Forgiveness for healing.

Many of us were severely traumatised by the lockdowns. I didn’t even realise how much, but looking back, I was severely stressed. Seemingly being the only person standing up against the crowd; I was the only one in family not to get vaxxed, one of only two or three people at my church, the only one at my workplace who didn’t get vaxxed and had to endure a six month suspension from going to work.

One comfort for me at the time was the story of the three young men in the book of Daniel from the Bible. King Nebuchadnezzar, the absolute ruler of Babylon, set up a golden statue, and threatened that anyone who didn’t bow down to it at the sound of music would be thrown into a fiery furnace.

Three young men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to the statue and outraged, self righteous Chaldeans, bearing more than a small resemblance to pro-vaxxers outraged at the unvaxxed and informing on them to the authorities, accused them before King Nebuchadnezzar¹.

Nebuchadnezzar had the three young men brought before him, and he charged them with disobeying his order to bow down to his statue, saying:

“Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my gods and that you don’t pay homage to the golden statue that I erected? Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?”

Now what is great about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s reply to the king is that they don’t sound completely certain that God will rescue them. I don’t this is great, per se, except that this is often how we feel; let’s be honest. When the chips are down, maybe it’s all we can do to stand firm; getting every single attitude and nuance right is probably beyond us. This was their reply:

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, “We do not need to give you a reply concerning this. If our God whom we are serving exists, he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well. But if he does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

Strangely enough, during this period our pastor at church preached about this passage. He had gotten the vax, as nearly everyone at church had (I think there were only three of us who refused in a congregation of more than sixty).

Our pastor said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have been completely relaxed as they were brought before Nebuchadnezzar.” Actually, and maybe he’s right about that.

But he’s not really thinking about the whole lead-up to this, that might have been weeks or even months, of dreadful anticipation, wondering if you’re going to stand firm, wondering if you will cave in at the last moment and bow down to the idol.

And he’s not thinking about the other Jews in Babylon, all of whom, it seems, may well have bowed down to the statue, for the story doesn’t mention them, and the omission is probably quite damning. I suspect the other Jews might well have been saying, “You’re crazy, God’s not going to rescue you! You’re throwing your life away for nothing. It’s just lip service. You don’t have to mean it - just bow down; you can worship Yahweh internally.” etc etc.

Anyhow, I was stressed. Yes, I was. Unfortunately I didn't have enough faith to not be stressed in the midst of all that, particularly when others who had been vaxxed were discussing the whole issue of masks, or anything about Covid really. (I remember one man who is a very gentle man, a fully vaxxed pastor at a hospital, he was at a prayer group with me, said, “I think masks are lovely, it’s lovely just communicating with people with your eyes;” I behaved in a not so Christian manner then: I mocked him and asked him if he thinks the full body Burkha is good too.)

And that’s it: all I had, really, was just enough faith to say no to the vax and trust God with the consequences to a degree. I still worried.

I suspect it might have been the same for the Three Young Men.

I didn’t quite have enough faith not to feel the force of everybody’s disapproval and opposition. I barely had enough faith to trust God with my finances and my future income and place to live. I don’t know what I would have done if I had been married with a wife who thought my stance was stupid and two or three kids to support.

But the thing is, all my fears turned to be groundless - I survived with my mortgage intact and with my sanity mostly intact.

Even so, I still get flashbacks to that feeling of being stressed. I’m not sure I’ve really recovered from it. Sometimes I’m talking about the whole issue, and a rage bubbles up that I didn’t even know was in me.

But the other thing is, I think there’s more coming. I am sure it’s not all over, unless we can bring more people over to our side.

And that’s why, for our own sakes, we have to forgive.

