| Forgiveness |
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The
F---- Word!
"Forgiveness"
... The Old Testament reading, from the
very end of Genesis is the first time we
get this word in the whole of the Bible.
Three questions:
1.
Forgive . . . and forget?
How, if at all, are the
two linked? Is forgetting a necessary part
of forgiving? Should we "forget"?
What if we do? What if we don't?
In our readings today no-one forgets. The
King in the Gospel story hadn't forgotten
that the man had once owed him money; Joseph
and his brothers lived with memory (indeed,
part of the job of scripture is to be history,
or memory.)
2. "You
must say sorry or ask for forgiveness before
you can be forgiven" . . . ?
Is this true?
The Bible talks about "repentance"?
What about forgiveness for those who don't?
"Father, forgive them, for they don't
know what they're doing."
In our readings today people actively ask
for forgiveness. And they get it. But what
when people don't?
3. You can
only be forgiven (by God) if you forgive
others (when they sin against you) . . .
?
Is this true?
"Forgive us our sins as we forgive
those who sin against us."
"Blessed are the merciful, for they
will be shown mercy."
In our readings today Joseph forgives and
seems to do well from it: he lives long
and dies peacefully. The man in the Gospel
story doesn't forgive and then isn't forgiven.
In fact, our Gospel story was going so well.
If only the forgiveness had kept going.
First, one person got forgiven, then it
looked like another was about to. But no.
And the worst is that where there could
have been two forgiven people there's now
two people in prison.
So we can give a clear answer to this: yes,
you have to forgive in order to be forgiven.
We are like the middle person in the parable:
we need both to be forgiven and to forgive.
We have the power to make sure no-one goes
to jail, or (by failing to forgive) to cause
2 people to go down.
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Amen |
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Now
four facts.
1. Forgiveness is an
act of will.
It isn't easy; it's hard. Get used to it.
2.
We have to forgive even when they don't say sorry.
You think forgiving someone is hard? Try it when they're
too proud or stupid to say sorry. That's even harder.
3. We can only be forgiven (by
God) if we forgive others (when they sin against us).
This was our final question and; we answered it. Unfortunately!
(1-3 Forgiving others is hard. It may take a long time.
It may be a "two-steps-forwards-and-one-step-back"
process. We may need the help of God and others in prayer
and counselling. BUT forgiving others is also easy. Easy,
because when you forgive them you're in the right. Which
is nice. Very nice. And in forgiving others we have to
be aware of self-righteousness. We, too, are sinners.
There are others against whom we have sinned, and to whom
we owe repentance.)
4. We need to be forgiven.
All of us. Which is good news and bad news. Bad, because
we need to be forgiven. Good, because we can be. |
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