MidTree Church
The sermon audio of MidTree Church in Harris County, Ga. BEHOLD // BELIEVE // BECOME
MidTree Church
Why Look for the Living in a Cemetery? | Pastor Will Hawk | April 6th, 2024
"Why do you seek the living among the dead?" This question from the angels at Jesus' empty tomb challenges everything we assume about death, life, and how forgiveness operates. When confronted with the resurrection, we must reconsider our understanding of reconciliation and forgiveness.
Our natural instinct when wronged is to establish boundaries and limits. Peter approached Jesus with this very mindset, asking, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" He sought permission to draw a line in the sand. Jesus responded by transforming the question entirely, shifting from a limit to a lifestyle of forgiveness.
The story becomes deeply personal when we consider Peter's own failure. After boldly declaring his loyalty, Peter denied Jesus three times beside a charcoal fire. Yet after resurrection, Jesus intentionally prepared another charcoal fire on the shore, creating the perfect setting for reconciliation. Before Peter even swam the hundred yards to reach him, Jesus had already set the stage for healing.
This message outlines five practical ways to know if we've truly forgiven someone: Have we released their debt? Do we entrust justice to God rather than seeking vengeance? Do we wish them good rather than harm? Are we actively pursuing reconciliation? And most importantly, are we viewing them through the lens of what Christ has done for us rather than what they've done against us?
Forgiveness isn't primarily about feelings but choices. Like the women who couldn't properly honor Jesus' body before the Sabbath but discovered he was already risen, we often feel our efforts at forgiveness are inadequate. Yet Jesus works in the unseen while we wait. He prepares the shore, starts the fire, and waits for us to simply come to him.
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Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 24, 1-12, which is on page 884 in Pew Bibles, and follow along as I read God's Word. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb taking the spices they prepared, and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold two men stood by them in dazzling apparel and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.
Speaker 1:Remember how I told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. And they remembered his words and, returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mother Mary of James and the other woman with them who told these things to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale. They did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in. He saw the linen cloths by themselves and he went home marveling at what had happened. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them why do you seek the living among the dead?
Speaker 2:This is the word of the Lord. Thank you so much, maddie. Larry, I got to say I love the fact you handed the microphone off to your daughter to read the scripture. What a cool. I love it when families are able to get together and do ministry and whatnot together. All right, let me give you a real quick heads up.
Speaker 2:I want to do some very quick housekeeping type things and then we will dive in Housekeeping. Number one is we let me see if she's here. I don't see her. I don't do this very often because there are enough of us here to where we can't do it every Sunday, but today is Carrie's 40th birthday. She has snuck out. She can't hear you. Keep it all in for now.
Speaker 2:Carrie not only sings on stage but has been the church administrator for a long period of time. Please love on her. Oh, by the way, it's her 40th too, so it's kind of like big deal day. So if you see her, give her a high five or an awkward side Christian hug. Whatever is your flavor of affection. Wanted you to know that. Number two people on the wings. We are trying to love you better and I just want you to know that we have moved these microphones back so that I'm not staring at you through microphones. We had people raise. I asked does it bother them? Last service and there was a resounding yes. It drives us crazy. So we see you and we love you. People who always pick the side for whatever reason, even when you get here early. I'll never understand you, but I love you. All right. Last little piece of housekeeping.
Speaker 2:We got Easter coming up in a couple of weeks and we're doing things differently than we have done in the past and I want to make sure you're in the loop on that. One thing that we're doing is we have a Good Friday service. We've never had a Good Friday service before. Please invite anyone and everyone to it. It will be at the church on Friday, obviously, and we do have childcare, but it's just for the youngins four years old and under. And then on Easter Sunday, there are three different services. There's a sunrise service that starts at 645. I think sunrise is at like 709 or something, so we'll literally watch the sun come up as we celebrate the resurrection. So sunrise service will be down in the field. That one is family style. So if you have kids, bring some puffs, some goldfish, veggie straws, whatever it is that you need so that you can enjoy the resurrection as well, and then we'll have our regular nine o'clock and 11 o'clock service, please. Easter continues to be a time that our culture still leans in on, and so invite your friends, invite your neighbors, invite your family, so that they may come and hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:All right, so with that, go ahead, grab your Bibles, and we're going to do something maybe a little bit differently than we usually do. Typically, I preach expositionally, which means we kind of go verse by verse, chapter by chapter, through a book in the Bible. I haven't told anybody this, I didn't tell First Service, I don't know why. It slipped my mind. In case you're curious, we're gonna finish the book of Luke on Easter. Obviously, resurrection, that's where Luke finishes his book, so we will finish with him as well. Then we're going to.
