Forgiveness

With all the news coverage about the riots right now I think its time we address it. How are we as Christians to respond to this? The key is not to think about this as humans, because as humans we are by nature bias. Whether we acknowledge it or not we have our ingrained opinions. So, In order to look at this honestly we have to go back to truth. And the only source of absolute truth is Jesus. So the real question is - How does Jesus see this?

He doesn’t see skin color or uniforms, he sees hearts. And so, we need to strive to see them too. Is it as easy as it sounds? No. No its not. And it gets a heck of a lot harder when your family is a part of it. As some of you know my dad is a police officer and let me tell you its like a wrestling match inside you when the hurt is directed to someone you love.

But we are forgiven.

We cannot forget that. We deserve death for our sins but only by God amazing grace are we pardoned. That is a debt we can never repay. But we can pay it forward. We are called to be like Jesus. To strive to be like him. And Jesus forgives. He gave us a costly gift, according to Isaiah 43:25 he chooses not to remember our sins. And in following his example we must strive to not remember the sins against us. It is not something that comes naturally. It is a battle every step of the way. And we need to fight for it. There are few things harder then true forgiveness. You have to put your foot in your mouth swallow your pride and let it go. And that is hard to do when your not even sure what specific act you are forgiving. There is so much going on right now that it is overwhelming and even if we know that we need to forgive we are not sure where to start.

But if we honestly stirp this problem down to the principals - mans sin and Gods grace. Suddenly we know what to do. Because that is a problem we have been facing for the entirety of our lives. And how did we face it then? By keeping our focus on Jesus. As Charles Spurgeon said “Don’t let your hopes and fears come between you and Jesus; follow hard after him. He will never fail you.”

So when we are striving to keep the main thing the main thing and push to be like Jesus we don’t have a lot of time to worry about the political aspects and effects of this. See when we choose to be like Jesus, when done right, it will take every second of life until we die. You do not have time to hate a race or uniform you only have time to hate sin. You go from having to pick a side to seeing lost souls. Lost souls on both sides that need a savior. So how are we as Christians to respond to this? We do the same thing we should always be doing.

Strive to be like Jesus.

Luke 15:11-32 New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Lost Son

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

“Forgive others as quickly as you expect God to forgive you.”