How to live in a world that hates you
Part 1 Love
Part 2 Forgiveness
Scripture Reading
21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.[c] 25 But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’ 27 The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii,[d] and he grabbed him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29 “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’ 30 He would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay back that which was due. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’ 34 His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”
1. Love those who hate you
2. Live in an attitude of forgiveness
What does forgiveness mean?
We say, “I forgive you, but I’m not going to forget.” What that usually means is that we will go on with this relationship, pretending that you didn’t do what you and I know you did, but just under the surface, I’m wary and cautious about risking being burned again.
And it’s the feeling of forgiveness that is so difficult, isn’t it?
Memes about forgiveness
Sometimes the first step to forgiveness is realizing the other person is crazy
Jesus said to not only forgive 7 times, but 70 times 7. Some think, “Great now, not only do I have to forgive, I also have to do math.”
Forgive your enemies, but never delete the screenshots.
I looked for a definition of forgiveness, and surprisingly found this,
Psychologists generally define forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness. ... Forgiveness does not mean forgetting, nor does it mean condoning or excusing offenses.
Release feelings of resentment or vengeance-
I am using the same outline for all of these principles; the principle, the narrative, the reason
I. The Principle- Live in an attitude of forgiveness
So, the first question that I would ask is, who are we supposed to forgive?
A. Those who repent
Luke 17:3-5 Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
B. Those who don’t –Have an attitude of being ready to forgive
Colossians 3 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
It’s like packing your bags for a trip. If you are going to Antarctica, you don’t need to pack your swimsuit. You, as a believer, are spending this life packing for the next life. Since you are going to spend an eternity in heaven, there’s no need to pack what won’t be allowed, or needed in heaven. So, we spend this life, “mortifying the flesh.”
5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 For these things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. 7 You also once walked in those, when you lived in them; 8 but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth. 9 Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,
Unforgiveness is not allowed in heaven, so there’s no sense carrying it around with you now. But here are the things you can put in your bag;
10 and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,
12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
Easier said than done. We, as believers, are like the butterfly. This is a common analogy for Christianity. We start off in life as a caterpillar. Slimy, dirty, earthly. But when we come to faith in Christ it’s like the caterpillar building the Chrysalis, the cocoon. Mysteriously in that cocoon, God changes us into a butterfly. We are no longer slimy, dirty, and earthly. We are beautiful, and designed for flight.
But one thing we don’t think about in regard to that butterfly, is that, though it has been transformed, it is still in the Chrysalis. That’s like the believer, who is designed for heaven, but still lives on the earth.
Now, I know you’ve been told this. But when the butterfly is in the cocoon, it is a necessary part of its development, to struggle to get free from the cocoon. We’re told that if you were to open the cocoon to let the butterfly free, before it had struggled to free itself, that the butterfly would die, because it hasn’t developed the strength from the struggle that enables it to fly.
The same is true of Christians. We are already made new. But we’re left here on this earth to work through the struggles that make us fit for heaven. We struggle with anger and unforgiveness. God, by allowing that struggle, is strengthening us to become like Christ in our attitudes, including the attitude of forgiveness.
That’s the principle, now let’s look at the narrative from the book of Acts that illustrates the principle.
II. The Narrative
I was thinking about the book of Acts, trying to think of an example of forgiveness. There is preaching about forgiveness in Acts. Same kinds of forgiveness as I mentioned earlier; those who ask for it and those who don’t.
At Pentecost, Peter had just indicted this crowd for crucifying their Messiah. And they are cut to the heart and ask, “What can we do?”
Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
They wanted forgiveness, but there are others who do not.
Simon Magus supposedly came to faith. But when he saw the miraculous power of Peter and the other disciples, he offered them money so he could add that to his bag of tricks. “your money perish with you!”
Acts 8:22 Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
But he didn’t want to repent. He said to Peter, “You pray for me.”
But I was looking for a story about forgiveness. The woman taken in adultery, or Zacchaeus. Then it came to me. The whole book of Acts tells one of the greatest stories of forgiveness ever told. It’s the story of Saul of Tarsus.
