IDENTITY THEFT
PICKPOCKETED BY THE PAST
DR. JIM DIXON
JUNE 24, 2007
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
The year 1876 was the year of President Ulysses S. Grant’s “Watergate.” Unlike Richard Nixon, Grant survived his Watergate, finishing his presidential term of service; but it was an extremely traumatic and painful time for him. Accusations were brought against his administration, accusations of corruption, accusations of criminal activity. The accusations were made particularly against his secretary of war, William Belknap.
The primary witness in these accusations was a guy named George. George came from Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory. George was 37 years old in 1876 when he bore witness against the Grant administration. George had been a military hero. He had been a hero of the Civil War. He had ascended to the rank of brigadier general at the age of 23 and become major general at age 25. These, of course, were temporary wartime rankings; but George was known for his courage and renowned in America at that time.
He brought documentary evidence that was incriminating to Belknap and also, to some extent, incriminating for Orvil Grant, the president’s brother. In the aftermath of all this, Belknap resigned and the Grant family reputation was tainted by these accusations. Ulysses S. Grant swore that he would never forgive George, and he would make certain that George’s career never went anywhere. He would make certain that his career went into decline.
He didn’t need to worry about George’s career; George would die that very year. Before his death, he came to the White House many times seeking forgiveness, asking President Grant to forgive him. George asked Grant to forgive him because George claimed he was only trying to serve the cause of truth; it wasn’t personal, and he wasn’t trying to hurt the president. Grant refused to see him and refused to forgive him. Later that year, George died at a battle in the Montana Territory. The battle was called “The Battle of Little Big Horn,” sometimes called “Custer’s Last Stand.” Of course, that was George’s name: George Armstrong Custer.
Today, historians debate why George Custer did what he did. They debate why he engaged the Sioux and the Cheyenne Indians at Little Big Horn. They debate why he fought that battle. There are many theories. There are some people who think that George Custer did that out of arrogance. Some view him as an arrogant man—like he somehow thought that his 665 soldiers, because of their better strategies and better training, could prevail over a larger number of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians. Other historians believe that George Custer engaged in that battle because of misinformation, that Custer thought that he was going to encounter 1,000 Sioux and Cheyenne Indian warriors. In fact, there were perhaps over 2,000 Indians at Little Big Horn, with great Indian chieftains like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse among them. Many believe that George was just misinformed.
There are a few historians who would believe that George Custer was actually pickpocketed by the past, that he was trying to compensate for what he had done earlier that year. Some believe that he was trying to win the favor of the president of the United States—that he was trying to do something so great, so spectacular, that his previous actions would be forgiven and forgotten and he would be in the good graces of the president.
We may never know what fully motivated George Custer, but we do know this: people can be pickpocketed by the past. As we look at this subject this morning, I have two teachings. The first teaching is that we must forgive ourselves. We don’t want to be pickpocketed by what we’ve done in the past or by what someone else has done in the past. We need to forgive ourselves.
In Luke 15, we have the story of the prodigal son. I think, of all the parables of Jesus, the story of the prodigal son is perhaps most famous. In this Parable, Jesus tells us how this prodigal son goes to his dad and demands his share of the family inheritance. Then, he leaves his family. He runs away from home and lives a profligate life, a life of debauchery. He wastes his money. Soon he has nothing, and he is living in poverty. He has nothing to eat, and he comes to his senses. Jesus tells us that this prodigal thinks, “My dad’s hired servants eat better than I’m eating. I’ll go home to my dad. I’ll go home and I’ll say, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and before you. Make me as one of your hired servants.”‘ So, as Jesus tells the story, the prodigal son comes home.
The dad sees his son coming at a distance, and we’re left to understand that the dad was scanning the horizon. Perhaps he was looking daily for the return of his son, longing for his son to come home. Jesus tells us how the dad ran to his son and embraced him and held him. Jesus tells how the dad welcomed the son back into the family and restored him. The dad killed the fatted calf, and there was a great feast of celebration. Some of you, perhaps, can identify with the prodigal. You can identify with him because maybe, at some point in your life, you rebelled against your family. Maybe at some time in your life, you rebelled against God. You can understand, perhaps, what the prodigal son felt like. Maybe you’ve had to come home in repentance.
Some of you can, perhaps, identify with the elder brother in the story. Perhaps, like the elder brother, you’ve lived a relatively righteous life. Maybe you’ve lived a relatively moral life. You might even look at the body of Christ, and you might resent, just a little bit, the people who have lived wild lives and are now forgiven. Maybe you identify with the elder brother. It’s possible that if your life has been particularly hard and you seem to find rejection at every turn, you can identify with the fatted calf . . . but the story really isn’t about the fatted calf, of course. It’s not about the elder brother, and it’s not even supremely about the prodigal son. The story is supremely about the dad. That’s why it’s sometimes called “The Parable of the Loving Father.” Jesus told this parable because He wanted us to understand what His Father is like. Jesus wanted us to understand what God is like. He told this story so that we could understand the grace and the mercy of God.
