Comparison

For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. (Galatians 6:3,4 ESV)

Comparisons

We had some fierce competition for Valedictorian in High School.  I was never in the running (those annoying C’s in Phys Ed…) But for two or three of my classmates, each test was an opportunity to compare, rate, and brag.

We compete when it comes to righteousness, too.  Maybe we do not rate our faithfulness against our family or friends, because we KNOW that it is Christ’s righteousness that matters.  We all lose in that comparison.

But when it comes to forgiveness, we find it hard to forgive folk who are WORSE than us.  We observe someone’s terrible sin, and because we would never do the things they did, it is comfortable to withhold forgiveness.

Maybe we find it hard to forgive folk who seem BETTER than us, too.  Whether it is an odd form of jealousy, or perhaps a feeling that those more righteous need forgiveness so rarely, we withhold forgiveness in those cases, too.

But such comparisons do nothing.  It does not matter whether we are forgiving someone worse than us, or better than us.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and all of God’s people still find forgiveness in Christ.  Where we fall on an imagined scale is irrelevant and silly.

And since Christ forgives so broadly, we get to, as well.

Christians forgive not based on the level of offense, but because of the immense and graceful forgiveness of Christ.

Our choice to forgive has nothing to do with a comparison of ‘them’ and ‘us.’  It has to do with the richness of HIM.

Costly

…in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:14 ESV)

Costly

One Christmas, a family that I know was struggling financially.  So rather than spend money they did not have, they decided to choose gifts for each other from among their present possessions.  One of the children (perhaps a little young to embrace the concept) went through the toybox and particularly chose toys that were not ever played with.

Those gifts were not noted, received well, or appreciated. 

God gives His people forgiveness as a gift.

But that forgiveness is not lightly, thoughtlessly, or cheaply given.

Here, Paul appropriately ties our forgiveness with redemption.

God’s gift is expensive.  It was the most valuable thing He owned (and He owns everything!)  He paid for our forgiveness through the redemption that Christ bought on the cross.

And the serious price God paid gives us confidence that the forgiveness He gives is real.  It is not merely a gift, but a costly gift.  It is not merely a gift, but a meaningful gift.  It is not merely a gift, but a profound, important, necessary gift.

Receive it and smile.

Fear

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. (Psalm 130:4 ESV)

Fear

There is a small town somewhere in Ohio in which a factory manufactures a certain kind of computer chip.  For various reasons, no other factor is able to produce that chip. It is a necessary component in cell phones.

That small factory carries a lot of clout.

No one wants to offend them.  Because technically, they are the only source of cell phones. 

The only source of forgiveness is God.  Only the Father has the authority to forgive.  Only the Son procures forgiveness though His life, and death, and life.  Only the Spirit has the power to apply the Son’s work to our hearts.

If we need forgiveness, we need God.

And oh, we need forgiveness.

Fear, here, is not being afraid of God’s power.  Fear, here, is being afraid of losing our only source of forgiveness.

The good and ironic news is, that His forgiveness is what guarantees we will not lose Him!

Freedom TO

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1 ESV)

Freedom TO

Our political forefathers did not rebel simply to be free FROM the tyranny of George’s tyranny.  If that we the case, they would never have formed a new political union.  They would have gone home and felt free from all those things they listed in the Declaration of Independence.

Instead, they rebelled to be free TO form independent states, and eventually to be free TO attempt to make a more perfect union.

Forgiving others seems like a chore.  An unpleasant chore that we are SUPPOSED to do, and therefore occasionally attempt.  With resentment.  With sullenness.  Without joy.

Choosing to forgive not only frees our hearts from bitterness, not only frees our consciences from a burden, not only frees our minds from the chains of grudges…  Choosing to forgive brings energy to live, brings connection with THE forgiver, Christ Jesus, brings peace.

It is not an unpleasant chore.  We GET to forgive.  It is not a frowny-action.  We GET to forgive.  It is not a thing of sorrow.  We GET to forgive.

