21st Sunday after Pentecost 21.10.12 Goodwill
The epistle tells us to put on the armour of God, so that we can wage the spiritual battle.
Sometimes spiritual battles can be very major and obvious. Most of the time, however, they will come upon us quietly. We may be in a spiritual battle and not even realise it.
Let’s define a spiritual battle as any occasion where we have a choice between right and wrong, and the ‘wrong’ has some attraction for us – to the point that it takes some effort on our part to resist it.
One of the most challenging things we have to do as Christians is described in today’s Gospel – to forgive those who offend us.
The logic of forgiveness is very simple. God forgives us the large debt; we have to forgive each other the small debt (the figures in the Gospel are in a ratio of 600,000 to 1).
When it is made so obvious it sounds easy. If we could carry this parable around with us maybe it would help. But despite how obvious it is we still find it difficult. This is a real spiritual battle, for which we need all the armour we can find.
How to put on this armour? Lots of prayer and then more still. So that we receive the grace of God to such an extent that we will change the way we think/feel towards other people.
Our disposition will be sweetened, enabling us to have more generous thoughts and feelings towards others - to the point that we want others to experience all that we would want for ourselves in terms of the grace and mercy of God. If I want it for myself then I want it for others too.
It is not so easy as it sounds. Consider, for example, the temptation to jealousy. .
If my neighbour wins the lottery while I am struggling to make ends meet, can I rejoice in his good fortune? Or do I resent it, wishing it was mine instead of his?
We should want good things to happen to other people, not begrudge their happiness.
This is particularly so with enemies and ‘those who trespass’.
Worldly thinking will make us want to get even and to wish harm to those who harm us. But the way of Christ is to wish them mercy. We want them to come to repentance and make a new beginning.
It is very hard to love someone who harms us but then if he repented and changed his ways we would find some loveable qualities there. We will rejoice that he has received that mercy.
This is the way Our Lord Himself sees it; and we are created to be like Him. The idea of wishing harm on others or begrudging them mercy - these things are of the devil, who is consumed with hatred and malice; happy only when he can cause misery.
So the lines of battle are drawn. Which camp are we in?
To fight this battle we need every day a fresh dose of goodwill, kindness, and the like. Goodwill directed to everyone, anyone, even our enemies, and especially them; praying for a change of heart.
So it is possible that in heaven a murderer and his victim might meet again! By this time both will have been cleansed of all trace of sin.
A general goodwill is to be cultivated. For any and all people – family members, neighbours, people on the roads, in the shops; the whole mass of humanity. This is why we need spiritual armour (graces), because we would not be able to do this on our own.
Only by His grace does it become possible, and even joyful – to forgive, to bring back life where there has been death.
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