You remember his story because it is told repeatedly. 3 times in the book of Acts he tells the story of his conversion. So, let me remind you of it.
You remember the stoning of Stephen. Stephen was boldly preaching the gospel to the Jews, so much so that he ends up on trial for it in Acts 7. They become so angry at his preaching that they drive him outside, and kill him on the spot by throwing stones at him. Now we don’t know exactly who was there, except the Bible mentions one name; Saul.
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
And it seems that Saul is more than just a helpful bystander at this execution. He is portrayed as the ringleader. Look at chapter 8, verse 1.
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
So the ruling authority of Jerusalem begins actively hunting down Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. This is an attempt to exterminate the Church in Jerusalem. This is no small effort. Remember that 3000 people came to faith on Pentecost, in Acts chapter two. 5000 more believed when Peter healed the blind man who sat at the gate of the temple. The numbers were swelling. So it is no small thing to try to arrest or drive all the Christians out of Jerusalem.
But many of them chose to leave town. You remember that many were actually natives from other parts of the world anyway. They came annually to the feasts of Passover and Pentecost. But this time, they saw Jesus crucified, and then heard of His appearances, after His resurrection. A good many of them may have seen Him themselves, 500. So thousands became Christians, and they stay in Jerusalem, because that’s where the church was, that’s where the disciples of Jesus were.
But things turned ugly. Just a few years after Jesus crucifixion, the Jewish authorities have had enough of these Christians, and in a fury they stone Stephen, and start hunting down the rest of Jesus’ followers. And Saul is at the head of the hunting party.
3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
7:4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.
9 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
But Saul is converted, Jesus Christ appears to him personally on the road to Damascus. He becomes a believer.
So what does this story have to do with forgiveness? Everything. How does the story go? Right after Saul is converted, he walks on into Damascus, goes up to the door of the 1st Baptist Church of Damascus, on testimony night, and says, “You’ll never believe what happened to me. I’m a Christian now. Is that how the story goes? And then, they baptize him, give him the glad hand of fellowship, have a fried chicken dinner in honor of his conversion. Is that how this story goes?
No.
The church was rightly suspicious of Paul.
9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
It took a vision from God to get Ananias to seek out Paul. It was sort of like Ananias was saying, “God, are you sure you have the right name on these instructions.
And even then, after the church heard the story, they were still leery of Paul.
26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.
27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.
Do you know what’s amazing about this story? The topic of Paul’s past never comes up again, unless he brings it up. These people forgave him. He was a violent murdering religious zealot. I’m sure that there were people in many of the churches he went to, who knew someone, or were related to someone, who Paul was complicit in their imprisonment, or even death.
But Paul became the second most important person to the founding of the church. He is second only to Jesus Himself. In fact Jesus became God in flesh, and displayed the ultimate forgiveness in the flesh by saying, “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” And Paul personified that forgiveness, by becoming the best example of someone who deserved no forgiveness, but got it anyway.
If God could forgive Paul, He can forgive you. If the church could forgive Paul, then surely we can forgive.
III. The Reason; God forgave you
Colossians 3: 12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
Even as Christ forgave you. We are to forgive as Christ forgave us. So, does that mean that we only forgive, or have an attitude of forgiveness when someone asks for forgiveness? Or acknowledges their guilt? How did Jesus forgive us?
Jesus’ forgiveness predated our repentance. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,
Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
1 John 4:9-10 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
And His forgiveness is perfect.
It doesn’t matter how bad the sin is.
Isaiah 1:18 18 “Come now, and let’s reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
He forgives and forgets.
Isaiah 43:25-26 I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
He forgives them all.
Psalm 103:12
Praise Yahweh, my soul! All that is within me, praise his holy
name!
3 who forgives all your sins, who heals all your
diseases,
8 Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abundant in loving kindness.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor
repaid us for our iniquities.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he
removed our transgressions from us.
Now, we are to forgive as Christ forgives; without regard to how bad the offense is, forgetting the offense, forgiving all offenses.
I don’t pretend that this is easy. We are struggling in our cocoon. But we pray for God grace in making us all
that we are supposed to be.