Luke #41: The Life of Forgiveness

On Tuesday night, I was invited by some students at Washington College to join them for a student government association meeting.

I serve as a the field ambassador for Fellowship of Christian Athletes here in Kent County and the students there wanted my help in getting a club started at the school.

We’ve been meeting and planning for a year now. Last week they applied for official recognition as a club on campus. Their application was denied and I was asked to come and help the students answer some questions about FCA and it’s position on some cultural hot topics.

One of the students had attended the meeting the week before and he was asked to come back. He knew what to expect… but he was actually excited to go back and stand up for his faith.

For me and the other student, we didn’t know what to expect, but from hearing his description this didn’t sound like it was going to be a fun experience.

So there I was on Tuesday night, me and two other college students standing before a group of students, few who were Christians, fewer still who believed as we did. It was hard to hear some of the things they said. At times it was hard to say what I believed, knowing how it would be received in that environment.

But you know what? I wouldn’t give that experience for anything. Seeing those student athletes stand up for their faith. My being able to share the Good news of forgiveness that we have received.

Don’t get me wrong, I probably wouldn’t have volunteered for it, but I am certainly glad I was there.

Today is going to be one of those days for some folks here today. In today’s text, Jesus invites us into a hard and difficult way to live… but when we live it out it proves to be the best part of living… something we wouldn't trade for anything.

Today we are talking about how to live a life marked by forgiveness. A message that might be difficult for some of us, but oh so worth it when we do.

Luke 17:1–4 NIV

1 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

Forgiveness isn’t easy.

Jesus isn’t just talking about easy forgiveness.

Small offenses… mistakes… like when you get in the express lane with 18 instead of 15 items.... It’s terrible, but it’s easy to forgive.

When your husband forgets to take out the trash...

When your wife gets the wrong flavor ice cream...

When you forget to unload the dishwasher…

Easy offenses… easy to forgive.

But what’s not easy to forgive? Betrayal.

When someone does exactly what they promised not to do…

Some of you know what betrayal is because you have experienced it.

IT didn’t just happen one time, but again and again. You trusted them, maybe it was someone you admired or someone you truly loved and thought loved you.

Maybe you were bullied… someone you thought was the one lied to you.... Maybe it was mom or your father who controlled you or made you feel small… a friend who you spoke to in confidence turned around to use the information against you.

Maybe you found out about your spouses addiction to porn… or maybe a person you trusted touched you, violated you…

It wasn’t your fault, yet here you sit having been betrayed.

I don’t know exactly how you feel, but I have an idea.

I’ve been betrayed by family

I’ve had friends who I trusted

Yet Jesus says forgive. It’s not a suggestion, but a command.

Matthew 5:43–44 NIV

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Ephesians 4:32 NIV

32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Matthew 6:14–15 NIV

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

God tells us to forgive...

Not going to be easy, but forgive… because it is the only way you can be free of the pain. You can’t sweep it away, you aren’t going to forget about it… you can’t pretend it didn’t happen. The only way to truly heal is to forgive.

That’s the why?

But How?

We will get to that, but first, let me remind us all of what forgiveness isn’t.

Forgiveness isn’t:

forgetting

Isn’t restoring the relationship, having them for dinner.

It doesn’t mean letting them do it any more. There are consequences to behavior. Some things folks can’t undo with an apology.

Doesn’t mean you can’t have some new boundaries

It doesn’t mean that you will automatically trust people again

Forgiveness is not natural

It’s normal to want to get even, revenge.

For a young woman to forgive her father who abused her just because he said he was sorry is not natural…

It’s not natural to overlook it when a friend lies about you...

It’s not natural for a husband to forgive his wife for walking out on him and their child

Yesterday I got an email from Voice of the Martyrs. It was a story of a missionary couple in Gaza.

Rami and Pauline Ayyad - locking up - kidnapped, tortured, then murdered when he wouldn’t convert - Pauline struggled financially & with kids - angry with God - hatred for his murderers

God wanted Rami to be with Him that day and called him home. That was the bottom line. It was then that the Lord poured over me forgiveness for those who killed Rami and those who I used to blame.”

Her friends describe the change in Pauline when this happened… she was free.

But HOW?

Pauline said it took time, but eventually it became clear to her that forgiveness was a decision.

Forgiveness is a decision, not a feeling.

A decision to trust God.

