Forgiveness (2)

I have been thinking much recently about the death of Rev'd Ian Paisley a couple of weeks or so ago. Perhaps if the news of his death had not been eclipsed by the lead up to the independence referendum in Scotland more may have been made of it

Ian Paisley was a man who divided, and still divides opinion like few others (perhaps Margaret Thatcher?) especially in Northern Ireland.

When I heard of his death my mind went straight back to a trip to Northern Ireland in 1997 on behalf of theology faculty at Manchester University and training college where I was just finishing my ordination training.

The trip lasted around a week as I recall and was filled with remarkable experiences. I came away, having met politicians from all parties and peace groups with a perplexing set of memories of a political environment which to the outsider (I count myself as such) is almost impossible to fully understand. But at the heart of the "troubles" was not only a political divide, but also a religious one, and perhaps the largest of larger than life figures during the "troubles" was Ian Paisley. He is loved and despised in equal measure. I remember going round his church and staring at the glass windows showing stories from his life and being absolutely appalled at the arrogance of the man. That was certainly, if unfortunately true, but in the final 5 years of his time as a politician and practising minister, another Ian Paisley emerged.

In my experience, most people become more hard line and less tolerant as they grow older, but publicly at least, Ian Paisley was the opposite, reaching out in a way which due to his immense standing in his political and faith community only he could have.

In a quite staggering change of heart Ian embraced his former opponents in a way which was beguiling and effective. In a few short years the political situation became transformed.

I wrote last time about forgiveness - about asking "What would Jesus do?".

One of my memories of the trip includes a female colleague of mine innocently asking a member of the protestant faith community why they would not enter dialogue with Sinn Fein. The reply was another question - "Would Jesus have spoken to his enemies?". We looked at each other and the penny finally dropped with us. Yes, I think he did actually. I think that was the whole point of his ministry.

R.I.P Ian Paisley

Forgive? – What does that mean?

The lectionary readings for the coming Sunday are based around the idea of forgiveness. The gospel story is a strange one. The story is couched in extremes, done deliberately so in order to emphasise the main points. It is the story of the unforgiving servant…. The story goes: A man had many servants. The main servant owed his Master a huge amount of money (in our translations sometimes written as millions of pounds). Perhaps the servant was in our vocabulary an accountant? Who knows, the story does not go into detail. The Master asks for a statement of account, at which point the shortfall becomes obvious. The servant asks for forgiveness and the Master cancel his debt, the forgiven servant in a reversal of roles then refuses to offer the same charity to someone who owes him a much smaller amount. The purpose of the story is clear. We have ourselves been forgiven, but to be part of the narrative of the Kingdom of God, we must do the same – “freely you have received, freely give”.

 

But it’s not as simple as you may think.

 

This week saw the anniversary of 9/11 (I wonder if you can remember where you were when you heard? I was carry out a funeral visit to the family of a friend of mine who had committed suicide by setting fire to himself). It was on the anniversary that President Obama committed himself to the “destruction of Isis” (The self-proclaimed Islamic State).  I attended a clergy meeting the same day. One of my colleagues was suggesting that without the 9/11 attacks, there may well have been no invasion of Iraq, or Afghanistan, the Arab spring may well have been different and without the vacuum of power left, no Isis to roll across Syria and Iraq carrying out horrendous cruelties as they move. So actions may have profound consequences beyond our ken.

 

What would the Christian response be to this? What was the response to the rise of Nazism? To ignore and turn the other cheek? Forgiveness requires one (at least) of the parties to acknowledge that a wrong has been committed, and attempts to make things right . The problem with our world at the moment is that no-one is prepared to acknowledge any wrong, only to assert their own rights, often in the name of religion.

 

Around the world Christians wear bracelets with the letters WWJD? Written on them. It is a reminder to us all when faced with any dilemma to ask the question – If He were here, What Would Jesus Do”?  

 

Its one thing to ask the question, but yet another I would suggest to carry the answer through.

 

Take Care

 

Alan