I realize I’m showing my age, but… remember “Fonzie”? A character
in the popular TV sitcom “Happy Days” “the Fonz” was the ideal stud of a
man—strong, capable and utterly confident in himself and all he is and can do.
Much of the sitcom humor surrounding the Fonz was built around his “cool-ness”
and everyone else’s embrace of that identity. One exaggerated expression of
this overwhelming self-esteem was the character’s inability to admit that he
made a mistake comically portrayed by Fonzie’s physical inability to say the
word “wrong.” Forced into a corner, he stumbles, “I was w…, I was wro…, I was
wroooo…” Hilarious. (See “Fonzie’s word trouble” on YouTube). Hilarious because
we know that confessing a wrong shouldn’t be that hard—we all need to do it
more and more often!
I think of Fonzie’s struggles with confession when I think
of forgiveness. Like confession, forgiveness should come easily to us—because
we should all have lots and lots of opportunities to practice it! As with the
frequency of our sin, we frequently have the chance to give forgiveness and to
receive forgiveness. Every negative interaction we have with family, friends, and
workers is an opportunity to either ask for, or to give, forgiveness. Yet, like
the Fonz, most of us can’t quite get the words out.
That is not to say we are an unforgiving people (though I’m
positive we should all practice forgiveness much more than we do). In my
experience, even when we forgive, getting the actual word out is hard. Think
back for a second… how often have you actually said, “I forgive you”? I am sure
you have often thought: “Well, I can let that go,” or, “I’ll just ignore that
one.” Or, when pressed, saying something like, “It’s ok, let’s just forget it,”
“Oh, it’s all right,” or, “Let’s just move on.” The idea might be the same
(might be, though, might not be!), but for some reason, getting the words out, “I
forgive you,” is hard to do. If you doubt me, next time you are in any little
squabble, try it on… it’s hard!
What makes it so hard? Well, I think that to hear from
someone that they forgive you, really emphasizes the original hurt. We forgive sin; and if I need forgiveness
from you, then I must have sinned against you.
If you have said, “I forgive you,” that means you think I have actually
sinned against you! Usually, even when sin is at the core of our difficulties,
we don’t like to call it what it is—sin. So, to try not to actually identify
sin in your life, I hesitate to say, “I forgive you.” I actually don’t want you
to feel that badly. If I am right about this, isn’t that just backwards?!?
I think these words are also hard to say since we know that
forgiveness is more than just “ignoring it,” or “getting over it,” or just
“forgetting it.” Forgiveness is really, truly, completely giving up any claim
of hurt, pain or injustice done against you. You can ignore, get over or forget an injury and yet still harbor a
legitimate sense of right-ness, or superiority. But, if you forgive, then that’s it, it’s all over
with, total, complete absolution; never again to be thought of or brought up.
Now, that’s hard!
No wonder then, that the Bible calls us to be a forgiving
people—new creations in Christ who give to others what we have been given.
Jesus highlights this principle to His disciples—if we truly realize what it
means to be forgiven our sins by God, what sin by others could we possibly
hesitate to forgive? (Matthew 18) And, how often? Of course, Jesus’ challenge
is an infinite number of times—the same number of times the Lord forgives me.
The forgiveness of the Lord is wonderfully portrayed for us
in Psalm 32, which I invite you to read in preparation for worship this Sunday.
1. In verses 1 & 2, what terms are used for sin? How do
they differ? In what ways is forgiveness described? What insights into
forgiveness are there?
2. Can you explain the “wasting away” of the author’s bones?
How might we describe that in today’s lingo?
3. Verse 5 is seen as a solution to the trauma of verses
3-4. How is the problem “solved” by these verses?
4. “Therefore” in verse 6 draws a conclusion—what is the
conclusion, and how does it flow from the previous verses? If you have gone
through the experience of verses 3-5, have you concluded as the psalmist does
with verse 6?
5. Verses 8-9 speak of God instructing us (assuming the “I”
is God speaking), what other assumption/conclusion might be made? How does the
instruction flow from the preceding verses?
