Tag Archives: Forgiveness

Doing Right

Ordinary Time

February 7, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Sirach 15:15-20
If you choose, you can keep the commandments,
   and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.
He has placed before you fire and water;
   stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.
Before each person are life and death,
   and whichever one chooses will be given.
For great is the wisdom of the Lord;
   he is mighty in power and sees everything;
his eyes are on those who fear him,
   and he knows every human action.
He has not commanded anyone to be wicked,
   and he has not given anyone permission to sin.

The first phase of this scripture hit me square in the face, not so much about the Ten Commandments but more about choosing to do right in general. I guess that many of us were taught to do the basic Commandments before we started school. Loving God was a given, and we prayed at each meal to share our love and thanksgiving. Lying was definitely forbidden in my home; honoring our parents was important, as was not envying others, not stealing, and definitely not taking God’s name in vain. Honoring the Sabbath meant we showed up and fully participated at the church every time it was open, and only the very necessary work was done, like feeding the cows on Sunday. We had to grow a little older to understand idols and adultery.

Are we not called to do what is right, what is just in all aspects of our lives? There is no way we could write a book that included all the instances to tell how to do right in all situations. So, besides these universal Commandments, we are provided other sage advice to guide us in making the right decision. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (Luke 6:31 and Matthew 7:12) Love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Mark 12:30-31) I think one of our problems with that one is we actually may be loving others as we love ourselves; we may not love ourselves. There is even help for that. We must learn to forgive ourselves as God forgives us. Once we realize we have sinned, we must do all we can to set it right, but then we must forgive ourselves and grow from the experience.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the broadness of your love as we grow in your wisdom and truth. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

God’s Mercy

Living in the Spirit

September 9, 2022

Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Andrae Crouch’s song My Tribute, came to mind as I read this scripture,

How can I say thanks
For the things You have done for me?
Things so undeserved
Yet You gave to prove Your love for me
The voices of a million angels
Could not express my gratitude
All that I am and ever hope to be
I owe it all to Thee*

God with us, Jesus Christ, is the source of mercy, which we all need at some time or another. In our busy lives, we forget about the need for mercy. Our actions and ways of being that call for mercy, I think stay with us until we deal with them. Regular self-examination is important, asking for mercy, and perhaps more important accepting mercy is necessary for us to continue in our work toward a better family, community, and world. Sometimes we may need to make amends for our behavior. God’s mercy carries us through the guilt and shame we may feel and helps us to turn around from our separation from God.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your mercy that enables us to overcome our shortcomings and be the person you created us to be. Amen.

See at *https://www.google.com/search?q=how+can+i+say+thanks+for+the+things+you+have+done+for+me+lyrics&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS987US987&oq=How+can+I+say+thanks+for+the+things+ou&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i22i30j0i390l4.12118j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Recognizing Whose We Are

Lent

March 27, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.’

Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”’ –Luke 15:11b-24

We come into the world being loved by God. We are God’s creation made in God’s image with gifts and talents designed to make a positive impact on the world around us. We come into the world with the gift of choice regarding how we reflect God and how we invest our gifts and talents. The prodigal son chose to squander not only his inheritance of being made in the image of God but also his gifts and talents. At the point of desperation when he realized the results of his actions, he returned to his Creator and asked for a second chance and it was granted with the fulness of God’s love and forgiveness.

Our world is full of prodigal adults and children who do not know whose they are and thus do not fully understand who they are. In fact, most of us have experienced isolation from God at one time or another, even those of us who work at doing everything right like the prodigal’s brother. Be assured in either case God welcomes all who search for God’s loving care.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we turn away and forge our lives outside of your loving care. Help us turn around and return to you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Come Holy Spirit

Living in the Spirit

June 7, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 7:37-39
On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

As yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified is curious wording for a writer with a Jewish background. The second verse of Genesis mentions the spirit of God. The Hebrew Bible contains over 200 references to the spirit. Psalm 51:11 is a prayer that pleads, Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Was there a sense among Jesus’s followers that the spirit had been taken away? Perhaps driven away would be more descriptive. We lose contact with the Spirit when we think we know more than God. Jesus instructs in Matthew 12:31, Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Must we recognize that we are doing something wrong before we can be forgiven?

What happens when the failure to follow the guidance of the Spirit becomes an epidemic in society? We cluster in groups sharing not in God’s righteousness but in communal self-righteousness. We see only what we choose to see within our closed communities losing sight that all people are God’s children. We ignore the ways of God as we search hopelessly for gods that reflect our thinking that foster the evil that persuades us. We all need to read and comprehend the book of Amos again or for the first time.

