among people as they approach the Holy Supper. At that moment some
people say to their friends, ‘Forgive the wrongs I have done,’ figuring that
this will satisfy goodwill’s requirements. But I have thought to myself
that this is only the semblance of goodwill, not a real form of its essence.
Some who say this are themselves unforgiving people, and some put no
effort into the pursuit of goodwill. People like this are not the people
mentioned in the prayer the Lord himself taught us: ‘Father, forgive us
our wrongs, just as we forgive people who wrong us.’
“Wrongs are like wounds. Unless they are opened up and cleansed,
pus gathers in them and infects neighboring tissues, creeping outward
like a serpent and corrupting the blood on all sides. It is the same with
wrongs against our neighbor. If they are not removed by repentance and
by living as the Lord commands, they remain and become more deeply
entrenched.
“People who merely pray to God to remove their sins but don’t do
any repentance are like people who live in some city and are infected with
a contagious disease. They go to the mayor and say, ‘Master, cure us.’
Surely the mayor is going to tell them, ‘Why do you ask me to cure you?
Go to a doctor, find out what medicine to take, get some from the
apothecary, and take it. Then you’ll be cured.’ If people beg for their sins
to be forgiven without doing any actual repentance, the Lord will tell
them, ‘Open the Word and read what I said in Isaiah: “Woe to a sinful
nation, heavy with injustice. As a result, when you stretch out your hands
I hide my eyes from you. Even if you increase your praying, I do not hear
it. Wash yourselves. Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes.
Stop doing evil. Learn to do good,” and then your sins will be removed
and forgiven (Isaiah 1 : 4 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ).’”
[ 13 ] After these speeches I raised my hand and asked whether I could
offer an opinion even though I was a stranger. The chairperson put it to
the group. After they agreed I said, “My opinion is that goodwill is to act
in all our work, and in every role we have, with judgment based on a love for
justice—but only if that love comes solely from the Lord God the Savior.All
the definitions I heard from the people in the seats to the right and the
left are well-known examples of goodwill. Nevertheless, as the chair of
this gathering said at the outset, goodwill is originally spiritual. It is
earthly only by derivation. When earthly goodwill is inwardly spiritual,
to the angels it looks as clear as a diamond. When earthly goodwill is not
inwardly spiritual, however, and is therefore merely earthly, to the angels
it looks opalescent, like the eye of a cooked fish.
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