This was published 6 years ago
Opinion
Can we forgive our fallen hero?
By Reverend Dr Michael Jensen
Can we forgive our fallen hero, Steve Smith? Facing the media with his dad at his side, the boyish-faced Smith said: “I am so sorry … I hope in time I can earn back respect and forgiveness.”
Well, can we?
Australians are angry about the ball-tampering incident. Some have said this shows a lack of perspective, but I disagree. Rightly or wrongly, we feel that international sport is an expression of our national character. And since we can’t agree on which footy code is best, cricket is the one sport which has united Australians from Broome to Bega.
Former Australian cricket captain Steve Smith addresses the media at Sydney Airport on Thursday night.Credit: Janie Barrett
Cross that our beloved baggy green has been sullied by a tawdry incident of attempted cheating? You bet we are. And if other nations, like the South Africans themselves, can’t take stiff action against their own cheaters, that makes no difference. Let them wallow in their own hypocrisy. We aren’t having it.
But we have before us a young man, full of sorrow, asking for an opportunity to earn back our respect and forgiveness.
And this weekend it is Easter. It’s a weekend we celebrate, in between the home renovations and the chocolate binges, in the name of a great act of divine forgiveness. Christians say that the cross of Jesus Christ is the centre of a great story of God’s offer of forgiveness to human beings.
And Easter tells us some vital things about how forgiveness works.
To forgive someone is not to say what we Australians usually say when someone apologises – "no worries". We say "no worries" because we don’t want to admit our hurt or to reveal our anger.
But forgiveness is a form of judgment. We don’t like that word, judgment. But it’s true: to say "I forgive you" is to say "what you did was wrong".
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ stands as a statement from the heavens that human beings have fallen short. Christians say Jesus died "for our sins", meaning: he did not die to say "don’t worry, it doesn’t matter", but rather "yes, who you are as a character, as a moral person, matters to the creator".
Steve Smith's father Peter supporting him during his press conference on Thursday.
The cross is such a gruesome scene precisely because we need to see that what we do in life matters to the one who gave us life. It’s God’s honesty with us. We’ve grieved him, just as Smith has grieved us.
But Smith has helped us here, because he has been able to describe exactly what was wrong about what he did, and he has been able to name how he has hurt the Australian public. He’s apparently received the message, and reflected, and shown us that he has understood.
Will David Warner be able to muster the same kind of honesty? We’ll wait and see. But we won’t be able to forgive him if he shifts blame or minimises what happened. Scoring hundreds of runs won’t be enough to atone.
But what Easter shows us is that true forgiveness makes space for a second chance. When we say "I forgive you", we say "yes, what you did was wrong; but I am not going to crush you with your wrong". The crucifixion of Jesus Christ shows the serious mess that human beings are in. But it also shows how far God will go to get us back. He bears upon himself the weight of our mistakes. This matters because we could not bear it by ourselves.
You can see this with Smith. He has been asked to bear an intolerable burden in the shame and anger that has been directed against him. Now, he asks for forgiveness. Can we make space for him to have a second chance? Can we turn aside our wrath against him? It would mean seeing his year out of the game not as retribution, not as "doing the crime, doing the time", but as a time for personal growth and healing. It’s a chance to add to his greatness with the bat a greatness of soul. Can we help him to do that?
To be forgiven is to be liberated from your own past. It’s an extraordinary gift to be given. It’s like being told your cancer is in remission. Or that your home loan has been paid off by someone else. It makes every future moment precious. How could we hold back that gift from a man who is so filled with regret and remorse, and desire to change?
Dr Michael Jensen is the rector of St Mark's Darling Point and is the author of Is Forgiveness Really Free.