10/6/2019 Forgiveness

Ink for the Sunday October 6th comes from Luke chapter 17 verses 5 through 10. The Apostle said to the Lord increase our faith. 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. Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the Sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field come along now and sit down to eat? Muni rather say prepare my supper get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink after that you may eat and drink. Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do. So you also when you have done everything you were told to do should say we are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Let us pray. Laura May the meditations of our hearts in the words of my lips

amen

these communion World communion Sunday

Anda

I'm not going to ask what is a chunk out of this piece. But there really is. alright, so we'll just start that he'll Fest this half off that way in.

World communion Sunday is today when we in the church gather in the church family. All over gather and say okay on this Sunday. We're going to go ahead and have communion together brothers and sisters in faith may only celebrate communion every order or once every 3 months or 4 months and so three months and so they also celebrate usually on this day as well. And so it's a time for are the world for worldwide for us to gather and celebrate together.

This morning we are going to be talking about. forgiveness There's a reason why. Innisfree Capilla faith in this part of the Scripture. It just starts off with increase our faith. Okay, the disciples. Just tell Jesus increase our faith. Okay now, For the English and communication people in the room, okay.

It's it's an indicative statement like they want Jesus to increase their faith. Okay, so it's like

They directly Want Jesus to do the action of increasing each individual disciples faith for God to increase your faith. It's something that that's sometimes we may be drawn to do right like help us understand more help us believe more. But but the face that were talking about here is that we want God wants they want Jesus to increase their faith so that they can be empowered to do this thing that they find to be insurmountable. Okay? So let me go back track a little bit here. How many of you guys have heard the story of The Mustard Seed if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, right? Two places it's found in scripture in Matthew and Luke in Matthew. It's in response to the disciples being upset that they cannot perform a healing. Okay, and so Jesus's response is well, even if you had the faith of a mustard seed, right and so we can Luke it's a completely different deal in in Luke. It's in response to them hearing something that they believe is just outside of their ability. You don't know what it was. forgiveness forgiveness the scripture in this description chapter 17 starts out.

Jesus said to his disciples occasions for stumbling are bound to come. But woe to anyone by whom they come it would be better for you. If a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Everybody uncomfortable. All right good.

Be on guard if another disciple sins. You must rebuke the offender and if there is repentance you must forgive. And if the same person sends against you seven times in one day and then turns back to you seven times and says I repent. then you must forgive

must forgive

we often in our culture get really uncomfortable when we read about slavery in scripture, right like and hear this adverse doesn't do anything to give us Comfort Inn that essentially what Jesus is saying is

It is the servants job to do those things. And so why should the person that's it? That's their job. Why should they be praised for doing their job? I had a tire that just keeps going over that tire. They like you just keeps going down and down and down and down and down you like just keep putting it off until I said take it over to Mattoon to get it fixed and they fixed it and then I paid them for it, but I didn't like offer them like praise. Like I gave the money was an exchange right? Like I gave them the tire they fix the tire. I give the money they give me back hopefully fix tire and we're good exchanges over. Okay, it's their job. Trying to think of a way to explain how forgiveness is our job, and I could only come up with one good connection. Older brothers and sisters in the room. It may come as a surprise for the little children in the room to learn that nobody likes to clean their room.

Age has never helped me be better at cleaning my room. I would love it. If choirs would come down after the room has been cleaned and like it would just Dawn okay, but let me be honest. I don't even clean my room. I don't like it so much. I pay someone else to clean the house. Which is an option if you're an adult you can make that decision. Okay, I don't know how that works in. This story will take that out cuz there's no someone else to clean it for you dealed his forgiveness can't be offered through somebody else. It can only be offered through you. But still at the end of the day. Jesus is telling us it's your job. You know. Many of you may know I have a very modern family. Okay by my first wife Ashley and daughter Vera when we were in the process of getting divorced we moved here until I asked her to move to town. She was like a quarter mile from here. Okay. And so we do things out in the community and people have come up to us and said this is really great and maybe even some of you have come up and said, this is really great how you guys are able to make this work, right? Another perspective on that is as if it was a choice.

As if it was a choice. Like sometimes we just have to forgive and in any divorce anything that happens in life is plenty of pain to go around but it's not superhuman power or strength that it takes to forgive. It's just a decision that we have to make. And it isn't only come in the big things that also comes in the little things the over years and years and years of someone may do this thing and they keep coming back and they keep saying, oh, I'm sorry about that. But then, you know 3 months down. The line is going to happen again. Jesus says, you're still supposed to forgive them. And there's not anything that is key to increase our faith in order for this to happen. It's just a decision that we have to make and it's a decision that Jesus made to Jesus offers communion Did Judas. Fully knowing that Judas is going to betray him. Jesus doesn't say oh I send an invite to everybody took Judas. We just forgot to put him down. He got lost in the mail. Sorry. No, he's at the same table where God's forgiveness is offered to all. leading by example That's what forgiveness shows to others and it doesn't make sense in our brains. We seen examples of forgiveness this week. We're where we didn't really expect to see any and I can think of the time where there was in a shooting in the Amish school, right? I ended the families that were affected by that not only reached out to their own but they also reached out to that of the the perpetrator as well. Because it says something about who God is and who God has created us to be when we can offer forgiveness. We think it's a beautiful thing it from a distance. But in reality it's messy and it doesn't always feel good. But we're still called to it because God has told us that it's our job to offer forgiveness.

And when other people see that forgiveness in us, they see something different that doesn't make sense to them in this world. And they see some of God. Some of the word of God lived out for others.

one of the things it's really important especially in. communities of our size Is the offer forgiveness? Like to really offer one another in Opportunity at repentance and I'm not suggesting here that people should say and unhealthy situation. Is there anything like that? Sometimes there are things that mean that we can no longer communicate with that person, but that doesn't mean that we don't offer for them our forgiveness.

This faith that were called to live. It's not easy. The space that were called a live is hard. It was so hard that the disciples response to the forgiving. Did you catch that part? Who are they talking about forgiving? were they talking about the people that live down the street where they talking about the people that they passed by know they were talking about other disciples others of the 12 that argued and hurt and sinned against them and they were called to offer forgiveness to This is what Christ calls us to do. And it's it's not wholly or it's not easy. But it's holy. And it's our job. May God Empower you to do that job this week, May you look at your life and to figure out where you hope your heart has become hardened and you don't want to offer forgiveness or you may may you just wake up one morning and just decide you know, what that's the way the person is. I'm going to forgive them because God spoken to as much as I don't want to do it. It's what I need to do.

best prank or may you help us to understand your call on our lives more and more? Are you help us? By guiding us to see our faith lived out. May we follow where you got us? Jesus name we pray amen.

on the night

In which he was to be betrayed. the disciples gathered in the upper room for Passover

Jesus Took the bread.

Ain't broke it. And he gave it to his disciples and said Take and Eat This is my body broken for you.

And likewise when the separate was over. He took the cup.

wested Offered it to his disciples and said this is my blood of the blood of the New Covenant poured out for you. And for all who believe do this. As often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

And so in remembrance of these your Mighty acts Lord, we ask that we might be.

Redeemed by your body in your blood amen

the table has been prepared, and