Forgiveness
By Andy Denton on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 6:02 pm
This post doesn’t really have a point. Bare with me as I jot some thoughts and try to piece them together. It’s got a Christian theme to it, so I hope me gathering my thoughts doesn’t misdirect Christ’s message. Your comments are welcome.
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I love the new show My Name is Earl. I think it has a good message. The writers keep the show PC by explaining the moral of their stories to karma. But, I think there’s more to it than that. You see, the title character was a really bad guy at one point. He stole, he cheated, he lied, he robbed, he did whatever he needed to do without thinking of the circumstances or how it affected the lives of others. His was married to woman who didn’t love him. His parents didn’t want anything to do with him. He was in a real bad place.
After a serious accident, he was lying in the hospital thinking that there had to be a better way to live life. The show describes his enlightenment as “Do good things, and good things will happen to you. Do bad things, and they’ll come back to haunt you.” I think that’s great, but the show goes deeper. Earl acknowledges his past wrongs (in fact, he made a list of everything bad he ever did), and he intends to make up for all his past transgressions. He knows he needs a better life, and he seeks out each person of who he’s wronged in the past to make up for it. This primetime TV comedy won’t say it, but I see this as a man seeking forgiveness.
The show is funny. Each episode depicts Earl having to confront the person he’s wronged (stole their wallet, picked on in high school, burned their house down, ruined their dreams and aspirations). It’s always the same. When the victim sees Earl, they immediately show the hate they have for him until he expresses his regret and desire to make things right.
It’s crazy what guilt does to a man. It keeps you up at night. It puts a pit in your stomach. It makes you feel the whole world is looking at you. It makes you feel that you will never recover. It makes you do crazy things to try to right your wrongs (if you could only go back and do the right thing or fix what you did, then things wouldn’t be so bad).
That guilt that keeps you up at night makes men seek for answers. Some call it karma, some call it guilty conscience, but Christians call it Jesus. You see, as a Christian, I believe that Christ died for our sins. He paid the price for all your transgressions so that you won’t have to. He literally saved us from having to live a life of hell, a life without meaning, a life without purpose. I think this journey that Earl is on is a great one. He is seeking out forgiveness. He’s not only looking for forgiveness, but validation from each of his ‘victims’ that he’s on the right path. He’s proving to not only the victims that he’s a better person, but he’s also proving to himself that he’s a better person. And it is this journey that gives Earl’s life purpose. Instead of selfishly taking advantage of others around him, he realizes the fulfillment he gets from enriching the lives of those around him.
There lies some Biblical truth to this. John 8:1-12 tells us of the story when Christ was preaching in the temple courts. In the middle of his teaching, a group of what the Bible calls “scribes” or “teachers of the law” (I’ll call them prosecutors and judges) and Pharisees (who are basically described in the Bible as a sect of Jews who lacked real religion and conviction) drag a woman who was ‘caught in adultery’ into the temple courts. There they told Christ that this woman was caught in the act of adultery, the laws of Moses command that this woman be stoned. They asked Christ, “Now what do you say?”.
At this, it is clear that Christ is disappointed with the actions of the scribes and Pharisees. He kneels down, starts drawing in the sand, and doesn’t look up. The Word says that Jesus only spoke because the group ‘kept questioning him’. At this relentless pursuit of the Pharisees to have this woman who was clearly caught in sin be reprimanded, Jesus responded “If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw the first stone…”
Christ never looked up. He just kept down near the ground. After a while, he looks up to find that everyone except the woman had left. These men were shamed. Here they were feverishly wanting to condemn this blatant depiction of sin. The words of Christ exposed their own weakness, their own sin.
You see, we all have sinned. We all have wronged our maker. Just because one person’s sin is more public, doesn’t make the sin of yours less hurtful to God. It’s so easy to look over at the one person who has hurt you and condemn them for rest of your life. It’s so easy to ignore the younger generation who we feel are up to no good. It’s so easy to feel that we live a better life because we have removed the splint from our eye, and now we can point out the speck in the eyes of others. Let us be reminded - we all have sinned! Every one of us.
1 Cor 6:9-11 says this…
9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
(Watch the next line…)
11And such were some of you
but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Let us not foget what Christ has done for us. Let us not forget that he has saved us. Yes, we must denounce sin. But, we shouldn’t judge and put off the sinner. Christ offers forgiveness unconditionally. Should anyone acknowledge their wrongs, come to the Lord with a humble heart, God will take that sin and cast it into the sea. He will fill the void in your life, and fill your heart with Him.
Just as Christ did with the Pharisees, He will shine his light on you and expose your sin. The light of the world will humble you. And with this humbleness, obey what He said last to the sinful woman in the temple courts - “…neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
So, getting back to Earl…
I love how he finds his purpose - of righting the wrongs in his life. But, I wonder how he would have felt if he acknowledged Christ’s presence in his life. That with Christ he was forgiven the moment his heart was humbled. I wonder how he would have felt…?
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I know none of this comes full circle and makes a distinct point. But, the Earl story of doing the right thing is only a half of the story. One should do the right thing not for just the sake of karma, but because Christ has worked a miracle in your life. You should do it to please him. May your works not only be good, but be pleasing in His sight.
We shouldn’t think for one moment that we are above our brothers and sisters. That we are more righteous than the other. Christ (the light of the world) shines his light so we may see our own sin. We must always remember from where Christ has brought us, and let others know that they can too find peace.
It’s a constant battle. But, if we are humbled by Christ, submit to his will, and allow him to be the light upon our path, the monster inside us all doesn’t have a chance.
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