Archive for July 24th, 2009
Forgive Me
Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing!
Jesus’ words stand as a testimony to His great love, even for our those torturing and ridiculing Him.
Jesus’ words stand as a reminder of the Lord’s call to each of us to follow in His footsteps:
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 tniv)
Jesus’ words stand as a beacon guiding each of us home after we have been cut to the heart by our own sin and wounded our Savior by our own reckless rebellion.
Forgiveness is hard, yet immensely rewarding work. It sets free the forgiver. It sets free the forgiven. It sets free the grace of God in the lives of community and changes all involved. That’s why it is such a huge part of the Lord’s prayer:
Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. (Matthew 6:12 nlt)
My heartlight.org article is about forgiveness this week, but in the terms of a broken pink lamp and a beautiful white stallion statue with glue lines and a piece missing. Our forgiveness, even at it’s best, only approximates God’s. He challenges us to forgive completely, and when we have sinned, He challenges us to confess completely. To call our sin what He does; to see our offense as He sees it. And when we do, an amazing thing happens with God that we cannot do for ourselves: he forgives us and makes us new by cleansing and purifying us.
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9)
But while we cannot cleanse a person when we forgive them, God can. Such grace is set loose in community where pettiness, gossip, mean-spirited talk, and rivalry exist. And just as evil could not triumph in the face of Jesus’ sacrifice and words of grace, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing,” neither can it survive a community, a family, a church, where forgiveness and grace are the lifestyle. This is a place where God’s Kingdom does come because His will is done.
So please pray the prayer with me and give thanks and mercy for the power of forgiveness to change everything!
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
For yours is the Kingdom
and the power and the glory,
forever. Amen (Matthew 6:9-13 nlt)