Forgiveness and Redemption

Today's scripture reading comes from the book of Hosea.

We'll select passages from chapter 1 and chapter 3.

Please follow along in your bulletin.

The word of the Lord came to Hosea, the son of Beri,

in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah,

in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel.

When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea,

Go take to yourself a wife of whoredom, and have children of whoredom,

for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.

So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Dublaim,

and she conceived and bore him a son.

And the Lord said to him, Call his name Jezreel,

for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel,

and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

She conceived again and bore a daughter.

And the Lord said to him, Call her name No Mercy,

for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel to forgive them at all.

But I will have mercy on the house of Judah,

and I will save them by the Lord their God.

I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.

When she had weaned no mercy, she conceived and bore a son.

And the Lord said, Call his name Not My People,

for you are not My people, and I am not your God.

Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea,

which cannot be measured or numbered.

And in the place where it was said to them, You are not My people,

it shall be said to them, Children of the living God.

And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together,

and they shall appoint for themselves one head.

They shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Chapter 3.

And the Lord said to me, Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress,

even as the Lord loves the children of Israel,

though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.

So I bought her for fifteen shuckles of silver and a homer and a lethic of barley.

And I said to her, You must dwell as Mine for many days.

You shall not play the whore or belong to another man, so I will be to you.

For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince,

without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.

Afterward, the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king,

and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to His goodness in the latter days.

For the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord and the Lord and to His goodness in the latter days.

And they shall come together and so on.

So I've been acting as the dad for the week.

They're my godkids as well.

But one of the things I learned about being a dad or having kids around is that,

especially when you've got to focus just on them,

and it's a two-year-old and a four-year-old that we're looking after.

And the four-year-old has been described, perhaps euphemistically, as spirited or rambunctious or a handful.

And so when we were taking them in and out of taxes and so on,

you know, I'm not the most organized person anyway,

and I can tend to be forgetful of, you know, my own personal belongings and so on.

So when there's kids around, right, and you're responsible for making sure they get in and out of the taxi alive,

then other things just kind of get left behind.

And so one of the things I left behind was my phone in the taxi last week.

And, yeah, it's sad to say we never heard from it again,

even though we kind of sent through a message through the network.

So if anyone's tried to call me or message me or text me or anything like that,

I apologize.

I haven't been able to get back to you.

So, yeah, I asked another taxi driver, and he said,

oh, I think I was about six hours later, and he said,

you know what, it's probably in Shenzhen by now.

So it's just gone.

I haven't had a great run with taxis, actually.

So we ended up in Hanoi last week.

And, yeah, trying to keep two kids alive in Hanoi, I felt like, was my main job.

I don't know if you've ever been to Vietnam or anywhere around in third world countries,

but, you know, you're walking down the streets,

and there's just thousands of motorcycles coming by you.

And normally you can walk on the sidewalk, so it's sort of okay.

But there was one street we went down which had no sidewalks.

And so we were basically walking amongst, through, and around the motorbikes,

and I just had to keep a firm grip on a rambunctious four-year,

and watch out for this as well.

When you end up in Hanoi, taxis try and scam you as well.

So sometimes it's just a couple of dollars or so on,

but on the trip back to the airport,

because we had all these kids and all the luggage,

and I was trying to make sure that everybody was going to be okay,

the guy just said, okay, I said, how much?

And he said, one and a half million dong.

And I just handed it over without even thinking.

And then I thought about, hang on a minute, that's 75 US dollars.

That's like five times as much as what I paid to get back out.

And so I sat back in the taxi and argued with him for the next five minutes.

And they threatened to call the police and all that kind of stuff.

And he gave me back like a third of it or something like that.

So then he charged me, he overcharged me three times instead of five times what he should have.

So Eric's going next week, so I'll have to tell him that story.

I don't think he's here.

But yeah, he has to make sure.

You know, I was pretty angry, actually, about that whole thing.

You know, I hate being cheated.

I think it just kind of runs in the family.

And yeah, you know, I was arguing with him.

And the conversation was getting pretty heated.

And he was making up all this stuff.

And yeah, and you know, afterwards, you know, I got out.

I just couldn't even look at him.

I just shook my head.

And, you know, I just wanted to, you know, shake him.

I said, what are you doing?

And it made me think about forgiveness.

Because that's what I was thinking about during the week, right?

