6-9-2022

Good Morning!    

               Ephesians 4:32; “Be kind to each other, sympathetic, forgiving each other as God has forgiven you through Christ.”

    A group of pastors were sitting at a conference and discussing our understanding of forgiveness and how it worked and should be applied in the “real world” and not just theoretically. While discussing the topic, one pastor relayed a story from a previous congregation that always played over in his mind when forgiveness was the topic.

    He had a woman member of his church who was violently raped.  She didn’t know the rapist and he used a weapon to threaten her.  After a couple of years, the man was caught and convicted.  She was given the opportunity to confront him as part of a counseling program through the prison.  As he sat across from her, she looked at him and said, “I forgive you” she stood up and walked out.  Most of us were pretty amazed which is amazing in itself.  Here we sat, all Lutheran pastors, and we were amazed at forgiveness in action.

     He talked to her a few months after the exchange.  He asked her about forgiving this man.  Her answer was intriguing.  She said she forgave him because she had to.  She explained that this wasn’t a requirement as much as it was to fill the need to move on.  As long as she didn’t forgive him, the rapist controlled her life.  She forgave him in order to move on with her life.  Forgiveness was allowing her to put the past in the past and go forward with her life.

     This is a component of forgiveness we often forget.  Our sin separates us from God both because our sin causes us to turn from God but also because God abhors sin.  The breach between us is incredible.  By forgiving us, God fixes the breach.  God “had to” forgive us in order to get us past the divide that we caused.

    We too, “have to” forgive in order to move past the pain of the past.  Holding onto past pains, no matter how great, often only serves to keep us separated from life.  We go about dejected, feeling rejected, and at loss and apart from God.  So, we “have to” forgive, as much for the forgiver as for the “forgivee.”  Forgiveness fixes the divides in our life.  It fixes our internal strife as much as our external relationships.  This is because forgiveness is the heart and core of our relationship with God.  We are only righteous before him because he forgives us.  Forgiveness is the core of our relationship with God, with others and with ourselves.  We need God’s forgiveness.  We need to forgive others to get past the pain of the past and we need to forgive ourselves in order to let go of sins that, while forgiven by God, tend to drag us down.  Forgiveness is God’s unique gift for us.  It frees us from the power of the devil.  Embrace it!

Dear Father, your forgiveness moves through my life changing it forever.  Give me the courage to use the forgiveness to live my life freely for you.  Help me to forgive those who need it most especially when it is me.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen. 

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret