December 19

The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead you ought to forgive and comfort him; so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. II Corinthians 2:8-9

We don't know much abut discipline in the church today. We let people be mad at each other for years and do little or nothing to resolve differences. We pout when we don't get our own way. We gossip, complain, whine, but nobody confronts us. Not so in the early church.

The reference in the Scripture today is to a man who had committed a terrible sin and had been ostracized. We cannot imagine anything worse than having our church tell us that we cannot return to worship or fellowship with them. This man must have suffered terribly for his sin. Now the church is told to forgive him and take him back.

Only a Lord who was like us could understnad the pain of an ostracized man, the loneliness he must have experienced at being cast out. Only a forgiving Lord could understand the man's need to receive forgiveness. Only a Lord who knew us well could have understood that we too have guilt but also the capacity to forgive. Only a loving Lord would challenge us to forgive even heinous sin.

Father, you have freely given us the gift of forgiveness; help us to freely give that gift to others. Amen.