On the 14th of May 1940,
the Germans bombed the city of Rotterdam to support their troops fighting in
the city. Due to faulty communications, the Germans brought to rubble much of
the city center. Because of the bombing of Rotterdam, the British authorized an
attack on German targets east of the Rhine. The Royal Air Force aimed
for civilian industrial targets which aided the German war effort. Due to the
inadequate British bomb-sights the strikes rained terror on German villages and
towns.
During that summer and autumn, the
German Air Force began to attack British military and economic targets. This
“Battle for Britain” took a terrible turn when several off-course German
bombers accidentally bombed residential areas of London. The next night, the British
bombed Berlin for the first time. Due to their poor aiming ability, these
attacks were seen as indiscriminate bombings by the Germans. The German Air
Force had been prohibited from bombing civilian areas but now all bets were off.
On the evening of November 14th,
about 6:30, in the city of Coventry, the sirens began to scream. The Germans
bombed in straight lines from east to west, and then they started from south to
north. The city center and Coventry Cathedral were hit numerous times and
fires blazed out of control. 554 people died that night. Someone observed, “It
was a terrible scene. The shops were burning, all the windows had gone, lamp-posts
were leaning down, cars were burned out, it was chaos.” Shock was followed by
anger. Many wanted revenge, but not everyone.
The next morning, Richard Howard
walked through the ruined Cathedral. He
had led worship here. He looked into the nave and felt he would weep. Though
the altar was a pile of rubble, the wall behind it still stood. He bent over, picked
up a piece of wood and wrote these words on the smoke-blackened wall - 'Father
Forgive'.
He found the charred remains of two
roof beams that had fallen to the floor in the shape of a cross. He carefully
raised them above the altar of rubble for the Sunday service. Reconciliation is
not easy. Reconciliation can be painful. Reconciliation is rooted in “change”. Reconciliation
is relational.
The theology of reconciliation can be
compared to that charred Coventry cross. It runs both vertically and
horizontally. The vertical beam represents our reconciliation with God and the
horizontal represents reconciliation between individuals and community.+
In the Gospel reading we hear Jesus’
teaching on prayer. Jesus points out that forgiveness and, thus, reconciliation
begins as God’s action towards us. We pray that God will forgive, in Greek ἀφίημι,
{af-ee'-ay-mee} … that is, we pray God
will send away, somehow disregard, not even discuss our debts, and we promise
to do the same – with the same generosity.
The Dictionary of Christian Ethics
says that “The Latin and Greek words for reconciliation have the root-meaning
“change” and refer to a change of attitude from hostility to amity, of God
toward humanity, of humanity toward God, and of individuals toward each other.”
Central to Jesus’ teaching about divine forgiveness is that our reconciliation
with God has something to do with those who have offended us or whom we have
offended. When we have been harmed or when we have hurt another, it may seem
impossible for us or others to get over it. The process cannot be rushed. It
cannot be forced.
A good place to learn about
forgiveness and reconciliation is found in Psalm 51. The introductory text attributes this psalm to David just after Nathan
the prophet uncovered his adultery with Bathsheba. I’m not sure if he is
sorrier for the wrong he’s done or for getting caught, even so, David is sorry
and the process of reconciliation can begin.
Begin with God. Ask for help. Admit your fault and take responsibility
for your part. Our God is a God of
steadfast love and mercy - willing to blot out our transgressions and wash us
whiter than snow. Being willing to accept responsibility can be difficult. Roots
of bitterness can run deep. We sometimes need help to pluck them out. Listen to
David’s payer, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right
spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your
holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me
a willing spirit.”
Here are three thoughts on Psalm 51. One, willingness is an important
element of Reconciliation. David is willing to make things right. Second, David
prays for the help of the Spirit of God. This is the same Spirit that we invoke at “the
peace” during every Eucharistic gathering, remembering that after the resurrection, Jesus greeted
his friends, those that rejected and abandoned him, and said, “Peace be with
you,” then breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Third,
Psalm 51 is only a good start. It lacks one thing. David knows he must make
things right with God. He knows that “a broken and contrite heart, God, will
not despise.” David has the vertical aspect of reconciliation between the human
and Divine, but where is the horizontal aspect?
Reconciliation also requires a restoration between individuals and
community. David has not made things right with Bathsheba. Worse yet, he had
her husband killed. David has not even mentioned the dead man’s family. Though
God is always willing to forgive - others may need time. Sometimes it is even
inappropriate to directly ask someone who has been gravely wronged for
forgiveness.
Reconciliation requires willingness. It requires concerted prayer for
the other, for the community, in the power of the Spirit. Humbly, do what you
can and trust in God, planting seeds of reconciliation. Remember that the
impossible is God’s playground.