Speaker 2:I'm real curious how people are going to feel who come to church for the first time on Easter, because we are then, the next week, going to begin a little book called the Song of Songs, which is the most romantic and awkward book of the Bible to read. It's also, when I was a kid, what I would turn to if I got bored because it was fascinating. So we'll be doing Song of Songs, also known as Song of Solomon, and then we have Joshua, the book of Joshua from the Old Testament, coming as well. The reason today is going to be a little bit different than usual is because of what happened last week. Last week I had more people want to talk and pray than any week that I can remember, and it was a week when we had fewer people than we usually do because of spring break. Tons of response, fewer people than normal, and I looked at that and sort of in a shepherding sense.
Speaker 2:We were talking about forgiveness and the forgiveness that Christ offers, the fact that we ought to be a forgiving people, and I just wanna tell you what happened. I had somebody come up to me and say Will, there's a person that I hate and I don't know how or if I even should forgive them. Even after listening to this, I had a child come up to me and say there was an adult that is not my parent. They were about 10 years old and they did something in my life and I don't think I've forgiven them. And, if I'm honest, I'm a little nervous because I've read that if we don't forgive others, god will not forgive us, and I'm a little concerned about my soul if I'm actually saved because of this. I had somebody come up when a relationship ended and they said I just know it just fell from their mouth. I'm never going to talk to this person again. And I had to encourage them let the Bible use always and nevers, but, as a Christian, be very cautious too, because God may call you to something that right now you can't feasibly see.
Speaker 2:And then, my favorite, oh, somebody came up to me and needed to ask me for forgiveness. I didn't forgive him, don't worry about it. And then I was like you picked a good Sunday and then I had somebody who was sitting in the congregation when I started telling a story. One of the questions that I had us wrestle with last week is is there somebody that you forgive them but you're holding at arm's length? And this person said the moment you said that somebody came to mind from 20 years previous, somebody who mistreated me, did something wrong, and I have held them at arm's length for the past two decades. I continued to preach and when I told a story about my high school life, I called that person out by name while they were wrestling with it, and so they were like, oh my gosh, like okay. So here's what I want to be careful of.
Speaker 2:I think pastors and dads are maybe the two people who do this sort of poorly. They assume, hey, I've said something once, so now you all know it and you're going to operate off of it. Right? And that's not usually how life goes. I'm not going to preach the same sermon I preached last week. I did not need more time to prep for Easter, nor Thailand. What I want to do is answer the question that almost every one of those people asked after last week.
Speaker 2:I know I'm called to forgive. You have made the biblical case. Forgiveness is something that God expects of me. How do I know if I've done it or not? Is what I've done enough or is it not enough? How can I possibly know if I have forgiven someone?
Speaker 2:And so this morning I want to teach you that I tend to be a preacher by default. I go into preaching mode even when I'm not up here. I get preachy when I'm teaching somebody how to cast a fishing pole. I get preachy when I talk about the meaning of different movies. I can't turn that thing off. But if preaching is. I want you to feel the importance of this thing.
Speaker 2:This morning is going to be more teaching. I need you to feel the importance of this thing. This morning is going to be more teaching. I need you to know something. I want you to know how you can possibly know that you have forgiven someone. So let me pray and then we'll dive in. Father, a simple and a quick prayer here. Would you give us the ability to forgive people who are hard to forgive? Would you help us remember the forgiveness that, for those of us who are in Christ, was offered to us when we had sinned against you in limitless ways, because of your unlimited value and glory? And, father, for those of us who are going to wrestle with what reconciliation looks like, that seems to be the one that is most difficult for us would you, even now, begin to show us what a path towards reconciliation with those who have wronged us looks like? And I pray all of this in Christ's name, amen.
Speaker 2:All of the people that I talked to last week almost every one of their questions when it came to how can I know if I forgave someone centered on this when is the line and have I measured up to it. Some of them wanted to forgive, some of them wanted to want to forgive and some of them just wanted to do enough so that they would know that they were okay with God on this side of eternity. But we're not the only ones who ever had a question like this. Peter did too. Oh sorry, that's not what I meant to go to. Peter did too. Oh sorry, that's not what I meant to go to there. Okay, peter had a very similar question.