One of the tricky things about a democracy created as a government of the people, by the people, for the people is we the people own both its failures and successes. Our government is made in our image, and I, for one, do not like what I am seeing. The changes needed begin with us. We need to look deeply into God’s mirror to see how closely our images reflect the image of a God whose prime directive was to love God and love one another. The fear is that we have drifted so far from the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we cannot see our way back to being aligned with God.

It is never too late. God loves all God’s children and wants the very best for us. God wants us to want the very best for each other. To do that, we must let go of thinking we know more than God.

Prayer: Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me forgive me. Forgive me for departing from you. Cleanse me of my prejudices and guide me to see the world through your loving eyes. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Faith and Politics

Epiphany

January 10, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Acts 10:34-43

They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’ –Acts 39b-43

What happens after we are forgiven of our sins?

I split the above Scripture reading between yesterday and today in the middle of verse 39. It made sense when I did it but when I saw that choice resulted in the pronoun “They” as the start of the first sentence, I thought I needed to add back in the people it was describing. The “they” has no named people. The Greek referring to the land of the Jews* is translated Judea by the New Revised Standard Version. Whether the “they” is referring to the Jews is not clear. Who killed Jesus in the final analysis is a political question. The Romans tried him, found him guilty, and hung him on the cross. The Jewish faith leaders instigated the process. The ambiguous “they” in both the English and the Greek walks the tightrope of political correctness to get to the gist of the message. Whoever sins can and will receive forgiveness through the name of Jesus Christ.

The news reported this week that the USA killed an Iranian general we considered a terrorist. The Iranian army retaliated by shooting several missiles onto two USA military bases in Iraq that did not hurt or kill anyone but did some damage to equipment. The Iranians reported to their own people that there were multiple casualties. The USA claimed we knew the missiles were coming and took the precautions needed to keep soldiers and others out of harms way. The possibility exists that Iran pick targets sans people. We probably will never be able to fully trust anything regarding this situation. In the meantime, a passenger plane flying from Iran to Ukraine was apparently hit by something, crashed and all 176 persons aboard were killed. I am sure that both the USA and Iran will say they had nothing to do with the crash. Our sins impact innocent people.

God does forgive us of sins. Our response, in lasting appreciation, must be to change our behavior and never return to the behavior again.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for forgiving us repeatedly for the same and different sins. We pray for your guidance and support in learning from our mistakes and remaking our lives like yours. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/interlinear/acts/10-39.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Forgiveness

Kingdom Building

July 12, 2019

Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:1-14

For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. –Colossians 1:9-14

The Greek word, hamartia*, translated sin above basically means missing the mark or failure. It is the brand of sin that emphasizes its self-originated (self-empowered) nature – i.e. it is not originated or empowered by God. Most humans do not like to fail and often experience shame when they fail. Shame can lead to giving up.

Using terms like missing the mark or failure implies that we are trying to reach some goal. This definition of sin demands an objective, demands that we have identified behaviors we want to change. Loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves are goals which we are agreeing to pursue actively with intentionality. Learning from our mistakes is key to our learning to love like God. God enables that through God’s forgiveness.

God’s forgiveness of sins in a very real sense is a freeing from the bondage of shame and any other self-deprecating response we may have to missing the mark.  It is not that God is saying our failure is no big deal. It is God’s recognition that missing the mark/failure is a great learning tool when we can get passed our embarrassment or our loss of self-worth if we do not measure up to our own expectations or societies. Think how many times infants fall before they walk. Think how many three pointers a basketball player misses in practice before he or she figures out the best form needed to hit a shot. Think about how many attempts it takes to love someone who may not know what love is. God’s forgiveness allows us to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and try again.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for forgiving us of our sins. Help us invest ourselves in learning from all our failures. Amen.                                                                                                               

*https://biblehub.com/greek/266.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Revenge

Kingdom Building

June 17, 2019

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-7, 8-15a

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.’ Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’ He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. –1 Kings 19:1-7

Revenge and hate eat the people who practice them from the inside out. They may or may not impact their adversary by their actions and feelings, but they will definitely hurt themselves.  This understanding matters because as followers of Christ we are called to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. When we conjure revenge and hate even in our hearts, we are denigrated out love for ourselves and our neighbors. Often our need to hit back at someone for doing something we perceived as negative toward us is the result of our owning the shame of the accusation whether we should or should not.  While we may need to seek forgiveness for something we have done, we also need to learn to forgive ourselves and we do that best when we confess to God and open our hearts to God’s healing.

Elijah fled from Jezebel after she threatened him. He was cared for and nurtured by the angels. He turned his response to Jezebel’s wrath over to God choosing to use his time more productively in his work as a prophet. Think about how much time we waste stewing over small and great insults or mistreatment. God needs us to have our heads on straight and be ready to serve God than wasting time plotting revenge.