Because of Christ’s forgiveness, we are free TO forgive.

For Him

I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.  (Isaiah 43:25 ESV)

For Him

I do not usually clearly understand why God seems so eager to forgive me.  I know what I have done, I know what I do, and I know what I will do.  I do not have that much positive effect on His Kingdom that He would be expected to kill Jesus on MY behalf.

But He did.  And for you, too.

But my lack of understanding can be cleared up by this verse.  God tells us that He did not forgive us for OUR sake. If He HAD done it for our sake, the result might be some reasonable insecurity.  We might become even LESS valuable to God as time goes on.  We might discover MORE unworthiness in ourselves.

But God forgives us for HIS sake.

He forgives us because HE enjoys forgiving.  He forgives us because HE knows what is absolutely the best, beyond our eyesight and comprehension.  He forgives us because it is what HE wants to do for us.

And so His forgiveness is reliable, dependable, and amazingly secure.

We moderns might not like this concept.  We want to be THE reason for anything and everything.

But when it comes to forgiveness (and so much more…) God does it for HIS sake.

So rejoice.  Because if our forgiveness was merely for US, we could not rest assured.

Forget!

…then He adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” (Hebrews 10:17 ESV)

Forget!

“I can forgive… but I can never forget.”

While indeed that type of comment MIGHT simply mean that we realize that actions have consequences, it usually means we have not forgiven.

It is a way we can say, “I forgive” but not really forgive.

But it is a start.

Forgiveness moves inexorably to forgetting.

When God forgives, He makes a choice:  Even though He has the right to be angry forever, He chooses to forgive.  And we can, too.

When God forgives, He desires relationship with the forgiven, because God loves.  And we can, too.

When God forgives, He forgives ONLY because of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.  And we can, too!

Forgive and forget.  Like God does.

Forget

…then He adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” (Hebrews 10:17 ESV)

Forget

A few years ago, we paid off a home mortgage.  The bank did not continue to send me notices and reminders to pay the monthly installments.  The debt was forgiven, and therefore was forgotten.

A few years ago, I was cited by the police for driving my car without proper insurance.  Not only did that infraction remain on my record for a time, but my insurance company increased my rates.  But a couple of years later, my record was cleared, and the insurance company went back to billing me normally.  My crime was forgiven, and therefore was forgotten.

A few years ago I failed an exam while in college.  I was embarrassed, disappointed, and motivated to overcome that F.  By the end of the semester, I was able to raise the class grade to an A.  It was not an A, with a sub notation of a hidden F.  My laziness was forgiven, and therefore was forgotten.

But somehow, we often decide that the VERY expensive payment God made (the death of His Son) to procure our forgiveness, is not really forgotten.  We fear He keeps score.

But He does not. 

The debt of sin is forgiven, and therefore forgotten.

Not forgotten just because God feels like forgetting, or alters His divine memory, or is only sort of forgotten, but is more like a hidden grudge.

But God absolutely forgives, to the same degree that His Son, Jesus, pays for our Sin.  Absolutely.

He does not remember, because Christ’s payment completely paid.

God does not remember, because there is nothing to remember.

Well-worn Paths

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18 ESV)

Well-Worn Paths

It usually seems that the well-worn path is the easiest to follow.  But that ain’t necessarily so.

In a suburban woods near my childhood home, my best friend and I used to ride our bikes.  The paths we followed wove around hills and trees, and hardly followed the mathematical definition of a line.  (A line is the shortest distance between two points…)

Occasionally, my friend, perhaps realizing how much energy and time we wasted every day on our way to our fort, noticed that if we went off-path to the left, instead of following the path to the right, we would arrive quicker, and probably easier.

But we could not make ourselves do it.  The age old path was known, familiar, and well-travelled.  It therefore seemed automatically easier.

One day a tree had fallen across our path, and we were forced to blaze that new trail.  And sure enough, that new path was direct, smoother than we thought, and fast.

