Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey

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Pastor's Pulse

by Paul Leggett, Pastor

Forgiveness and Love

March 2009

“But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” – Luke 7:47

We are entering the season of Lent.  This is one of the most important seasons of the church year and a time which calls us to reflect on our personal walk with the Lord.  It is also an opportunity to come to terms with the brokenness in our lives.  Put simply, Lent is a season in which we confront the sinful nature in all of us, “the sin that clings so closely,” (Hebrews 12:1).  In our present internet Bible study in the Book of Genesis we encounter God’s indictment of all of us when he says, “the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth” (Genesis 8:21).  This is a hard truth to accept.  Nonetheless, if we are honest, we recognize its truth.  The great novelist, John Updike, who passed away recently, once said that there are many books which humans have written about God.  However there is only one book which God wrote about humans.  He added, “When God describes human beings he doesn’t blink.”

In the famous story in Luke chapter seven where a prostitute is anointing Jesus’ feet to the great annoyance of his Pharisee host, Jesus says that the woman’s sins, which were many, have been forgiven.  Therefore she shows great love. We don’t often think of the relationship between forgiveness and love.  For Jesus that relationship is very important.  Love certainly involves our emotions, will and actions.  In this story Jesus is teaching the Pharisee (and us) the lesson that there is a direct correlation between forgiveness and love.  Why is this?  It may well be that forgiveness leads to gratitude and gratitude in turn can bring us to love.  The opposite is clearly true.  To the degree that we claim to be righteous or not need forgiveness we will show little love.

The implication of all this is that we need to be prepared to confess our sins and seek forgiveness (I John 1:8-9).  Many times we may not recognize our own sins.  The psalmist prays about his “hidden faults” (Psalm 19:12).  We may need to have these pointed out to us.  This cannot be in a context of condemnation but rather in one that calls for our repentance and restoration.  It is important to remember that only God can love without needing to be forgiven.  For us, our ability to love is tied to our having been forgiven.  We need to recognize that the inclination of our heart is evil.  The whole point of Lent, however, is not to dwell on our sin.  It is rather to prepare us to focus on our forgiveness, which is found finally and completely in the cross of Christ.  Jesus’ statement from the cross which applies to all of us, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” (Luke 23:34) gives us the power to love.  We need to seek forgiveness more, so that we can love more.