Sermonette: March 14, 2022

If you were to think of a single word, one which would sum up the Lent season, what would it be? Sadness? Worry? Death? Suffering? Jesus? Cross? There are any number of words that come to mind. And most likely, they would all be correct to some extent. Certainly all the ones I just listed would qualify. But the one I've come up with, the one word that to me signifies this season on our church calendar is Forgiveness. It is indeed a difficult concept to truly understand. In other religions of the world, they don't have a God that will forgive a repentant sinner as we do. For them it is often a case of trying to please their gods by obeying laws or performing certain tasks and rituals in order to please their god. Some religions call for meditation to become “one with their god”. For a Christian, we know perfection is not attainable for a human being. We can't follow every law and commandment, we can't ever do enough to earn His forgiveness. Thankfully, we have a loving and forgiving God that will indeed forgive us.

We have discussed this word in our confirmation class and what it means to us as Christian people. I have told them that in my opinion, it is the most difficult thing we need to do. I gave them an example of somebody stealing their baseball glove or their bicycle. Of course, we have to do what we can to help this person stop that behavior, even if it means calling the police. But, as a Christian we are required to forgive this person. True, we tend to get angry at first but it is important we don't try to “get even”. We must forgive. When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we ask God to forgive our sins, “as we forgive those who have sinned against us.” The kids agreed with me that is can be very difficult to do. For adults this can even by more difficult because often the stakes are higher. We get cheated in a business deal or find out that someone we thought was a friend turns out not to be because of things they do or say. Perhaps personal relationships are ruined or put in jeopardy because of a betrayal of trust. While certainly more serious that a stolen bicycle, the concept is the same. If we want God to forgive us, we must forgive others.

Let's look at from another perspective. What if we are the transgressor? Naturally we ask for God's forgiveness. But we also need to go to the person we have harmed, sincerely apologize, and ask for their forgiveness and make amends as best we can. But in all the instances we've covered here in this short message, we absolutely have to keep God involved all the time, every time. We need to ask Him for His help regardless of which side of the issue we are.

Do you want a great example of forgiveness? Jesus, while being nailed to a cross, prays and asks God to forgive those involved because they didn't know what they were doing. Try to imagine the pain Jesus was suffering at the time, picture the situation in your mind of what he was experiencing, and tell me who other than our Lord and Savior would be able to ask God to forgive those responsible. Yes, Lent is a season to learn about forgiveness. I pray you will be able to find forgiveness in your hearts. Blessings to you all.