And I didn't think about it until later.

But I was reading in Phil Yancey's book about grace, the story of Les Miserables.

Where, you know, right at the beginning, you know, Jean Valjean, the prisoner,

a hardened criminal over 20 years in jail,

goes and he stays at the priest's house and he steals.

And he's treated with kindness and grace to a thief.

He's shown forgiveness and mercy.

And because of that, his whole life is changed and transformed.

And so, yeah, it just made me think, you know,

how difficult it is for even us as people who have experienced grace

to continue to practice grace in the face of what we consider to be injustice.

Or when we feel like we've been wronged in some way.

There's a story of forgiveness that I heard as well one time.

And it goes kind of like this.

There was a husband.

And he was happily married to his wife.

And in a moment of madness,

he committed adultery one night against his wife.

And almost immediately, he regretted the terrible mistake that he'd made.

And he decided to come clean and confess to his wife what he had done.

And not knowing how she would respond,

he forced himself to do so,

stealing himself for what she might say.

Not knowing what she would say.

And her reply was this.

What you have done has really hurt me.

But I love you and I forgive you.

He couldn't believe his ears.

I mean, what could he say?

Was that it?

Could he be forgiven so easily?

Is it that easy to forgive?

In Hosea, we have a story of hurt and forgiveness.

And Hosea has been called the second greatest story of forgiveness in the Bible.

Because it points to the greatest story of forgiveness in the Bible,

which is found in the New Testament.

But in this part of Hosea,

we read about Hosea and Goma.

Goma, a promiscuous woman.

A woman of whoredom.

Who Hosea is told to marry.

And it seems strange to us that God would ask a prophet to do something like this.

But one thing that we need to understand is that the prophets

were God's spokespeople, spokespersons,

in the land of Israel at that time,

and other places as well.

And God sent many prophets to the land.

And as we heard from just a few weeks ago,

when Graham spoke about,

spoke on Amos.

Hosea and Amos were contemporaries.

And the land of Israel

had turned away from God.

They'd actually enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity,

where riches had flowed into the land,

and the borders had expanded under King Jeroboam.

And in this time, even,

religion was expanding and booming,

but it was a religion which was not focused on God.

Instead, it was what they call syncretistic.

It was mixed in with the religions of all the other lands and places around them.

And so,

God sees this,

and His heart is torn apart,

broken,

because He sees a people

who have deserted Him

and gone to run other,

other idols,

run after other idols.

And so,

the prophets

embody

in themselves

God's message

within them.

To be a prophet,

to be a spokesman,

like the old children of prophets,

is to

almost identify with God

in such a way

that you feel what God feels.

If you want to know

what it's like to be an altarsome prophet,

you can read the words of Jeremiah.

And he said,

he talked about it like this,

if I say,

I will not mention His word

or speak any more in His name,

His word is in my heart

like a fire,

a fire shut up in my bones.

I am weary of holding it in.

Indeed,

I cannot.

God's word is like a fire

inside of the prophets,

and it must come out.

And in some cases,

the prophets,

even in their,

not just their words,

but their physical lives,

embodied the message of God,

embodied the heart of God,

the feelings of God,

communicating

what God wanted to communicate

to His people.

Hosea is one of those prophets.

And so he is commanded

to take

a wife of Hortum

and children of Hortum,

and

he commanded to do so

because Israel

has left

their God.

has become

unfaithful.

And so,

Hosea

marries,

it says,

Goma.

And

they get married

and

they have a child

together.

And after this child

is born

and some more children

are born,

Goma leaves

Hosea

for a new man,

a new life.

and God

tells Hosea

as well

the names

of the children

that He

is to name them.

And they are not

pretty names.

Jezreel,

the first one,

it's just the name

of the land

that

they were in.

But judgment

was coming

to that land

and that

was why

the name

was given.

The next ones

were named

perhaps in

accordance

with the fact

that they may

not have been

Hosea's children

at all.

No mercy

and not my

people.

And God

said that He

would no longer

show mercy

to the house

of Israel

and that

they would

not be

His people

anymore.

Because Israel

were the people

of God

chosen by God

and they were

to be His people

and He was

to be their God

but they had

wandered away,

had walked away,

had deserted Him.

And so God

in effect

broke the covenant

which He had

with Israel,

threw it aside

and said

you are not

my people

and I will not

be your God.