This story is so unique in literature. You can look at the Buddhist writing, “The Lotus of Perfect Law,” and there’s a story of a prodigal in there. The prodigal comes home, but the father does not immediately forgive or receive his son. In this Buddhist writing, the father tests the son when he comes back because he’s been profligate. The father tests the son. He sends him out on various assignments and tasks to see whether he’s industrious. The father then puts temptation in his son’s path to see whether his son has learned his lessons and is able to overcome those temptations. All of this before the dad would receive his son back.
In the parable that Christ tells, we’ve got a whole different view of God. God stands wanting and willing to forgive us, ready to embrace us and receive us. Jesus tells us that the father commands that the best robe be brought and placed on his son. This robe represents honor. The father is seeking to honor his son. “Bring the best robe and put it on him.” Then the father commands that a ring be brought and placed on his son’s hand. Most Bible scholars believe it’s a signet ring, a ring that connotes and carries the authority of the family. Then the father commands that shoes be brought and be placed on his son’s feet. At that time, only slaves in that culture went about without shoes.
The son has requested that he be made as a hired servant, and the father is saying, “No. You will be my son. You will fully be my son. You will come into my family once again and live in my house, and you will have the freedom of a family member.” Then, the father commanded that the fatted calf be brought. What ensues is a feast and a celebration, a representation of joy. The father offers his son honor, authority, freedom, and joy.
If you’re a Christian, you have come to the foot of the cross. You’ve come home. You’ve come home, and you have a new identity. God has, in a figurative sense, put robes upon us. He’s honored us. The Lord has honored us, and He has given us the authority of His family. We have become sons and daughters of God. We have been born into the family of God, bound for heaven with an eternal destiny and a heavenly purpose on earth. We’ve been given the freedom of the family of Christ, the joy of salvation, and the celebration of eternal life.
So, we have this identity in Christ, which we receive when first we come home. But we can lose that identity if we don’t forgive ourselves. If we don’t forgive ourselves, we can be pickpocketed by the past, by what we’ve done in the past. Once we’ve come to Christ in repentance and He’s forgiven us, if we don’t forgive ourselves, our identity is diminished. The honor, the authority, the freedom, the joy is all diminished if we don’t forgive ourselves. Having been forgiven by Christ, we can be pickpocketed by the sins that we have done in the past.
I know most of you have heard of the Bermuda Triangle. The Bermuda Triangle is a vast section of the Atlantic Ocean—440,000 miles of ocean—south and east off Florida. Every day, ships pass safely through various regions of the Bermuda Triangle. Every day, planes fly safely over the Bermuda Triangle. Some planes that fly very close to the water still fly safely over the Bermuda Triangle. But there is evidence that there’s been an inordinate number of tragedies in that vast region of the Bermuda Triangle. An inordinate number of ships have gone down, and an inordinate number of aircraft, low-flying aircraft, have crashed into the sea.
Some scientists have examined this. In a magazine called “Science News,” there’s this study and a theory of what might cause some of these accidents. According to Science News, it all relates to gas hydrates. These scientists have determined that beneath many sections of the Bermuda Triangle, there are subterranean gas hydrates trapped beneath shelves on the ocean floor. These gas hydrates grow, build pressure and crack the shelves, and the gas hydrates rise to the surface. If a ship just happens to be there when that happens, the ship loses buoyancy, and the ship can sink. The gas hydrates, according to Science News, also come out of the water and enter the atmosphere. If an aircraft is flying low, they can cause the engine to seize up. It’s just a theory, but it is kind of analogous to human beings and the lives we live.
Any counselor, therapist, or psychologist could tell you that virtually every day, men and woman come into their office who are losing buoyancy. They feel like they’re sinking. They’re not able to sail, they’re not able to fly. Something’s wrong, and they feel like they’re about to crash. Therapists find that deep down, in so many of us, there are pockets of self-condemnation just growing. Even pastors will tell you that it’s a common problem—people who just aren’t able to forgive themselves for things that they’ve done. Down deep, there’s this sense of self-loathing and self-condemnation.
As we come to the Lord’s Table today, it might be that you need to deal with some personal stuff. Having come to Christ and having sought His forgiveness, perhaps now you need to forgive yourself. Maybe you find it impossible to forgive yourself now, but you can make a commitment today that you will pursue self-forgiveness and you’ll take the steps necessary. Maybe you need to see a pastor, a counselor, or a therapist to help yourself accept the forgiveness of God. You’ve come to Him in repentance because you don’t want to be pickpocketed by the past. You don’t want to lose the joy that you first felt when you came home. You don’t want to lose the honor, authority, and freedom that you found in Christ.
