I’ve decided that Christmas was way better as a child.  It was just so much simpler, and the anticipation for cool toys so much greater.

I don’t know about you, but I’m present shaker.  I carefully feel the package and rattle it to make a best guess of what’s inside.  When I was growing up, my hard-working single mother somehow managed to buy for me some of the coolest toys ever, legos.  And not just any legos, but several of the Space Police series by Legos, which in my opinion, are still the coolest series Legos have ever put out.  Man, you pick up and shake a box of legos and you know what’s in there and you’re just dying to see what spaceship it is.

And you remember being a kid, the weeks before Christmas experience a disturbance in the time-space continuum where they slow down to be literally be some twenty-four megajillion years long.  (That’s the real technical term for it.)  But finally, Christmas day would come and you would finally get to tear, rip, or to use an antiquated term, “rend,” the wrapping paper off that certain gift you had been dying to open.

I know people in the church are often critical of the consumerism of Christmas, but it’s not all a bad thing.

About this time two years ago I did a sermon for my speaking class on Isaiah 64:1.  The thrust of the sermon was, “May you give gifts this Christmas season because you have been given the greatest gift.”  In it I looked at these two aspects of Christmas presents:  First, that they are a great illustration of what it means to anticipate and wait for something, and secondly that we give gifts out of remembrance that God himself has given us the greatest gift, which we mimic by giving gifts to those we love.

Isaiah 64:1 reads, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!”  Shortly before this verse, back in chapter 63, we read some of the writer’s despair,

“Look down from heaven and see from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.     Where are your zeal and your might? Your tenderness and compassion are     withheld from us.”

And then in a desperate cry for help from God Isaiah pens this plea, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!”

One of my favorite gospels is the Gospel of Mark, for many reasons, but one reason is that only Mark (Peter’s account of the story of Jesus) picks up this detail from Isaiah.  It’s only in this gospel where we see the fulfillment of Isaiah’s painful cry to God finally answered, some 600 years later.  That’s why I keep telling people, read the New Testament in light of the Old, it makes more sense this way….  If you don’t, you’ll miss this amazingly powerful point Mark is making.  They have waited forever for this messiah, and Isaiah’s prayer some 600 years earlier is only just now being realized.  I mean, we pray for four days and we’re like “Is there a God?” and these Jews have seen their prayers go unanswered for hundreds of years.

So, here we have again this tension of waiting.  It’s why we do the advent calendars and wreaths, we are building this tension of the years and years of waiting for this promised messiah into our Christmas celebration.

In extracanonical sources (ancient texts not included in our bibles) we read of the many, many false messiah’s that arose between the end of our book Malachi and the opening of Mark, some 400 years later.

What’s different about this messiah that is wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger?

It’s that some thirty years later, when he undergoes a ritual immersion at the hands of John the Baptist, we see the crying plea of a broken prophet finally answered some 600 years after he begged God to tear open the heavens and come down.

Mark 1:10 reads “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.”

This is Him!  Isaiah, your God has done it at last!  He heard your prayer, and He has torn open the heavens and come down!

Like any just and loving God would do.

“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down!  Come down, show yourself, and fix this place!  You say you are just, you say you love your people, you say you will fix this!  Well, come down and fix it!  Please!  I beg you, God Almighty, come down and show this world that you mean it!”

“As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open….”

That’s what this season is all about.

He came.

The amazing thing is that he didn’t come and tear open the skies and come down in an earth shattering awesomeness that only a god could do, no he came down and entered into this mess of a broken and fallen world as one of us.  What an awesome and mysterious God we serve.

Praise be to God in the Highest!

I’m sure everyone has a verse they strongly dislike.  Mine is Ecclesiastes 1:9.  For some reason, I have heard it quoted repeatedly recently and it drives me nuts. People will toss out, “Well, there’s nothing new under the sun.”

Shut-up. I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Unless you use it in the context it was written, please do not say this verse around me.

Rob Bell, in a podcast interview with Catalyst recently said a line I loved.  He said “I love to create things and share them with people.”  That’s me.  I love to create things and share them with people.  Not to mention that I think that is a part of how we are made in the image of God–our ability to create, design and imagine.