Speaker 2:Peter came up and said to Jesus Lord, how often, how many times? Where is the line and where is the limit when it comes to forgiveness? How often will my brother sin against me and I still forgive them? As many as seven times. And Jesus said to him I do not say to you seven times, by the way, in Hebrew sort of worldview, that is a number of completeness. So it could be Peter saying like this is a pretty big number, it's a pretty complete number. Seven times certainly would be enough, right, jesus? And Jesus said I don't say to you seven times, but 77 times. Is Jesus drawing the line in the sand? And your husband has left his socks out and you're on 72, and you just know five more baby. I'm going to get there this week, I know it, and then I'm going to be done with this. I don't think so. I don't think that's what's happening. When we see Peter say seven times, there's probably something going on in his mind. Let me show you what I think that may have been.
Speaker 2:When we look at Amos and when we look at Job, we do see forgiveness in a numerical metric. Thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not revoke the punishment. They sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals. They are so selfish and greedy that they mistreat other people. They've done this three times, even four. I am not going to forgive them without discipline coming in. Might it be that Peter looks at this and he says if I tell Jesus seven, this is twice what we see here. If you want to see this in the positive, you can go to the book of Job. He, being God, has redeemed my soul from going down to the pit and my life shall look upon the light. Behold, god does all these things. What things. He redeems our souls twice, three times, with a man to bring back his soul from the pit that he may be lighted with the light of life. Might it be that Peter, knowing these realities from Old Testament prophets in the story of Job, looks at Jesus and says certainly Jesus, seven times is enough. If somebody sins against me, seven times, isn't that enough? I mean, god, if three or four is going to cause discipline to be needed. If Job looks and he says God has been so gracious to see me sin and sin again and even sin again and still bring redemption, certainly seven is enough.
Speaker 2:Now I do not have time, it doesn't allow me to teach you one of my favorite stories on forgiveness, but I bring up this passage in Matthew 18 for some of you to write this down, if forgiveness is something you know that you struggle with, for you to go back to and read. This is why I left verse 23 up there. Jesus hears Peter's question and he gives him a story. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants, and then he tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. I would encourage you to look at that in your own devotional time.
Speaker 2:For now, what I think is important for us to see is that, when it came to forgiveness. Peter wanted a limit. Jesus wanted a lifestyle. By the way, we have communion today. As we get ready to come to the table, I'm going to show you a story of Jesus living out this lifestyle of forgiveness and I don't want you to miss it. And I'm so afraid I'm gonna show you a story of Jesus living out this lifestyle of forgiveness and I don't want you to miss it. And I'm so afraid I'm gonna forget to say it because it is not in my notes to remind you of Watch how ready Jesus is to reconcile with people who have treated him so poorly. Watch how Jesus sets the table and shows up first to make steps toward those who have sinned against him egregiously. Keep this in mind. Peter wants to know where the line is and Jesus points to a lifestyle. Peter would eventually get to the place where he recognized that this limit was not going to work, but he didn't get there until he sinned against Jesus in a way that was absolutely atrocious. And here is what that looked like.
Speaker 2:This is on the night when Jesus was betrayed, he has prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. He has prayed that God would strengthen him, and an angel was sent to do so. He knows he is headed to the cross, but he's not there yet. And he has already looked at Peter and he has said you're going to betray me. Peter said no man, I'll go to prison, I will go to die for you. And then this happens. Peter said man, I do not know what you are talking about. Hey, do you know Jesus? I have no clue what you are talking about. And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord how he had said to him before the rooster crows today you will deny me three times. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Let me get your eyes for just a minute. Jesus has done something in this scene that is hard for you to see if you're just doing a cursory reading of the text.
Speaker 2:A lot of times our memories are made. When something big or heavy happens, we can agree. All right. Something huge and wonderful happens, it makes a memory. Something very difficult and dark happens, it makes a memory. But there are also memories that you have simply because of a sound or a smell. How many of you right now can hear the bell ringing between classes? If you try to Dude. It was the best sound in the world. It was also the worst if you were like hustling down the hall to make it before you got central detention for being tardy that fifth time or whatever it was. I can hear that metallic, made in 1972 bell that had been on the wall of that concrete hallway forever.
