Forgiven to Forgive — K.P. Yohannan

Forgiveness as a Continual Christian Practice

What is the subject today? Forgiven to forgive. It's very simple, isn't it? Forgiven to forgive. One thing we find we have to forgive others and do it continually. It is not a one-time experience. Let me see if I can make a couple of illustrations.

The Courtroom Judgment and the Meaning of Justice

Would you please come up? You see these two gentlemen? Now imagine in your mind, only imagine, okay? I only ask you to imagine in your mind that he stole one lakh rupee from him. Okay? He stole one lakh rupee from him.

And what is the evidence? All the notes were marked and then he saw him stealing it and now the case is filed in the court. And the judge looks at all the evidence and says, Rajar's office, he stole one lakh rupees, right?

He stole, right? Okay, he stole one lakh rupees. He is the one who stole. And there is a witness. Then he says, Your honor, not only me but my friend, we both are looking through the window and we saw him stealing that money.

You are two witnesses. All right. You are the thief. So the judge says, all right. The judgment is now being passed. So what is the judgment? The judgment is, you will go to prison for ten years. And the lawyer says, Your honor, he is the charge of this.

He is the thief. I know. Shut up! You go to prison for ten years. That is not fair. Who told you that is fair? This is only fair. This is the right thing to do. Okay, you can go and sit down. Now you say, Mr. Paulton, why are you doing something that makes no sense?

The man who stole should go to prison, right? Yes. And now the judge of all says, the man who lost his money, the victim, he must go to jail. Our logic will not agree with it. We don't like it. See, brothers and sisters, God's economy is this.

Unforgiveness Creates a Prison of Bitterness

When you don't forgive, when you don't let go, when you harbor anger, memory, resentment and bitterness, basically, the long and hard and the time and the pain and the years it takes, you are actually creating a prison of your own.

Brick by brick, you are making a fortress. And then who is inside the fortress? Who is inside the jail? And it's you. And so, the one who did not forgive, the Bible says, is the one who is in trouble.

The Sunflower and the Burden of Refusing Forgiveness

He did this to me. He stole this from me. But I forgive. I let go. I did not hold this against that person. So I am free. If I don't, I am in prison. That is the spiritual reality of life. Simon Isenthal, a famous Jewish writer, wrote a remarkable short story in 1796.

And the book was entitled The Sunflower. It's a small novel. It was an autobiographical account of his own experience in the concentration camp 30 years prior to writing this book. Now, concentration camp in Germany, you may not understand it, this was the time of Hitler.

He was one of the worst rulers in history. And he hated Jews. And he killed off, mercilessly, over 6 million of these innocent people. Old people, babies, pregnant women. And he would just put them all in a building and put poisonous gas and then just kill them.

This is the kind of cruel person and how soldiers go around and shoot all the Jewish people. And Simon Isenthal was a Jew. And he was in one of these German concentration camps. And one day a nurse came to him and said, Hurry, hurry, please come.

And grabbed him by the hand, rushing him to a building. And he said, what do you want? And she said, there's a man dying and he's looking for a Jew. So Simon went with her and saw this healthy young man in a pool of blood.

Hardly alive. Able to whisper and that also with great difficulty. And he said, are you a Jew? He said, I am. With a lifeless hand he reached out and grabbed Simon Isenthal's hand. And said, I am one of those soldiers who was assigned to go to that particular village and set that house on fire.

Because that's a Jewish house. And as the house went up in flame, all the little people, old people, little babies, they all ran out of the house. And I took my machine gun and killed all of them. And he said, I cannot forget that.

I'm dying and I need forgiveness. Only a Jew can forgive me. And Simon Isenthal says, he jerked his hand and walked out. But he says the sad thing about the whole thing is, he went on to ask a lot of people.

Religious people, non-religious people, psychologists, different people with different professions. Narrating the whole story of this incident. And the author says, what makes me sad, I am living in pain for 30 years for my not forgiving, not being kind.

But what makes it worse, he says, most all the people I talked to, majority of them said, ah, you did the right thing. I would do the same thing. You should have walked away. You shouldn't even touch a German.

He must go straight to hell. That's a real story. And even the kindness we have done, good things we have done, they misunderstand. And they misinterpret. And there is no way, no way, now that is underlined, no way you are going to live the rest of your life without somebody misunderstanding you.

Living Peacefully When Others Misinterpret Your Intentions

Somebody not understanding you. Somebody who interprets your intentions, which is the worst. You are trying to be so aggressive to do God's work and this and that. And you are moving and doing everything.

And all of a sudden, in your heart, you mean well. You have no malice, you have no intentions to hurt anyone. But you are seeing as he is pushing too much. He is too aggressive. He is trying to get something for himself.

And all of a sudden, what do you do? You have no way to defend yourself. So, what is the only one thing you can do? That is what God told us. He wants us to live free and in peace. And how do you do that?

And the scripture says in Psalm 119 verse 165, It says, so much peace is the inheritance of those who love your word, your promises. And nothing can hurt them. And the teaching on forgiveness, I have written several books on it.