Let’s put this verse in perspective.  The author of Ecclesiastes was describing the world as he saw it during his midlife-crisis.  If convertibles were available during his time he would probably have ended his book with “Fear God, keep his commandments, and buy a convertible” (Ecc. 12:13).  Ok, maybe not, and I don’t really know if he was having a midlife crisis, but here’s what I do know:

The author of this book was contemplating the meaning of life, and he had found no fulfillment in the extreme pursuits of whatever his heart desired.  He observed that the seasons change, the sun rises and sets and the circle of life goes on, no matter our petty wars and kingdoms accomplish.  The ability for humans to love, deceive, kill and hope has never changed.  We say “History is bound to repeat itself.”  So in that sense, there really is nothing new under the sun.

Now, there’s an issue of technology and bioethics.  You might argue that this doesn’t really change the game, it’s just a more advanced form or a new twist on the same issues.  Maybe.

So what is new under the sun?

Technology.

Can we all agree that iPhones did not exist 3,000 years ago?  From the writer of Ecclesiastes’ perspective, looking back some thousands of years on human history, technology itself hadn’t really advanced.  I mean, for how many years did humans kill each other with swords and bows?  Forever.  Up until rather recently, right?  I mean, how many thousands of years have humans walked this earth and it was basically only about 100 years ago we figured out how to fly.  Kudos to us, we did it in record time.  So even technologically, it may not have looked like we had came up with anything new at the time of the writing of Ecclesiastes, but we certainly have.

So, there are new things under the sun.  In fact, there are a lot of new things under the sun.  There are new bands and music.  “Well, they’re using the same theories they’ve been using for hundreds of years.”  Terrific.  So the Sistine Chapel wasn’t a new thing because paint existed before then?  Michelangelo sends his regards.

We create new things, no not out of ex nihilo [out of nothing], but we do create new things.  We paint, we design, we build, we write, etc.  I mean, who doesn’t enjoy seeing new movies, learning about new technology, hearing new songs or trying new restaurants?  Even this article, these words, put in this order (although they may not communicate any “new” ideas) have never existed like this before, so even this article is new.  And I created it!

So can we please stop quoting Ecclesiastes like there is nothing new under the sun?

Because I love to create and nothing kills inspiration like being told that there’s nothing new under the sun.  Which, frankly, is just not true anyway.  So be inspired!  Go create and tell me you made something new under the sun, and I’d be happy to have you share it with me.

Create.  Design.  Imagine.  Dream.

These People, In This Place, In This Culture, At This Time.
The Bible, a Fresh Read (Part 2)

What if God spoke to you?

In a personal way?

What if he sent you an e-mail and talked to you about colleges and which ones he liked best, and then you could better decide where to go to school.  Or he maybe told you to go and be a leader to a certain group of people.  Or you could read a letter written to your church from God himself?

What if God had a blog?

Or Twittered?

Here’s the thing:  We forget that our God is and always has been that relevant to our culture and to all mankind.

About six months ago I began trying to come up with a modern day analogy of a parable in the Bible and word it in a way that I think God would speak to our culture today, because for some reason we don’t really grasp how amazingly relevant God was to people in the times in which the Bible was written.

To be sure, if Yahweh was God, over all other gods in ancient culture, he had to show himself relevant and pertinent to the situations at hand.  He’s not just the God of your ancestors, he’s the God of the here and now and the God who will go with us into the future.

The Bible is a collection of writings that show just that.

These are accounts written to people over a period of thousands of years, and in each case God spoke into a specific culture, in a specific place, at a specific time to communicate with specific people.  That’s why we have got to understand the culture, place, time and historical situation for the people.

So what would God write us today?  What cultural things would he use to illustrate his points?

I think if Jesus came to earth today, instead of talking about how he is the vine and we are the branches–which means nothing to our modern-day industrial society–he might say something like he’s the power grid, he’s the electrical outlet and we’re laptop computers.  Apart from him, we can survive for a time.  Long enough to be grafted–err–plugged back in before we die, but apart from Jesus, we can’t really do much.  In fact, we will die.

If we could get a hold of the relevancy of the bible to the people it was written to, I think it would change the way we read scripture and understand God.

