The Surpassing Glory of That Which Remains
"…For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.…"
2 Corinthians 3:9-11
There are things that seem so far-away impossible...
Like forgiving those who've wrong us - those who've stolen our dreams, ruined the "fairy-tale" story we found ourselves in - cancelled the "new-hit-show" we were living - mid-season - abrupt, no warning - just when things were "getting good" - without an ounce of concern. Then, the more we think about it the harder it becomes - because the worst part of this bitter pill of called unforgiveness is the excruciating realization that those who "interrupted our broadcast" - have not an ounce of empathy - they could care less. This is easily the worst part of it.
This is why true forgiveness must be Supernatural. It is less something we choose to do, and more something that we are overwhelmed by - something we are irresistibly seduced into by a God whose example was so overwhelmingly inspiring that we are enabled and empowered to forgive because something better, more wonderful and far more interesting comes along that makes our sulk seem so petty.
You see, the Gospel is not just a story we read, it is a Life we are taken into by the great lover of our Soul, Jesus, the Christ - who, at the very moment of His own Great Disappointment is able to say - "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." These words always troubled me more than anything else I read in the Gospels. What? No! You can't let them go! These words, in a way, seemed even worse than the fact that He would die a few verses later. Story over - and the bad guys not only got away with it, but the Innocent Victim, the protagonist of the greatest story ever, doesn't even cuss them out as He heads off into Eternity! What!? That's not what Arnold or Sylvester would have said! And , it isn't what I would have said to the Centurion and his blood thirsty, sadistic cohort either.
It's not about what I would have said, and it's also not about what I say or can say. "Father, forgive them" are unreachable and impossible words - because while they are uttered inside the "ruined fairy tale" - these are alien words - imported from another World.
We can read them. We can even repeat them. We might also study and dissect them...because we hear them here - in our own "what might have been" situation, but they cannot be lived and embraced - they can't be real...outside of the historical Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of the Son or God, the Word of God, who invades the painful frustrations of our abruptly cancelled "favorite show", our "what might have been" and draws us, in love to Himself - a far more interesting, entertaining, and meaningful script...and so now, in Christ, all the Great Disappointments (our story, Human History) are not ignored or forgotten - it was REAL PAIN, REAL HURT - but this dream-turned-nightmare is overshadowed and finally overwhelmed by the Surpassing Glory - "Christ in Us, The Hope of Glory..."