11.21.2013 demoss 4 RETURNING A BLESSING

forgiveness unleashes joy.
it brings peace.
it washes the slate clean.
it sets all the highest values of love in motion.
in a sense, forgiveness is christianity at its highest level  john macarthur

mituo fuchida was the lead pilot of the japanese attack on pear harbor
-a fearless, expert flier specially choosen for this commanding role,
the one who actually gave the order-Tora! Tora! Tora!-
to the 360 fighter planes poised at his flank.

he called the killing of 2300 american sailors 'the most thrilling exploit of my career.

but what most people don't know is that in 1949,
less than 8 years after the raid on pearl harbor,
this dive bombing daredevil came to faith in Christ.

God used two remarkable events to bring about this 'unlikely' conversion.

the first came shortly after the war, while fuchida was speaking to a friend
who had been among those captured and detained in the united states.
curious to hear how the americans had treated their prisoners,
he listened to his friend tell of an 18 year old volunteer
who consistently cared for and ministered to the needs of the japanese.
when the prisoners had asked why she was being so helpful to them, she said
-unexpectedly, illogically-'because japanese soldiers killed my parents.

the young woman's mom and dad had been missionaries
in japan during the escalation of international hostilities that led to world war II.
judged to be spies, they had been beheaded after fleeing to the philippines.
their daughter-not hearing this until 3 years later after being evacuated to the states
-had naturally reacted to the news with bitter grief and anger.
but knowing her parents, she ultimately came to the conclusion
that they would have forgiven their killers.
she just knew it.
therefore, she must forgive them, too.
not just forgive, but return blessing.
and that's why she was there, she said-in the camps, loving her enemies.

this notion astounded fuchida.
how could anyone respond to her parents' murder in this way?

then one day several years later,
he was handed a small leaflet while waiting at a railway station.
he probably would have tossed it,
but the fact that it was written by a fellow aviator piqued his interest.
sergeant jacob deshazer's 'i was a prisoner in japan'
is the first person account of an american pilot who had been forced to parachute from his plane
during  the doolittle raiders' bombing of tokyo, in retaliation for pearl harbor.

deshazer was quickly captured by the japanese military.
he described his next three years as an endless nightmare of torture and starvation,
frequent executions that took the lives of his fellow detainees,
and solitary confinement that compressed his world into square feet
-but inflamed and enlarged his hatred.

tow years into his imprisonment, however, he had been handed some books to read
in the dim glow of his holding cell,
among them a bible.
like light in the darkness, the word penetrated his heart
-especially the verse that spoke so specifically to his present situation:
'love your enemies.

changed by God's grace, deshazer began deliberately speaking respectfully to his captors.
even when their treatment of him was cruel and degrading.
'i prayed for God to forgive my torturers, he wrote in the leaflet,
and i determined by the aid of Christ to do my best to acquaint these people with the message of salvation.

fuchida read deshazer's story with amazement,
then hurried to find a bible he could buy,
to see for himself where this strange command-'love your enemies'-really came from.

the story ends with fuchida coming to Christ, becoming an evangelist,
and even teaming up with deshazer to speak to large crowds throughout japan and asia,
leading both men to friendship and many to salvation.

SEALING THE DEAL

i've talked with people who believe THEY'VE TRULY FORGIVEN their offender
-they've pressed the delete key-
BUT THEY still FEEL STUCK EMOTIONALLY.
when they think of that person, they still feel tied up in knots.
they've not been able to move forward with any kind of peace or freedom.
something's still holding them back.

God's word gives us an important key to GOING ALL THE WAY WITH FORGIVENESS.

it REQUIRES THAT WE GO 'ABOVE AND BEYOND' just releasing our offender-that we extend the grace of God
and build bridges of love by returning blessing for cursing, good for evil.

BUT I'VE FORGIVEN HIM!
I'M NOT HOLDING A GRUDGE.
i applaud you for taking the courageous step of releasing your offender(s)
from the grip of your won anger and vengeance.

but there's more...
God wants you to live in the kind of freedom that radiates His light and love
from your smile to your handshake to the very soles of your feet.

true forgiveness goes a lot further than just saying, 'i've forgiven him.
as 17th century puritan pastor thomas watson put it:

WHEN DO WE FORGIVE OTHERS?
when we strive against all thoughts of revenge
when we will not do our enemies mischief,
but wish well to them,
grieve at their calamities,
pray for them,
seek reconciliation with them,
and show ourselves ready on all occasions to relieve them.
this is gospel forgiving.

