Who Forgives?, The Reverend David R. Williams, Epiphany VII--Year B--February 19, 2006

“We have never seen anything like this,” the people around Jesus say.  The power of forgiveness and healing happens before their very eyes. The power of God touches each witness. 
 
On a Friday night late in the spring, I get into my Volkswagen bus with my date after a night of dancing and partying.  We all are about to be college graduates.   The year is 1968.  I pull out from the parking lot and immediately am distracted by something handed to me, something frivolous.  Before another word is spoken, the van is up on the curb, plowing into a fireplug
 
“Why did someone distract me?”  “Where did that fireplug come from?”  Thoughts cross my mind on impact….the excuses, the deflections of my own responsibility.   
 
Six people are in my car.  Two friends are taken to the hospital, one requiring stitches to the head and the other suffering terrible mouth and dental injuries.  
 
In the hospital waiting room that evening as my friends’ wounds are being tended, I look for a hospital chapel. Finding a small room set aside for families, I kneel down, burst into tears and ask God’s forgiveness.
 
I had never before asked God’s forgiveness.
 
In the next twenty-four hours I telephone the parents of every friend.  “I was driving after a night of partying and drinking. I ran into a fireplug.  And I am so sorry, Mr. Belchic…Mrs. Silfies…Mr and Mrs. Frohme… Mrs. Tomkins.”  I do not ask for forgiveness.  I simply want to tell them it is my fault and that I am deeply, inexpressibly sorry.  I am sure that, unconsciously,  I also seek and desire their forgiveness. 
 
One of my friends in the car that fateful evening ended up with long-term dental care needs, so, for several years, I remained in close contact with her parents. As irony, that family happened to be parishioners of one of my first churches. 
 
Forgiveness is a profound dynamic of this incident in my life.  Forgiveness, carving a new and more mature understanding of “sin:” brokenness and wounding, misdeed and trespass, hurt and betrayal, whatever name we might attribute. Forgiveness, carving out new understanding of healing and trust.
 
This past week we might have barely noticed the news of a bizarre incident involving our own Vice-President of the United States. The news report was so odd that we might have imagined it to be a new segment of the television show “West Wing.” 
 
“A hunting accident involving the Vice-President has occurred in Texas,” say the early reports. “The Vice-President’s friend was in the wrong place at the wrong time as the Vice President aimed and shot a quail in flight,” say the first news alerts. 
 
The news media made a headline story from this incident mainly because so many versions of the story were hitting the airwaves. The silence of the Vice-President fueled the energy for an oversized news story.  The health status of the victim also created intense speculation. 
 
Finally, the Vice-President sat before a camera four days after the incident and made his confession. “I was responsible for this terrible accident. I pulled the trigger,” This confession was something the American public waited to hear.  As the Vice-President offered confession, the aura of the story changed.  The political winds shifted. The story left the front pages of the newspapers. 
 
The Vice-President did not ask for forgiveness.  He merely appeared as human, speaking of his own responsibility and regret. Only this spirit could give rise to forgiveness and understanding among the people governed by Mr. Cheney.
 
The people of God in the passage from Isaiah have been condemned to exile: condemned by the foreign nations of Assyria and Babylon and condemned by God. Transgressions by the people of God-- their sins and iniquities, their accidental injuries of innocent people--have compounded, one upon another. God’s own people feel complacent and separated from their Creator God.
 
Now, though, after years of confession by God’s exiled people, God speaks through Isaiah: “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing.  I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”  God speaks the voice of forgiveness.
 
After being lowered through the roof of a house full of Jesus followers, Jesus says to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven.”  Jesus does not hear a confession.  He does not even initially say, “You are healed.”  Jesus says simply, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
 
Consider: children are playing a game when someone hits a ball all the way across the street.  The ball smashes through Mrs. Smith’s living room window.
 
It seems like a small explosion, followed by the delicate tinkling of bits of broken glass. Then silence. Mrs. Smith, an elderly widow’s immediate response is a dull shock, void of emotion.  She has no idea what has just happened.  Her conscious mind then begins to function. “What was that?”  She feels her heart racing.  Fear begins to grow.  She looks into the living room, and her heart sinks at the overwhelming mess on the carpet.  Feelings of sadness and astonishment mixed with fear and threat in her mind.  A primal concern for her life wells up in her.  “Is this the end?”  Quiet.  Her eyes move to the destroyed window.  “Is someone trying to kill me?”  She stares at the mess.  A feeling of rage speaks from deep within her wounded heart: “Who could have done this to me?’
 
The innocent neighborhood woman’s reaction is no different from the concerned parents of those riding in my van.  “What in the world is happening here?  Who is this calling me in the middle of the night?”
 
Mrs. Smith is no different from the American public witnessing a very human side of its Vice-President. 
 
She is no different from our Lord, the Creator of Israel as those very people stray from their allegiance and loyalty to God, eventually facing their own destruction.           
 
“Is this the end of the world?”  “Who could have done this to me?”
 
Instead of running away, the children go to Mrs. Smith’s house, knock on the door and say to a shaken Mrs. Smith.  “We are so sorry.  We were playing and we broke your window.”
 
Suddenly, everything changes.  “So that’s it,” she sighs.  “I understand, children.  I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, but you gave me the scare of my life.”  “Now, she says, “the window is still broken and I want you to figure out a way with me to make it right.”
 
Confession, admitting transgression. Repentance, saying “I m sorry and I ask your forgiveness.” Finally, Consequence, participation in making whole again.” Three steps in a very human penitential process.
 
Last week, we heard from the same Biblical authors heard this morning, Isaiah and Mark.  Last week, the focus was on the nature of healing, how we too often contribute to our own illness even as we seek a source of healing.
 
Forgiveness, acceptance of forgiveness, feeling forgiven, forgiving others is the essence of Jesus’ radical message of healing.  Ultimately, we seek the forgiveness of our loving, caring, merciful God, the ultimate forgiveness offering power for change in our lives.
 
“After forgiving the paralytic of his sins, Jesus says to him, ‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’ And the man stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’”
 
Amen.