God Grace and Forgiveness: Genuine forgiveness is difficult. We tend to hold onto our grievances and nurture them. Yet God compels us to forgive.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Matt 6:9-12
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:25
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
I once had an experience where friends offended me to the extent that I’d lie awake at night angrily mulling things over. The emotion disrupted my sleep and I became an angry man for a while. I finally listened to my mother’s sage advice and prayed for the people I had issue with. I was soon fixed.
Petty emotional offenses are one thing—sometimes forgiveness can be exponentially more challenging.
Henry Gerecke and the Nazis
The following is related in Terry L. Johnson’s book The Excellencies of God. After the WW2, the Rev. Henry Gerecke (rhymes with Cherokee) was tasked to serve as US Army chaplain for the Nazi prisoners at Nuremberg as they awaited trial. Among them were Wilhelm Keitel, Fritz Sauckel and Hans Frank.
Johnson writes that Gerecke was [naturally] shaken by his mission. Citing Townsend’s Mission at Nuremberg,
He was terrified by the prospect of being close to the men who had tried to take over the world. Would he have to shake their hands? … How could he comfort these Nazis who had caused so much heartache? How could he minister to the leaders of a movement who had taken millions of lives? (Bolding mine)
Yet he did. And some of these unforgivable men repented and experienced God’s grace through his ministry. Before he was executed, Keitel recited a prayer his mother had taught him,
Christ’s blood and judgment are my adornment and robe of honor; therein I will stand before God when I go to Heaven. Amen.
Johnson rightly points out that it was God who sent Gerecke to those despised war criminals: He is the gracious God who sent Christ to die for the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15)…
Corrie ten Boom and the Nazi
You might think that, of all people, ten Boom could relate to suffering and forgiveness. Yet in What About Evil? Scott Christensen relates an incident where she came face to face with a former Nazi during an engagement in Munich.
When she had finished speaking, the man rushed over to her “beaming and bowing” and said, “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein. To thin that, as you say, He has washed my sins away.”
He introduced himself as one of the SS men who once worked at Ravensbrück. But when he extended his hand out to her, ten Boom hesitated. Recall Gerecke’s concern above. She thought of all she had seen and what had happened to her sister (Betsie).
Christensen writes: “Corrie knew that her Christian faith would risk the danger of never thriving again.” So she prayed a “half-hearted” silent prayer: “Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give Your Forgiveness.” But “the grace of Christ did its miraculous work.” She noted,
As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand, a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.
Scott Christensen writes that,
They held hands for a long time, the tormentor and the tormented joined in the unbreakable bonds of Christ-centered unity. This is the grace effect. (What About Evil? Page 451)
I, being a great sinner, comfort myself in a great Savior. When I look upon myself, I see nothing but weakness & emptiness; but when I look upon Christ, I see nothing but sufficiency & fullness. ~ William Gouge
God is the Great Forgiver and Grace Giver! We must remember this when we look at our own and other people’s lives.
Maranatha!
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