..we are called to forgive others AS GOD HAS FORGIVEN US.
(note: 'forgive us our debts AS we have forgiven our debtors. matthew 6.12)
how has God forgiven us?
He didn't just say to us, 'you're forgiven.
He gave His Son's life for us when we were His enemies.
pursued us when we wanted nothing to do with Him.
adopted us into his family.
made us joint heirs with Christ.
has promised to never leave or forsake us.
comforts us
and meets our needs.
'daily loads us with benefits.  psalm 68.19
that kind of extravagant, undeserved grace models the way we are to forgive.

to forgive someone throws open the blinds and raises the windows,
letting the fresh breezes of God's grace begin its healing work.
but when we take the deliberate step to bless our offenders
-to love our enemies-
we are able to enter into the full power of forgiveness.

...there's simply no reason in the world,
even when thinking in terms of the most crippling situations you've faced
-'unforgivable' situations,  to hear some of us talk
-why you can't participate with God in obtaining full, complete and conquering victory.

but to do so, you're going to have to take seriously
-and literally-
everything God says about it.
which includes something that may seem unthinkable: BLESSING YOUR OFFENDERS.

as i suggested in the last chapter,
God often chooses to leave behind
some of the painful memories
the lingering feelings
and effects of past hurts,
so we can be merciful and compassionate
toward those who are going through similar ordeals.
this is actually a great privilege bestowed upon us by a God more loving than many expect Him to be,
who has never met a circumstance so dreadful that it can't be recast into a trophy of
His mercy and grace.

but having said that, i do not believe for a minute that you should have to live
the rest of your life under the weight and burden of all these unresolved emotions.
and the reason many of us are still there,
the reason we haven't yet moved on to more complete healing in these areas...
is because we've stopped short of actually blessing those who have wronged us.

we need to go on.
we need to finish what god has started.
for our good.
for their good,
for God's glory.

..in her book 'to fly again', gracia tells of one of their captors,
a young man they called '57' because of the M57 rocket launcher
he always carried as they set out on their marches.
he was always sullen, always cranky, always arguing

they never knew what he was going to do next
and looking like he was ready to bite their heads off.
they never knew what he was going to do next
and what they might possibly do to keep from so easily offending him.

but gracia's husband, martin, discovered one day that '57' suffered from serious headaches,
which probably was what brought on most of his touchy reflexes.
so martin began offering him pain relievers
from their small stash of medicines and other crude provisions.

'the fellow's attitude toward martin changed instantly, gracia remembers.
from that moment on, my husband was his friend...

...romans 12.17..first, repay no one evil for evil...
v19 vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
..'to the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink....
overcome evil with good. v20-1

...think of joseph talking to his frightened brothers
who had wanted to kill him and had sold him into slavery.
..non-retaliation=mercy
..minister to needs=grace
..he said to them,
'do not fear;
i will PROVIDE for you and your little ones.
thus he COMFORTED them and SPOKE KINDLY to them genesis 50.21

..paul to the corinthians regarding a church member who had sinned grievously
and was now in need of restoration:
FORGIVE him, COMFORT him and 'REAFFIRM YOUR LOVE FOR HIM' II corinthians 2.7-8

think of luke 6.27-8
LOVE your enemies
DO GOOD to those who hate you
BLESS those who curse you
PRAY FOR those who spitefully abuse you

(note: v36-8
BE MERCIFUL...(this word means 'lament and regret the misfortune and death of anyone who
refuses to accept God's forgiveness...refuses to do what God says'...the heart behind mercy)
DO NOT JUDGE (ie. you are bad!  romans 2.1)
DO NOT CONDEMN (ie. i will lock you out of my life and refuse to help or even be kind to you
in any way matthew 18 parable about forgiveness)
PARDON (ie. so you can with confidence (finally!) and faith,
'forgive our (my) debts AS  we (i) forgive our (my) debtors..)
DO GOOD ..good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.)

