Preparing for Advent: Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times ?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times , but seventy-seven times.

It has always intrigued me that schools put so much emphasis on games and sports. This is partly because kids need to work off energy, and exercise is necessary for healthy physical development. But it’s also because the playing field is a microcosm of the real world. Fair play, loyalty, endurance, and coping with victory and defeat are concepts encountered and appropriated in the heat of athletic competition.

But, as far as I’m concerned, there is one concept from the playing field that outshines all the rest; the venerable, time honoured, compassionate and merciful “Mulligan”. I know there are rules about even this great leniency (only one per game, in clearly defined circumstances), but it is still a chance to undo a mistake. It is a great mercy.

In life there are some things done, of course, that cannot be undone. But sometimes even we can let an offence go by, forgive a debt, or overlook bad judgment. And sometimes God forgives, restores, renews, and lets us just start over, because he is the Compassionate, the Merciful.

And so we come to him and one another, as children and as sister/brother, caught up in webs of error and deceit, to seek a “Mulligan”, forgiveness and a chance to start again. And we trust that he and we will grant it, just this once, as he and we have done so many times before, and undoubtedly will do again.

God is good to us, and so must we be good to one another.