Our grudges are like that well-worn path.  Our original anger or hurt that led us to feel we had the right to hate becomes simply what we are used to.  We stopped noticing the time we spend grudging, the energy we spend grudging, the harm we do everyone grudging.  The harm we do ourselves grudging.  And especially the disobedience to God we display when we grudge.

God says there is a better path.  Forgiveness.

And He is an expert on that path.  He paved the way.

Turn left.

When to Forgive

And whenever you stand praying, forgive… (Mark 11:25 ESV)

When to Forgive

My inclination is to eat whatever I want, whenever I want.  I know better.  Health is more important than my physical satisfaction.  But it is hard.  I have grown so used to doing what I want when it comes to food.

And sudden bursts of restraint, or turning on ‘good behavior’ do not cut the mustard.  Eating right is a constant sort of thing.  If I expect the benefits of better health, I get to change my perspective about food.

And it works the same way with forgiveness. 

God does not forgive His people in fits and starts.  Jesus did not turn on the forgiveness switch, and turn it off on other days.  Forgiveness is a perspective that God, in His grace and love, always always always had, has, and will have.

The peace, honesty, and joy that comes from forgiving occurs when we forgive always… when we have an attitude of forgiveness instead of an attitude of anger, justice, and grudges.

Jesus teaches this when He instructs us to forgive whenever we pray.  Every time we pray.  Always when we pray.

Yes, it is difficult.  But prayer founded on forgiveness is like Christ’s praying.  Prayer founded on forgiveness forges humility.  Prayer founded on forgiveness creates peace even when we are not praying.

Paul tells us to pray without ceasing… in these terms, it also means forgive without ceasing.

Gone

He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19 ESV)

GONE

One Latin book in high school had missing sections, graffiti-filled pages, and an ugly cover.  I had Latin for four years, and every year I would try to get rid of that textbook… and every year, I ended up with it.  I would receive it randomly, I would accidentally switch books after class, and once the teacher, (knowing, I suspect, my disgust with THAT book) simply GAVE it to me.

No matter how hard I tried to get rid of it, it kept showing up.

Our sense of guilt does that, too.  We try good works, heartfelt apology, tears, and time… but our sins, iniquities, and transgressions keep showing up in our minds and hearts.

But really, we do that to ourselves.  Because the One whose view of our sinfulness actually matters, Christ Himself, tell us those things are gone.

He bore them on the cross.

He took the responsibility for them.

In God’s court, He actually says, “I DID THAT.” 

Those things are gone.

Squashed underfoot by the very bruised heel that crushed Satan’s head.

Farther away then the depths of the sea.  Without a submarine, sonar or radar, or scuba divers.

That is what God’s Forgiveness means.

Maybe it is time for us to stop gazing out to sea.

WE Get to Delight!

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his

inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. (Micah 7:18 ESV)

PART 2… WE get to DELIGHT, too

I used to hate mowing the lawn… until I started using a Zero-Turn-Radius.  I used to hate snow… until my granddaughter’s joyful face when seeing the white stuff changed my heart and mind.  I used to hate a particular author… until his articulate description of grace brought tears to my eyes.

And we tend to hate forgiving.  We think it is weak.  We think it will leave us unsatisfied.  We think it is not fair.  We think we need to be stronger.  We think forgiveness is for losers.

But forgiveness is grand!       

And the best way to begin delighting in forgiving, is to realize how much GOD delights in forgiving.  Surely He must know something bout it, that we are missing!

Like a excited parent eager to give THAT Christmas present, God is eager to give forgiveness.  Like a happy and experienced traveler, showing a friend Niagara Falls.  Like the bearer of good news.  Like the teacher who gets to give THAT student an “A.”

God is perhaps almost trembling with joy when He gets to FORGIVE.

We can delight in it, too!

Perhaps the reason we aren’t delighted to forgive someone, is the we have not had that much experience being the forgiver.

Try it!  Forgiving is delightful!

Delight

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his

inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

DELIGHT

I can be relied upon to do those things that delight me.

