“Total Forgiveness- Part 3”
Text: Luke 6:27-36
9-8-2024
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. There was once a Pastor who arrived at his new church and on his first Sunday in the pulpit, he delivered a powerful sermon that really hit home. On the way out of church many people thanked him for the sermon. The next Sunday, he preached another powerful sermon. But a few people noticed that it was the exact same one as the week before. It seemed a little strange but nobody mentioned it. Well, this went on for several weeks with him repeating that sermon over and over. Finally, one of the Elders got up the gumption and said to the Pastor, “You know, you’ve preached the same sermon for the past month. How many more times are planning on repeating it?” The minister responded, “I’ll quit preaching it, when you folks start living it!”
Last week, after 2 sermons in a row about forgiveness, maybe some of you were wondering the same thing. And I’m tempted to say, “I’ll quit preaching it, when you folks start living it!” Instead, I’ll tell you that there’s so much we can learn yet about forgiveness that I could preach a month or more on this same topic. But I won’t. I do have one more sermon planned and then I’ll wrap it up… I promise. Hopefully the seeds of what we’ve been learning will continue to sprout and grow in your hearts. If per chance there are still questions about forgiveness after this sermon, please write them down or ask me personally. That way, down the road, we can address those specific concerns.
By this point I suspect there are already some questions. For example: “How can I forgive someone who is dead or that I’ve lost track of?” Or, “Am I supposed to forgive someone who isn’t even sorry for their sin against me?” Actually, both of these questions are directly related. You see, totally forgiving someone is not contingent on whether they seek to receive that forgiveness. It’s something we’re supposed to do regardless of the other person’s attitude. Listen closely. Even if they’re not sorry for what they’ve done, you should still forgive them. That may sound radical but it’s how God teaches us to forgive and it’s how He forgives us, so it must be right.
Perhaps you’re a little skeptical about that. Well, let me show it to you in the Bible. I’d direct your attention to the Gospel Reading from last week; Luke 15:11-24. Just to refresh your memory, this is the parable of the Prodigal Son. When that boy came to his senses (v.18), he decided to go home to his father and say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.” But even before the boy can get those apologetic words out of his mouth, the father runs up and embraces him. That’s because the Dad had already forgiven his wayward son before he said “I’m sorry.” God is the father in that story and us sinners are the wayward son. So apply that to our circumstances when someone has passed away or we don’t know their whereabouts. You can still forgive them in your heart regardless of whether you have the chance to settle the situation in person
Okay, but that son in the parable was actually sorry for the hurt and pain he had caused. What about the people who are not sorry? Well, let’s look at a short but very familiar Bible passage. In Luke 23:34 Jesus was dying on the cross and He looked down at the people who were mocking Him and who had crucified Him. He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” For all we know, many of those people went to their graves without ever confessing their sins or asking for forgiveness. And yet Jesus prayed for their forgiveness! Listen to me very closely. When Jesus died on the cross, He died for the sins of the whole world. That means He died even for the sins of unrepentant sinners. Forgiveness is available to them but sadly they’ve rejected it. And yet, their lack of repentance didn’t stop Jesus from asking His Father to forgive them.
Next, let’s look at our Gospel Reading for today. Listen again to verses 27-28: {Jesus said} “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Does Jesus say we’re only supposed to do all these nice things to repentant and apologetic friends? No, He says do it to your enemies. You can be sure that an enemy is not sorry for hurting you and is not about to seek forgiveness. Even so, Jesus says to forgive them. It doesn’t matter if they remain an enemy and refuse to ask for forgiveness. That’s got nothing to do with the miracle of forgiveness taking place in your heart. Your only job is to forgive and leave that other person’s attitude in God’s hands.
Does it sound impossible to forgive an unrepentant enemy? Yes, but that’s what God did. Listen to what St. Paul says in Romans 5:10: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” Jesus died on the cross for us while we were still God’s enemies and before we had ever confessed our sins or asked for forgiveness. That’s how He wants us to forgive others, including an unrepentant enemy.
I know what you’re thinking. “God is perfect and holy. I’m a sinner and I could never forgive that way!” You’re right. On your own you could never follow God’s example of total forgiveness. But that’s why we sing that verse from Psalm 51 in the Offertory after the sermon: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” God’s Holy Spirit can create that kind of a forgiving heart within us if we’ll just let Him.
