This morning I am going to share with you some of the thought process that has gone into my time of preparation for this service of worship and in particular this sermon that I’m now sharing with you. I have known a few pastors who prefer to continuously select from a very limited collection of their own favorite scriptures to use as the starting point of both the time of worship and especially their moments of reflection and exhortation. However, like many other pastors, I am a believer in following the three year cycle of the Lectionary. Each week there is a listing of readings from a Gospel, a New Testament letter, one of the Psalms, and either a reading from the Hebrew Text or from the Book of Acts.When I read through all of the listed reading for the week, there are very often a few sentences or phrases which will quickly capture my attention. Over the years I have come to believe that I am being called by the Holy Spirit to share something with those around me. This is the beginning of the process of reflection and meditation in preparation for writing the sermon that I will share in our time of worship together.
This week two passages have kept calling out to me. The first is from 1st John 3:2 – “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.”[1] And the second is from Luke 24:47 – “… repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations …”[2]
We are all God’s children. Each of us gathered here is a child of God, and each person that we meet outside of this sanctuary is a child of God. Whether they look like us, talk like us, or believe like us … they are still children of God and therefore they are our own Sisters and Brothers. I have a sister, and for many years we were not on the best of terms … but over the years I have discovered that she has great value, love, and compassion as a person. Some of this transition has been brought about as I have watched my own children and grand-children relating to one another. I do not claim to be God, nor do I claim to fully understand God … but when I have watched my own children or grandchildren fighting or squabbling over “stuff” … I can only begin to imagine how much it must deeply hurt God to watch as humanity continues to hurt one another.
When someone has hurt us, how do we forgive them?
Upon personal reflection and shared discussion with others, I have come to the following understandings:
1) It is easiest to forgive someone who has truly acknowledged their actions and have honestly and personally apologized.
2) It is not as easy to forgive someone who has been repeatedly hurting us, or is making a “fake apology,” or is so powerful that they don’t believe that they need to make any kind of a real apology.
3) It is often impossible for us as human beings to forgive someone who does not even acknowledge that they have done anything wrong.
Now that I have simplisticly reviewed the process of how we decide who we will forgive, let’s go to the even tougher question – what happens when we ask God to forgive us?
Do we remember that our own preference is that the one seeking forgiveness be honest in admitting their errors? Do we remember that we expect an honest request without the expectation that the request will automatically be granted? Do we remember that we expect that the one who is making the request for forgiveness should make every effort to be sure that the offence does not happen again?
In closing … when my grandchildren tell me that they are sorry, I am truly willing to forgive them. But I am also praying and wishing that they will learn from their mistakes. I am also praying and hoping that they will become more compassionate with each other and with the rest of the world as they come to understand that as humans … as children of God … we will all make mistakes. The real challenge is to remain in love with our creator … and with each other. The real challenge is to extend to each other the kind of compassion that we are asking God to extend to us.
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