At a convention with their wives, two businessmen who had been roommates in college crossed paths. They sat in the lobby all night talking. They knew they would be in trouble with their wives. The next day they happened to see each other. "What did your wife think?"
"I walked in the door and my wife got historical."
"Don’t you mean hysterical?”
"No, historical. She told me everything I ever did wrong."
Have you ever met those people, the ones who seem to rehash the past forever? The ones who seem to live in their memories more than in the present? The ones who can’t seem to get past some issue, some hang-up, some roadblock in their past? As if they are still chained to something years ago.
The ancient Sages of Israel said that there were 4 groups of people for whom it would have been better if they had never been born; Those who dwell on things Above (heaven – people who think so much of heaven they are of no earthly good); Below (hell/grave/afterlife, etc.); Before (only think of future); and Behind (live in past)
Matthew 18.21-35
God offers and commands forgiveness
He can because he has already paved the way
Yeshua (Jesus) is the author/pioneer of our faith
Two Questions about Forgiveness:
I. Is Forgiveness an Obligation or Opportunity? (YES)
A. Obligation – If I want forgiveness, I must Forgive
1. Law of Sowing and Reaping
2. A man named General Oglethorpe once said to John Wesley: “I never forgive and I never forget.” To which Wesley replied: “Then, sir, I hope that you never sin.”
3. Matthew 6.14-15
B. Opportunity:
1. To Be Like God –
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3.12-13
20But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4.20-24
a. Extravagant in Forgiveness
b. Doing more than the minimum - Rabbis – 3 times/Peter 7 times/Yeshua(Jesus) – 70 times seven or 77 times
1) Lamech – Genesis 4.23-24
23Lamech said to his wives:
"Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.
24 If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,
then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold."
2) Forgive beyond revenge
Mitsuo Fuchida was one of the pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor. This man took part in many of the major battles in the Pacific. He was there on the deck of the USS Missouri at the surrender ceremonies. Though defeated, he was pleased with his behavior as a pilot. After the war, though, he became disillusioned. He was surprised to learn that Japanese POWs were treated humanely—a sharp contrast to the Japanese treatment of Allied prisoners. He also learned of a woman who ministered to the Japanese prisoners. Her parents were missionaries to Japan but had been beheaded by his countrymen. She had forgiven the Japanese and met the needs of their captured soldiers. Such love led him to the Bible. He eventually became a Christian, and later an evangelist. Before his death in 1976, he led many to Christ through his preaching in Japan and the United States. Transformation started when one woman chose to forgive like Christ. (Illustration 340 in Something to Think About; edited by Raymond McHenry)
- Consider the following two words of wisdom: “Whoever opts for revenge should dig two graves.” (Chinese proverb)
2. To Appreciate Our Forgiveness
a. We can forget
b. Forgiving is a constant reminder
3. To Remember that No One Has Suffered more Abuse than God
Adam & Eve; Cain & Abel; People of Noah’s day; our day (2 Peter 3.9-10)
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
II. Does Forgiveness Bring Freedom or Slavery?
Old Joe was dying. For years he’d been at odds with Bill, formerly one of his best friends. Wanting to straighten things out, he sent word for Bill to come and see him.
When Bill arrived, Joe told him that he was afraid to go into eternity with such bad feelings between them. Then, very reluctantly and with great effort, Joe apologized for things he had said and done. He also assured Bill that he forgave him for his offenses.
Everything seemed fine until Bill turned to go. As he walked out of the room, Joe called out after him, “Now, just remember, if I get better, this doesn’t count.”
A. Tendency to Hold Grudges – Hold 8 Oz. of water and see how long you are able;
1. Unforgiving Spirit/Grudges put us into prisons/Torture (Matthew 18.34-35)
2. May feel imprisoned by forgiving – opposite is true
3. God offers us freedom – His way (Matthew 18.27)
5Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6"I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
7 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8I am the LORD; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them." (Isaiah 42.5-9)
B. There is Importance in Letting Go of Grudges
1. Not Easy – Do-able with HS
2. Unforgiving Spirit is a subtle sin we are not always aware of
3. Dangerous – may not cause accidents/overdoses/ but divides spouses/families/churches
4. Letting go gives freedom
The year was 1947. It was almost two full years after the liberation of Auschwitz, as Corrie Ten Boom, a survivor of that terrible concentration camp, stepped forward in a German church to share her testimony. As she stepped forward, she prayed that God would use her words to bring about healing, forgiveness, and restoration. When she finished her message, a man stepped forward, moving his way through the crowd of people there to talk to Corrie. He looked familiar… like she’d seen him somewhere before. As she looked into his eyes, it all became crystal clear. She recognized him. She could see him in the uniform holding a whip. She remembered her sister dying a slow and painful death at his hands. The memories came flooding back to here – memories from Auschwitz and this man who had been a guard at the camp.
He spoke with his eyes looking sadly into hers. He said, “I’m a Christian now. I know that God has forgiven me, but will you forgive me?” He stretched his hand to receive hers. Corrie stood there for what must have seemed like an eternity, although it was probably only a moment or two. She knew that she needed to make a choice. Would she forgive the man at whose hand she experienced so much pain, hurt, and humiliation? Would she? Could she?
She silently prayed, “Jesus, I need your help. I can lift my hand, but you need to supply the feeling.” She slowly raised her hand, reached out to the man and took his hand in hers. As she reached out, a warm sensation filled her heart. God was indeed faithful. She said, “I forgive you, brother – with my whole heart.”
That day, former guard and former prisoner were both healed and set free from the bondage of bitterness and anger.
Conclusion
1. Sometimes we don’t forgive because:
a. We want to be victims – easier than standing up; gain attention; sympathy
b. We are in control
Surrender your right to get even.
- The mother ran into the bedroom when she heard her seven-year-old son scream. She found his two-year-old sister pulling his hair. She gently released the little girl’s grip and said comfortingly to the boy, "There, there. She didn’t mean it. She doesn’t know that hurts." He nodded his acknowledgement, and she left the room.
As she started down the hall the little girl screamed. Rushing back in, she asked, "What happened?"
The little boy replied, "She knows now." [source: www.preachingtoday.com]
2. We can forgive when we remember how much God has forgiven us (power of Lord’s Supper)
3. Life-giving 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2.13-14