As we come to the Table, we need to forgive ourselves. We also need to forgive others. This is our second and final teaching this Communion Sunday. We don’t want to be pickpocketed by the past, and we don’t want the past to steal our joy. We need to forgive others.
I love the story of Paul Cho. Paul Cho is the Pastor of the largest church in the world. Paul Cho is 70 years old now, but he’s still in the saddle, still serving Christ. He pastors a church in South Korea. It’s a humble little church of 750,000 members, the largest church in the world. God has anointed him, and God has greatly blessed him.
For some reason, just recently, Paul Cho has changed his name to David Cho. (Perhaps today he’s feeling more king-like, instead of an apostle-like.) I love the story of the invitation that David Cho received to go speak in Japan. David Cho had never gone to Japan, and he’d always hated the Japanese people. That’s not unusual for people in Korea. It’s not unusual for people in China because of crimes committed during World War II. Many of the Japanese had committed atrocities, including rape, with regard to men, women, and children in China and Korea. These sins of the past have not been easily forgotten or forgiven. So, it was not unusual to feel what David Cho has felt, hatred for the Japanese.
Here he was invited to go and speak to 1,000 Japanese pastors at a convention. David Cho had never gone to Japan, but his community of friends and supporters said, “You need to do this. You need to go to Japan, and you need to sit down with these Christian brothers. You need to sit down with these pastors.” So, David Cho went.
As the conference started, he stood before these 1,000 pastors, and he began to cry. The words he had planned to say just didn’t come to him, and he found himself saying, “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” Not a good way to start a pastors conference. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!”
Then this amazing thing happened. The Spirit of God descended upon the room in that conference center. These Japanese pastors began one at a time to come up to David Cho. They got down on their knees in humility, and they repented of the sin of their nation. In humility, they repented of the sins perpetrated by the Japanese people. Can you imagine a thousand pastors, each one coming forward individually and kneeling down and repenting, confessing the sins of the past? It was so moving over a period of time that David Cho began to really cry. As he cried, he began to say, “I love you! I love you! I love you!” A great healing took place that day, as these Christians came together; instead of being pickpocketed by the past, there was reconciliation and the joy that’s part of our identity in Christ.
Perhaps you’re thinking, “Well, am I supposed to forgive somebody if they don’t repent? Those 1,000 Japanese pastors all came and repented, but what if somebody doesn’t repent? Do I still need to forgive them? Do I still need to do that?”
On Wednesday night, we had a concert right here in the worship center. It was the kick-off of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which met this week in our facility. I was so proud of our music department and so pleased. The concert was just wonderful. In the aftermath of the concert, I was down front here when Ad and BJ Coors came up to say hi. I hadn’t seen them in some time because they live in the mountains. In the early years of our church, Ad and BJ were faithful members of Cherry Hills Community Church.
Ad has an amazing testimony. When Ad was 15 years old, his dad Adolph Coors III was kidnapped and murdered by a man named Joseph Corbett. Ad, a 15-year old boy, lost his dad. Ad hated Joseph Corbett. For a number of years, the hatred just festered. He hated this guy who had snuffed out the life of his father. He hated this guy who had robbed him of his father.
In the course of time, Ad became a Christian. He gave his heart to Jesus Christ, and Jesus began to change Ad’s heart. Ad, you understand, is Adolph Coors IV. At the age of 30, he felt led of God to go and forgive this man who had murdered his father. So, he went to Canyon City Penitentiary. He went there to see Joseph Corbett and to grant him forgiveness. Joseph Corbett had never repented, but Ad still felt led of the Spirit to do this. Joseph Corbett refused to see Ad. So, Ad wrote this note to him, and I quote: “Sorry we could not meet. As a Christian, I’m summoned by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to forgive you. I do forgive you, and I ask you to forgive me for the hatred I’ve held in my heart.”
Ad goes all over the country telling his story and sharing his testimony. If you would talk with him, you would find that God has so used this event to bless people, to bless Ad and even to bless people in prison. God has used Ad’s willingness to forgive. You might be thinking, “Do I really need to forgive people who don’t repent? How about Matthew 18? Doesn’t Matthew 18 tell us that if someone comes to us and repents we are to forgive them? No matter how many times they come and repent, we are to grant them forgiveness . . . but it’s tied to repentance. Doesn’t Jesus tie it to repentance? Are we really bound to forgive the unrepentant?”
I know this is a tough subject. Bible scholars disagree. This is a very complex subject theologically and morally, but this much is clear: In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel and in the Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus clearly says to us, “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who have abused you.” Isn’t that clear? Jesus has made it very clear that we’re called to bless those who have cursed us, to do good to those who hate us, and to pray for those who have abused us. This is not the way of the world. It’s the way of Christ. If you don’t want to be pickpocketed by the past, if you don’t want to lose your identity in Christ, this is the path He’s asked us to walk.
