Sunday, September 11th, 2011: How Often?

How do we begin to address what we might feel towards the terrorists responsible for the September 11th, 2001 massacre of 2,740 Americans? How were our hearts apt to join in the “joy and jubilation” (as one news source put it) when al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed in Pakistan by the U.S. SEALS on May 2nd, 2011? My first reaction — called and ordained as I am — was gladness. Surely, if there was ever a man who got what he deserved, then this was the man! The justice of Romans 13:4 prevailed. Before President Obama gave the green light for Operation Neptune Spear, God did! But I was then struck by the spectacle of some of the dancing in the streets coming over the news. There was still a war going on, the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 was coming (and is now here), we still live in a very dangerous world, and finally, I really had to back up and check my heart. How was I really reacting towards this wicked man Osama bin Laden? Did I hate him? Had I forgiven him even in light of the God-given justice that ended his life? And what about the monstrous and cowardly hijackers themselves? Those responsible (for example) for over 3000 children losing a parent on 9/11? Was forgiveness just something I theorized about? I was called — once again — to repentance! When Jesus tells Peter that his optimistic “up to 7 times” isn’t good enough, it appears that the more reliable translation of Christ’s correction is “70 x 7 times,” not as some English translations say “77 times.” Either way, however, the point is that Peter was taught as we are that Christ’s forgiveness (and also ours now) is limitless. But while St. Augustine may have been a little too creative in his exegesis with “77 times,” he did make a good theological application at least. After pointing to St. Luke’s genealogy, he says that just as the Scriptures list 77 generations from Christ all the way back to Adam, that the Lord’s forgiveness is so powerful, so pervasive, and so thorough that ALL the sins of ALL generations of man are covered by the forgiveness that comes through Christ. And this forgiveness is now ours, not only in affirming our reception of it, but in living in the glow of gratitude that leads us to share Christ’s forgiveness with others. Compared to the petty twenty bucks our neighbor owes us on account of his or her latest offense, the Lord has already forgiven us millions and millions and millions of dollars “worth” of our sins (sin is also treated as debt in Scripture and it is a debt we could never repay). In Christ you are debt-free so that you may finally understand the parable: you do not forgive in order to be forgiven; no, you forgive because you have been forgiven completely, forever by the blood of the Lamb. Psalm 103:12: “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” Hope to see you this Sunday! In Christ, Dr. Espinosa

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