Speaker 2:How many of you can hear the sound that your mom or dad made when they called you as a child? Did any of y'all have this growing up? Oh gosh, it gets under my skin. Is my mom in here? She left and went to a meeting. She would do this and it dropped like to this day. I remember making fun of kids whose parents would walk out of the door and blow a whistle while we were playing football at a dude's house and that was what called them home. We got called home by street lights when the light came on. How many of you can do this with a smell? How many of you guys can smell something that was like rubbery or plastic from when you were eight years old and you go all the way back to being that old?
Speaker 2:I want you to know that what is happening here, this sound of the rooster crowing, is something Peter would not be able to shake for the rest of his life, even when Jesus reconciles him in his sin. This is, in Wilhawk's opinion, the closest thing to the limit of forgiveness you will find in Scripture. And let me explain to you why. Peter's saying I don't even know who Jesus is, I think is the apex of sin that you will see in scripture. And you may say, well, no, there's adultery all throughout scripture. There's murder, and I guarantee you that's worse than me being like I don't know who my wife is, I don't even want to be with that person. There are worse things I can do, and I would say you're correct. There are worse things that you can do, but one of the realities of sin is that our sin increases based on the value upon the one that we sin. Let me prove this to you.
Speaker 2:When I was about nine years old, I was practicing baseball in the backyard. Somebody here just got a new baseball bat and I saw them at Academy. I was outside practicing baseball, next to our house. Does anybody want to guess what the next part of the story is? Fire away, swing the bat, tinks off, goes into the window, and I know in that moment I am dead. I know that's it. I'm eight years old. Windows probably cost $8,000 for all I know. Whatever it is, it's an insurmountable amount for my little allowance to deal with and I know it's game over for me. What happens? Mom and dad see it. They forgive me, I don't pay a penny for it and everything is fine, all right. Now I want you to imagine I have a baseball in my hand.
Speaker 2:I walk into a church with stained glass windows, one of which depicting Jesus, and I walk in and I throw the baseball through the window. Is one of those things worse than the other? Is one worse than the other? And you can immediately begin in your mind building out why it is worse. What is one reason? Walking into the church and throwing the baseball is worse? All right, I did it on purpose, all right, that's one. One was an accident.
Speaker 2:One of the other things that I heard is can we agree stained glass is more valuable than regular glass? Yes, there is something about the value of what is broken that makes it worse. Can we agree? The fact that it depicted Christ takes it to a different level? Yes, the reality of it is when it comes to our sin, and we will look at our sin. As the value of the offended increases, the gravity of our sin grows. So could Peter have done something worse like murder? Yes, but he could never sin against anyone more valuable than Christ. Could the one who had made the promise to never betray him have done something worse than turn his face from the one who is going to die for him?
Speaker 2:If you walk up and you hit me, there are going to be repercussions. If you walk up and hit a cop, there are going to be bigger repercussions. If you walk up and hit a politician, there are going to be bigger. And if you walk up and punch a king or a president, they're going to be bigger. Why? Because they are more human? No, but because, as the value of the offended grows, the gravity of our sin does as well.
Speaker 2:And the very person who asked Jesus what's the limit on forgiveness gets as close as he possibly can to it. And I want you to watch what Jesus does. I would tell you in a moment like this, peter no longer wants forgiveness to have a limit. He doesn't want that. What he wants is this lifestyle of forgiveness which, by the way, is exactly what Jesus gives them. Now it's important that you know. The story that I'm about to read to you comes after Jesus has resurrected. He has died on the cross. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Its victory is gone. Its sting is gone. Here Jesus is new body, new life, hope being poured out on all of his followers, and in this moment, I want you to watch Jesus push for reconciliation.
Speaker 2:Just as day was breaking, jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them he's calling out children. Do you have any fish? They answered no. He said to them cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish. This is my favorite lines of the whole thing. Okay, they've seen this before. Right, if you're the guys who have been fishing and you hadn't caught anything, and someone says, try the other side of the boat and you can't pull it in, who's that? Gonna be Jesus? Okay, it's gonna be Jesus. This is my favorite line.