And here I’m not talking about forgiving Bill Gates if we think he’s responsible or even Mark McGowan (Premier of Western Australia who enforced the mandates) – to them we are gnats, our forgiveness or lack of it doesn’t matter to them – and in the end if they are brought before judgement it will be in some sort of subsequent legal process I presume (although I have my doubts about Bill Gates’ end though)

And of course we should not be determining ways to take revenge or anything like that (‘Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.’ Romans 12:19)

But I’m actually talking about forgiving those a little closer to home: our workmates and friends and colleagues and family members who treated us badly. Our neighbours, if you like, those in our immediate circle.

There are several reasons why we need to forgive.

1. One of the more pragmatic reasons, as those who made a stand, looking to the future, is that it is in our interest to get more allies. And the best way we can do this is by making friends with those who showed themselves during Covid to be our enemies. And indeed, many, many people are coming around gradually to our point of view: particularly those who were injured by the vaccines, or who had family members who were injured, and those who had family members who died.

2. Christians are taught in the Bible that if we don’t forgive others, that God will not forgive our sins: therefore it is in the interest of preserving our own souls that we forgive.
   For the instruction to forgive is quite central to Jesus’ instructions about our prayer life, actually:

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.’

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:15

3. A third reason is health: grudges, unforgiveness and anger damage our souls and our bodies. The effect of unresolved anger is hurt to our bodies; such stress causes inflammation and makes us more prone to illness and immune conditions, rather ironically, for these are things the vaccine does too.

4. And a fourth reason is healing: we need healing for the past, and I suspect that we cannot receive healing from God until we have forgiven those who have hurt us.

Even so, humanly speaking it is very hard to forgive: humanly impossible I think, for anyone who is relying on the human flesh. “To err is human; to forgive, divine,” as the essayist Pope wrote. This is why we may need divine help in order to forgive. “Ask and you shall receive” (Luke 11:9-13)

And possibly, that process might start with asking for forgiveness from others, for (as my response to the gentle hospital chaplain saying how nice masks were shows) none of us is perfect, and we ourselves may well have behaved badly in the pandemic as well.

ADDENDUM

What we don’t often think about is what it was like for the three young men reintegrating into the community of exiled Jews in Babylon, so many of whom, I presume, bowed down to the statue. We need to be ready to strengthen others for bravery in the face of what is coming, so that they can be our allies next time instead of our enemies.

DANIEL CHAPTER 3

King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made. It was 90 feettall and 9 feet wide. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent out a summons to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other authorities of the province to attend the dedication of the statue that he had erected. So the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial authorities assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected. They were standing in front of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

Then the herald made a loud proclamation: “To you, O peoples, nations, and language groups, the following command is given:When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has erected. Whoever does not bow down and pay homage will immediately be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire!” Therefore when they all heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and language groups began bowing down and paying homage to the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

Now at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought malicious accusations against the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You have issued an edict, O king, that everyone must bow down and pay homage to the golden statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music. And whoever does not bow down and pay homage must be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. But there are Jewish men whom you appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—and these men have not shown proper respect to you, O king. They don’t serve your gods and they don’t pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage demanded that they bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them before the king. Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my gods and that you don’t pay homage to the golden statue that I erected? Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, “We do not need to give you a reply concerning this. If our God whom we are serving exists, he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well. But if he does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his expression changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated. He ordered strong soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. So those men were tied up while still wearing their cloaks, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, and were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. But since the king’s command was so urgent, and the furnace was so excessively hot, the men who escorted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed by the leaping flames. But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace of blazing fire while still securely bound.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.” He answered, “But I see four men, untied and walking around in the midst of the fire! No harm has come to them! And the appearance of the fourth is like that of a god!” Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He called out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out! Come here!”

Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged from the fire.Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physicallyunharmed by the fire. The hair of their heads was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged. Not even the smell of fire was to be found on them!

Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than serve or pay homage to any god other than their God! I hereby decree that any people, nation, or language group that blasphemes the God of Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego will be dismembered and his home reduced to rubble! For there exists no other god who can deliver in this way.” Then Nebuchadnezzar promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

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