1

ARE YOU WILLINGTO ACCEPT FORGIVENESS & PASS IT FORWARD SCRIPTURES: Genesis 50: 15-21 & Matthew 18: 21-35 KEY CONCEPTS: Forgiveness for ones self & others are cornerstones of our faith. OPENING QUOTE: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, If you must stone your enemies, stone them with forgiveness. On this the 10th anniversary of 9/11, how appropriate is this admonishment from one of the greatest justice seekers of the 20th century? Dr. King understood the spiritual correlation between love & forgiveness AND the healing of our broken world. This morning I invite you to join me in a renewal toward a stronger embodiment of forgiveness for ourselves AND for others. This morning, I continue our study on forgiveness that we began last week WILL YOU PRAY WITH ME? PRAYER: Forgive us when we forgive ourselves, so easily & others so harshly; For us when we expect perfection from those to whom we show none; Forgive us for repelling people by the way we set a good example; Forgive us the folly of trying to improve a friend; Forbid that we should use our little idea of goodness as a spear to wound those who are different than us; Forbid that we should feel superior to others when we are only more shielded & protected; And may we encourage the secret struggle of every person. Amen. (By Vivian Pomeroy) HEBREW READING- GENESIS 50: 15-21: Do you have a family member thats hard to forgive? Given who we are, maybe I should ask, is there anyone here today who doesnt have at least one family member thats hard to forgive? Our modern families have nothing on the families of the Hebrew narratives. If you want to see familys at their worst read through some of the accounts in Genesis. As you may know as background for todays reading, Josephs brothers hated him & his favored status with their father (Jacob) & his mother (Rachel). Joseph was sold into slavery; he was imprisoned & eventually became 2nd in command in Egypt. During a 7 year famine, Josephs brothers were required to come to Egypt in order to secure food supplies. Joseph recognized them & eventually came out to them as their long lost brother! His entire family of origin (including his beloved father Jacob) moved to Egypt. Todays reading follows Jacobs death, embalming (40 days); Egyptians grieved (70 days); journeyed to bury Jacob in Canaan; grieved 7 more days & then returned to Egypt with his brothers. And thats when the brothers showed signs of concern for their own safety; hence todays verbiage. APPLICATION: Joseph could have retaliated. He had every right. His brothers had been real jerks & they had cost him many years with his father & mother. However, Joseph had chosen to forgive them why? Because maybe he had finally matured enough to see that even in the midst of being mistreated, of being wronged, of being hated in time God was still able to bring about some miraculous things! Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as God is doing today. (vs. 19-20) The lesson for us? That even when people especially family members (both family of origin & family of choice) do us wrong, when we can take the long view & keep the larger picture in mind, we can move toward forgiveness for our own healing.

And sometimes, in moving toward forgiveness which is one of the hardest things we do we heal not only our lives, but the lives of those around us AND even a community! A prime example of collective & communal forgiveness? The Amish following the murder of 5 children at the school October 2006 in Nickels Mine, PA. Forgiveness & reconciliation were key aspects in the grieving process & our nation looked on in amazement. We need more examples of individual, communal & global forgiveness & reconciliation. GOSPEL READING MATTHEW 18: 21-35: And disciples who follow Christ are commanded in todays Gospel reading to forgive those who wrong us.for forgiveness is one of the most divine qualities of all. Matthew 18: 21-35 continues our study from last Sunday that instructed people within the church on how to live & relate to each other. Forgiveness is the guiding principle in church relations & resolving conflicts & misunderstandings. Jesus seeks to illustrate how forgiveness is to work in a true Christians life via todays parable. The parable of the debtors uses exaggeration to make its point about forgiveness. Ten thousand talents was an immense sum of money that no one could ever pay back; for one talent = 15 years wages for a laborer. Whereas a denarius = one days wage for a laborer. 100 denarii would have totaled between 3-4 months wages. ONLINE: The king (i.e. God) forgave the slave (us) 15 yrs. wages X 10,000 ($30K yr. x 15 yrs. x 10K talents = $4.5 trillion) for our math lovers in the room. Then the 2nd debtor (someone in our life that wrongs us) owes the forgiveness slave (us) a measly 100 days worth of pay $30k divided by 365 days X 100 = ($82 X 100) = $8,200 Lesson: If God can forgive YOU/ME a debt of $4.5 trillion, couldnt we pass along forgiveness of $8,200 to another person? So, how much has forgiven you lately? And how much of that forgiveness have you passed along to someone else? Forgiveness frees us from keeping score against ourselves, against others & against God. Forgiveness allows us to start new every day; forgiveness also keeps the channels of our lives free & clear to encounter Gods Spirit & all that God has for us! Forgiveness is liberating & allows us to sleep soundly at night because were forgiven AND weve passed that forgiveness along to others! We live in grace. Conversely when you possess an unforgiving spirit, you will limit not only your own growth, but also the growth of a faith community! Unforgiveness shows up as: Spiritual arrogance & trying to be the moral police for everyone else Rigidity, Stubbornness, Close Mindedness & a small mindedness Anger, Temper tantrums, irritability, negativity & what I now call Eeyorism CLOSING THOUGHTS IF YOU DONT FORGIVE: (From Steven Charleston Facebook) Anger slips in through cracks of love, when words become liquid heat, the mind driven by the sly self interest of pride. Things spoken fly like darts, no purpose other than pain. Feelings fall into hurt, the sullen quiet after the storm. Grandmother God, we cannot empty anger from our lives, but we can turn that emotion over to you. Take our anger in your cool hands; mold it from pride to passion. Calm our hearts, still our minds, and hold us close in your embrace, until our fever has broken & our anger turns from negativity & irritability to a renewed sense of possibility. A renewed vision of what is possible if only we believe, forgive & love. Help us to embody humility, forgiveness & love not only for ourselves, but also for those in our lives & in our global community. And may the only stones we pick up to throw be the soft stones of forgiveness. Amen.