Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

PASTOR'S PENS 2009

February 22nd “Forgiveness is an act of faith. By forgiving another, I am trusting that God is a better justice-maker than I am. By forgiving, I release my own right to get even and leave all issues of fairness for God to work out. I leave in God’s hands the scales that must balance justice and mercy.”                                                                Philip Yancey             This past week I was invited into an unusual conversation. It seems that there was a certain business leader who about twenty-five years ago made some terrible decisions – decisions that were both criminal and perverse. But since then, this individual has been a fine, upstanding member of the community. They have given back to the community and invested in the lives of others over and over again. Not only that, they have never made the same mistake again, even though, they certainly had both the means and opportunity. Apparently, they had repented, changed the direction of their life and had become a vital part of our community. But this was the question: A position had come open and this individual’s name had been submitted as a qualified candidate. Should they be disqualified because of this horrible blunder they had made nearly a quarter of a century ago? My response was, “No.” This person has paid their debt to society; they have demonstrated a changed life and have contributed back over and over again. What was both exciting and encouraging to me in this conversation is that though I was having this dialogue with unbelievers, they all got it. They all agreed with me and believed the same thing – this person should be forgiven and was not disqualified. They had demonstrated by years of service a changed life.             Can I share something even more amazing to me? I meet Christians all the time WHO DON’T GET IT! The basis of Christianity is that our unpayable debt has been forgiven because of the Cross, because Jesus paid our debt on Calvary’s Cross. Yet, I meet Christians all the time who simply will not forgive – and I don’t get it.             For me, two of the most powerful verses in Scripture are Ephesians 4:30-31, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” And I have had to do my share of forgiving throughout my life, yet it was relatively easy because I know how much I have been forgiven. Yet, I meet spouses or children who carry torches for offenses from years gone by. Often they are bitter at folk who are no longer even alive. Just touch the wrong nerve and all of this bitterness comes spuing out.  Only God knows hearts, yet I find it hard to believe that these individuals can be right with God, because how can you be unforgiving and have a healthy relationship with the One Who has forgiven you of so much? Isn’t that the point of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 18:23-35?             I also meet Christians who are carrying grievances from years gone by at some other believer, often it is even a pastor or some other spiritual leader. That’s one of the things that we seek to ascertain when a believer from another church begins to visit our church – Do they have unresolved issues from their previous church? In fact, we won’t let someone join Grace and many times over the years have encouraged folk to go back to their last church and Biblically resolve things. Then, after they resolve things, they are more than welcome at Grace.             Bitterness is like a cancer. If you don’t resolve relationship problems, they don’t just go away. They often reappear with more venom and potency than before...and also spread to other members of the Body.             As I was writing this, it struck me that after twenty-one years I no doubt have offended a few folk. To my knowledge all of those issues have been resolved. In fact, some of the folk that I am closest to today are those whom I have deeply offended at some point but we came to the Cross and rebuilt the relationship. As your Pastor, please don’t let me come between you and the Lord. If there is something that I have done to offend you or if we have an unresolved issue, please come to me and let’s fix it by His grace. And if there are other folk that you need to clear the air with, please go to them with a gracious, Christlike spirit.             What a tragedy when we who have been forgiven so much know so little of being forgivers ourselves! And the ones we hurt the most – are ourselves!!