Isaiah 40:31 is one of my favorite verses.  Unfortunately it is often repeated out of it’s context.  It was written to a people who had witnessed the fall of Jerusalem, which was the city of their God Yahweh.  Their god had been defeated, their leaders killed, and they were carted off to foreign lands (end of chapter 39).  Isaiah wrote words from God (chapter 40 and following) to comfort these disheartened people, hundreds of miles away from home.

The time comes for them to return home, and it’s a long journey, on foot, home.  At a time before air planes, I imagine the people must long in their hearts to soar like the birds, like a mighty eagle, up over those dry craggy mountains, rather than stumbling through the dust and the dirt on the road home to Jerusalem.  And for many of them, the question in the back of their minds is whether they should even bother to return home or not.  After all, Yahweh has been defeated.

The reality, though, is that He is anything but defeated.  He had, even then, the whole world in his hands.

Read these words in that context: “but those who trust [hope, wait] in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Do you see it?  He speaks into people’s lives, where they are, not in some sort of distant, removed fashion.  It’s in the here and now.  He is here now, watching over you.  He knows your pain and He has words of comfort for you, at this place, in this time and in this culture.

How do I know that?  Because that is the way He has always spoken.

Four years ago my roommate Chris shared with Adam and me that his brother had Battens disease.  He shared that this disease caused a person’s body to slowly degenerate and eventually fail.  That was our freshman year of college, and I got met David that year.  He was a handsome sixteen year-old at the time.  Loved sports, especially the Yankees (much to my dismay), and quickly became a big fan of mine, and I of him.

David

Over the next four years of school, I saw David on several other occasions and spoke with him fairly regularly on the phone when he would call Chris.  He had a quick laugh and an incredibly loving personality.  He also greatly enjoyed being in the presence of girls.  On one particular occasion, about a year ago, I remember introducing David to a couple of our female friends.  After being introduced, I told David that he had just met some very pretty girls.  His nervous smile and giggle sent us all into stitches.

The three of us, Chris, Adam and I, were put together our freshman year in a forced triple with about 4 square feet of open floor space.  Luckily, we very quickly became very close friends.  All three of us would agree that it was undeniably a “God thing.”  Shortly after Chris told us about his brother’s disease, Adam and I talked decided that we would do whatever it took to be there for Chris when the time came.

We continued to live together for the first three years of college, sometimes having to fight with the school so that the three of us could remain in the same room.  We slowly got to know Chris’ family and even had his younger brother, Daniel, stay with us on a few occasions.  Unfortunately for Chris, we found out very quickly that his youngest brother was way cooler than he’d ever be and used that for additional ammo for the continuous rounds of picking on each other we had.  We joke that we pick on those we love, so Adam Chris and I love each other a lot.

Throughout the time we roomed together at Gordon, we spent many, many hours praying for each other, our families and our friends.  I remember many occasions where we all held each other through tears of pain, sobbing into one another’s shoulders   We really became a family for each other away from home.   Continuously in the back of Adam’s and my mind was that we would be there for Chris.  We didn’t know when, and we didn’t know that I’d be in Colorado and he’d be in New Hampshire when that call finally came.

Sean, Adam, Chris, Nate, Dan

David passed away at 20 years of age, October 22nd, 2009.  I can’t describe the feeling of traveling so far and finally seeing Chris come around the corner in his home and hugging tightly a man who I have held and has held me on so many occasions throughout the past years.    Or then seeing his younger brother, Daniel who has persevered with amazing fortitude the last few months of David’s life, and pulling him equally close in a tight hug.  There are just no words.  An immense feeling of helplessness, yet knowing that you’ve done all you can do by simply being there with them.

David’s service was an amazing testimony of a life well lived for God.  I wish I knew how many people where there, but suffice it to say that there were hundreds and hundreds of people there, and I have no doubt that that was only a fraction of the lives David touched.  (If you’d like to see the service you can watch it here).

I learned, through the stories I heard about David, and the reading of some of his essays, that he was not always happy and cheerful.  He did struggle with the fact that he slowly lost his eyesight and ability to play with other kids.  He loved sports, especially baseball and football, but was not really able to play either of them.  What is so amazing about David is that it was his faith in Christ that allowed him to have joy amidst his knowledge that he was slowly loosing abilities to function.  I learned that he had a tender heart and compassion for everyone he met who were facing hardships of any kind.  I learned that he would offer to pray for people he met in restaurants and would share his faith freely.  It was his hope in Christ that gave him strength and joy that he would one day be able to see again.  So it is with very mixed feelings of joy and sadness that we said goodbye to such a great man of God.