Well,

Gomer

leaves,

as I said,

Hosea

for a new man,

a new life

and yet

this new life

doesn't seem

to work out

in the way

that she had

intended

because she

sinks lower

in society

and eventually

hits rock bottom

when she is

placed for sale

on the slave

market.

She is reduced

to nothing,

owning nothing,

in fact not even

herself.

she is owned

by another,

the slave traders.

And this sad story

could have just

ended here

except that in

chapter 3

we're told

that God

tells Hosea

to go

and love her

again.

We're not told

what Hosea

thought about

kind of such

an instruction

but we can

imagine.

I think of

a friend

who

was convinced

that,

or who

suspected

that his wife

was emotionally

unfaithful

to him

and his fury

knew no bounds

as he suspected

everybody.

what were Hosea's

options?

Well,

he could have

just left her

there,

seen her at

the slave auction

market,

left her to

her own,

yeah,

to her fate,

laughed at her,

told her that

she deserved it.

or he could

have taken

her in,

brought her

as a slave

and brought her

in his house,

under his house

and exacted

his revenge

by taking

a new wife,

which he was

entitled to do

under Jewish law

and bring her

in as a slave

under new

management,

as it were,

so that she

could see

what she

once had

and missed

out on.

But that is

not what God

told him to do.

God told Hosea

to love her

again.

And so

he does so.

And you can

imagine what

his friends

and neighbours

have said

and thought

about all this

as they were

watching this

drama of

this prophet

and his wife

being enacted

out in

Israelite society.

perhaps they

would have

said,

Hosea,

you're crazy.

She doesn't

deserve your

love.

She doesn't

deserve

your

payment.

Why would

you pay

to take

back

this woman?

Don't you

remember?

She left you.

She took up

with someone

else.

She betrayed

you.

She doesn't

deserve

your love.

Yet Hosea

obeys God.

And he

goes and

talks to her

and rescues

her and

gathers the

resources necessary

to pay the

price for

her freedom.

him.

And when

he talks to

her, he

doesn't just

bring her

in as a

slave.

No.

He restores

her to a

position as

a wife.

She's fully

restored,

forgiven,

and he

resets as

well their

marriage

commitment.

He says

to her,

you must

dwell as

mine for

many days.

You shall

not play

the war or

belong to

another man.

So will

I also

be to

you.

It's a

recommitment

of their

marriage.

That once

again, she

will be

committed to

him and

he will be

committed to

her for

life.

Fully

restored,

their broken

marriage.

It's a

high price

to pay

as well.

The

resources that

were needed

to buy

her back,

the

humiliation

that he

would have

experienced,

that they

both would

have

experienced

from

friends,

family,

neighbours,

society.

The hurt

and anger

that Hosea

would have

had to

either bury

or just

kind of

assume

within him.

and the

prophet was

reenacting

the broken

covenant

relationship

between God

and Israel.

We read

chapter 1 and

chapter 3,

but between

them is

Isaiah 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

where God

addresses Israel

directly and

speaks to

her and he

says to her

at that point

that she

is like

this woman,

an adulterous

woman,

and they

have become

an adulterous

people.

As it

says,

upon her

children I

will have

no mercy

because they

are children

of

wardom.

Their

mother has

played the

war.

She

who conceived

them has

acted

shamefully,

for she

said,

I will go

after my

lovers who

give me my

bread and

my water,

my will

and my

flax,

my oil

and my

drink.

She

shall

pursue

her

lovers,

but not

overtake

them.

She

shall

seek

them,

but not

find

them.

She

did not

know that

it was

I who

gave her

the grain,

the wine,

the oil,

who lavished

on her

the silver

and gold,

which they

used for

bail.

Therefore

I will

take back

my grain

in its

time and

my wine

in its

season.

I will

take away

my will

and my

flax,

which

were to

cover her

nakedness.

The

people of

Israel

were like

Gomer.

And the

prophet and

his wife

were just

kind of like

a microcosm,

an acted

story of

the wider

story that

all of

Israel shared.

And when

people looked

in and

asked why

is this

happening to

this prophet,

this man of

God,

then they

would know

that this is

because the

finger was

pointed right

back at

them.

You,

this is what

you have

done.

This is

who you

are,

are people

who have

forsaken

God.

