Our first lesson came from Micah, known as one of the Minor Prophets, who was writing at the time of Isaiah.  He was addressing his remarks to God’s people living in Judah and Jerusalem, the so-called Southern Kingdom which occurred when Solomon’s extensive empire was divided into two after he died.  The golden age of David was over as the two parts of his kingdom vied for power and lost sight of the importance of worshipping Yahweh.

The passage that we have read this morning speaks of peace in the future, looking forward from a time of oppression of the poor and greed of the authorities.  In contrast to these it talks about the Lord’s mountain, Mount Zion, which will draw people from many nations so that they may all learn God’s ways and walk in his paths.  It encourages all to follow the devout Jews who went up to Jerusalem on the major feasts (Passover, Pentecost and the Tabernacles).  Micah then goes on to describe a vision of world peace with God as just ruler and judge.  As a result of His arbitration the people shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  It is a wonderful picture but just how can all this be achieved?  Micah was writing about 700 years before the birth of Christ but nearly 3 millennia later we seem to be no nearer to achieving this ideal. How can it become a reality?

Jonathan Sacks in his book ‘The Dignity of Difference’ looks at the ‘Power of a Word to change the World’.  What is this Word?  It is Forgiveness.  Rabbi Sacks then takes us on a ‘whistle-stop’ tour of the development of forgiveness in the Old Testament, which he breaks down into stages.

• He starts with talking of the corruption God sees in Chapter 6 of Genesis: ‘The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth… and He was sorry that He had made humankind on the earth and it grieved Him to His heart.’ But there was one man whom God considered to be righteous and He was given instructions on how to survive the great flood that God had planned.  After the flood had subsided, Noah came out of the ark and made an offering to God.  As a result of this God made a covenant that He would never again send such a flood.  Each time we see a rainbow we are reminded of God’s promise and His forgiveness for all that had gone on before.

• Dr Sacks then goes on to consider the concept of forgiveness within a family as he looks at the 12 sons of Jacob.  This story tells of a father who perhaps singled out one of his sons as special and made 10 of his other sons jealous to the point of wanting to kill Joseph.  But as we know Joseph, after many strange turns of fate which are not uncommon when God is at work, was put in a situation where he could have taken retribution against his brothers, but instead chose to forgive.

• The third act of forgiveness occurs after the Israelites have been freed from slavery in Egypt.  Their memories were short and before long they were worshipping a golden calf in preference to God.  As a result of Moses’ pleading for 40 days and nights, God agrees to forgive His people.

• The fourth stage of forgiveness is described when Moses teaches the Israelites not to hate those of different races: explaining that to be free one must refuse to be held captive by memory.  To truly forgive one may have to forget.  

• Jonathan Sacks’ last stage of forgiveness is to integrate it into the texture of religious life so that it is no longer optional.  For Jews this is focussed on the Day of Atonement which is a time dedicated to reconciliation between Jews and God and between Jews and other people.

But it falls to another Jew, one who embraced the Christian faith, to complete the stages. St Paul’s Letter to the Romans looks at God’s passionate desire to heal a broken humanity, to end injustice founded on violence and bring about a unified and peaceful world.  Perhaps its message can be summed in these verses from chapter 5:

God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. ⁹Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. ¹¹

Which brings us to today’s Gospel reading. Jesus has just been telling his disciples that ‘he is the true vine and his Father is the vine-grower’.  He uses this analogy to show how his disciples need to abide in and with Jesus.  He then goes on to explain that as the Father has loved Christ so has Christ loved them. He tells them to abide in this love. Then he says:

“This is my commandment, that you      

love one another as I have loved you.       

No one has greater love than this, to lay      

down one’s life for one’s friends”.

Jesus shows us forgiveness taken all the way: not only did he leave Heaven to come to earth as a vulnerable baby, grow up in the backwater of Nazareth and ministered to many in difficult circumstances but he even laid down his life for each one of us.  So that we could have a fresh start with God and have direct communion with Him.  I am in no doubt that forgiveness is the key to achieving the ideals set out in Micah but it can be very hard.  How can we learn to forgive?

We have to start with ourselves.  We have to acknowledge where we have gone wrong and we need to pray about it.  Prayer is a two way process, so while we may start with mulling things through before God, we need to make silence to listen to God speaking to us.  There is a great danger in listing our sins, putting the baggage at the foot of the Cross and continuing on as before.  We do need to let go of the baggage but unless we listen to God, we are in great danger of producing another lot that looks rather the same.  Having our sins forgiven is about a new start but we should also learn from our mistakes to try to prevent them from occurring again.

Having asked for God’s forgiveness, and having listened to His advice for the future, we need to accept His forgiveness.  Truly and wholeheartedly embrace it, for it is only if we believe ourselves to be truly forgiven that we will be able to make that fresh start.  And we need to take time to know what being truly and totally forgiven feels like.

Maybe now we are ready to start beginning to forgive others.  Not always straightforward and often more difficult if we truly believe that we have done nothing wrong.  But we need to look to our Saviour and learn from him: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” he said from the Cross.  Not an easy lesson but one that we need to learn, that the world needs to learn.

In November 1987 Gordon Wilson lost his daughter as a result of a Provisional IRA bomb.  Afterwards he said:

"I have lost my daughter, and we shall miss her. But I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life." He said he forgave her killers and added: "I shall pray for those people tonight and every night."

Most were amazed at Gordon Wilson’s words but he made many people think.  I have no doubt too that in learning to forgive those who had murdered his daughter, he was able to move on. A difficult journey I have no doubt but one shared with God.

Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. It says in Micah.

I hope none of us have to forgive someone for such an injustice as Gordon Wilson was called to do, but I know that until we all learn to forgive as Christ forgives us we will struggle to achieve the peace that we read about in Micah.

Amen