September 12, 2020

 Dear Road Church Friends,

Greetings to you all--

This week’s message is on the subject of forgiveness. “Forgiveness: Jesus First and Last Word” from Matthew 18:21-35. It is based on a question asked by Peter about how often he should forgive someone who wronged him. It was commonly thought that you give a person three chances. After that there was no obligation to forgive or forget. Peter was being very generous to increase that number to seven. He probably based his suggestion on the belief that seven was a sacred number which was also symbol for completeness. I mention this to indicate how “far out” Jesus’ answer was. He said, “Not seven times, but 70 times 7”= 490 !!!

That is so impossibly high that no one could ever keep track, and that is his point. We must not keep a record of wrongs committed against us by our friends and acquaintances. Jesus meant, we should forgive our friends and neighbors an unlimited number of times, because love doesn’t keep a scorecard of wrongs. Christian forgiveness begins as a choice that should grow into a lifestyle through. This happens through constant practice, and is motivated by God’s constant forgiveness of us. Forgiveness is a debt of love we owe our neighbor. We are asked to pay forward the mercy God has shown toward us. This last point is illustrated by the story he told about the man who was forgiven much but who failed to forgive even a little.

The 70x7 indicates limitless mercy and forgiveness. We are called to be generous dispensers to mercy because God is generous to us. The more mercy we show, the more mercy we receive. This is not purely hypothetical. All of us have difficult people in our lives and unresolved resentments that have been simmering a long time. Someone has said, “Holding on to resentments is like drinking poison hoping it will kill your enemies.”

Forgiveness is good for both forgiven and forgivers. I leave you with a suggestion. Practice forgiveness every day. The world is in great need of it, and there seems to be a shortage.

 Blessings,

 Pastor Norm 860-759-6720 normerlendson@gmail.com

The message on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9WjNY9zhUt4