Sermon for Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
By the Rev. Dr. Calvon Jones
Assistant Minister
The Memorial Church of Harvard University
(The following is a transcript of the service audio, Sept. 17, 2023)
Press my way through. Press my way through. I can't give up now. I've got to press my way through. Press my way through. Press my way through. God I want to forgive. That's why I'm pressing my way through. If we would be honest today and search the DVR of our memories or reflect upon the moments located in the hippocampus and neocortex of our brains, we would find deep wounds that takes time for us to process and reconcile. It's difficult to forgive wounds of memories that continue to haunt us, wounds that bear the names of persons who have hurt our hearts deeply, wounds that have chained us with resentment and bitterness, wounds that have entangled our souls with anger and unforgiveness.
It's difficult to forgive. Wounds that hold decades of pain and sorrow. Wounds of church hurt, wounds of institutional hurt, wounds that sometimes bleed through our lives. Wounds inflicted by the pain of fractured friendships, wounds inflicted by lovers and partners, wounds by marriage and romantic relationships, wounds by our jobs, wounds from our childhood, wounds from school and wounds from sometimes our family. Forgiveness is difficult. We all have wounds that have caused such hurt where unforgiveness consumes our beings. Do I have a witness this morning? A word, face, location, smell, person, song, phrase could trigger this unforgiveness, wounds, triggers.
Yes, forgiveness is freeing, but I'm not going to stand here and try to give a shallow word. It's a process. It takes work, soul work. Those who have been damaged, bruised, harmed, broken, traumatized, and hurt, so hurt that the heart cannot measure the hurt are to take the time to work toward forgiveness. It's easier said than done. One poet writes, "Some say I should move on and forget, but then what? They get to live a life without regret because they are the ones who are to blame. It is them that should be covered in shame, not me, not my name. I should not be the one going insane. I should not be the one carrying this pain. And yet here I am and it's like I'm programmed to replay those moments in my mind time and time and time again. My thoughts feel like they are stuck on rewind, and I need to find a way out of this misery. Can't you see? I just want to be free," end quote.
It's a paradox. Forgiveness is a journey. A journey where one must sit in the hurt, the pain, the anger and moments of unforgiveness. A journey where one must sit in the prophetic grief and righteous indignation. Forgiveness is a journey. To be honest righteous anger and the journey toward forgiveness is sacred too. As Raymond Farrell states, "There is a righteous anger that must burn in the heart and soul of everyone who sees children abused or going hungry and naked. The anger must not be extinguished by rationalizing appeased by empty promises or soothe by ill conceived platitudes and misinterpreted scriptures," end quote.
Forgiveness is difficult. I wish the church would be more honest and careful about the complexity of forgiveness. I wish the church would truly engage the nuances and circumstances that surround this theological concept, tenet and belief. I wish the church would slow down as it relates to forgiveness and sit with those who have truly been hurt. I wish the church would not promote a shallow proclamation of forgiveness, but truly frame forgiveness in the love of God and true work of accountability, healing, and justice. Today I hope to redeem the concept of forgiveness. Beloved forgiveness is a process.
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It takes time. It is a journey that involves deep work, a work that is steeped in God's love and limitless compassion. For too long the church has weaponized scripture and the theological concept of forgiveness in order to legitimize and condone its violence and historical oppression. Christian and biblical interpretation over history have persuaded victims of abuse, oppression, marginalization, enslavement, and dehumanization to just get over it. Some gatekeepers of the church have persuaded people to rush to forgiveness while they yet hurt. This theological framework has elicited both praise and derision among the national public square. In the words of Stacey Patton in the Washington Post, "Forgiveness has almost become a requirement for those enduring the realities of Black death in America. Black families are expected to grieve as a public spectacle, to offer comfort, redemption, and a pathway to a new day," end quote.
The Emanuel AME Church shooting of 2015. The Charlottesville car attacks of 2017 and the murder of Botham Jean, Black family stated immediate forgiveness in a sense. This commentary from the Black community was filled with varying perspectives. Some thought that it was a beautiful respond of mercy while others thought that it was too soon. Forgiveness is freeing, but it is nuanced and complex. It's a process. Theologian, Willie Jennings state, "For too many people, they too quickly equate forgiveness with forgetting, with excusing, with a denial of justice. Forgiveness is not a denial of justice. It is not excusing, nor is it forgetting. Forgiveness can only be offered when it is understood as an act of hope, faith that is aimed toward love," end quote.
This gospel right here is something you all. I looked at Suzanne earlier, I was like. Peter asked Jesus... I like Peter. So you mean to tell me I'm supposed to forgive seven times. That's good enough. Seven times is good enough. Jesus responds with this enormous answer. Some translations say 77 times choir and other translation says 70 times seven. Jesus, you got to be kidding me. But in my humble imagination I promise I'm almost done. It is almost as if Jesus says to Peter, forgiveness is not a one-time thing. It's not. Boom, seven times. It's a process. It's a lifetime of work. You are to forgive over and over again. Try and try and try again. Hurt and forgive, love and forgive. Hurt and forgive. It's a process. And some may say that Jesus' mathematics are off. Rather, I posit that this enormous number represents the enormous love from God that we are invited to participate in.
That sometimes you cannot do it by yourself, but you need to participate in a love that will help you to navigate your enemies, to navigate the hurt of this life. And it goes on with this parable that's really, really tough. Had some violent nature there. Try and the writer tries to show that with the same love you have been given, you should choose that love. I close with this. Love is what we should walk into, but it's complicated. It's okay. Take as much time as you need to, but just keep walking. Choose love even when it hurts. Choose forgiveness even on although it's a journey. Choose love even when it's complex in the face of racism. Choose love and forgiveness in the face of bigotry. Choose love and forgiveness no matter who walks away. Choose love in the face of sexism. Try your best to choose love. Choose a love that would not allow hate to win, a love that forgives as Christ forgave. A love that challenges us to rise above the dark valley of division and brokenness.
Choose love and forgiveness because you refuse to be stuck. Sit through the pain and hurt, but do not remain there Memorial Church. Do not allow stagnation and pain to be your residence and address. Choose a love that unites, a love that unites the Pentecostal and the Presbyterian, a love that unites the Catholic and the church of God. In Christ member a love that unites the Evangelical and the Congregationalists. A love that unites the Calvinists and the Christophanies. A love that unites the Anglican and the Apostolic oneness congregant. You don't hear me this morning. A love that unites the United Church of Christ member and the Universalist. A love that unites the Anabaptist and Adventist, the Methodist and the Mararian, the Lutheran and the Latter-day, Saint choose love and forgiveness. Like Joseph, who could have retaliated against his brothers. Joseph did not deny the hurt and harm, but Joseph stated in Hebrew with the word [foreign language 00:13:05] that I will forgive as God has forgiven me. I will not carry this weight any longer.
And if I could leave you with a thought, it's too heavy for you to carry by yourself, leave it alone. God can handle it better than you can and make this declaration today. No longer will I allow anyone to live in my heart rent-free. I will choose peace over love. No longer will I walk in shame for the things that were done to me. No longer will I be locked in a cell of agony and utter pain. No longer will I pray for days of vengeance and retaliation. But I've made up in my mind Memorial Church that I'm going to choose love. I will no longer carry the burden of retaliation because retaliation and anger only lasts for a little while. But through Christ, I choose to love. What about you?