Prayer: Lord, heal our souls, make us whole so we can love like Jesus. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Missing the Mark

Lent
April 15, 2019

Scripture Reading: Acts 10:34-43

Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

 Sin: missing the mark; hence: (a) guilt, sin, (b) a fault, failure (in an ethical sense), sinful deed*. Also Hebrew to go astray

How many of us were raised to think that the definition of sin is breaking God’s laws? Perhaps breaking God’s laws could be a part of missing the mark, but that definition certainly has a broader meaning. Laws of any kind are basically shortcuts to order. Traffic laws are designed to help transportation move smoothly and limit accidents. God’s laws, too, are shortcuts to the order of our behavior. Shortcuts once know and understood allow us to function without having to take the time to figure out the best way to deal with a given situation. Thou shall not lie has saved a lot of children from a lot of trouble. Ditto for adults and the law to not commit adultery. Break them and we face the consequences of our actions. Indeed, breaking a law may be manifested in sinning but the breaking of a law is not included in the definition of sin.

The definitions of sin quoted above is based in activities of living going astray, missing the mark, failing to be ethical in all we do, a sinful deed implies doing something that hurts another or others. The problem with sin is that it interferes with our fulfilling our call to be the image of God to one another, loving one another. Living our lives in sin can impede the lives of others. The more we get caught in the web of sin the more it steals our gifts from being used to fulfill our calling.

God created restorative justice. God’s forgiveness of our sins frees us to continue our tasks toward creating a world ruled by love. It is certainly important that we learn from the times we have missed the mark or gone astray but being weighted down by guilt and shame limits our ability to make a positive contribution to God’s vision of God’s Kingdom. Through forgiveness God removes that weight for the betterment of all.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for forgiving our sins and restoring our role in building a loving world. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/266.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Love and Forgiveness

Eastertide
April 26, 2018

Scripture Reading: 1 John 4:7-21

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. –1 John 4:7-12

One of the great apes at our zoo had a baby recently. The local news showed sweet pictures of the mother ape kisses and nuzzling her baby. I think that is a form of love. Perhaps all of God’s creature received the ability to love at their creation. John tells us in our scripture today that all love comes from God and starts with the fact that God loves each of us. Sharing the knowledge of that truth is part of our purpose as followers of Christ. But life happens, and love can get distorted even from very early ages. Thus, another part of our purpose is striving for wholeness for ourselves and journeying with others striving for wholeness in loving themselves and others.

Jesus commanded: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31) I fear many of our problems result from our doing exactly that when we do not love ourselves we love our neighbors incompletely too. We must implement this commandment in its totality. Loving oneself relates to wholeness, not selfishness or being self-centered. It is perhaps a paradox, but we are only fully capable of loving another when we are comfortable enough in our own skin to risk loving another. God takes that risk with each and every one of us.

So how do we learn to love ourselves as God loves us? A good place to start is seeking God’s forgiveness for those areas for which we cannot forgive ourselves. With the assurance that God does forgive, God also will enable us to forgive ourselves when we are not perfect. We must learn from mistakes for sure, but then move on. The next step is to forgive others. When we have been hurt or even harmed by someone we often incorporate the pain as part of our self-awareness. There has never been a perfect parent, spouse, friend, co-worker. Let go of the negatives that reshape us and give them to God. God will remold us and remake us as God created us if we let God.

Prayer: Lord, enable me to forgive and to learn from mistakes rather than regress. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Reducing our Baggage Load

Lent
March 13, 2018

 Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

How much emotional, spiritual, physical, social baggage do we carry around every moment of every day? I know I carry physical baggage. I do not climb stairs without holding on to a handrail for fear of falling even though I now have new knees on both legs. I have spent too many years stumbling around with undependable knees. While holding on to handrails is not the end of the world it is a good example of how our past shapes our here-and-now. Children who are given the subliminal message that they are not worthy have a deep hole to ascend to wellbeing. Making friends is hard for youth who both bully and are bullied. Spiritual scares too impact our wholeness. We all can take heart in Jeremiah’s words of God: No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

A lot of healing begins with forgiving. Forgiving others who may have caused us harm intentionally or unintentionally frees us to heal as does forgiving ourselves. None of us are perfect; all of us have at one time or another been a stumbling block to ourselves or another.

While I believe that God is all-powerful I find it unfathomable that God can remember our sin no more. Most likely I feel that way because I cannot let some things go. We should not project onto God our shortcomings. We should ask God to enable us to be more like the Lord.

Lent is a great time to practice all aspects of forgiving and just as important allow God to erase from our memories those things that hold us back from being who we really are which God declared good from our very beginning.

Prayer: Lord, equip us to be forgivers and forgetters of all that hinders us from serving you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.