And to

read Hosea,

and we

don't have

time,

obviously,

to read

the whole

book,

it's 12,

14 chapters,

something like

that.

To read

the whole

book of

Hosea is

to see,

to get a

peek into

the heart

of God,

possibly more

than any

other book.

And we

see inside

the heart

of God

is pain.

is broken

as his

heart is

broken

over his

people.

In

chapter 4,

verse 1,

I mean,

if you're

following along,

if you've got

phones and so

on,

I'll be

skipping around

and so on,

but just

for this

little while.

But in

chapter 4,

verse 1,

God says,

hear this

word,

hear the

word of

the Lord,

O children

of Israel,

for the

Lord has

a controversy

with the

inhabitants

of the

land.

There is

no faithfulness

or steadfast

love and

no knowledge

of God

in the

land.

There is

swearing,

lying,

murder,

stealing,

and committing

adultery.

They break

all bounds,

and bloodshed

follows

bloodshed.

This is the

land of

Israel,

the chosen

people of

God,

where there

is no

knowledge of

God in

the land,

no faithfulness,

no steadfast

love,

no grace.

In

chapter 5,

God says,

their deeds

do not

permit them

to return

to their

God,

for the

spirit of

wardom is

within them,

and they

know not

the Lord.

And in

chapter 6,

God kind of

pleads with

them.

He says,

in chapter 6,

verse 4,

what shall I

do with

you,

O Ephraim?

What shall I

do with

you,

O Judah?

Your love

is like

the morning

mist,

like the

dew that

goes away

early,

goes early

away.

It's like

somebody who

turns around

and loves

someone,

only to

change their

mind,

and then

come back

again,

and then

change their

mind,

and then

come back

again.

And that

was the

whole

history

of Israel,

right from

the beginning.

Even when

God saved

them out of

Egypt,

and they

saw with

their very

own eyes

what God

had done

for them,

rescuing

them with

His mighty

hand,

His power.

And yet,

20,

40 days

later,

they're off

worshipping

the golden

calves.

They're

complaining,

they're

forgetting

what God

has done

for them.

and that

cycle

continues

on as

they

continue

to forget

God in

one generation,

cry out for

mercy,

and God

comes and

rescues them

again.

And then

they forget

God in

the next

generation,

and they

suffer,

and they

cry out for

mercy,

and God

comes and

rescues

them again,

and they

forget again.

And this

cycle just

continues on,

and God

says,

your love

is like

the morning

mist.

It's

there for a

while,

and then it

just evaporates.

like trying

to love

a prostitute

who continues

to have

her eyes

set on

others.

Hosea

changes the

metaphor a

little bit

in chapter

11,

when God

treats

Israel like

a son.

He says,

when Israel

was a

child,

I loved

him,

and out

of Egypt

I called

my son.

The more

they were

called,

the more

they went

away,

they kept

sacrificing

to the

bales,

and burning

offerings

to idols.

I don't

know if

you've ever

experienced

a relationship

like that.

Family

member,

or someone

where,

a friend,

where the

more that

you try

and reach

out to

them,

the more

they draw

away,

and they

will not

be reached.

like

Hosea's

wife,

the people

of Israel

through their

adultery

violated

their marriage

covenant with

God again

and again

and again

until there

was nothing

left.

And so

what can

God do

with such

a people?

God will

end,

this is why

God declared

that he

will end

that covenant,

that they

will not be

his people

any longer

and he

will no

longer have

mercy upon

them to

forgive them.

call her

name no

mercy for

I will no

longer have

mercy on

the house

of Israel

to forgive

them at

all.

And

the son,

the Lord

said,

call his

name not

my people

for you

are not

my people

and I

am not

your God.

Our

people that

have abandoned

their God

are in

turn abandoned

by God.

And if that

was the end

of the story,

well,

that would

be it.

There

wouldn't be

any more

Israel.

There

wouldn't

be people

of God

at all.

But it's

not the

end.

And

again,

in this

book,

you see

the dilemma

in the

heart of

God.

He says,

how can I

give you

up,

Ephraim?

How can I

give you

up,

Israel?

And he

says,

I can't.

I can't

give you

up.

And so

even

just in

chapter 2,

a little

bit before

we got

to chapter

3,

he turns

and he

says,

I will

make for

them a

covenant

on that

day once

again.

And I'm

going to

call them

back.

