Father, Forgive Them
During the darkest days of World War II, Dean Willard Sperry of Harvard University compiled a book of prayers for wartime devotionals. Even though the nation’s enemies were victorious on all fronts and feelings against the Axis powers were running high, he included a special prayer calling the nation back to its Christian values:
O Peaceful Light, Redeemer of the universe, whose love embraces the whole world, we hear thy prayer from the Cross: “Father, forgive them.” In the name of the universal pardon, we dare to beseech the heavenly Father to give eternal peace to his enemies and ours… O Lord, do not condemn those who have persecuted us with their calumnies and their perfidy; be merciful toward all those whom we Christians have hardened without knowing it; may our holy prayer be for them a mystery of reconciliation. Amen.139
Dean Sperry was not a pacifist. He apparently saw no contradiction between fighting our enemies and asking God to forgive them. I believe that in our own lesser conflicts we can do the same and more. We can ask God to forgive those who have wronged us, and we can also forgive them ourselves. Even when we have to stand up against wrong behavior, we should be not be motivated by hate or anger. Such a forgiving attitude will often be beyond our capacity as human beings. We have to have a resource far greater than ourselves to act with love in the face of injustice. The only resource powerful enough to give us this kind of strength is the love of Jesus Christ within our hearts.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?
—Luke 6:32