Pauline realized that, just as what happened to her husband wasn’t fair… it also wasn’t fair the way God treats us. God treats us like we don’t deserve every day as we sin and live in rebellion to his commands.

And what does God do? How does god treat you?

Grace… Mercy

Psalm 103:10–12 NIV

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

‌Forgiveness is giving others exactly what God has given you.

The apostles get it… One offense ok, but 7 times in a day I have to forgive...

What would you say to that?

Luke 17:5–6 NIV

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

I’ve read this over and over this week and the more I read it the more I am convinced Jesus is correcting them.

We use the word faith in a number of ways… it refers to our doctrines… our belief in Jesus for salvation… that which holds us together when life is falling apart… and we use it to describe the thing that releases the power of God in us. There are many who believe that if you believe strongly enough - have enough faith - God will do something, He will do it, and if he doesn’t it’s your faith that was faulty.

I’ll grant you that faith is sometimes described in terms of size but here Jesus seems to be saying the volume of one’s faith is not the issues. The disciples viewed faith as a power that would make things happen, and the more they had the more they could make happen.

It is not faith but the object of faith that makes things happen. God is the one who makes things happen within His will, in His way, and at His time.

Faith is our belief in, commitment to, and trust of Almighty God. The bigness of our faith is not the issue—the bigness of our God is.

Faith is our belief in the ability of God to do the impossible and our commitment to trust Him to do the impossible if, when, and how He chooses. We are misguided if we want more faith so we can get the results we want. We need a deeper faith so we can have a more intimate relationship with God and experience the results He wants. Nothing is as exhilarating as experiencing “God things” that can be explained in no other way but that He made them happen—after we surrendered the situations to Him and trusted Him.

Our concern should not be that we can talk to trees and get them to move, but that we can talk to God and He will move heaven and earth to accomplish His purpose through us.

One of those purposes he wants to accomplish through us is forgiveness.

Our father who art in heaven, hollowed by your name. Your kingdom, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors...

Forgiveness is sharing what God has given you

“How am I supposed to do that?” Jesus says, don’t wait for extraordinary faith… but because we have an extraordinary God… A God who has done and is doing amazing things in you… changing your heart, renewing you, making you a conduit for his love.

Jesus tells his disciples to forgive even 7 times a say… they say well Lord, increase our faith… we can’t do that… Jesus says… maybe not, but God can.

Jesus says the faith you have is enough for me to do that in you and through you.

You see faith gets its power, not by the quantity we have, but from the one we have faith in. Forgiveness works because of the one who forgives.... God.

Forgiveness is God’s thing… it’s ours to pass it on.

Jesus then closes with a parable...

Luke 17:7–10 NLT

7 “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? 8 No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ 9 And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. 10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’ ”

Why do we forgive? God tells us to … after he has forgiven us.

Question for us is the same as the question Pauline had to wrestle with… what makes me so important that I can withhold forgiveness when God didn’t?

Forgiveness is a decision.

There’s some thing about our human nature that seeks honor and recognition… When we do hard things, like forgive, our hearts will expect it… but don’t forgive just for recognition.

But forgive from a servants heart. As the apostle Paul wrote:

Philippians 2:5–7 NLT

5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,

We cling to things that make us significant and resist things that would reveal insignificance and servanthood.

Jesus lifts up a model of servanthood that seeks the advancement of the Master, not of ourselves. It performs duty without expectation of praise or reward and obediently serves with humility and love.

Our master isn’t asking us to forgive.

Servant’s response isn’t “well God how much forgiveness do they deserve?”

Servant’s response is yes Lord, help me Lord.

The question for those of us who carry unforgiveness today is

How much freedom do you desire?

Today, by faith—I choose to forgive. You may not feel like you have forgiven… but by faith you know you have and by God’s grace in the days to come you will begin to feel forgiveness toward them just as you feel it from God for your own sin.

What they did—What they said—forgive the Neglect, forgive the Lies, forgive the Betrayal, forgive the Deceit!

They no longer have to answer to you… only to God.

Forgiveness doesn’t change the past, but it does change the future.

You forgive. The pain that was caused back then is not going to hurt you anymore… you are no longer a victim… you are not a prisoner to the past any more… you are free!

You have the faith to let it go, to forgive, you have the faith to be free!

Forgiveness is giving others what God gave you!