Sometimes we get what we don't deserve...in a good way. Someone lets you into traffic, when you selfishly passed the line of cars to get ahead. A shopper lets you have the last one of that scarce item on the shelf, even though they picked it up first. You drop the ball on that work project, and a coworker picks up your slack--and doesn't tell the boss.
Those experiences make us swallow hard, if we take time to think about it. Someone else has sacrificed for us, and we benefit. We don't deserve it. It is the kindness, even love, that gets our attention. We could rationalize and say that we really deserve those gifts of kindness:
I was in a big hurry, and really needed to get ahead of those other drivers.
I saw the item on the shelf first, but could not reach it before the other shopper.
I have helped out that coworker so many times...she owes me.
It feels better if we can convince ourselves that we have earned those acts of kindness. But sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we can't find any way that we deserve them.
That's when forgiveness stings. All we can do is say, "Thank you." This is the kind of love that pulls us up short and leaves us speechless.
That's the kind of forgiveness we really need, and that's the kind of forgiveness we have in Christ. Lent is a time to sit in that forgiveness, to savor the sting, and humbly thank the Lord.
