I passed by the strange beach side lot again … woe!!! The grassy mound of dirt was now in the corner of the lot instead of right in the middle. The position where the Mulberry tree had been growing in the lot was now nothing but a gaping hole in the ground. As I looked over the fence toward the beach, there stood that wonderful tree of healing, and it was growing like crazy right on the beach. What a miracle! What ? A miracle … no way!
I anxiously scanned the beach for a sign of hope that the “elder statesman” of alien faith had actually achieved what his heart had desired. There was no sign of the old gentleman, but my eyes caught something man-made swaying in the wind... (to be continued).
OK, if you weren't paying attention at the last visit, the beginning of this continued story will just about have you jump ship early in the reading (say what?). Maybe or hopefully I might reel you in, to find the real you out, and challenge you to find a real miracle in you.
SIDE BAR: I don't know if we will ever get it at the pace we are rocketing our way through this life while trying to acquire good knowledge in the midst of the haste. With the increase of speed of information, the demand for faster response time, and drone-like zip filed quantitative data; the quality of the information we gather is something we will rarely question, let alone stop and truly find lasting enjoyment within its parameters. Some of us to date, pass over these weekly diatribes due to the intensity of the verbiage or the illegitimacy of some of the poetic license-ship on the grammar (or hideous spelling errors combined with missing words and phrases). Sorry, my major in college was Pastoral Theology not English Literature & Grammar, and my focus was God's Word... and my passion drives me on.
By Luke 17:5 … The disciples had seen so many miracles and had even performed some the miracles with the journeys of the Seventy(Chapter 10); BUT what pinched a nerve and caused them to cry out “increase our faith”... was not the inability to perform miracles, but it was the words of our Savior in verse 4 that dug deep into their entrenched need to control forgiveness . “And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”
The strong need to control and to determine who was worthy of God's Favor was locked in a system that the disciples were already familiar with and that system of forgivenness ... demanded merit, value, worth and deep penitent action in order to earn pardon. This was not where Jesus was coming from nor ever will come from. When He spoke of forgiveness it was in total violation of the way man reflexively and intuitively wants to hold out accountability to his neighbor until true repentance can be proven with an undeniable display of totally spotless righteousness.
It became easier to “question someone's salvation” than it was to forgive them for an offense. AT the intersection of a repeated offence Jesus leads us once again to the grain of mustard seed size of a faith. This growing faith has the potential to tell a tree used for medicine to uproot itself and plant itself in the uncontrollable sea. True faith, earnest faith, doesn't hesitate to forgive when asked, and true forgiveness brings healing.
Now back to the beach! … Jumping over the fence, I turned to see a small sign waving in the wind (no doubt written with a shaky hand) that read, “The mound is moved and tree replanted … I have forgiven my brother who has never ceased in offending me. He needs forgiveness today and today I will not delay, I will not question his sincerity, I will face reality and I will trust my God.”.
You might walk away scratching your head a little but this is where living faith grows. It grows as we learn and extend forgiveness when we are offended. Today there are some of us who are holding the bitterness (of need for retribution) and the anger (of desire to payback) so close that it is becoming an unmovable mound and a fruitless medicine tree that is too stubborn to grow its fruit of healing. Let go! … Forgive, and forgive openly and without regret.
HLFA,
Jeff
PS. Forgiveness is Jesus' way. And He is the Way ... the Truth ...the Life. There is no lasting life outside of Jesus, and unforgiveness only hinders our knowing Him. Our depth of knowing is our liberty in living. Forgive and truly know Him.