Forgiveness

Unbelievable forgiveness

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

This week I am continuing our Old Testament sermon series by talking about the story of Joseph and “unbelievable” forgiveness.

In Genesis, chapter 50, Jacob dies and Joseph’s brothers get nervous.  They are nervous that Joseph will unleash his fury since Jacob, the family patriarch, is now gone.  So they tell Joseph that their dear ole dad has said that he is supposed to forgive them the wrongs they had done to him.  The brothers then throw themselves down on the ground before Joseph and vow to be his slaves.

Joseph weeps.

I have never really thought about why Joseph is weeping.  But now I am wondering if Joseph is sad because after all these years of providing for them in Egypt his brothers still believe Joseph doesn’t really forgive them.  When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers in chapter 45 he gave no indication he was going to lash out at them even though Joseph had the power to do so.  But Joseph told his brothers not to be distressed or angry with themselves; this was part of God’s plan.  Joseph showed nothing but love towards them by taking care of them through the terrible famine.  Now…after all these years…the brothers still don’t believe Joseph really forgives them.  If I were Joseph I think I would be sad as well.

I wonder if God weeps when we doubt his amazing forgiveness.  I mean…there are times when I wonder if God actually forgives ALL my sins.  Surely there is something that God holds on to.  Surely there must be a limit to God’s patience.  Forgiving ALL my sins?  That almost sounds to good to be true…almost unbelievable.

But God says, “What more do I need to do to prove it to you?  My beloved son, Jesus, died on a cross and rose from the grave to forgive your sins.  I would think that would be proof enough.”  And yet we have our doubts from time to time.  God’s forgiveness of our sins, at times, almost seems unbelievable…there must be a catch.

But there is no catch.

When we go to God in confession, through Jesus Christ we have forgiveness…period.  No strings attached. That, my friends, is pretty amazing.  Unbelievable?  Nope…it’s true.  Through Jesus Christ we have forgiveness of ALL our sins.

So don’t be afraid and don’t be distressed.  Go to God and know his amazing love for you…forever and ever.  Amen.

-edh-

Release Time

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

Here in Jackson, MN we still have Release Time.  Kids in grades 3, 4 and 5 have the option of being “released” from school to head to the church of their choice for Bible classes.  Parents fill out a short form, at the beginning of the school year, telling the school if they want their child “released” and what church they are going to.  This year I have 3 fourth graders and 2 fifth graders.  They are an energetic bunch (one of my fourth graders never and I mean never stopped moving).

Anyway…this first half of the year we are talking about the 10 Commandments and today was Commandment #2…”Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain“.  We discussed names and what it means to honor God’s name.  We talked about swearing and how that effects others.  We closed by talking about forgiveness and that because God forgives us, we ought to honor God by honoring God’s name.

Before the kids were “released” back to school to catch the bus we closed with prayer.  I asked them what they wanted to pray for.  They wanted to thank God for the beautiful day, one asked to pray for her little brother to continue healing and one asked to pray for her kittens.  Then one of them said, “Pray that God forgives us of our sins.”  As a pastor…it’s hard to describe what that means to hear one of your 4th graders say that.

I’m not sure what they are taking away from class today, but it sounds like at least one of them understands that God forgives them through Jesus Christ.  What more can one hope for?

-edh-

Sunday morning prayer

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Hey there…long time no see.  No…it’s not that you haven’t been here for a while it’s that I haven’t stopped by my own blog for a couple days.  So please allow me to make excuses here:
(1) The busyness of September seemed to sneak up on me.
(2) The busyness of September seemed to sneak up on me.
…and (3) The busyness of September seemed to sneak up on me.

That is enough said on that.  I think I am beginning to get a hold of things now so you will see me a little more in the coming weeks.

Anyway…the Gospel text I am preaching on today comes from Matthew 18:21-35.  This is the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.  Peter asks Jesus the question, “How many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me?  Seven times?“.  Jesus goes on to basically say, “You forgive continuously.   There is no number.”  Then we get this parable.  What hits me square in the face is the contrast in debts.  The debt God forgave me and the debt I often refuse to forgive others.  This is indeed a convicting parable.  The debt we owed God was a debt we could not hope to repay but yet God says, “I love you so much and I want so much to be in a relationship with you that I am going to forgive this debt of yours.”  Wow…that is an amazing God.  Let’s go and do likewise…forgiving others the sins they have committed against us; showing them Christ’s love.

Let’s pray…
Gracious and forgiving God, we can’t even begin to express how thankful we are for the forgiveness you show us in Jesus Christ.  We are so unworthy.  But yet you love us anyway.  Grant us strength to forgive others as you have forgiven us. So we may mend and nurture relationships with them as you do with us.  In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

-edh-