course, is verbally, through the spoken word. Another way in which we communicate with others is through what is called nonverbal communication, or body language. The face, perhaps, is the most important part of the human anatomy that we use in nonverbal communication. By using facial expressions, we communicate feelings of joy, sadness, grief, disbelief, anger, contentment, questioning, fear, sorrow, displeasure, excitement, disappointment, etc. In biblical language the face can communicate either a "blessing or a curse". The face may reveal the very presence of God, as when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, with the Ten Commandments in his hand. His face was ablaze with the light of the glory of God.
In Genesis 33. we read about the meeting of Jacob and Esau, after they had been away from each other for 20 years. Prior to this meeting Jacob met the Lord Himself and wrestled with Him all night long. Jacob was afraid to meet Esau. He devised an elaborate plan of to appease Esau, whom he had deceived. He had stolen the blessings and the birthright that belonged to Esau. Esau now has forgiven his brother. This is a wonderful account of unconditional love and forgiveness. It was in the face of Esau that Jacob saw the image and likeness of God, revealed through his act of forgiveness. Jacob said, “... to see your face is like seeing the face of God”( Genesis 33:v. 10). The image and likeness of God is never more readily reflected in the face of another person as it is in the act of forgiveness.
When is the image of God most revealed/reflected in the human face? We see three principles in Genesis 33:1-11, that reveal when the answer to this question.
1. WHEN THERE IS ACCEPTANCE AND FORGIVENESS TOWARD THE PERSON WHO HAS WRONGED YOU. As seen in our text, there was acceptance and forgiveness shown toward Jacob, by his brother, Esau. Jacob, in turn, was moved deeply by Esau’s forgiving kindness. He saw in his brother’s face, “the face of God.” In response to the question, “When is the image of God most revealed in the human face?", we have an answer like this, “The forgiveness and acceptance which people see in another’s face may remind them of God.” You and I are reminded of God’s forgiveness toward us when Jesus cried from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing”(Luke 23:34). If we could have seen Jesus’ face as He spoke these words of forgiveness from the cross, we would have beheld the face of God.
2. WHEN THE UNNATURAL ACT OF FORGIVENESS IS DEMONSTRATED ON THE PART OF THE OFFENDED. The Bible says, “But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept” (Gen. 33:4). You might ask, “What is wrong with this picture?” What is wrong with this picture is that forgiveness is unnatural. Esau had been offended twenty years earlier by his brother, Jacob, and the natural thing to do would have been to kill him. In fact, that is what Easu had threatened to do immediately after Jacob had stolen his blessing and birthright some twenty years earlier. It was unnatural for Esau to forgive Jacob because of what he had lost. The Bible tells us that not only had Jacob robbed Esau of his birthright, but he had stolen his blessing as well. In the light of all that had gone before, the most natural thing for Esau to do to his brother, Jacob, would have been to get even.
It was natural for Esau to get even, but he chose to do the unnatural thing. He chose to forgive his brother, Jacob. Again the Bible says, “But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him”(v. 4). This was the Godlike thing to do. The thing which he did was more Godlike than human. It was in this act of forgiveness on the part of Jacob’s brother, Esau, that Jacob saw the likeness of God, in the face of his brother. He said, “For to see your face is like seeing the face of God”(v. 10).
Have we done the Godlike thing toward the person who has wronged us, or have we done what comes naturally? When we do the unnatural thing, forgiving those who have wronged us, we are reflecting God’s redeeming love to others.
3. WHEN NOTHING IS EXPECTED IN RETURN FROM THE ONE WHO IS SEEKING FORGIVENESS. Esau did not expect anything from his brother Jacob. He said to him, “I already have plenty, my brother, keep what you have for yourself” (Gen. 33:9). One writer has said, “The best way to reflect God to others is to forgive them freely, expecting nothing in return.” True forgiveness does not demand “tit for tat”, “eye for eye”, “tooth for tooth”, or “I owe you’s”, nor does true forgiveness demand a “pound of flesh.” After all, according to Paul, love “keeps no records of wrongs”(I Corinthians 13:5). Esau, in his behavior toward Jacob, had not kept a list of wrongs suffered.
Have we been reflecting God to others by forgiving them freely? Jacob discovered that he could not earn, nor did he deserve, his brother’s forgiveness. The same is true of the lost person. He or she cannot earn God’s forgiveness, nor deserve it. God offers it freely with no strings attached.
In Christ ,
Brown