....'but no matter who it is or what he's done,
you can at least do this:
you can pray for him.

i mean really pray for him.

you may sigh and say, "i don't think i can pray for God's blessing
on that man or that woman...
i don't even WANT God to bless them!
but i assure you, as you begin to do it anyway out of simple obedience to the word of God,
you'll discover what i've found to be true in my own life:
you can't long hate someone you're praying for,
someone you're asking God to bless and restore to a right relationship with Him.

our main goal for our offenders should be their reconciliation,
first and foremost with God and then, if possible, with us.
we may be able to help bring about that ultimate objective
by building bridges of love and blessing across the divide.
regardless of their response, how can we keep the walls up, refusing to seek their blessing and restoration
-and then expect to experience free flowing fellowship with God ourselves?

THE POWER OF CALVARY LOVE

we are not the only ones who are set free
when we choose to forgive and bless those who have sinned against us.
in God's great economy,
we become instruments of His redemptive work-conduits of His mercy and grace
-in the lives of those who are on the receiving end of that blessing.
they are brought face to face with the reality of calvary love
-when they know they deserve just the opposite.

in the end, such unmerited, unexplainable measures may prove to be
the means of bringing them to brokenness and repentance over their sin.

recently i received an e mail from a colleague who knew i was working on a book on forgiveness
and was prompted to remind me of the impact in his life when his wife felt
the blows of his betrayal and answered back with blessing.

to this day, he can recall as if it were yesterday the haunted look,
the terror filled expression in his wife's face
when he first confessed to her the rampant immorality in his life.
'she was so hurt, he wrote,  it was beyond comprehending.
i will never forget the awful conversation we had.

but there is something else he still recalls,
something that has proved to be even more powerful than the hurt
-not only in his wife's life but in his own restoration:
'one thing that sticks out in my mind now,, nearly four years later,
is the lack of recrimination and the absence of 'stabbing back' just to hurt me in return.

to be sure, she was devastated and 'very, very angry'.
humanly speaking, she had every right to be.
but through it all-
the loss of many of her dear friends,
the turmoil in her own immediate family as a result of her husband's sin,
and even going to work to replace his lost income-
'she has NOT ONCE spoken to me with bitterness, meanness or rancor.

'i am amazed by it, he said.
i continue to be .
i believe the incredible love and sacrifice of my wife is the reason we are still together today
and i am serving the Lord again.

that heart to forgive didn't come easily for this woman.
a couple weeks after the exposure of her husband's sin,
she had to make a 16 hour trip.
on the way home, she spent the entire time in prayer
-crying out to the Lord, pouring out her heartache,
praying for her husband and their children
and trying to determine whether she should leave her husband.

that trip proved to be a turning point.
it was during that seemingly endless drive home
that God reminded her of all that He had gone through for her
-that HIS forgiveness had extended to her sin.
in her heart, she knew God was giving her a choice:
to respond in love and grace, as God had received her,
or to refuse God's grace and become a bitter woman.

'thankfully, her husband wrote, she chose the latter.
because of that choice,
i am here today-restored,
back in fellowship with God, my family and others.
kit has not been an easy road.
it has required hard discussions, intense accountability, and counsel from caring, godly people.

but it has all been possible because my wife chose to forgive.
i cannot think about it without realizing once again the incredible grace and love of God.
and i for one will be forever grateful'.

i can't promise you that blessing your offender will result in that kind of 'storybook ending'.
but i can pretty much promise you this:
if you choose NOT to bless in return,
you are almost certainly assured of never seeing the reconciliation your heart longs for.

i have seen God do the unbelievable
as His children have been willing not only to forgive their offenders,
but to step  out and return good for evil.
i often counsel women, 'believe it or not,
if you'll let Him,
God can actually fill your heart with deep love and compassion
for that person you have hated for years!

i have seen Him do just that.

yes, it's a miracle of God's grace. it's a miracle you can experience
-not just once but over and over again, as you cultivate a heart of forgiveness
-forgiving others, as He has forgiven you.