Forgiveness in an age of offence

Matthew 11:5-6

"The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

In this passage John the Baptist's disciples have been sent to ask Jesus if he is the promised Messiah or Saviour. Jesus responds by describing some of the deeds he has already carried out, healing the sick, raising the dead and sharing good news to poor people. But then he adds, Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

Why should people be offended by such positive deeds? Such positive actions? By the good

work of Jesus? Who could possibly be offended?

Well, in our current "age of offence" - where there is a Twitter mob ready to squeeze offence from any publicly voiced comment or opinion, however innocent, factual or inoffensive - this question doesn't sound so ridiculous as it might seem. Yes, even when someone's actions and words are good or benign, there are many who can and will take offence.

For us Christians, followers of Christ, it stands to reason that if we are following in His footsteps and sharing the message that He shared, our actions and words may be seen as offensive by many.

The Gospel message itself is an offence: That God sends the Messiah to die for the sins of the world so that all who believe can be forgiven.

Two reasons this message offends is because of what it says about sin and what it says about forgiveness.

Sin - an offence

The idea that we are all sinners is offensive to many. It offends our pride. We often want to compare our morality against that of others, preferably to someone we feel has done worse things than ourselves. From our lofty position we can look down on others and pat ourselves on the back that we "aren't that bad", we've not killed anyone, we've not committed any serious crimes.

We can see this behaviour in the online activism or virtue signalling that many engage in today. Scrolling through a prominent person's tweets from yesteryear and then calling them out as a "bigot" or "hater" if any offending opinion is discovered. The online mob piles on, throwing stones and hashtags and demanding that person is driven out of their livelihood or banned from speaking publicly.

People focus on historical figures and their historical actions and from the lofty position of 2021 condemn them and call for vengeance. All the while feeling smugly superior to the "sinners" they unveil.

People proclaim they are on the "right side of history", they are pushing society to a politically correct utopia. Pushing out the intolerant and (somewhat intolerantly) forcing through tolerance.

But the Gospel teaches a message of the cross as the true dividing line of history. The crucifixion that stands at the centre of history, that divides the Western calendar between BC and AD.

This Gospel message of the Saviour dying for sinners places both the offended and the offender at a level playing ground. At the foot of the cross we are all guilty. At the foot of the cross there is no lofty position to look down at others from. Standing alongside all other sinners we are forced to stop looking down in comparison and instead look up at Jesus on the cross. Jesus, the embodiment of Truth, Holiness and Righteousness. Jesus, the Messiah, dying for all of us. We are all in need of redemption for "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God".

This is a humbling message and, for those whose pride does not want to be humbled, it is an offensive one.

But how truly blessed for the one who is not offended by Jesus' deed! For that person who sees themselves as "poor in spirit"; for someone who recognises that they have themselves hurt and offended others and are in need of forgiveness, this Gospel message is good news. It offers forgiveness.

Forgiveness - an offensive

Forgiveness for sin. Surely no-one would be offended by this, right? But the message of forgiveness is also an offence.

Forgiveness is offensive. People can be outraged by it. In the comments section of a news article where the mother of a murder victim said that she had forgiven her son's killer, there was great outrage from the readers. "What kind of mam could forgive the person who took away the life of the precious child she brought into the world?!"

We want the unforgiveable action to remain unforgiven. Those "undeserving" of forgiveness should never get a second chance.

And yet, everyone wants forgiveness for themselves. Everyone wants to be looked upon graciously and mercifully: for their own mistakes to be let go and forgotten about.

The forgiveness that Jesus's cross offers is an offence. The truth in the lines of an old hymn can jar at people's ideas of what is right:

'The vilest offender who truly believes

that moment from glory a pardon receives.'

But if we are honest, mercy and forgiveness is needed for everyone. We need it for our personal histories, our regional ones and our national ones.

Why? Because we can not undo what has been done. We cannot undo our actions, unwrite our tweets, unmake our mistakes.

We all need the mercy of a new day, the mercy of a new year. These watershed demarcations of time that enable us to look back at our past and yet live in our present and hope for our future.

And thanks to the cross we have a cosmic watershed moment, a bloodshed moment. Jesus died so we can be forgiven. He died so that we can put our past behind us. So the misdeeds and offences can be left at the cross that splits history and we can walk with Christ into the right side of history. As forgiven sinners in right standing with a Holy God.

What will we do with this offensive message of the cross?

Will we believe it? Can we trust in it? Are we brave enough to declare and share it? Are we bold enough to risk potentially offending with this offensive message? Or will we water it down to avoid offence in an age of offence?

The Gospel is good news to the poor, to those who recognise their need to forgive and be forgiven. To those who see that they have at times been the offender as well as the offended against.

Because otherwise, where does the buck stop? The past cannot be undone. It can't be changed or rewritten. It can only be forgiven.

Forgiveness is to be set free, to no longer be tied to the offence. It isn't saying that the wrong thing is ok or not important. God agrees that sin deserves the ultimate punishment and then He pays the ultimate price for our sins.

This is an offensive message for many but it is the power of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

In an age of offence it is what we need to end the divisions and hatreds that so easily build up between individuals, groups, and nations.

To live on the right side of the cross -.forgiven and forgiving - is to live in the Kingdom of God where the rule of law is love. A love that is sacrificial, merciful, forgiving and patient. A love that is not easily angered and not quick to join in the accusing mob pointing out the sins of others.

It is our duty to share the offensive message of the cross with others. Some may be offended but blessed are those who are not offended and those who receive the good news and the forgiveness and joy it brings.