A Second Chance at Forgiveness

Forgiveness is not…

Approving it
Enabling it
A one time event
Forgetting it
Trusting

Choosing not to forgive is choosing to live backwards.

Forgiveness frees up the energy it takes to bear the burden of anger indefinitely.

Because God has forgiven all our sins, we should not withhold forgiveness from others.

The Perfect Forgiveness of Jesus

Forgive them all (I John 1:9)

Cast them into the sea (Micah 7:9)

Take them away (Isaiah 6:7)

Cover them up (Psalm 32:1)

Blot them out (Acts 3:19)

Put them away (Hebrews 9:26)

Remember them no more (Hebrews 8:12)

Whom have you harmed?

Who has harmed you?

Are you willing to give forgiveness a second chance?

Forgiveness

“He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.” – George Herbert

How important is it to forgive? Eternally important.
The past is consuming to the person who doesn’t forgive.

We become stuck.
We fantasize vindication.
We look at relationships surrounding the offense in a possessive manner.
We cling to bitterness as our beverage of choice.
We talk about it to people who have no business hearing of it.
We dream going back, doing things differently, saying something more damaging, and avoiding the offense.
My unwillingness to love and forgive makes life about me and NOT the Incarnation of Jesus who longs to abide in me. God silences His voice because He sees only one thing in the past: The Cross-the ultimate iconoclast of unforgiveness.

Prayer:
Lord, when You were on trial, You would not speak to save Your life. Teach me the art of trust and forgiveness even when I am in the midst of wrongs done to me. Teach me to speak grace and truth, not so much in a desire to be seen as right, but rather to humbly participate in the ministry of reconciliation.

The One who created life became obedient unto death.
When we forgive we forfeit our miseries and choose to live in the presence. We no longer have the need to marinade in the poison of nurtured malice. We lose our self-important disappointments. We embrace everything that Jesus, on the cross, suffered to apprehend.

Reflect

Who have you harmed?
Who has harmed you?
Are you willing to forgive today?

Understanding Forgiveness
Choosing not to forgive is choosing to live backwards. Forgiveness frees up the energy it takes to bear the burden of anger indefinitely. Because God has forgiven all our sins, we should not withhold forgiveness from others.

The Price

This reading could be used during the Easter season or for a Lord’s Supper service. The voice-over part could be a recorded voice, an offstage voice, or readers onstage.

Scripture Reader 1: “Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.”

Scripture Reader 2: “The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying,”

Scripture Reader 1: “‘Hail, king of the Jews!’”

Scripture Reader 2: “And they struck him in the face.”

Voice-over: Christianity is the laughingstock of our society! It’s for weak-minded people who can’t live their own lives.

Scripture Reader 1: “When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’ As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify! Crucify!’”

Voice-over: If there is a God, He has a lot of explaining to do. We are the product of evolution. Jesus was simply an insane leader glorified by the masses. People back then believed in anything.

Scripture Reader 2: “Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.”

Scripture Reader 1: “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).”

Voice-over: It’s your body. Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have a right to terminate the pregnancy. Take charge of your life. It can all be reversed.

Scripture Reader 2: “When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.”

Voice-over: We really ought to live together before we even think about marriage.

Voice-over: Did you hear what I heard about Martha? She is the lowest!

Voice-over: You’ve got to be there. The party is going to be wild: free booze, ecstasy, ludes, you name it!

Voice-over: Come on. Take it! The cashier’s busy. She’ll never know.

Scripture Reader 1: “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”

Voice-over: (as to a child) When will you ever grow up! You come here right now. I’m gonna give you a beating you’ll never forget.

Scripture Reader 1: “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”

Scripture Reader 2: Forgive them

Whispered Voice-over: Hate