What do we do with Homolka?

July 10^th 2005

Trinity 7

Have you ever been in a situation

like this where you suddenly

realize you have offended someone

and when you have said “I’m sorry”

you discover that the situation isn’t any better?

And you have that sinking feeling

when you realize that a simple

apology just doesn’t cut it?

That the words “I’m sorry”

aren’t a guarantee of forgiveness

and that they are not magic words?

Forgiveness is more complicated than that.

Recently we as Canadians

have had an event

that has brought into focus

the problem of sin and forgiveness.

The event was the release of
Karla Homolka from prison after serving

her 12 year to the day sentence for 3 murders.

Karla appeared on television

the day of her release to

say that she was sorry for what she had done.

She said that she was a different person now

and that she will always be

in the prison of her own conscience

although she may be out of physical prison.

Canadians don’t quite know what

to do with that.

Reaction was mixed.

Some want to give her another chance

and some want to lock her up and throw away the key.

Many in her home town of

St. Catherines want to sweep it

under the carpet and forget all about it.

The whole issue brings up

the question of repentance

and forgiveness the problem

of changing behaviour and forgiving the past.

The natural reaction we have when we

hear of unspeakable acts of Homolka

or of the Subway Bombings in London

and by much more mundane acts

where we feel wronged is to feel anger.

Christians often do not know

what to do with anger – it seems

something that we feel we

should somehow repress and ignore

as if that was the taboo emotion.

Often what happens is

that when we get angry

we feel unable to express it

or we feel unable to even have

that feelings – so it gets bottle up

and then it explodes in an unhealthy way

and everyone gets hurt.

People then generally leave the scene or

avoid speaking to each other

or take their anger out symbolically

rather than sitting down and trying

to work it out with whoever

they are upset with.

Quite often we forget that anger

is an important indicator that

someone has threatened a core belief

that we have a boundary has

been crossed and a line has been

stepped over against our will.

Anger can be justified.

Anger is a legitimate feeling

part of the emotional package

that God has given us in our nature.

As Christians it is important

that we recognize this.

But anger without forgiveness festers

and then the wound that is made

becomes infected and untreatable.

There are, however, some preconditions

before we can have forgiveness.

The first of these conditions is

when a person has committed wrongdoing

they must pay some sort of penalty.

Something has to be levied on the person

in order to make them realize

the seriousness of their actions.

This penalty or punishment must

somehow be also marked by wisdom

in order to make it effective

“the punishment fits the crime”

is our proverb for this:

whether it be loss of privilege,

loss of rights, position or whatever

it may be and for an extended period of time.

For forgiveness to happen

a person must also demonstrate

that they have changed from

who they were and have adopted

a better value system – one which

shows emotional and spiritual growth.

Ironically, the punishment systems

we call “Corrections” doesn’t really correct anything

which is perhaps why we tend to doubt

Karla Homolka’s claim of “I’m sorry”.

The last of the conditions is that

the person must ask for forgiveness

and that it must be seen as a genuine regret.

And, of course, pardon cannot

be given unless an apology is accepted.

With these points in mind we

need to look at how

God has dealt with human sin.

God who is our maker, knows all about

human sin and knows also about forgiveness.

Our first stories in the scripture

deal with the problem of human sin.

Right from the start with the story

of Adam and Eve in Genesis

we see human beings failing

to keep the rules and failing

to do what is right in their

relationship with God.

With Adam and Eve we see

the true colours of humanity

Eve who transgresses the Command

that God has given her

and Adam who follows right behind.

When they are caught we see

each of them trying to excuse

themselves by blaming the other.

“Adam blames the Woman

the woman blames the snake

and the snake didn’t have a leg to stand on.”

What a different story we would have

if Adam had said, yes, we did eat the fruit

and broke the rules we are sorry.

The story teaches us a lot

about how our human pride gets

in the way seeking and granting pardon

and is the archenemy of reconciliation.

The Bible shows us how

God who is righteous has no

choice but to levy punishment:

there are consequences to their actions:

they lose Paradise,

they will work for a living and they will die.

But again and again we also see

God who deals justice fairly

but who also deals justice with mercy.

God is one who punishes but

who also binds up the wounds.

The quality that marks the

character of God is that He is just

and he is equally merciful.

God is a great believer in giving people

another chance, and another and another –

but let’s not make a mistake.

God does not hand out what

Dietrich Bonhoffer would call

“cheap grace” in other words

God does not overlook our sin

with a blind eye – and this is something

that we forget to easily.

God does not overlook sin

like an indulgent grandparent overlooking

the mistakes of a grandchild –

turning a blind eye –

God holds us responsible

for what we do and expects

us to change from our errors

and to use that old fashioned unpopular word,

to repent from sin.

Repent is a word that means

to turn completely around.

God does hold up a standard that

he urges us to strive for – not to

frustrate us like some sort of a

cosmic sadist wanting people to reach out

for an unobtainable standard

but wanting to us to grow

to develop and to mature.

It is like a parent who wants

their children to become

good solid adults by holding up

a strong standard – not to frustrate

but to bring out the best in them.

And here’s the catch –

God’s grace isn’t cheap –

God’s son did not go to the cross

in order to pass out cheap grace.

Jesus went to the cross so

that we would be spared the

full consequences of our actions.

God is the one who loves us so

much that he did not spare his son

but let him die on our behalf.

Is this too hard? It is hard.

Do we turn a blind eye? No.

We cannot forgive because no one

has asked for it or has shown

any remorse or sorrow.

Forgiveness seems especially hard

when we deal with extreme cases

of injustice such as Karla Homolka

or the subway bombings.

Often we would rather say

“We’re only human. Let God

forgive in his own way but

for me it is an eye for an eye

and a tooth for a tooth.”

But that’s the extreme

isn’t it? Often forgiveness

is a lot more mundane and at home.

What would happen if we lived

an eye for an eye anyway?

Tevye has the answer.

In the movie Fiddler on the Roof

when the Jews know they are to be

evicted from their homes by the Russians,

one man says “Let’s fight them!

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

Teyve, the Milkman says

“Very good. Then we shall all go around

blind and toothless.”

Well, we are only human after all

and if we are satisfied with that answer

then we don’t need to come here.

But because we are here

it means that we are trying

to become more Christ-like

and more than “only human after all.”