Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.
(Luke 17.3 NRSV)
On the news there was a story about an man whose house had been newly painted. Within days someone had spray-painted graffiti all over it. Who would have done something like this in his neighborhood, he wondered? He was angry and rightly so. At first he thought it was racially motivated. Someone did not like him living in their neighborhood. He asked around hoping to find out who had spoiled his house. He found that the graffiti was painted by an eleven-year-old boy. It was nothing more than a childhood prank. What would you do if you discovered your newly-painted house covered with graffiti? Suppose the culprit was an eleven-year-old boy? Would the police be called? Would you at least want to talk to the boy's parents? Would there be a lawsuit--after all somebody would have to pay for the damage? What would you do in that situation?

The man who was wronged could have made a big issue out of it. Instead, he decided to get to know the boy better. He was unsure of what would happen but he was willing to try. Thus a black man and a young white boy soon became friends. Instead of taking the boy and his parents to court, he decided to teach the boy about computers. The news showed the young boy sitting at the computer in the man's house he had earlier spray-painted. The reporter asked him about the graffiti. The boy told the reporter that he was sorry for what he had done. He did not know why he had done it. "Mr. Stephens and I are friends now," he told the reporter. "He has taught me computers."

That's somewhat of a surprise ending, isn't it? You might have expected to see the young boy scrubbing the graffiti off the man's house or giving the house a new coat of paint. You might have expected his parents to ground him for a month for his offense. But you would have never expected to see him in the man's den working on his computer.

Dear God, help me to forgive and share your love with those who really need it. Amen.

Ron Newhouse

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