Learning to be a Community of Forgiveness (2)

Learning to be a Community of Forgiveness (2)

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

--Luke 23:34

I. Required readings

Christian Biography for the Day: Franz Jagerstatter

Reflections: On Enemies (Collection of brief quotations)

Jeremy Cowart, "If Rwandans can forgive killings, we can forgive the waitress."

Vinoth Ramachandra, "An Open Letter to American Students and the American Church"

Greg Boyd, "Washing Osama's Feet" (Commentary on the Lars Justinen painting to the right)

View As We Forgive (53 min) and submit film reflection assignment via Canvas before class.
(See Film Reflection Assignment on Canvas.)

II. Quotation for the day

“Christ's life, from the manger to the cross, was an affront to the established powers of our time. Much is made in churches of the "good News" of the Gospels. Less is said of the Gospel's bad news, which is that Jesus would have been horrified by just about every "Christian" government the world has ever seen. He would be horrified by our government and its works, and it would be horrified by him. Surely no sane and thoughtful person can imagine any government of our time sitting comfortably at the feet of Jesus while he is saying, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.”

-- Wendell Berry, "The Art of the Commonplace"

III. Journal prompts

1. Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount are likely familiar, but that hardly makes them any less difficult. How do the other three passages of scripture illuminate these words of Jesus? What do you make of the common theme of eating with our enemies?

2. Several of the readings for today raise the uncomfortable issue of the relationship of our loyalty to Jesus (and the way of Jesus) to our loyalty to the kingdoms of this world (and their ways). Do you think it’s possible for there to be a conflict between our allegiance to God and our other allegiances and loyalties? If so, how do you think Christians are supposed to negotiate these tensions or conflicts? For example, is there ever a time when Christians might refuse to do what their government asks them to do? If not, why not? If so, what might be such an instance?

3. Our unwillingness to forgive grave injuries and injustices is often connected with our sense that we are innocent victims. This was understandably the case with the immediate reaction of most Americans to the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001. But as we have suggested all semester long, often we need the perspective of the outsider to help us see our situation more honestly. How does the letter from our Christian brother from Sri Lanka cast the events of 9-11 in a different light? What does he help us see that might be important to see? How might seeing this be connected to our willingness to ask God to forgive our enemies?

4. Forgiving our enemies is not an act of super-heroic Christian virtue carried out in our own strength, but an act of grace made possible by the gracious work of God's Spirit. Most of us will never have to face, as many Rwandans did, the prospect of forgiving their neighbors for killing members of their family. Yet their willingness to do so stands as a witness to the rest of us that forgiveness is possible with God's help. Do you agree with Cowart that most of us, who hold on far too easily to petty grudges, have something important to learn from our Rwandan brothers and sisters? What might you learn?

IV. Links of possible interest

Reading Jesus' words about loving and forgiving our enemies raises the uncomfortable issue of how following the way of Jesus fits with the ways we are taught to think about the necessity of war in our world. These are admittedly difficult matters to sort through, especially if we are to do so without implying (for example) that our brothers and sisters who serve (or have served) in the military are somehow less-Christian for doing so. The church has wrestled with these matters from the beginning, and we in our day must likewise wrestle. The following links offer just a taste of some of the uncomfortable questions we might have to wrestle with if we take Jesus and the Christian tradition seriously.

"Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?" A recent blog which helpfully reminds us that the church is probably not doing enough to support soldiers returning from war, regardless of what one thinks about the morality of any given war.

Summary of the Just War Tradition. Many Christians throughout history have believed that sometimes the use of force was morally permissible, perhaps even required. This article helpfully summarizes the main lines of this tradition, showing that in many ways it shares a great deal with the Christian tradition of non-violence.

Chris Dowd, "Unjust and Indefensible" In light of the Christian just war tradition explained above, a former Navy officer argues why the war in Afghanistan was justifiable and why the war in Iraq was not.

David Christie, “An Effective Response to Terrorism.” A South African army officer reflects on what he has learned about violence, war and following Jesus.

George Zabelka, “Blessing the Bombs" A powerful and unsettling speech delivered on the 40th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Air Force chaplain and priest who at the time offered his blessing to these and other bombings of civilians.