Sermon # 36 - Learning To Forgive Series

For our meditation we will study Jonah 4:1, “Jonah was very unhappy about this and became angry.” (GNB)

When the prophet Jonah preached to the people in the city of Nineveh, they took his words seriously, repented, and had a change of heart. God relented from punishing the people of Nineveh, and this made Jonah unhappy and angry. This is an interesting turn of events, as Jonah himself had a little while ago, disobeyed God’s word to go to Nineveh, and went in an opposite direction to Tarshish. God had to stop Jonah by sending a furious storm, and Jonah was thrown into the sea. However, God in His mercy prepared a huge fish that swallowed Jonah, where he remained for three days and three nights. This is what Jonah did from inside the fish.

We read in Jonah 2:1-2, “From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God: When I was in trouble, LORD, I prayed to you, and you listened to me. From deep in the world of the dead, I begged for your help, and you answered my prayer.”(GW)

Jonah 2:6, “I had sunk down below the underwater mountains; I knew that forever, I would be a prisoner there. But, you, LORD God, rescued me from that pit.” (GW)

God was gracious to Jonah, forgave him, and gave him another chance. It seemed that Jonah had set a certain standard for himself, and had a standard that was totally different for the people of Nineveh. Jonah wanted God to forgive Him, but was not able to accept the forgiveness that God extended to the people of Nineveh.

Those who want God to forgive them of their sins, and are not wanting the same grace, mercy and forgiveness of God given to others are in error in their thinking. Let us consider all that Jesus did for all of mankind as recorded in the verses below.

The sinless Christ died for sinners

We read in Romans 5:6, “Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful.”(CEV)

Also in Romans 5:9, “But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life's blood, we will also be kept safe from God's anger.” (CEV)

While we were helpless, and in a situation where nothing we did could ever atone for our sins, Christ Jesus died for sinful humanity. God the Father sent His only Son Jesus into this world, so that He could take on the sins of all mankind, so that everyone who believes on Him, could be made righteous. The word ‘justice or judge’ is usually used in a court of law. To be just or righteous therefore implies that one is considered as not having sinned, and this was brought about by the fact that Jesus took this punishment on Himself. God the Father made Jesus who knew no sin, to bear all of our sins on Himself, and thereby God freed us from the bondage of sin.

When God has so graciously forgiven us of all our sins, we have no right to withhold forgiveness from others. We are in strange times wherein if someone does wrong, it has become a habit of some others to mock and make a big deal of their mistakes, irrespective of who they are, be it a minister of God or a politician. Sometimes, even a small error in pronunciation, is made into a cartoon, jeered at, widely publicized, and sadly some have made it their full time job to do so. Yet another way people deal with the wrongs of others is to bring them up in debates, and thereby make it a major issue.

All of us are aware that our sins are laid bare before God, and nothing is hidden from His sight. The very fact that we are alive is only because of His grace. If God were to punish us for every sin we committed, known or unknown, none of us would be alive. With this realization, it would be wise for us to be cautious before finding fault or pointing a finger at others.

The forgiveness principle in the Lord’s Prayer

As Jesus taught the disciples to pray, in what we commonly refer to as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ note these important words as recorded in Matthew 6:12, “Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.”(GNB)

One version refers to it as ‘debts’ and we are to forgive others their debts, just as God forgives us our debts. Every time we sin against God we become debtors to Him, and so also when others sin against us they become our debtors. The extent to which we are willing to forgive the ‘debts or wrongs’ that others do to us, the Lord will extend the same measure of forgiveness to us for our sins against Him. Forgiveness is an important principle, and that is why Jesus taught this specifically to His disciples.