Reflections on "Grab Bag: Why Forgive?" Luke 6: 37-38; 2 Corinthians 2: 5-11

Sermon went ok.  I enjoyed it, particularly working with David Lose's comments (Move 2) on the story of the sinful woman.  Probably would have made that the primary text if I were to pick the texts again.  I have referenced him twice in recent sermons (from different blog resources), which makes me want to see what he has written lately.

The sermon left me wanting to explore two areas more:  the idea of forgiving but not forgetting (reading Jeremiah 31 as the text) and reflecting on Paul's letter that we read in the context of how forgiveness impacts the whole community.

the fourth paragraph of the sermon below (about grab bag sermons) was actually shared before the Scripture reading, along with the suggestion that if the listeners had a go-to text for forgiveness to feel free to reflect on that while the sermon was being preached.  I think that made the opening illustration more powerful since I went straight into the rest of the sermon without talking about the ongoing preaching process.

“Why Forgive” August 23, 2013; Grab bag series; Luke 6: 37-38; 2 Corinthians 2: 5-11

Introduction:  Ernest Gordon, in his book through the Valley of the Kwai tells the story of being held captive by the Japanese during WWII. He was a non-believer until he experiences the literally lifesaving help from Christian prisoners.  Being a follower of Christ changed his life and the way he lived and viewed his imprisonment.

When the soldiers arrived to liberate the camp where Gordon was being held, the soldiers were so “infuriated by what they saw that they wanted to shoot the Japanese guards on the spot.  Only the intervention of the victims prevented them.  Captors were spared by their captives. (230).

An unimaginable act of forgiveness that was made possible because they Gordon and others lived out Jesus’ call to forgive.

This morning as my last grab bag sermon of the summer, I want to reflect on the question one of you submitted that asked “Why forgive?”

Move 1: partly we forgive because forgiveness is about us.

            a. "Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” Oscar Wilde

b. Forgiveness allows us to move on.

1.            To not forgive hurts me more than it does the person who has hurt me.  

2.            Surely, you know a person who plays the same story over and over – the story of how they were wronged. 

3.            It gets told again and again, refined and expanded.

4.            In the retelling, the person remains captive to what has happened. 

5.            Long after the sin has take place; perhaps long after the person who committed the sin has forgotten what happened, the person is still holding on to the sin.

6.            It keeps us from moving forward.

7.            It continues to live in me until I forgive.

8.            Forgiveness releases us from that bondage.

c.      Forgiveness allows us to move beyond our selfish tendencies.

1.       Number of studies has found that narcissists are less likely to forgive others. They see others’ transgressions against them as a debt and want them repaid. 

2.      It is not about the act of forgiveness that must be mutually lived out, but about what the person can do for me.

3.      Interestingly enough, narcissists are also less wiling to forgive God for their problems or troubles in their own lives.”  the Narcissism Epidemic:  Living in the Age of Entitlement, Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell, 245)

4.      The world shrinks to only being about the person. 

5.      Forgiving pushes us beyond ourselves into engaging others in meaningful ways.

Forgiveness is about us.

Move 2:  Partly, Forgiveness is about the person being forgiven.

1. We read in the Gospel of Luke Jesus telling us to forgive.

1.  If we look to the next chapter in Luke, we read about the sinful woman who finds Jesus in the house of the Pharisee and brings a jar of ointment and uses that and her tears to bathe Jesus’ feet and then dry them with her hair.

2.  The Pharisee is perturbed that Jesus will associate with this sinful woman and let her wash his feet.
3.  Jesus asks the Pharisee the question:  if a creditor forgives two debtors, one who owes 50 denarii and one who owes 500 denarii, who will love him more?
4. The Pharisee rightfully answers that the debtor who owes the 500 denarii.
5. Jesus then transitions that story into a comment on how little hospitality the Pharisee has shown Jesus compared to the great love shown to him by the sinful woman.
1. Then we get it.
2. The woman shows what it is like to be forgiven.
3. She is overwhelmed with gratitude.
4. As David Lose writes about forgiveness:  “Forgiveness also gives you back yourself. You see, after a while, being indebted, owing others, knowing yourself first and foremost as a sinner — these realities come to dominate and define you. You are no more and no less than what you’ve done, the mistakes you’ve made, the debt you owe. When you are forgiven, all those limitations disappear and you are restored, renewed, set free. So, yes, forgiveness is everything.” David Lose insight from http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=2601
5. The woman who has been forgiven has a new lease on life.
6. Paul describes that in his letter to the Corinthians.  Apparently someone in their community of faith has sinned against another of them, and they are being very hard on the person.
7. Paul calls them to “Forgive and console him” so that he “not overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.”
8. Paul recognizes that for the man who has sinned to move forward in his life, he has to be forgiven.
2. We who know God’s forgiveness should know that sense of gratitude and that opportunity for new life.
2. When we forgive, we offer that gift to others.
3. We invite them to new life.

Forgiveness is about the person we forgive.

Move 3:  Perhaps most importantly, forgiveness allows us to live into the image of God in which we are created.

            a.  Jewish story – God chose to forgive before creating

                        1.  Story told that before creating God looked for4ward to see how it would work.

                        2. God saw betrayal and sin.

                        3. God realized that God would have to forgive.

                        4. So before creating, God decided to forgive.

            b. Fundamentally, God is a forgiving God.

            c. if we want to live into the image of God in which you were created, you need to forgive.  It is in our godly DNA, so to speak.

1.      Jesus forgives and models it for us.

2.      Jesus tells us to forgive.

3.      Not just because it is the right thing to do; not because it is the moral thing to do, although both might be true;  but because it is who we are called to be as children of God.

Conclusion: Bishop Desmond Tutu, as he reflected on the Commission on Reconciliation's work to bring about reconciliation.  On the other side, when I say "no, not quite," I have found breathtaking and, in fact, exhilarating the magnanimity of people, the incredible nobility of spirit of people who have suffered as much as they have suffered. So many of them are ready to forgive, which sometimes makes you feel as though you should take your shoes off because you are stepping on holy ground." http://commonwealmagazine.org/971209is/09129713.htm

Jesus invites us…Jesus tells us to step onto the holy ground of forgiveness.