I finish reading a good book, without being forced to turn the pages.  I ride my zero-turn-radius mower, not merely because, ‘it is time.’  I laugh at the jokes of my grandchildren, whether they are funny or not.

I delight in those things, and so I do them.  And you would be silly to doubt me in those things… to suspect I was not doing them… to be unsure that the book was REALLY being read, the lawn REALLY was being mowed, and the jokes REALLY were being enjoyed.

Yet we doubt God’s forgiveness. 

Even though He DELIGHTS in loving.

We hold fast to our past sins.  We berate ourselves on sin-anniversaries, or when memories crop up.  We act like Eeyore during Communion, or Charlie Brown as we walk into church.

And when we do those things we are foolish.

God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit DELIGHTS to give us forgiveness.

Bask in His delight.

Cause and Effect

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luk 23:34 ESV)

Cause and Effect

Recently, I had a painful infection.  It was not visible to the casual observer, but on one particular day it seemed that everyone was bumping it, scraping it, and hurting it.

My eyes flared as the most recent culprit caused my nerves to flame, and he apologized quickly.  “I’m sorry… I did not know…”

And I ALMOST blurted out, “Ignorance is no excuse!”  I am glad I held my tongue for two reasons.  First, it would have been a misquote.  And secondly… Christ’s example shows us a better path.

He hung there, up on our cross, unjustly pained, tortured, and despised on His people’s behalf.  If sinners’ awareness were a necessary part of the forgiveness process, we would expect Him to righteously snarl,

“your ignorance is a FURTHER sin!” 

“This sacrifice would help you wicked murderers if only you acknowledged what you were doing.”

“My blood would count as your payment to God’s Justice if you even BEGAN to confess!”

But He did not say those things.

They did not even know their sin… and He asked the Father to forgive them.

They did not even know what sin WAS… and He asked the Father to forgive them.

They believed they were doing the right thing, horrible though it was… and He asked the Father to forgive them.

Theologically, Jesus was correct, of course.  Because His forgiveness is what would LEAD to their repentance, confession, and conversion.

We do not repent, and thus find forgiveness.

He forgives, and He changes us so that we repent.

And we get to do the same thing.  Rather than carry our anger, disappointment, and grudges, we can imitate Jesus…

… and forgive.  For they do not know what they do.

Leopards

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. (Isaiah 1:18 ESV)

Leopards

It is said, cynically, that leopards are unable to change their spots.  Meaning that a leopard can not become a tiger, or a panther, or a cheetah.  This is cynical because it claims that leopards, and by inference people, do not change.

And that false claim allows us to stop forgiving, because it would mean those sinners in our lives will never change.  A liar will always be a liar.  A thief will always be a thief.  The selfish will always be selfish. The promise breaker will always break promises.

When we believe the leopard lie, we deny that Christians can change bad habits, find new righteous paths, and grow in sanctification.  And therefore, it seems that forgiving is not only difficult, but it is stupid.

But God forgives.  And in His eyes our blood-red scarlet sins become as white as snow.

In other words, in God’s eyes, Christians become pure.  It happens because of Christ’s atonement.  It happens because God is willing to exchange our filthy rags for Christ’s beautiful robes. But it happens.

And if God’s eyes see us that way… who are we to see anything less?

It is difficult because our eyes still see our spouse’s sins, our children’s sins, our parents’ sins.  But God has changed those sins into Christ’s perfection.  Let His eyes overrule our eyes!

We might yearn for that faith vision to become actual vision.  But until it does (and it WILL!!!!) choose to see with  GodVision™.  See that leopard become a Lion of God.

And see how much easier it is to forgive.

Repeatedly

Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. (Matthew 18:21,22 ESV)

Repeatedly

It is hard to forgive.  And we often come up with reasons for NOT forgiving… conditions where we do not HAVE to forgive… things that allow us to be comfortable in our unforgiving.

Peter thinks he is being kind and loving when he offers to forgive someone up to SEVEN times for an offense.