I will

speak

and

allure

Israel.

He will

woo her

back to

him.

I will

betroth you

to me

forever.

I will

betroth you

to me

in righteousness,

in justice,

in steadfast love

and in mercy.

I will

betroth you

to me

in faithfulness

and you

will know

the Lord.

I will

have mercy

on no

mercy.

And I will

say to not

my people,

you are my

people.

and he

shall say,

you are my

God.

The act of

restoration

between Hosea

and Gomer

in fixing

what was

smashed,

irreparably

broken,

in putting it

back together,

in restoring

it,

is a picture

of what God

longed to do

with the

house of

Israel.

To restore

them,

to bring

them back.

the people

who were

rejected by

God

will be

restored

once more.

And yet

for all

of these

words,

you know,

the judgments,

the warnings

in Amos,

the call

to come

back to

God

here in

Hosea,

Israel

never did

come back

to God.

Israel

had a whole

string of

kings,

I don't

know how

many,

maybe 30,

40,

more,

and not

one of

them.

followed

God

with

his

heart,

all his

heart,

not one

of them.

And so

they led

the people

astray

all that

time.

And so

even as

the kingdom

ended,

they continued

to follow

other gods.

And so

Israel fell

into ruin

and were

conquered

by Assyria.

Judah

remained,

and yet

they too

forsook

their God

were led

into exile

and then

returned

back into

the land.

And the

people of

Israel

were intermixed

with the

peoples around

them.

And so

they became

by Jesus'

day

the

Samaritans.

And they

were despised

people by

the Jews,

despised as

those who

were children

of adultery.

They were

the children

of these

early Israelites.

And they'd

been mixed

in with

the other

peoples of

the land.

And they

worshipped God

and they worshipped

all these other

idols at the

same time.

What about

us?

How do we

read Hosea?

And what

about the

way that

Jesus comes

in?

And the

way that

he treated

Samaritans?

When he

went to

visit a

Samaritan

village and

encountered a

woman at the

well who

was a woman

who had

five husbands

and then was

living with

someone who

was not a

husband,

a woman of

Hortum,

he called

her and

he named

her and

all the

things that

she'd done

and he

forgave her

and she

turned around

and told the

whole village

and they

came out

and met

Jesus as

well.

And God

through that

act or

in that

time was

all of a

sudden calling

back this

broken and

kind of

destroyed

people back

to himself.

And so

what we have

here is

this hint

of what is

yet to

come that

not only

Israel and

Samaria but

all of the

peoples of

the world

would come

back and be

restored to

God.

As we're

thinking about

it today,

here in

21st century

Hong Kong,

we might be

thinking,

well,

am I

Hosea?

Am I

Goma?

Who do I

identify with

in this

story?

And you

might be

tempted to

identify with

one or the

other and

say, oh,

if I'm to

be Hosea,

then my

role is to

try and win

back those

relationships.

Perhaps there's

been a broken

marriage and I

need to fix

that.

Or if we

identify ourselves

as Goma,

then we think

that we're

the ones

who are

the whore.

And we're

the ones

who've

fallen away

from God

and we're

the ones

like Israel,

who are

like Israel.

But can I

suggest that's

actually not

the best way

of reading

through the

Old Testament,

particularly

through Old

Testament prophets.

Because that's

not what the

New Testament

does.

The New Testament

doesn't say that

we are the

people of Israel.

It doesn't teach

that we are to be

identified with

Israel in that

way.

Rather, Paul

teaches us in

1 Corinthians

that what

happened to

the Israelites

is a warning

for us.

That is, we're

to look at the

way that God

dealt with Israel

and we're to

learn certain

things about

God and

certain things

about the

human heart

condition.

And as I

said before,

what we learn

from this

passage, from

the book of

Hosea, is a

peek into the

very heart of

God.

And what we

see in God's

heart is real

pain.

And it's

only when we

see God's

pain at a

people who

have deserted

him, at a

creation that

has turned

their back on

him, even

though he

gave us life

and breath

and everything.

It's only when

we see the

depths of God's

pain that we

can see the

depths of his

forgiveness, the

way he longs to

reach out to

us.

And forgiveness

forgiveness is

not without

cost.

It's not

easy.

Remember the

story of that

guy that I

told you about

from the

beginning, who

was forgiven

by his wife

after committing

adultery against

her?

