Below The Surface - Grace Is Amazing (Because We Aren't)

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:12-13, ESV)

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32, ESV)

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12, ESV)

Centralia is a town in Eastern Pennsylvania. In the early 1900s, millions of tons of coal were mined from the region leaving behind an extensive web of excavated mine shafts, some hundreds of feet below the surface. In the early 1960s, on the outskirts of town, a garbage fire was burning in one of the old strip mine pits. It is believed that the fire ignited one of the exposed coal seams which made its way to the network of mine shafts. Over time, it spread underground until the ground began to seep smoke and fissures opened in roadways.

The grave nature of the problem emerged in 1981. As a young boy walked through a neighborhood, the ground caved in beneath his feet and opened into a 150-foot-deep hole. He was saved by clutching exposed tree roots until his cousin could rescue him. Though coal mine fires are common in the region, the danger of the fires being so close to the surface got the attention of the state. It was determined that a digging project to extinguish this fire would cost an estimated $660 million, and there were no solid guarantees that the attempt would work. The government began to buy the land and homes of the residents so they could relocate to safer ground. In 1981, there were 1600 people living there; the population is now less than ten.

The fire has been burning for over sixty years. Cracks in the ground release smoke and poisonous fumes into the air, and the surface is so unstable that to walk on it could cause it to collapse under one’s feet. Currently, the fire is eating away at a stretch of an eight-mile-long coal seam that experts estimate will feed the slow burning flames for another 250 years.

Centralia reminds me of bitterness.

Bitterness, unforgiveness and resentment–they have a source, and they spread. One incident, one person, or one word might light a small fire in a secluded corner of your life. Withholding grace in such moments only serve as an accelerant.

Soon, if left unchecked, the flames of bitterness can find their way into a major seam and begin to creep slowly and methodically though all the foundational supports you depend upon, feeding the fire. Eventually, what is going on underneath makes its way to the surface, and people begin to recognize the damage, or worse yet, they are injured by the poison that has accumulated inside.

But there is a major difference between Centralia and bitterness: we do not pack up and move away from the bitterness. We carry that fire of gracelessness within us.

In his book The Search for Significance, Robert McGee writes, “There is nothing that anyone can do to me that can compare with my sin of rebellion that Christ has completely forgiven.” When we compare our sin against a holy God to the wrongs done to us by others, we should find incredible incentive to extend grace and forgive freely.

Does it cost to release the bitterness and offer forgiveness? Absolutely. But remember this: the cost of withholding forgiveness is far greater (Matthew 18:21-35). No matter what the personal expense may be, you must address the blaze, lest the fire that burns against another consumes you as well.

Reflection:

1. Is there an area of unforgiveness that burns beneath the surface of your life? Have you compared that wrong done to you to your sin against Christ?
2. Take some time to read Matthew 18:21-35. What stands out to you the most in the passage?
3. What is one thing you should change today to align with the will of God concerning forgiving others?