I recently read the story of Sammy Luciano. A couple years ago he was arrested for the 34th time. 34 arrests. 34 mugshots. 34 bookings. I can hear you thinking as you read this… why? Why was this man allowed back on the street after the first ____ arrests? His rap sheet is a who’s who of crimes: robbery, fleeing and eluding, battery on a police officer, drugs, etc. Why isn’t this man in jail with no chance at seeing freedom ever again?
Should society give up on Sammy Luciano?
Many would say yes. He’s caused enough trouble and violated enough laws to justify it. He deserves to spend the rest of his life as a statistic… the evidence of a broken and fallen world.
But the Bible gives us a whole other way of thinking… Should we forgive someone no matter how many times they have wronged us? Let’s look at what Christ told Peter…
“Then Peter came to him and asked, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times? "No, not seven times," Jesus replied, "but seventy times seven!” (Matthew 18:21-22, NLT).
Seventy times seven. So 490 times Jesus? So on the 491st offense I can give up on them? No… Jesus was making a point. He wasn’t doing it for mathematics sake… He was telling Peter that no matter how many times someone has wronged you, there is always a reason to forgive.
Not forget.
Not pretend it didn’t happen.
Not “let them win”
But forgive.
And when we forgive we allow ourselves to move on. Should Sammy Luciano not pay for his crimes? Of course he should. He has violated the laws of the land and needs to face the punishment for it. Should we as Christ-followers dismiss his existence and treat him as though Christ didn’t die for him too?
No. We are to forgive and move forward.
What relationship in your life needs forgiveness? They have wronged you. Called you names. Stood on your last nerve until you just couldn’t take it anymore. They may have said “I do!” but didn’t. Lied to you. Cheated on you. Raised you in a home where verbal and/or physical abuse was the norm…
And we’ve decided that they don’t deserve forgiveness. That we will put ourselves into the cage of unforgiveness… firmly crossing our arms and refusing to budge. And each morning we’ll wake up bitter and angry at something that happened a long time ago… desperately begging God to make things right by going after the person who did us wrong. Little by little, our choice not to forgive poisons our ability to love and trust. We hurt ourselves and the person who hurt us doesn’t even think about it anymore. Doesn’t seem fair.
We don’t serve a fair God… we serve a just One. God’s justice is different than our own. He makes things right in His own way, timing, and method. All we are asked to do is forgive.
We may think we aren’t as bad as Sammy Luciano. After all, we don’t have that kind of past following us around. But remember… we are all sinners. We all miss the mark. Daily. We may not have stolen a car but we lied to our boss. We didn’t sell drugs but we had lustful thoughts about a co-worker. Are they the same severity? No. But in God’s eyes they are both sin. And they are both detestable to a Holy God. We think God should forgive us for the minor sins and hold them accountable for the major ones. To God… all sin is the same. Every single one.
Fact is, we love receiving forgiveness but hesitate giving it. Today, I challenge you to look closer into your heart. Is there bitterness there? Anger? A driving passion to either seek revenge or judge someone’s else’s sins as greater than your own? Take a moment and seek God in this. Ask Him to help you forgive the offender regardless of the number of offenses. And He promises to forgive us if we do it:
Matthew 6:14 “"If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.”
Sammy Luciano may have done nothing to us personally. But our reaction to his story reveals a lot about who we are and how we feel about forgiveness, grace, and the ability for a person to change. Who in your life needs you to see them with new eyes today? Forgiveness may not be an easy thing, but it will release you from a lifelong prison of bitterness and hate. You hold the key to that cell… it’s time to live free.