He thought

that it was so

easy that he

could be

forgiven.

He almost

couldn't believe

it.

And after the

affair and his

confession of it,

then life just

seemed to go back

to normal for

them.

And he

thought,

oh, that

was it.

I got off.

And it

seemed like

everything was

over until

one day he

heard what

sounded like

the sound of

his wife crying.

And he came

closer until he

realized that she

was crying and

she was praying

to God.

And he heard

what she was

saying and she

was saying,

oh God,

please help me

to forgive him.

I want to.

but it's so

difficult.

And in

that moment

he realized

what his

act and

the forgiveness

that he had

received cost

his wife and

was costing

his wife

daily.

For him it

was free,

but for her

the emotional

cost was

immense.

for Hosea,

the price of

forgiveness was

high.

He paid for

it with his

own resources,

with enduring

disbelief,

shock,

and humiliation

from his

neighbors,

and yet to

swallow his

own sense of

injustice,

injustice,

hurt,

and anger

at his

wife.

so it

is with

God.

This is what

God does

when he

forgives us.

It seems so

easy for us.

We confess

our sin and

ask and

receive

forgiveness

and grace.

But for

God,

the just

judge of

all the

earth,

it comes

at a

great cost.

Jesus said

that the

Son of

Man came

to give

his life

as a

ransom for

many.

Can a

just God

forgive

when he

looks upon

this world

and sees

evil and

wrongdoing

and injustice

and hurt

and betrayal

and lying

and murder

and adultery

and cheating

only by

bearing

the pain

himself.

Jesus

Christ came

as a

ransom for

many

and he

died

for our

spiritual

adultery.

This is

the kind

of God

that we

follow.

A God

who

experiences

the pain

of brokenness,

of broken

relationships

and a

God who

walks

through that

pain and

embraces even

more pain

in order to

win us

back.

Do we

know this

God,

this true

forgiveness?

How do we

receive

this

forgiveness?

True

forgiveness,

it can't be

demanded,

expected,

or presumed

on.

Can you

imagine if

that husband

had gone

in and

demanded

forgiveness

from his

wife for

what he'd

done?

It would

have been

thrown in

his face.

No,

true

forgiveness

can only

be received

with a

kind of

a humbled

awe.

Like that

husband,

who was

speechless

forgiveness

when he

realized the

cost of

forgiveness.

And he

could only

stand there

and receive

it in

humility.

We receive

forgiveness as

well from

God.

True

forgiveness,

not by

demanding it

from him,

expecting it

from his

hand,

or presuming

upon it.

it can only

be received

with a kind

of humbled

awe as we

come before

God realizing

that this is

the God

who made

us,

who gave

us everything,

who sustains

us,

and yet

who we

turn our

back on,

who we

engage in

idolatry

against,

who we get

distracted

from,

who is,

rather than

being foremost

in our

thoughts,

is often

last in our

thoughts,

and a

bottom

priority

for us.

True

forgiveness

though,

overcomes

revenge,

and spreads

love,

peace,

and redemption.

But as

the woman

who was

betrayed

was praying,

so also

it is hard

too for us

to forgive.

Because

forgiveness

is not

natural

for the

human

spirit.

Rather,

unforgiveness

is natural.

And I

think about

that taxi

driver,

and what

I wanted

to do,

you know,

to throttle

him for

what he'd

done.

When I

think about

a relative

of mine

who is

old enough

to remember

the Japanese

occupation

of Hong

Kong,

and says

he would

never go

to a

Japanese

restaurant,

and never

speak to

a Japanese

person,

except to

curse them.

Decades

on.

When I

think of

a pastor's

wife crying

at a

pastor's

conference,

as we

talked about

anger,

and forgiveness,

and she

was talking

about hurtful

relatives,

who she

could not

forgive.

In this

book,

Philip

Jansi

writes of

forgiveness,

it's called

What's So

Amazing

Around Grace,

and he

tells a

story of

two peacemakers

who visited

a group of

Polish

Christians

ten years

after the

end of

World War

II.

They said,

would you

be willing

to meet

with other

Christians

from West

Germany?

They want

to ask

forgiveness

for what

Germany did

to Poland

during the

war,

and to

begin to

build a

new

relationship.

There was

silence.

And then

one Pole

spoke up.

What you

are asking

is impossible,