How Do We Talk About Forgiveness?

Here is my sermon text for Sunday, June 25 on the text of 2Corinthians 2:1-10.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

A quote that has been given to so many people, you cannot know who said it first – Pain is good, because it lets you know you’re alive.  We all have been caused pain by others, by what they’ve done, said, or how we were treated. And we’ve all done things to cause pain to others. One of the problems is that we are all too aware when we are in pain, we are often oblivious to when we have caused it. We are reluctant to tell people that they’ve hurt us, because we don’t want to give them a second chance. But too often, the ones who have hurt us are the ones closest to us

Paul admits that he has hurt the church in Corinth, & they have hurt him. He knew that the friction between the church & him was painful. To avoid mutual pain, Paul didn’t come to visit. Because both sides were hurting, there was no one to lift their pain.
Ultimately, Paul wants them to forgive; forgive him, forgive others & forgive themselves. Forgiveness is part of the healing process. Remember, the root of the Greek word for forgiveness is to let go. It is moving beyond the hurt- It is not letting the hurt define you.
Forgiveness isn’t forgetting. It is hurt not limiting you. It is giving a second chance, but remembering there’s a reason it is the second chance. One of the reasons we should forgive is because we have already been forgiven.  By the life, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
If God has forgiven us for our disobedience, for what we have done. We should be able to forgive others as well.
If God has let go & erased our transgressions, who are we to hold onto the transgressions of others?

In a moment, I’m going to ask you to think about a difficult topic, giving & seeking forgiveness – I’m not going to ask you to share with others, because this topic can be very personal.

I want you to take a moment to think of what you have not forgiven. All have a grudge, or hurt, or wound that we have a hard time forgiving. Ask you to think about it for a moment & what happened. Then join me in praying that God will give us the strength to forgive.

Now, I want you to think about something that you want to be forgiven. Something that you’ve done, that you expressly want to be forgiven for. The person or persons involved may or may not have forgiven you. But I want you to think of how you would ask them. What would you say? What could you offer them to reassure them you won’t do it again? How would you bring up the topic? How do you admit your wrong?
Join me in praying God will give us the strength to ask for forgiveness.

Now for your homework assignment, and this may take a while. We all know of someone who has left the church. They may have gotten to busy, they may not feel a value. But for many, The Church or someone in the church has hurt them. Someone said something, did something, made them feel unwelcome.
Your homework assignment is to ask that person what happened. Then, on behalf of the church, ask for their forgiveness. Let them know that no matter what, God loves them. Let them know you that you love them.
We can’t promise they will feel loved the next time they go to church, but let us pray they find the courage to try

AMEN