I encourage you to take a look at Chris’ dad’s blog to read a powerful testimony from David http://davidpfohl.blogspot.com/.

Some closing words:

Chris – I don’t know what to say.  You have been such a source of encouragement and accountability to me.  I deeply appreciate all of the laughter, prayers, conversations and time the three of us have shared together and I praise God because of you.  I hope that someday soon we will live closer together again and I look forward to the many, many years ahead.  You and Adam have been the closest thing to brothers I have ever had.  I love you.

Daniel – I worry that you might think that you don’t have friends that would drop everything and travel hundreds of miles to be with you.  There is no doubt in my mind that you do have such friends.  And I’m sure that I speak for both Adam and I when I say you are always welcome in both our homes, and we will always do whatever we can for you.

Mr. and Mrs. Pfohl – It’s been an incredible privilege to walk with your son Chris through some of this time, and an extreme honor that you allowed us into your home so much during a time of intimate family celebration and mourning.  Your faith and perseverance will always be an example for me to follow.

David – I’m sorry that we did not get to know each other more on this side of eternity, but I do know that you had many, many amazing friends here and I rejoice in the thought of you being fully restored.  You have taught me much in the little I have known you, and you have forever brought new meaning to songs such as “Amazing Grace,” “It is well” and “Blessed be the Name of the Lord.”  Your life has been a great testimony of God to me and many others, and I know that it will continue to be that to many.  You ran and fought well, and I will see you again.

The Bible, a Fresh Read (Part 1)

In a previous article entitled “Stories,” I argued that as humans we have a desperate need to know how stories end.  Even if I didn’t see the beginning of the movie, and I start watching in the middle, I have to see the end.  We always want to know how the story ended, if at all possible.  We have to satisfy that craving, to fill the suspense of waiting on learning the ending.  You never hear a someone start telling a story and when they’re only half way through stop suddenly and say,

“Huh, that’s funny, I don’t know how it ends.  They were stranded on the edge of the road at night in the Everglades surrounded by crocodiles, alligators and three man-eating tigers that escaped from a nearby zoo, and I don’t actually know what happens next.  I mean the guy who was telling the story got that far, and then I lost interest and walked away…..”

No.

Never happens.

We have to know the resolution, we have to hear the end of the story.  The problem we have then, is that when we hear a story we’re familiar with, we mentally jump ahead to the end of the story and think “Oh, this is a good story.  It looks like he’s going to be eaten, but then it turns out fine in the end.”  We have lost that angst, that discomfort of not knowing how it ended, like the first time we heard the story.  We’re on the edge of our seats, with our eyes wide open, asking at every pause in the story, “What happens next?!”

We need to regain that tension.

We need to pause for a moment in those stories we read in our Bible, and pretend, for just a moment, that we don’t know that end.  A woman finds out that Pharaoh has ordered all the male babies to be killed.  Her baby is at stake, and in a moment of desperation, she has to make a decision and decides that if she has a choice between the Egyptian butchers and the crocodiles, she’ll take her chances with the water.  And then we see this woman pushing this rickety, water resistant basket out into the water while her heart is slowly being ripped apart and her son drifts out of her reach.

There’s a young man who has passionately followed God with all his heart and he suddenly finds his life forfeit because he refuses to compromise his faith in God.  He’s taken out to killed and the king says these words to him, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” and then he’s thrown into a pit full of starving lions.

Another time a small group of men spent three years of their lives following someone they hope is not just another false prophet, for they have seen so many.  But this man, they are sure he’s it, he’s the one, and then they watch him be taken away and executed by the most powerful empire in the world, and the fact that they even associated with him means that they too could share his same fate.

And if you were to ask me what I thought the out come of any one of these stories was going to be, and I didn’t know the ending, the answer would be simple:

It is not going to be good.

The baby boy is going to be food for crocodiles or drown.  The young man is going to be torn apart by hungry lions, and the man’s followers are going to regret for the rest of their lives that they wasted three years following another failed messiah.  They are going to live for many years in hiding, denying that they ever knew him, and probably will just walk away from their faith completely, returning once again to be fishermen, not fishers of men.

