Anatomy of Forgiveness—Part #3—Healing Wounds With Church 11-23-08
Anatomy of Forgiveness—Part #3—Healing Wounds With Church 11-23-08
I Love God—I just don’t like His people
His father had an offense with LEADERSHIP (26:19)
· He got 'burned' by it
· So although Jotham loved God-- he kept His distance
· From the presence of God
· In the corporate gathering
Perhaps Jotham was disillusioned by what happened to his dad
· Maybe afraid
· Although he feared God, the enemy warped that fear--and he kept a distance from the presence of the Lord
· Maybe there was a wound-- what will happen to me if I enter that place
· So he distanced himself
There are those that say-- I love God-- but don't like the church
· They may even stay faithful to God-- fear Him--serve Him
· But when we avoid the corporate gathering we miss something that can only happen when we gather together
It affects more than us
· It affects the next generation
· (IT’S NEVER JUST ABOUT YOU!!!!)
· Something happens when our kids grow up not seeing the generations together worshipping
· Affected by breaks in relationship
And although we might feel we have a clear conscience in our personal relationship with God
· We abdicate our role as parents to raise children in the house of God
· Instead of living in the house under the scarlet cord
· We live in the house of our disillusionment with the body of Christ
· The house of our wounding
· The house of offense
· And for some, even the house of pride (we can do it better-- we don't need the house of God--we don't need God's people-- they're hypocrites-- we step away)
There's something unique that only can happen when we encounter the presence of the Living God in a corporate gathering
· That only happens when we journey TOGETHER on this walk of faith
When we cut ourselves OFF from
· Corporate worship-- corporate connectedness
· It opens a door
· That can bring a curse on the generation emerging
It's subtle-- it appears to not affect anyone—after all, we still love God-- we still love His ways
· But over time—there’s something that happens in the generations that follow-- our children-- their children-- something is eroded
· Something is lost
· And out of that open door-- a spirit of death and wickedness steals the next generation
Ahaz, Jotham's son
· Not only rejected God
· He nailed the doors to the temple shut
· He burned his sons (Jotham's grandsons) on the altar of idols (28:3)
· And led his generation into idolatry
ALL of this began with one generation picking up offense with Leadership
· The next generation served God at a distance
· But abdicating their mantle to raise children in the house of God and in the ways of the Lord
· And the result is the NEXT generation was poisoned, murdered and seduced by the idols of the day
· And an entire generation was shut OUT OF the house of God
· The presence of God
Feet of Clay Syndrome
· All heroes have ‘em
· What will we do when . . . . ?
Eat meat, spit out the bones
How do I forgive/boundaries—and still be hones
· Not enter gossip
· Spheres of transparency
· Honor
· Remember the good report—it IS there—fear God in it
Above all, guard your heart
Tough thing—disillusioned/grieving over failed, fallen, flawed leaders
· Saul is dead—move on (was that the quote)
· There is a time to look forward
Hard when the innocence is gone
· I trusted them
· It was so good
Truth is, it WAS so good
· It’s okay to treasure that
Conflict of child of divorce
· Mom nor dad all good nor all bad
· I betray one to love another
· We have some good histories of good things God has done
· Okay to honor those
· Human beings often make the mistake of judging and entire experience by how it ENDED
Feet—of clay
· John Dawson
· Explain/develop
Fluster
· Out of the box
· Beyond the controlled environment—in the heat of the moment
Flaws
· Nakedness—vulnerability
Falling
· Where they fail in a big way
· David
· Moses
· But how were they remembered
Look how GOD remembers:
· David—man after God’s own heart
· Saul/Jonathan—through David’s memories
He has shown you oh man what is good, what the Lord requires of you
· Do justly
o Don’t pick up bad spirit—be JUST
o Love Mercy—show it to others—show it to your enemies—show it to the ones that annoy you
§ Just because you show mercy doesn’t mean you need to make self vulnerable to them
§ Trust
§ SHOW MERCY
o Walk humbly with your God
Some of us have issues—not just forgiving former leaders/situations
· But forgiving ourselves in situations
· I used to be ‘name the ministry role’
· This is what I loved ‘name the victory’
· Failure/disappointment/etc—grieving over that thing