One of the usual reasons that we seem to think frees us from our responsibility to forgive, is that often someone repeatedly sins against us.  We forgive… they repeat… we forgive… they repeat… we forgive… they repeat… and we want to say, “THAT IS ENOUGH OF THAT!”

But Christians forgive.  It is what we have had done TO us, through Christ, and therefore what we DO.  Or should do.  But it is hard.

Jesus here bursts the balloon of not having to forgive repeat offenders.

Maybe Peter actually understands already.  He might have used ‘seven’ as a symbol of an infinite number.  Which is pretty good.  Better than most of us modern Christians think we need to forgive.  But Jesus ups the forgiveness game.  He says INFINITELY INFINITE. 

We are never to stop forgiving.

Just like Jesus never stops forgiving us.

Carts and Horses

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9 ESV)

Carts and Horses

“If we are going to take an extended trip to Europe, we’ll have to save money, accumulate vacation time, and get better luggage,” we decided.  And we did save money, accumulate vacation time, and found better luggage.  But we did not do this things in order to help our decision, we had already made the decision.  That “IF” is meant in the sense of, “SINCE.”

If we are going to be married, we need to learn budgeting.

If we are going to church, we need to get up on time.

If we are going to have Spaghetti, we had better buy some meatballs.

And here, SINCE we have confessed our sins… meaning more than just today’s confession, but referring to THE confession that brought us into Jesus’ camp… God forgives, and gets rid of our unrighteousness.

Forgiveness from God towards His people is an automatic result of our salvific relationship with Him. 

John intends here to give us confidence in Christ’s atoning work… He is not creating a list of things we must do daily to be forgiven.

Since you are saved in, through, by, and because of Christ, HE is faithful to forgive us!  Not because we ask nicely.  But because HE is consistent, gracious, and merciful.

Starting with Forgiveness

…bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 3:13 ESV)

Starting with Forgiveness

I think more about playing the guitar than playing the mandolin.  Because I am a better guitarist than mandolinist.

I think more about reading Science Fiction than reading Physics textbooks.  Because I am a better SciFi fan than a Physics analyst.

I think more about using my lawn mower than driving a backhoe.  Because I am a better mower than a backhoe-er.

In my life as a Christian, I readily think about Biblical translation, crying when I privately pray, and writing sermons.  Because I think I am fairly good at those things.  But there are a number of Christian practices, attributes, and attitudes that I do not think about.  Because I am not very good at them.

I pretend to be good at them.  I try to be good at them.  I notice when I am NOT good at them.

But I do not really consider them, because I tend to consider those things at which I am better.

But we need to think about, consider, and dig in to those things that we are NOT very good at.  That is our part of the process of Sanctification.

And so, for the next while, let us consider something that we are not very good at.

Forgiveness.

Forgiveness is at the core of every Christian’s relationship with God.  It is at the core of God’s relationship with us.  It is foundational to our relationship with each other.

But we are not very good at it.  We do not forgive others as we were forgiven.  We do not accept forgiveness when it is offered.  We build excuse-walls that make our NON forgiving seem reasonable, wise, and even Spiritual.

Forgiveness, though… when we receive it AND we when perform it, changes our lives.

Forgiveness touches on every Christians’ thoughts, words, and deeds.  Forgiveness touches on every aspect of our daily activities.  Forgiveness is the dough of our Christian bread.

And I am observing and believing more and more that our misunderstandings about forgiveness are a root cause of all that plagues the church, the Church, and individual Christians.

This is not going to be an easy set of brief studies.  I expect I am not going to like it.  I expect it to encourage AND challenge.

I hope we will find that looking at what the Bible, Scripture, God’s Word says about forgiveness will alter how we see it, understand it, and practice it in an improved way.

Hold on to your hats.

The End

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20 ESV)

The End

In baseball, a batter might place a particular kind of hit in which he almost purposefully allows himself to get put out, but in doing so allows another player to advance around the diamond, and even score.  It is called a sacrifice.

