Sermonette - July 23, 2018

I'm deviating from what I thought I was going to write about this week. My plan was to follow the theme of the ELCA youth gathering I attended in Houston, Texas by writing about grace. However as I reflected on grace, I kept coming back to forgiveness. In essence, you have to lead by grace in order to forgive: to forgive you need grace.

There is one thing I want to make very clear about forgiveness. Practicing forgiveness does not mean you should be a doormat. Bullying and domestic violence are not Biblical; Jesus does not condone violence and hate. Interpreting scripture in this way is counter to the Gospel and harmful to our neighbor. The Reverend Nadia Bolz-Weber, who spoke at the youth gathering, says "when a person does us harm, we are connected to that harm like a chain."

Have you ever been bullied? Have you ever had your worth questioned by someone motivated by anger and resentment? When faced with such antagonists we often question who we are, even if there is no basis in truth to their so-called accusations. This kind of harm is evil. However holding on to this kind of harm, being angry, and perhaps wanting revenge, only feeds the evil. Rev. Nadia says "If we hold on to that harm, we can absorb some of that evil and even become like them." She goes onto to say that forgiveness is not letting someone off the hook, like when we tell the one that harmed us, "Oh that's okay," even when every molecule in our body is screaming “No, it is not okay!” She says that forgiveness is like taking a bolt cutter to the chain that binds us to that evil, so that we are no longer connected to it. Forgiveness is about freedom, and freedom from the chains that bind us—that is a gift. It is a gift to have the past not define who we are today, a gift to let go of resentment and a gift to have joy. It is a gift to know that you are loved by a God whose light shines in the darkness.

To hear more of what Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber says about forgiveness, you can visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhmRkUtPra8.