Daring to Forgive
Matthew 6:14-15
September 17, 2006
Morning Service
Introduction
Mitsuo Fuchida was the commander of the Japanese Air Force that led 860 planes against Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Jacob DeShazer was an American bomber pilot and on April 18th he flew a dangerous raid against the city of Nagoya. DeSazer lost his way and was forced to eject when the plane ran out of fuel. He was captured, tortured and threatened that they would kill him. For nearly two years, DeShazer suffered from hunger, cold and dysentery.
In May of 1944, he was given a Bible and after reading for weeks, DeShazer read Romans 10:9 and accepted Christ. As he continued to read he was struck by the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:44 - 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, DeShazer was a changed man and he began to treat the guards differently. With all hostility gone, he began to show those men the love Christ had shown him.
Following the war DeShazer returned to Japan as a missionary and distributed copies of his testimony “I was a prisoner of the Japanese.” The Japanese people were amazed by his forgiveness of his former enemies and flocked to hear him speak. DeShazer decided to start a church in the city that he had bombed years earlier.
As a result of his testimony, a former officer in the Japanese Air Force was saved and was eager to meet DeShazer. The two men became friends and began working to spread the gospel to all of Japan. That man was Mitsuo Fuchida, the leader of the Pearl Harbor attacks. Fuchida became one of the most successful evangelists in Japan. All of this happened because Jacob DeShazer made the decision to live a lifestyle of forgiveness.
When it comes to being like Christ, our biggest challenge just might be forgiveness. Forgiving others when they wrong us goes completely against our human nature. In fact, we are more likely to want to “settle the score” or “get even.” My brother would tell me don’t bother with getting even, just try to stay several ahead. This is our human perspective at its worst. We desire revenge or retribution. This is why Jesus gave so much attention to the issue of forgiveness.
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15
Major Misconceptions about Forgiveness
1. God’s Forgiveness is unconditional
There are two key conditions in gaining God’s forgiveness
a.) Repentance
To repent means to turn from your sin and turn toward Christ. Before God can forgive you, He wants you to come to Him
b.) Reciprocation
You need to forgive because you have been forgiven
2. Forgiveness is a one time need
Forgiveness is a need that never seems to move completely away from our Christian walk. As we grow in our relationship with God new things are revealed to us and at times there are things we need to ask forgiveness for.
3. You extend forgiveness only when asked
The thinking behind this is simple: you don’t need to forgive unless you are asked.
There was a woman in my first church who had suffered from horrible abuse by her step father. When she became a Christian this abuse became an issue. She felt that she needed to forgive her step father for all of the abuses but there was a problem. The step father never asked for the forgiveness and had died and could not ask. Her dilemma was clear, she knew she needed to forgive but there seemed to be no way to do so. My suggestion to her was to write her step father a letter. Tell exactly how she felt and express her forgiveness.
If you only forgive when someone asks, you completely miss the point Jesus is making. Forgiveness is an act of personal will. It is a choice and you make the choice to be either forgiving or unforgiving.
Four Reasons to extend forgiveness even when not asked
1.) The person may not know they wronged you or what the problem is
2.) The person may no longer have contact with you
3.) The situation continues to hurt you until you let it go
4.) You open yourself for further sin – anger, bitterness and resentment
The Greek word that Jesus uses in Matthew is aphiemi. This word has three major implications.
• To let alone or to disregard
• To let go – to keep no longer
• To leave – to go away from
The forgiveness that Jesus gives to us and wants us to give to others means several things. When forgiveness is given the matter is no longer held against the person. The situation is no longer remembered in a negative light. The person doing the forgiving is set free from the hurt and the pain.
The issue of unforgiveness hurts no one but you. Being angry or bitter towards someone or some situation only holds you in more bondage.
Listen to the words of Jesus in Luke 23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." When Jesus was crucified, He asked God to forgive those who were executing Him. Did any of those soldiers ask for forgiveness? No. Did any of the Sanhedrin who got Jesus crucified ask for forgiveness? Absolutely not.
I. Forgiveness is a command
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22
Look at what Peter asks Jesus. How many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Peter was looking for a hard and fast rule on the issue of forgiveness. The standard Jewish teaching was that you would forgive a person up to three times for the same offense. Peter was being extra generous by doubling the Pharisee’s number and adding one. Jesus then gives him a new rule on forgiveness. Not seven times but seventy seven times or some translations say seventy times seven. Either way the point is still clear. Jesus was not saying that we should forgive someone just seventy seven times or 490 times. We would keep track and wait for the time that they go over and then treat them horribly.
Why does Jesus do this? Forgiveness runs against the grain of our human nature. Jesus knew this and understood it. Jesus elaborated on this understanding in Luke 17:3-4.
So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, `I repent,’ forgive him." Luke 17:4
Jesus is telling Peter and us that the forgiveness of God is unlimited and ours needs to be unlimited as well. Think about it like this, do you really want God to keep track of all your wrongs even after you went to Him for forgiveness?
There is no slightest suggestion that we are offered forgiveness on any other terms. It is made perfectly clear that if we do not forgive we shall not be forgiven. CS Lewis Mere Christianity
Discipleship is not about mimicking Jesus or following His teachings. The goal of discipleship is to become like Jesus. When you make the choice to forgive, you are taking one more step to being like Christ.
II. Forgiveness brings you blessings
37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:37-38
There is a direct condition on the forgiveness that you receive from God. You must be willing to forgive others.
We are most like beasts when we kill. We are most like men when we judge. We are most like God when we forgive. – William Arthur Ward
III. Being unforgiving costs you more than you want to pay
The loss of Christ’s forgiveness
Think about all of the things that you have done in your life that needed God’s forgiveness. In comparison, are the things you’ve not forgiven any worse than yours? You cannot live as a disciple of Jesus until you adopt a lifestyle of forgiveness. When you refuse to forgive, you make the choice to not be like Jesus.
There are situations in life that are extremely difficult. There are times when we have been hurt in ways that are horrific. Let me say, that I am not trying to minimize anything that you may have experienced. If you’re a new Christian, you may need to start with smaller issues and work you way to the larger ones.
Jesus does understand your pain and hurt because he has been there. Jesus was abandoned by his closest friends, murdered by the people He came to save and rejected by His followers even today.
The loss of Christ’s fellowship
It is absolutely impossible to have the relationship that god wants you to have with Him if you harbor unforgiveness. The longer you hold on to your hurt, the more it takes from you. You will need to let go and forgive to go to the nest step in your walk with God.
In the end, is it really worth it to be unforgiving?
Conclusion
In the church that I grew up in there were tasks for each of the Sunday School classes. The teen class had the distinction of ringing the church bell. It was one of those tasks that I loved doing. My friends and would ring that bell as loud and as long as we could. The one thing about that bell was the way it sounded through the steeple. When the rope was pulled, the bell would ding and then there would be the second strike sounding the dong. The more you pulled the rope; the more sound would come out of that bell and the longer in would ring. The more we would pull on the rope the longer it took for the sound to fade away.
The same is true of the hurts in your life. The longer that you dwell on them, the more effect they have in your life. It is not until you let go that the pain fades away. The more you pull at those hurts and the more that you relive them, the more hold they have on you.
Today can be a watershed moment for you – today you need to let go of the rope of your hurts. You need to let go of the pain that you carry. Those moments that you refuse to forgive will continue to haunt you until you let them go.
