Above: The Sacrifice of the Old Covenant, by Peter Paul Rubens
Image in the Public Domain
Forgiveness
FEBRUARY 23, 2022
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The Collect:
O Lord Jesus, make us instruments of your peace,
that where there is hatred, we may sow love,
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is despair, hope.
Grant, O divine master, that we may seek
to console, to understand, and to love in your name,
for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 25
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The Assigned Readings:
Leviticus 5:1-13
Psalm 38
Luke 17:1-4
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O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger;
do not punish me in your wrath.
–Psalm 38:1, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Few details make this goy‘s eyes glaze over faster than particulars of Hebrew purification offerings from Leviticus. Professor Luke Timothy Johnson, in his Great Courses DVD series Jesus and the Gospels (2004), states plainly that the Book of Leviticus is not among the reasons that the Bible is a bestseller. Besides, the Law of Moses does not apply to me. Nevertheless, I, after having read Leviticus 5:1-13 and Luke 17:1-4 together, along with Psalm 38, detect a timeless, common theme, which is forgiveness. The author of Psalm 38 asks God for forgiveness. Leviticus 5:1-13 prescribes culturally specific rituals for atonement and forgiveness. And Jesus commands in Luke 17:1-4 that a person forgive someone who repents.
Forgiving might not help the forgiven party (or it might do so), but it certainly benefits the one who forgives. Anger is a strangely appealing burden to carry around in life. It might cause no harm to its target (or it might do so), but it definitely damages the one who nurses it. One should forgive even if the other person does not repent, apologize, or request forgiveness, for selfish reasons alone make forgiving sensible. Nevertheless, as I know well, letting go of resentment is frequently difficult. That reality, I think, has more to do with one’s self-image than with anything else.
I am righteous. I am the injured party. That S.O.B. owes me something.
It is little or no consolation, is it?
None of us can become the person God wants us to become by holding on to grudges. Also, forgiving feels better than the alternative.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 27, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CAMPBELL AINGER, ENGLISH EDUCATOR, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT AEDESIUS, PRIEST AND MISSIONARY; AND SAINT FRUDENTIUS, FIRST BISHOP OF AXUM AND ABUNA OF THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX TEWAHEDO CHURCH
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH GRIGG, ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/forgiveness-2/
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ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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