The Mind Remembers, but Forgiveness Does Not Require Forgetting

And it is going to take maybe two days to talk through this fully. But this is what we need to keep in mind. Our mind is one of the greatest mystery and wonder of the world. Did you know that our mind in a second can actually take in 800 bytes?

The folds of our brain. And if somebody lives for 75 years, all the information like a computer stored in there, it is never erased. And as a matter of fact, if I will do an exercise with you. Alright, close your eyes.

Think about when you were three years old. Anything you can remember? Four years old. Five years old. You remember your first teacher? You remember the kind of food you liked the most when you were growing up?

Alright, open your eyes. Now, that means I can close my eyes, within a second I can recall things happened as early as when I was three years old. Really. And it is so with you. That happened to you eight years old, ten years old.

So, our mind, so what happens with all the bad things happens to us. We don't forget anything. Forgiveness is not forgetting things, that's what it is. But, when Bible talks about forgiveness that we have received.

Zacchaeus and the Freedom of Receiving Christ's Forgiveness

A classic passage which we are not able to read. Zacchaeus, you saw that. Zacchaeus was a very little man and very little man was he. And he could not see Jesus. You were expecting me to sing, right? The Kirielites and people don't like me to do that.

But Jesus' response to Zacchaeus was this. Salvation is yours. And he was forgiven completely before he would even ask. Jesus knew it all. And the only thing Zacchaeus needed to do, I did wrong, I let it go.

Why? There was something greater he saw. That was Christ. He wanted Christ in his home. That no amount of riches or things of the world would compensate for that. He gave up the toys, the plastic toys for the real thing.

There are plastic toys. It moves around, but not like a real car. And he was willing to do that. He was willing to give up something. Because God is the author of forgiveness. He is only forgiveness. All forgiveness.

Christ's Sacrifice and the Extent of God's Forgiveness

John 3 .16. Even while we were sinners, lost, undone, on the way to hell. God sent his son to forgive us. Our sins are forgiven. You say, my sins are forgiven so far. No. Baba, from the day you were born, from the time you were born, until the minute, the last second you die.

God knows everything about you. And your entire sins are already forgiven. When Jesus died on the cross, you are forgiven completely. Even if you are going to go and kill someone, don't do that. But all you need to do is acknowledge and your forgiveness is yours.

The Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18

That's what the Bible says. So we are forgiven to forgive. The man in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 18. You can study that another time. Jesus said, to make this thing clear. The man was forgiven a lot of money.

It is not a small amount, crores. Even if he lived 3000 years, he cannot pay back his debt. It was so huge. The debt he owed was bigger money than the great Herod had in his treasury for the whole year.

And he owed all this money. And he said, Master, I don't know what to do. And the Master said, go free. And he couldn't believe it. And then he goes and finds some fellow who owes him 17 cents. A few rupees, rather.

And he grabs him by the throat. And says, where is my money? The Roman law is that, if somebody owes you money, they don't pay you. You grab him by the throat. Until blood starts coming out of his nose.

But so this man, who just got 30, 40 crores or crores or more forgiven, he comes to meet a man who got a few rupees he owes him. And then put him in prison. Debtor's prison, it is known forever. He never comes out.

He is condemned forever. And then his Master hears about it. You know the story? Yes. And then he sent a messenger to call him back. And call him back and said, all your debts I had cancelled, now I uncancelled.

You now owe me everything. And he goes to prison. And then, if you open a Bible, just for one second. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 18. Okay, verse 34. In anger, his Master turned him over to the jailers, to be tormented until he should pay back all he owed, which he will never do.

This is how, verse 35. This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you, unless you forgive your brother from your heart. From your heart. Do you take that serious? Do I take it serious? That's the question.

Practicing Forgiveness Through Humility and Christ's Peace

Now, this is the end of our teaching. I told you. But, how do I forgive others? One, I'm a worse sinner than the one who did all that to me. Or took from me. He's better than me. Why I should be angry.

I am forgiven of all things from going to hell. For me to forgive everything that happens on earth, which is going to be burned up. It's nothing much. And, all that I am now, belongs to Christ. And, Jesus died to forgive.

And, he forgives others now through me. And, I must be his. And then, I am very selfish also. That is, science has proven, 85 of physical illness actually is attributed by psychosomatic illness. That is, unforgiveness, bitterness, wrong attitude, tension, worry, and all that.

And, if you think that I don't have any of those problems, that is not true. But, I am telling you. Learn to forgive others. And, simply do that. And, the way to do that. And, it is an open life. That, not excusing.

Oh, take care, everybody is doing it. No. It is basically, you know, I have asked my son and daughter how many times forgiveness. I don't think they were expecting that from me, maybe. When I know, I would ask forgiveness.

When somebody tells me, I specifically tell them, yes, I forgive you. And, that way, we learn what it means to become one. And, others' peace becomes our peace. And, our sorrows, they share and become lighter.

And, more than anything else, the nature of Christ is, I don't condemn you either. Go in peace. And, that is what he does for all of us. So, in the name of the Holy Trinity, as someone who speaks on his behalf, I say to you, all my brothers and sisters, if you will say, even that will take a second, Lord, forgive me.

You know all about me. I declare to you, your sins are forgiven. And, you are made whole. And, this is a new day, a new beginning for you.