Sunday Service | Forgiveness: August 16, 2020
This week of live-streaming was tough for our team behind the scenes, who worked diligently to figure out issues and problem solve on the fly of continuing to keep the cameras rolling. This paid off in solutions and plans for the future, and we are thankful for a community that doesn’t let a little out-of-sync audio keep us from gathering and staying connected with one another.
Jake Wyatt shared about how this season of staying at home has cultivated a new gift and talent within him--poetry. He read a poem entitled Endurance, which came out of picturing Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. This picture he related to our own needs and revelations in this season we are in, reminding us that Jesus knows our struggles and he is leading us to the other side--”where we can dance”--by his own example of endurance in the sacrifice he made on our behalf.
April continued teaching us on learning to become a good neighbor by showing us another action step on the path of the journey of becoming merciful: forgiveness.
Our path towards mercy continues in forgiveness--for others, for ourselves, and even for God.
For many of us, this looks like very specific circumstances and steps: walking the path of racial reconciliation and where we need forgiveness in that struggle; being so hard on ourselves that we need forgiveness and grace; or seeking forgiveness between us & God.
We are all in need of forgiveness, and we all need to become experts at it, because forgiveness equals freedom. Forgiveness equals peace. We need & want these in our lives and in our relationships.
Forgiveness is NOT about pardoning or forgetting an offense or even reconciliation--it is simply to know what has gone wrong, to feel it, and to choose freedom and wholeness through forgiveness of that wrong.
Forgiveness is one of the most holy things we can do; it is a heavenly act we get to receive and release to others or ourselves.
In looking back at Psalm 51 from last week, we see David asking for forgiveness for sin. Sin can be an overworked concept in the church, but in its most simplest form, sin is simply anything that separates us from God. Lamenting was a part of David’s process, and is a part of the forgiveness process as well; it allows us to feel this separation that sin has caused.
And after describing his feelings in verses 1-6, in verses 7-10, David asks for forgiveness. He asks to be clean; he asks for joy again in place of brokenness; and he asks for wholeness and freedom in place of separation.
David was in need--as all of us are--and asked God for forgiveness, for God to make something new out of all that sin has made wrong. Only forgiveness, true forgiveness, could answer those longings.
Unforgiveness is what hinders our ability to participate in the mercy that God calls us to in calling us to be a good neighbor. Unforgiveness builds walls and causes disunity, because it is at the heart of anger, resentment, and disunity.
In Ephesians 4.1-5, Paul writes to a community of new believers who are learning to walk out their faith with others, and we can learn from it as well. The bottom line of this passage is how we ought to treat others--and at the heart of it is that living in community calls us to forgive.
“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body... Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” - verses 25, 31-32
Our forgiveness frees us. It allows us to feel what we’ve been through and experience freedom.
Sometimes we have skewed ideas about forgiveness. It is not forgetting, not glossing over how we feel, not moving on in an effort to be a “peacemaker,” and it is not quick forgiveness.
Instead, forgiveness is our path to peace, real peace. And the road is hard, full of feelings and truths about what we have experienced. The path of forgiveness is a process, not a quick fix. We cannot get rid of anger and rage as Ephesians 4 says without feeling them.
Forgiveness means waking up, opening our eyes to the truth that forgiveness is a choice we can make. Forgiveness means that you don’t have to fix all the wrongs, but can start the process of making space to feel so that we can seek the forgiveness that releases us from them.
We are all in the same boat of needing this forgiveness--receiving it from God and extending it to others. Forgiveness is a daily posture we take to receive and extend.
Our anger, resentment, and bitterness keeps us guarded with hard hearts, unable to seek connection with God and with others. In forgiveness, we find community, our true selves, and intimacy with God. We are made to want more, to want something holy--and therefore the world and humans will always disappoint us in this. Christ’s example shows us that forgiveness is the healing we need when we face these disappointments. Forgiveness should be the heartbeat of our community.
So, how do we forgive?
The hardest part of forgiveness is where the rubber meets the road and we must take action. Here are some action steps:
See ourselves and others as humans. It is impossible for us to meet all the needs of others.
Accept that humans cannot give us what we long for.
Take time to feel the hurt, anger, and resentment. Without feeling through these feelings, we create imposter-forgiveness.
Take time to move towards forgiveness. It doesn’t have to be immediate; it’s a process.
Pray, pray, pray. In your feelings, in the situations that need the freedom of forgiveness, in the areas you don’t feel God’s forgiveness. In it all, pray.
Let the Lord fill you up. It will give you more capacity to feel through things and work towards forgiveness with him.
Without action, we are not moving down the path of forgiveness. So we pray and invite God in.
Consider this response:
Pray & invite God here. As you do, pray through these questions:
In what area of my life do I desire more freedom?
Is it possible that forgiveness could touch that area to offer it the freedom you desire?
Then, ask God to give you a picture of the newness you seek. Ask him to give you hope.