See, that’s where you are right now, too.  You do not know the ending.  You do not know the ending of your life.  You do not know the resolution to the difficult situation you are in right now.  You are afraid of being torn apart and eaten.  You are afraid that making this next choice, years down the road is going to be a waste of your time.  You are afraid that….

And until we learn how to pause in these stories of the Bible, it will never reflect the tension, angst, hope, and salvation it really offers.  Because all of your favorite stories of the Bible were written out of a time of great uncertainty, with many unknown endings, you can take comfort in your current circumstances.  The reason these stories are great stories is that because in every one of them these people did the same thing you are called to do:

Be faithful and trust that God is so much bigger than your current circumstances will ever be.

This week I’ll be kicking off a two part series that I’m really excited about.  We’ll be looking at two ideas that I think if we put into practice will change the way we read our Bibles.  Even if you don’t put them into practice I think you’ll find these two article challenging and encouraging to you faith, so come back later tonight to read part one of “The Bible; a Fresh Read,” Pause.

A good friend, Dan Lee, asked me a great question after my last post, “Instant Gratification.”  He wrote:

“Just out of curiosity, I was wondering what you were referring to for the long term consequences that the church will be facing?  I know you used environmental issues for your example (not saying that it is not a theological/spiritual issue) but anything specific? I might be intrigued to think further about this topic.”

In a way, this is a combination of two articles, so if it’s slightly less focused than my other articles, please bear with me to the end.  I think I have a strong, concise conclusion.  Anyway, here are some thoughts on those consequences:

I think the church is in desperate need of a more holistic approach to saving lives; that is, we have too much of an emphasis on conversion and spiritual things and not enough focus on practical, day-to-day wisdom.*  This may in part be caused by a focus on the instant gratification, the “instant results” in church world. We tend focus too heavily on the point of conversion, raise your hand, come to the alter, and not enough on Christ changing someone’s whole life.

Jesus came to give us life and life to the full.

“Jesus changed my life,” we say.  Really?  How much did he change?  Or how much of people’s lives do we, as a church, hope to change?  On one level we have people in our churches who have amazing testimonies of how they were addicted to drugs or alcohol and then Jesus changed their lives and now they are drug and alcohol free.  Contrast this with other church members who are drowning in debt before they were a christian, and now that they are saved are still drowning because they do not know how to be financially responsible.  This seems like a problem to me.  Conversion is more instant; life skills are long term.

Part of the problem is that there’s such a disconnect between the “spiritual life” and the rest of life, which is unfortunate, and I would suggest means that we aren’t encouraging people to have life and live it to the full.

We should be careful not to spiritualize things to such an extent that we minimize our effectiveness at providing people concrete practical advice for life in this world.  We should teach people to care for their body, get out of debt and use money wisely (Jesus taught about money more than any other topic), leadership principles, principles of wisdom and decision making.  A good measure of whether or not we are offering advice and wisdom to people that will give them the practical long term ability to have life and live it to the full would be whether or not our advice sunday mornings could be used effectively by someone who’s not a Christian.  Not that every sermon has to do that, but I imagine you’d agree with me that most of the sermons we hear is advice mainly for Christians.  The problem is that scripture is full of wisdom about living life in wise, practical ways, and I think when we do this we glorify God the most. So, I think we should teach more of this in church.

For instance, Andy Stanley teaches this brilliant principle he calls “the principle of the path.”  In reality it’s really simple, but so few of us follow it.  It says basically, that the path you’re on will determine your destination.  Or, as he says, “Direction, not intention determines destination.”  If you want to go to college, but screw around and don’t take your grades seriously, that’s not a path that leads to college.  If you want to marry a godly Christian guy, but you date any cute guy that comes your way, you’re not on a path that leads to the destination you want to go in.  You’ve got the idea?  This is not principle that applies only to Christians, nonbelievers–even atheists–can apply this principle to their lives and have a more abundant life.**  And since we believe all truth is God’s truth, there’s no reason we should be afraid to preach it from our pulpits.

So, in conclusion, I think our attitude of “Instant Gratification” in the church has the ability to cause our ministry to be shallow, not holistic and ultimately robs our church family of the fullest life they could have.

