From The Pastor’s Heart OP-ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
As he is coming to the end of his term, the current president of the United States is handing out pardons like Santa Claus gives away candies at Christmas time.
According to the authority accorded him, it is his privilege to pardon anyone who has committed a crime against the United States of America. A presidential pardon ultimately sets aside punishment for a federal crime. The authority to pardon is granted to the president by Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution.
As explained, the pardon is one form of the president’s clemency power, the others being commutation sentences, remission of fine or restitution, and reprieve. All requests for executive clemency for federal offenses usually are directed to the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice for investigation and review, but the president is free to bypass that office.
As the president comes to the end of his term, the report is that the process of review is not being followed. The president has been bypassing the review process and is handing out pardons to his friends and family members, particularly those who have collaborated with him or given him cover in some of the most egregious actions he has done in election campaigns.
At the moment, it is being reported that the president is even floating the idea of pardoning more members of his family, other friends and himself, before leaving office. Legal scholars are, thus, revisiting the limits of the presidential pardon. How far can it be stretched? Does the president need an opinion from the courts anymore before he can pardon? Does the president have the right to grant pardons as often as he wishes? Does the president have to regard the law in granting pardons? Does the president need to follow the protocols of having the person that needs a pardon to make a request and wait for the case to be reviewed?
Many persons have been watching the performance of the president and are profoundly conflicted as to what presidential pardons now mean. But for those who can appreciate the divine system of justice, it is clear that it is a good thing that God did not give his authority to forgive sins into the hands of presidents and political leaders, or even religious leaders, as many individuals often claim.
Truly, forgiveness is an act of the divine. He is the one who says that he will forgive our sins and pardon our iniquities (cf. Hebrews 8:12; 10:17; Jeremiah 31:34; Micah 7:18). Even the Pharisees had the right insight when they asked the question, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (cf. Luke 5:21). But they missed a few significant facts:
1. Firstly, Jesus was God manifest in the flesh and had the absolute power to forgive sins. In response to the Pharisees’ inquiry, Jesus said, “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Luke 5:24) Thus, Jesus could say, “Your sins are forgiven you.”
2. Secondly, Jesus has given authority to his church to forgive sins. In a discussion on church authority with his disciples, Jesus said: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19) “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” (John 29:23) I do not want to stretch this second fact too far, lest anyone might misappropriate it. The most straightforward understanding is that the privilege of forgiveness has been given to the church. It is called “the gospel keys” given to declare God’s will of forgiveness. Anyone who will receive the forgiveness is worthy of being a part of the fellowship in the church, whereas anyone who refuses it is neither bound to the church of bound in heaven.
3. Thirdly, we are called to forgive one another. Jesus taught this, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, 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: 14, 15)
I wish I could give extensive comment on the three points I have made above, but let me state in the brevity of this reflection that God does not give any institution or persons absolute power to forgive, lest it is abused. This is why Jesus stated that only as we forgive that we are or will be forgiven. That means if forgiveness were left up to us as the final arbiters, we would likely forgive our friends and never forgive our enemies. Jesus reminds us to forgive those who hurt us, hate us, despitefully use us, abuse us and persecute us. (Matthew 5:43-47)
Wow! Forgiveness is not as easy as handing out presidential pardons. It is easy to get mad at the president who breaks the law in handing out pardons. Many will say he should be considered a criminal and arrested. And this is why I want to emphasize that forgiveness is a gift from God. Only God can help any person overcome any anger, resentment, hurt, pain, or vengefulness that might destroy them.
I mean that, if we are to forgive the president and all his supporters, we must hand over our feelings to God. Our job is to ensure that we are not destroying ourselves, our relationship, our society, and our spiritual life with a lack of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not easy. C.S. Lewis is correct that it is easy to speak about forgiveness until we have to forgive someone.
But here is the bottom line, without forgiveness, we cannot live. Without forgiveness, we are not free, personally or societally. Without forgiveness, we are to live in constant conflict. Without forgiveness, we will be bottling up all our hurts, pain, anger, and all of the dirt that sin has brought into our systems. So, let us remind ourselves that we need to ask the Lord for his help to forgive ourselves. Let us not live by just saying in trivial ways “Pardon” because it is within our language.