In chess, a piece might be advanced to a particular position that causes the opponent to take that piece.  But in so doing, the sacrificed piece creates an opening that allows victory.

Every day I endure the pain of insulin injections so that my body can receive necessary sustenance. 

But at the moment of the player being thrown out, or the chessman being destroyed, or my flesh cringing at the needle… it is common and normal for the pain to outweigh the eventual gain.

And so the player might be angry at the shortstop.  The sacrificed Knight might be angry at the attacking Bishop.  My nerve ending might be angry at the syringe.

But when the whole picture is enjoyed… forgiveness is natural.

So, Joseph, seeing what God had really done, was able to forgive the terrible, hateful, inexcusable violence of his brothers.

It is trust in God that allows us to forgive our tormentors.  The God who loves His people, and is leading us towards Him.  In the best way possible, even when it is through some very difficult obstacles.

His plan is not just a sort of good plan, that cleans up the mess of our lives in the nick of time.  His plan is exactly what we need.  And we WILL see and understand that.  Even though now we do not. 

It is accepting that He, like the baseball coach, like the chess-player, like my doctor, knows what HE is doing.  And that it is good.

And knowing that can help us forgive those who seem unforgiveable.  Just like Joseph’s brothers were unforgiveable.  But really, they were.

Forgiveness is hard when my eyes see the cruelty, malice, thoughtlessness, and ill-will in those who hurt me or the ones I love.  But forgiveness is possible when I trust God’s sovereignty. 

Forgiveness is possible.

Because of God.

FanaticFanatics

So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  (Revelation 3:16 ESV)

FanaticFanatic

Lukewarm is a strange word.  Modern English has lost the word, “Luke” from usage, but it used to mean tepid. Like your breakfast oatmeal, if you let it cool down from hot… but before it reaches cool.

Farm animals were declared dead when their flesh and blood were determined to be luke.  Cleaning water was luke when it was not warm enough to be useful.  A hearth was considered safe to leave unsupervised when it became luke.

Adding the adjective warm to the root word luke exaggerates the tepidness.  The word could have evolved as lukeluke, or warmwarm… but probably artistic concerns led folk to start to use lukewarm to define something that is an extreme of worthlessness.

The other ends of the spiritual spectrum are necessarily extreme.  Rejecting Christ (the coldness of atheism) has eternal consequences.  That rejection is not a casual, thoughtless thing.  Because the Grace of Christ is too big to be rejected casually.

Following Christ (the heat of knowing Him) has eternal consequences, too.  That decision, necessary for eternal survival, is not a casual, thoughtless thing. 

In fact, in the light of all that the gospel promises and provides, rejecting it could be declared foolishfoolish.  And union with Christ could be called fantasticfantastic.

Which pulls us into being fanaticfanatics.

Love

By this we know love, that He laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. (I John 3:16 ESV)

Love

A little known stage magician in the 19th century performed a bit of trickery in which he made a member of his audience disappear.  She reappeared suddenly in another part of the building, without time, pathway, or evidence of her travel.  He performed this act daily for two weeks.  And then he stopped. 

No one knew exactly how he did the trick.

He never revealed his method, no cynic was able to determine the means of disappearance, and even the audience member could not explain what happened.

But his stage trick began an exciting time in the history of stage magic.  Magicians performed their own version of his trick.  And over a few years, dozens of similar prestidigitations were invented, developed, and displayed.

But nothing ever matched the original.  Even to this day.

Love is extremely rare in the universe.  Certainly, reflections of Love are more common.  But Love itself, unconditional, unrewarded, selfless, costly, and full of devoted focus is almost unheard of.

But Jesus showed us Love.  And by HIS Love, we know that love exists.  And by HIS Love, we know what it looks like.  And by HIS Love we are enabled to imitate Him.

And it is not simply sacrificing one’s life that defines Love.  It is the fact that HE laid down His life.

Jesus is the original Love, that the rest of us try to copy.