Thoughts to chew on:
The early church, was it about “accepting Christ,” or about following Christ?  See the problem?  We focus on a one-time instant faith, but there is a process, a following, a learning, an imitation to our faith.  We go for the “instant gratification” of “knowing” our salvation is secure, rarely for the long term issues facing families in our churches.

___________________________________
* I realize that I introduced a concept with little explanation.  What I mean by our teaching “spiritual things” from the pulpit too much with out enough long-term practical things.  For example we teach to “trust the Lord” to “love your neighbor,” but someone could have a lot of trust in God, be the most loving person on the planet and be up to their eyeballs in debt because they don’t know how to get out.  Is this a concern of the church? YES!!!!  For so many reasons, not least of which being that Jesus came to give us life and life tot he full!  We have a whole book of truth and people’s experiences so that we know how to live practically and wisely.
** Yes, I realize that even with this principle atheists would not truly have life to the full as Jesus was speaking of, but you get my point.  Atheists and Christians alike would have better lives if they put this principle into practice.

If you’re like me you know about our so-called problem with “instant gratification” and you think of microwaves and fast food joints.  Or maybe you’re just a little too much like me and you’re frustrated that “instant” pudding isn’t instant but actually takes about 4 minutes.  However, those things are actually fairly shallow views of “instant gratification.” I think, as a society we actually suffer from a more long-term problem of instant gratification, ironically.

Our problem is that we only think about this instance, this moment and not the long term effect of our actions.  Pretty much everything we do today has long term effects.

Being stricken with an environmental conscience (I’m convinced it’s a conviction from God) it frustrated me how many things we do for the short term convenience that have very, very long term effects.  For instance, we’ve all been to the church picnic or the party and used the plastic silverware and cups and then throw them away in the trash.  So, for the life of that plastic fork we used it for maybe 20 minutes and it will spend the next 20 million years in a landfill.  So we have a problem; for all the momentary convenience we have landfills full of materials that will out live probably all of mankind.

It’s all for the convenience of now.

We don’t want to carry around that plastic bottle ‘till we find a recycling bin, we don’t want to clean out the peanut butter jar, we don’t want to have to wash the dishes….

You can ignore it, you can try to justify it, but at some point you have to realize that you choices today have long term consequences, sometimes very long term consequences.

The scary thing is the number of choices we are forced to make daily that require instant responses.  Scarier still is our tendency to think that we can handle it on our own, without relying on the infinite wisdom of our God in heaven.

I wonder what would happen if we as Christians really started thinking about the long term consequences of our actions.  But honestly, I think that’s a vision that is unlikely to happen.  I think we will continue to be a shallow church, focused more on the now than on the future.  I mean, thinking about how our actions will really affect the future takes a lot of time and requires action now that looks foolish because we are acting on the future as if it were now.

Besides it would be an inconvenience, and we live in an age of convenience.

So it is my hope that you will read this and just start thinking about the long term, that this would haunt you and make you question what you do today in light of tomorrow.  And maybe, just maybe we’ll start to be a church that isn’t driven by instant gratification.

Last week we looked a little at the forgiveness we need to receive from our heavenly father (see Forgiveness – God’s Part), but this time I want to look a little at the forgiveness we need to give one another.  Unfortunately this seems to be a little more complicated, so this article may be a little longer.

I feel like the most challenging thing about this that we need to forgive others, or we ourselves may not be forgiven.  Jesus teaches this parable in Matthew 18 often called the “Unmerciful Servant,” in which a great king forgives the un-payable debt of his servant.  (Even if he, his wife and children were sold into slavery it is unlikely, according to some commentators, that this would have even come close to paying his debt.)  Then Jesus says something, that to me, is pretty scary.  In short, he says that when we don’t forgive others, we don’t deserve–in fact we won’t receive–the forgiveness our heavenly Father offers us.  Let that sink in a little.  When we don’t forgive others, we won’t receive the forgiveness our heavenly Father offers us.

When we fail to offer anyone forgiveness we show ourselves to be completely unaware of the price of our forgiveness and in doing so irreverently declare it worthless, ultimately rejecting it.

So the real heart of the matter is, “How do we forgive?”