I know many of you have heard of “lex talionis.” “Lex talionis” is Latin for the “law of retaliation.” This was foundational in Judaism for their civil law. In Exodus 21:23, it says, “A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, wound for wound, stripe for stripe, burning for burning.” “Lex talionis.”
“Lex talionis” is not only foundational for Judaism, but it even precedes Judaism. You can go back to the Code of Hammurabi 3,700 years ago, and you will find the equivalent of the “lex talionis”—the punishment should fit the crime. “An eye for an eye . . .” In the judicatories of this nation, we practice, at least to some degree, the “lex talionis.” Justice requires that the punishment fits the crime (although in our country, generally, justice is tempered with mercy).
But in our individual lives, as people sin against us and people hurt us, Jesus has called us to a different and higher principal. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repealed the “lex talionis.” He said, “You’ve heard it said of old, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I tell you, love your enemies . . .” This is a higher principal and a higher law. It’s not easy.
I was thinking of the joke that I heard some time ago about this boy named Bobby. You might have heard it. Bobby was five years old, and he was playing in the room with his two-year old sister. The mother hears Bobby screaming in the room. She opens up the door and finds the two-year old girl behind Bobby just yanking on Bobby’s hair. The mother separates the two of them, and Bobby is really mad. The mother says, “Bobby, you shouldn’t be mad because your sister is only two. She really didn’t even know what she was doing. She didn’t even know that it would hurt you if she pulled your hair.” The mother left the room. About a minute or two later, she hears another scream. This time, it’s the two-year old girl. She goes back in the room, and Bobby said, “She knows now.” That’s the “lex talionis,” the law of retaliation.
Isn’t it normal to feel that way? Don’t we want to get even? If someone makes us hurt, don’t we want to make them hurt? Isn’t that normal? It’s kind of in our hearts to think and feel like that, but Jesus wants to change our hearts.
You know the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18. Jesus tells about this guy who was forgiven a massive debt. It would have taken him more than 150 years of wages to pay the debt he was forgiven. But then, he went out and found a fellow servant who owed him a relatively small amount of money. He seized that fellow servant by the throat saying, “Pay what you owe.” The fellow servant begged for mercy, but there was no mercy. That servant was thrown into debtor’s prison. When the master heard about this, Jesus tells us, the unmerciful servant was summoned by the master. The master said, “I forgave you that entire debt because you besot me. Should you not have forgiven your brother as I forgave you?” Then the master condemned the unmerciful servant and had him thrown into debtor’s prison until he should pay all of his debt. The message of Christ is clear: judgement will be without mercy for those who have shown no mercy. There are many reasons, biblically, for us to forgive others.
About a month ago, Barb and I were in Savannah, Georgia. We had never been to Savannah before, and we didn’t realize how beautiful it is. Savannah, Georgia is just a beautiful city. It’s built around 24 city squares, each city square an acre in size. All these city squares are very historic. The whole city was designed by George Oglethorpe, the founder of the Georgia Colony. The city is beautiful. You can go in one square, and you can see where John and Charles Wesley (the founders of Methodism) preached. You can go to the church where John Wesley preached for a year. You can travel around, and you can see where many of the founding fathers said and did incredible things. The city is just loaded with history, loaded with wonderful restaurants and great architecture. It’s a beautiful city.
I was reading this past week how George Oglethorpe and John Wesley traveled by ship across the Atlantic on their way to the colonies. And on the way, they had a conversation. In the course of that conversation, Oglethorpe said to Wesley, “I never forgive.” Then John Wesley said to Oglethorpe, “I hope then, Sir, that you never sin.”
I think, in this room, we all know that we are sinners. I think, in this room, we all know that we are sinners in need of mercy and grace. We came to the cross, and we came to Christ acknowledging our sin. I know we’re all aware of our desperate need for mercy. I know I’m aware of my desperate need for mercy. But having found mercy, we are now called to give mercy, to bless those who curse us, to pray for those who have abused us, to love our enemies, and to do good to those who hate us.
It’s not an easy call. I think as we come to the Table this morning, there might be some unfinished business. Maybe there’s someone that you need to forgive. Maybe there’s someone whom you need to decide that you will seek to bless them—you will pray for them, and you will resolve today that you will do good to them even though they’ve hated you. Maybe you need to come to the Table today and forgive yourself. Maybe you need to forgive others.
We don’t want to lose the honor, authority, freedom, and joy that first we found when we came to Christ, when we came home. We don’t want to lose our identities. We don’t want our actions in the past or the actions of others to pickpocket us now. Let’s come to Communion together. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.