Show me where

In the gospel you proclaim

It instructs to dismiss

The person who offends you,

Who has hurt you, with malice

Or without

Sending them to sit elsewhere

Until you are ready to talk again.

Show me where

In the gospel you preach

It calls for punitive measures

For someone unrepentant,

Unpleasant, unwilling

To say what you would like to hear

Before you can offer them a place

At the table again.

Show me where

In the gospel you believe

It allows for anger to turn outward

To harm because you were harmed

And to let it destroy love

Without a second thought.

Show me where

In the gospel of the God you serve

That you’re supposed to curse the ones

Who nail you to a tree.

Show. Me.

And when you can’t,

Let me show you

What forgiveness looks like.