Forgiveness requires love.  We’re supposed to love our enemies and our neighbors as ourselves.  I recently heard 1 Cor. 13:4 in a new translation; it described said love “always assumes the best.”  From this I think we can find that there may be two steps in forgiveness:  First, assuming the best in someone else and then forgiving them their mistake whether they deserve it or not.  Let me break those out a little.

First, we are to “assume the best” in the other person, unless proven otherwise.  Unless it is clear beyond a doubt that the intent was indeed malicious, assume that it was an accident or mistake.  This would easily solve many of our everyday issues that require forgiveness.  The guy who cut you off in traffic and made you slam on your breaks, maybe he didn’t see you, maybe he suddenly realized he needed to get over into your lane.  Get over it.  You make mistakes too, I bet.  The person who makes an insensitive comment, do they usually say things like that?  Did they probably intend to be malicious to you?  Probably not.

There’s a subpart to this.  We’ve also all heard the line “love keeps no record of wrongs.”  This actually affects our ability to assume the best in the other person.  If we have a long list of wrongs they have done against us, we have not forgiven them, and we will always paint them as “guilty” until proven “innocent” rather than “assuming the best.”

“She did that on purpose.  Last week she said this, and the week before she broke that….”

Forgive them, don’t keep a list and then you’ll be able to “assume the best” about others.

Then there’s the second step; actually forgiving people.  We almost always can find a reason for why they don’t deserve it.  Maybe they don’t care if you forgive them.  Maybe, worse yet, they really DON’T deserve it, because they are totally in the wrong in what they did, and they’re certain they are right and you feel like you would be completely justified in your revenge.

And maybe, honestly, you would be.

But that is not going to actually make things better.

Holding a grudge is simply going to make you bitter and slowly poison you.

Let it go.

Take it to God, yell and scream to him about how mean and terrible this person is and then tell him you’re going to forgive them.  If God wishes to bring judgment on them, leave it to him, if not, know that the Creator of the Universe has seen what has happened and you will be rewarded for offering them forgiveness.  After all, Jesus came “while we were still sinners” and we neither deserved or desired the immense forgiveness we have been freely offered.

Forgive much, because you have forgiven much, much more.

This is a short two part series on forgiveness.  First we’ll look at our relationship with God, and then our relationship with others in view of that forgiveness we have received from God.  Maybe this first one won’t speak to you, but check back next week and maybe the second will hit a little closer to where you are now.  However, I struggle with forgiveness in both areas of my life, so I think there’s a chance you may too.  And maybe you don’t even know it.  That’s what I discovered when I really spent some time thinking about forgiveness, and these two articles are some thoughts based on my meditations on forgiveness.

I know that God forgives me.  I know that he has already forgiven me.  But sometimes I really don’t feel like I deserve it.  Sometimes I’m convinced that I have let him down too many times and he’s going to give up on me.  After all, can I really mean it when I ask forgiveness and I continue to mess up over and over again?

Honestly, I know we can’t earn forgiveness and grace but sometimes I still try.  I know I  can’t, but I actually punish myself as if by doing so I actually will finally deserve the forgiveness I’ve already asked for and in my head, I know I’ve received.

You do it too, I’m sure.

I ask forgiveness and then I feel distant from God.

Not because he hasn’t forgiven me, but because deep down I refuse to believe that he could have actually already forgiven me.

I don’t deserve it.

Not yet.

So I put up this wall between God and myself.  I am too ashamed to actually accept his forgiveness.  Maybe after a few days, or a few weeks when I feel like I have been acting more “godly,” I will allow the wall to crumble and draw closer to God, but not until I’ve paid my due punishment.  Because I don’t deserve his grace, I can’t possibly accept it until I’m at least a little more deserving of it.

But that is totally not biblical..

“God’s mercies are new every morning.”  “Even While we were still sinners Christ Died for our sins.”  “God is patient, not wanting any to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  And the father ran out to met the son, embraced him and said “’Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.”*

God is waiting with open arms.  He is waiting and watching and ready to forgive you.  Right now.  You don’t have to wait until you are more deserving, you don’t have to prepare a speech, you don’t have to sign yourself over to be a monk or give all your money charity, come as you are.  The sacrifice has been made, all that is required of you is to accept that forgiveness offered to you.

Accept it.

Now.

Today.

You  are  forgiven.

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* Lamentations 3:23; Romans 5:8; 2 Peter 3:9; Luke 15:22