“Forgiveness” (Evening Lenten Worship)

Scripture: Luke 23:32-43

Lent is a time of preparation for Easter – from Christ’s suffering and humiliation in the scourging and crucifixion, to his bodily resurrection from the darkness of the tomb.
As you may know, our Lenten evening series for this year will be focusing on the last words of Jesus. We hope that you understand that all of Jesus’ words are vitally important for our lives, but that the “Seven Last Words” should be seen, for lack of a better word, as “spiritual exclamation marks” for our lives.
Your pastors will be emphasizing these words as important issues - not only in our preparation for Easter, but for our entire Christian life.

Tonight’s word, the first word that we will consider in our Lenten preparation, is Forgiveness. To begin with, I would like to dispel some myths surrounding the concept of forgiveness.

Myth #1 – Forgiveness is automatic when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.
The truth is that salvation is different than forgiveness. We are saved once and for all time, but because of our human nature, we constantly commit sins against the Lord, as well as against our neighbors. Accepting Christ and welcoming him into our lives is the first step, but we are constantly damaging that relationship through our sin. Love the Lord your God with your entire being, and love your neighbor as yourself. But love can never fully exist until forgiveness has been granted.

Myth #2 – Forgiveness is something that God does, and we don’t have to worry about it.
God does forgive, that’s true, but forgiveness must always be preceded by confession. Whether it is our confession of sin to God, or confession of our complicity in the damaged relationship with a friend, honest confession, the naming of our wrong, must be the first step of our journey toward reconciliation – toward forgiveness.

Myth #3– Forgiveness is something that my pastor or priest gets for me, so I don’t have to worry about it.
Forgiveness is always a personal matter. Unless it comes from our heart, the words mean nothing. Unless it is our own desire, it can never be. Pastors and priests can help in our decision making process, but it must always come from spirit to spirit.

Myth #4– I don’t have to be forgiven for those things that I believe are right.
Sin occurs when we break God’s Law and Covenant, and it has nothing to do with our human sense of what is right or wrong. Our standards, our intensions, mean nothing to the Lord. When our life takes a turn away from God’s path, when we are following the world’s standards instead of his, our request for forgiveness for this errant act, is the only way to return to the Lord’s good graces.

Myth #5 – We only need to forgive those who are willing to forgive us.
A note was found many years ago, written by an anonymous author, and discovered in the clothing of a dead child at Ravesbruck concentration camp:
Remember, O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But, do not remember all of the suffering they have inflicted upon us; Instead, remember the fruits we have borne because of this suffering -- our fellowship, our loyalty to one another, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown from this trouble. When our persecutors come to be judged by you, let all of these fruits that we have borne be our forgiveness [for them].

--Anonymous, found in the clothing of a dead child at Ravensbruck concentration camp. From Prayers of the Martyrs, compiled and translated by Duane W.H. Arnold. (Zondervan, 1991), 73.
Enough said?

Israel had always believed that the sacrifices that they brought to temple, were the only means that they had to be forgiven for their sins. For them, adherence to the law was an absolute, and when they deviated from it, they had to make amends. But this way had to be repeated over and over again, and forgiveness never quite seemed complete.

But Jesus taught that there was a better way – that by our heart’s confession through faith in him, true forgiveness could be obtained. There is still the need for confession, but the sacrifice for our sins has already been made and accepted – the sacrifice that Jesus made for us at Calvary makes forgiveness complete.

Forgiveness is very possibly the greatest form of healing. In his healing ministry, the Lord made the point that faith was critically important when it came to any type of restoration. In the story of the paraplegic who was brought to Jesus for healing (Mark 2:1-12), the Lord knew the faith of the friends, and in verse 5 we read “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'” Forgiveness is a renewal, a healing of relationship, if you will. And note that it was the faith and seeking by the paralyzed man’s friends by which the healing occurred, and not necessarily by his own.

But what about our own forgiveness? In Luke 6:37-38, Jesus tells us that our actions toward others will be the example by which God will act toward us. If we judge and condemn others, then condemnation will be our lot. If we withhold forgiveness from those who have harmed us, then forgiveness will be withheld from us.

But this is also a matter of whether our forgiveness is in words only, or whether it comes from our heart. A number of years ago, some close friends betrayed my trust, and our relationship was severely damaged. Over and over, I prayed that the Lord would forgive them, but I never felt any assurance that God had heard or had acted. You see, even while I was seeking forgiveness for them, I was also imagining what I could do to show them how wrong they had been – or rather, how I might “get even”. I didn’t actually want them to be forgiven until they asked for my forgiveness.
Then one day, I was mowing the lawn, again, asking for their forgiveness, while at the same time plotting how I was going to show them how wrong they had been, when the truth of the matter hit me – that I needed God’s forgiveness before they could be forgiven. The mowing stopped, the lawn mower was shut off, and I stood right there, in the middle of the yard, asking the Almighty to forgive my arrogance and lack of heart. And interestingly, I never again felt the need to continue asking for their forgiveness!

And, of course, the ultimate example of forgiveness is offered in our text for this evening. By Christ’s Spirit and his trust in the Father, he accepted all that the world could possibly throw at him. He had been convicted by terrible lies in a “kangaroo court”. He had been beaten and scourged to within an inch of his life. He had been forced to carry his own cross as he was paraded through the streets of Jerusalem. He had been nailed to the cross as Pilate’s conciliatory gesture to the Sanhedrin.
And even beyond all that, the insults continued.

He had been stripped naked, and his clothing was being divided up by the Roman solders. The Jewish leadership smirked at his situation, believing that this “Jesus threat” to their authority had finally been eliminated. The Roman soldiers joined in the mocking, suggesting that if he didn’t save himself, that his claim to being the Son of God was nothing more than a fabrication. And even one of the criminals who were dying with him took up the chant – “If you truly are God, then save us all!”

No one would have complained if Jesus had replied, in kind, to them all, but instead, he pleads on their behalf, that the Father would forgive them for the ignorance that led them to this place and time. His 33 years on earth, and his 3 ½ years of ministry, and now the final hours of his human life, were all in place for the singular purpose of gaining salvation for the people of this world. And one of his final thoughts was that each and every one of us – the most vile, the most abusive, the most condemning, the most evil, the most ignorant among us might be forgiven for our sin and made worthy to receive his life.

“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” (v. 34) Who are they?
THEY are all who have caused the Son of God to be crucified that day – the Jewish leaders, the Roman conquerors and occupiers, the mockers and insulters – essentially, all who have ever sinned against God and neighbor.
Who are THEY?
THEY are you and me. By the mercy and spirit of Jesus Christ, and by the confession of our sins, we have been forgiven for being the reason behind his agony at Calvary.

And the gift doesn’t end there. Even though he became “forgiveness” for the world’s sin, one other event would stand out that day. While he was being ridiculed and demeaned and humiliated that day, there was one who proclaimed the Lord’s innocence, and asked that he might know the salvation that only faith in Christ could achieve. As that one man, judged worthy of condemnation by the world, while feeling his life slipping from his body, his only thought was of Jesus.

Forgiveness, if we offer it, and seek it, and accept it, is the key to relationship with both God and each other. And without it, we continue to drown in our worthlessness. Remember our communion liturgy over the Cup? “When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: ‘Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”

Forgiveness has been offered, but we still need to claim it and embrace it.

Have you sought God’s forgiveness for the life you live?
Have you asked the Lord to lead you back to his ways and out of your own?
Have you fully, without reservation or hesitation, forgiven the hurt, and the denial, and the lies, and the condemnation that others have heaped upon you?

Lord Jesus, may we (may I) forgive as completely as you do!