Perhaps all this doesn’t sound fair. I mean, if you forgive someone for hurting you or doing wrong and they’re never forced to recognize their sin then they’re going get away with it scot-free, right? Wrong. Do you believe that God is fair and just? Well, He is and He’ll make things right. We don’t have to even the score. But if you honestly feel you just have to get revenge then my advice is: Go ahead and get revenge, but get it the way St. Paul said in our Reading from Romans 12. He says in verse 20, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Now we’re talking, huh? You want to do something really nasty to pay somebody back? Be nice to them. Or, as Jesus said, pray for them and ask God to bless them. I know it sounds backwards, but it works. It has to because it comes from God. That doesn’t mean that you set yourself up to be your enemy’s doormat or punching bag. We can be kind and forgiving without turning ourselves in victims. Just don’t stoop to their level. As St. Paul says, (v.21) “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Right about now, you may be thinking, “Okay, I know God wants me to forgive others and let go of their sins against me. But if I’m the victim, why should I have to keep giving and giving? What’s in it for me?” That’s a legitimate question. Well, guess what? There is something fantastic in this for you. God has an overwhelming peace for your mind and soul if you’ll practice total forgiveness. In other words, you will benefit from it. Think it through and you’ll see what I mean. If you refuse to forgive and let go of a hurt that was committed against you, who suffers? You do! People who hold onto that kind of bitterness only hurt themselves. Quite often, the person who did the damage couldn’t care less if you withhold forgiveness. Some of them will go through life, happy-go-lucky, while you get indigestion every time you think of them. Why get an ulcer or high blood pressure? Just let it go and turn it over to God.
I know, that sounds easier said than done. But trust me, you can do it with God’s help. Let me share with you how this miracle took place in my own heart and I’m confident that God will make it work for you too. Multiple times in the past I’ve had to practice this kind of Godly forgiveness. It’s not easy. In fact, it’s very difficult. You know why? Because even after I’ve said, “Lord, I want to forgive that person,” my mind keeps replaying what happened and those hurt feelings and resentment come back with a vengeance. Then I start dreaming up scenes where I meet that person and all the things I might say to them or what they might say to me. And before long, my stomach is in a knot and I can’t sleep because I keep dwelling on it. I can tell you from personal experience, that ain’t no fun.
But I’ve learned the secret of how to get those thoughts out of my mind. It’s found in the words of Jesus in verse 27-28 of our text. When my mind starts thinking of that person and what they did to hurt me, I stop and ask God to bless them. It’s the last thing in the world I want to do, but it’s what Christ has told me I should do. I pray that God will help me to forgive them and let go of the memory. Then I ask Him to truly bless them. And you know what happens? My mind stops replaying all those scenes that had me so worked up. That’s because you can’t stay upset with someone whom you’re asking God to bless. I’m confident it will work for you because it comes directly from God’s Word and His wisdom never fails. And here’s the unexpected twist. When you ask God to truly bless the other person, guess who also gets a blessing? You do because in place of all that bitterness you’ll receive a peace like you’ve never felt before. It will be the “peace that surpasses all understanding.” I challenge you to try it. You’ve got nothing to lose and only blessings to gain from it.
However, this is not a one-shot deal. You will have to do it over and over again. Yes, it will be hard at first. And you may have to turn off those memories by asking God to bless that person every single day for the rest of your life. The deeper the hurt, the more difficult it will be. Especially when it’s someone you were close to. But once you experience that inner peace from God, it gets easier and easier to practice total forgiveness.
Well, we’ve got one last question to answer: Does total forgiveness mean the same thing as total reconciliation? From a human standpoint, the answer is No. From God’s standpoint, the answer is Yes. As sinful human beings, we strive to be more and more like God with His help. But in this life, it will be a struggle. There are going to be situations where a person has hurt you that you are never going to be totally reconciled with them. Let’s use two examples of opposite extremes. Say a guy murdered someone you loved and wasn’t sorry for it. With God’s help, you can learn to forgive them. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to invite him over for dinner. Similarly, if someone close to you causes a deep hurt, even though you’ve forgiven them your relationship will probably never be the same. That’s just a sad fact of life in a fallen world. Can God rebuild a damaged relationship like that? Yes, and sometimes He even makes it stronger after forgiveness and reconciliation have happened.
This is especially important for us within the Christian Church. Listen again to Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5. He says, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us….” You see, it’s a powerful evangelism tool when people see us forgive one another. And when we’re able to be reconciled with people who we were at odds with it’s a living illustration to the world of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. By forgiving and striving for reconciliation we are preaching the Gospel of Jesus with the world. By our actions, they are seeing a reflection of what God has done for us and is offering to them. The best part is that in the process, we benefit, the other person benefits, and God smiles down with great pleasure as He sees His children imitating the love and forgiveness that He has showered upon us. May God give us all the humility and the courage to forgive the way that He has forgiven us. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria