Forgive and Feed
Jesus has two go-to moves: Forgive and Feed. No matter what’s happening in your life, whether it’s a good day or a bad day, whether things are falling apart or building to new heights, followers of Jesus are called to find someone to forgive and find someone to feed.
From the cross Jesus looked out on the crowd of his killers and said, Father, let’s forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing. They are just broken, hurting humans. It’s hard to be human, let’s forgive them.
After the resurrection, Jesus called Peter and said, I’m leaving. You love me, don’t you? Peter said, Of course! Jesus said, Feed my sheep.
Jesus' go-to moves are forgive and feed. They can be our go-to moves too.
Everybody’s got someone to forgive. For some it’s time to forgive old hurts. For others it’s time to let go of expectations that nurture resentments. For others it is time to look in the mirror, forgive yourself and take the grace that’s freely offered to you by God. For yet others forgiveness means forgiving an injury that happened today before it has a chance to fester into anger and discord between you and your neighbor or family member. The act of forgiveness sets both the forgiver and the forgiven free. There is no freedom quite as sweet as forgiveness.
Everybody’s hungry. The food that Jesus offers is the food for which every last one of us truly hungers. We’re all hungry for love. The food of Jesus’ love takes many shapes. Sometimes food is real food, like a bowl of soup, and should be freely given to the hungry person right in front of you. Sometimes food is understanding or sympathy, encouragement or a compliment.
When you’re having a bad day or otherwise struggling it’s tempting to ask:
How can I get out of this mess?
or
Why did this happen to me?
I’ve been thinking those might be the wrong questions. For followers of Jesus the right question is, How can I be of service to you Jesus?
His answer is always the same, Forgive and Feed.
Find someone to forgive. Pray this way, God, give me someone to forgive.
Find someone to feed. Pray this way, God, give me someone to feed.
Do that and see what happens.