Speaker 2:Verse seven the disciple whom Jesus loved that's John, being somewhat humble, because he's the guy writing the book at this point the disciple whom Jesus loved, said to Peter it's the Lord. Peter didn't get it. He was so pumped about all the fish he didn't even get the message that Jesus was seeing. He didn't even see the forgiveness that was being doled out to him. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work. Now listen, I don't know how hot it was, I don't know how naked he got, I don't know how close those guys were to each other, but Peter was working hard enough and naked enough that he knew I can't show up to the shore like this, it's just gonna be a bit awkward. So he puts on clothes to jump into the water. I just want you to appreciate that moment. To make it harder to swim, he didn't run across the top. Faith wasn't quite there for this little journey. So he swims across. This is the best. And he threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat dragging the net full of fish.
Speaker 2:Remember this story for a few moments from now, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. Okay, time out. I appreciate that they are sailors. I appreciate that they are men who are comfortable with the sea. If you said, hey Will, just real quick, it's going to be a short journey. I'm not thinking a hundred yards, okay, I'm just not. If I'm about to throw my, how much Peter wanted to be near Jesus. He looked across a football field and jumped in. Okay, I don't want you to get the sense that Jesus is right there. He's like, hey, I'll see you guys in 30 seconds.
Speaker 2:Peter is longing to come near to the one that he had turned his back on. He is longing to be made right with the one that he had so horribly wronged. He is, in a limitless fashion, pouring himself in to the very one that he said. Is there a limit on forgiveness? It seems like there ought to be, but I want you to notice verse 9. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place with fish laid out on it.
Speaker 2:I mentioned to you that there are a number of different ways that we make memories High moments, low moments, sights, sounds and smells. Which of those is the strongest in making memories? For those of you who remember ninth grade science, the strongest in making memories for those of you who remember ninth grade science? Smell, your olfactory sense. There's nothing that compares to it. I know that a certain smell will attend every cookout, every campout, every birthday and every Christmas Eve I have, and that is the smell of smoke. Yes, I really appreciate the enthusiasm. Who was it? Yes, take it from a guy maybe two guys who played with matches as a kid. You know the way a match smells when you light it. I just want you to notice verse 9.
Speaker 2:Why do I want you to notice verse 9? When they got on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place with fish laid out on it and bread. When's the other time we see a charcoal fire? The servant girl at the door said to Peter you also are not one of this man's disciples, are you? He said I am not. Now. The servants and officers had made a charcoal fire because it was cold. They were standing and warming themselves. Peter was with them. The last time Peter stood before a charcoal fire, he rejected Christ.
Speaker 2:And what has Jesus done to set the table to reconcile with Peter? He has lit the matches and started the fire to remind Peter of his sin, that Peter would be reminded of the limitless forgiveness that Christ offers. This to me, is no small coincidence. This, to me is intentionality on the part of the Savior to have a lifestyle, not a limit when it comes to forgiveness. The other thing that I will point to is simply this Jesus asks them if they have any fish, and by the time they get there, he already has it. Hey guys, y'all got any fish? No, try the other side, holy moly. Peter jumps in, they start paddling probably took him a while with all of this fish and by the time they arrive, jesus already has what he was asking them for. By the way, this is going to be the case for those of you in this room who are believers that struggle to forgive someone. Christ already has what he is asking you for. He's got it. The question is are you willing to give it? When it comes to forgiveness, we want a limit, but Jesus wants a lifestyle. I told you I was gonna teach, so this is how we are going to spend the rest of our little bit of time left together Five ways to know if you have forgiven someone.
Speaker 2:If you ever want these notes by the way, you can take pictures if you want I'll be happy to screenshot them and share them with you. If you're a note taker, great. If you're not. To me, this is what I call toolkit Christianity. This is the kind of stuff that needs to live on a note in your phone, in your back pocket, scribbled down somewhere. So when you want to answer the question how can I know if I've forgiven someone, you have a biblically literate response. Question number one have I released their debt? Five ways to know if you have forgiven someone. Number one have I forgiven their debt?
Speaker 2:Colossians puts it this way you who are dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. God made a life. You are dead. He gave you life. You are never going to have to forgive somebody the way that God has forgiven you. You are dead. He gives you life. You ran toward death. He runs toward life. You ran from him, he runs to you.
Speaker 2:And how does Colossians put this? By the way, this is called justification. God made us alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us With its legal demands. This he set aside. Does it mean it is gone? No, does it mean it doesn't live in your memory? No, does it mean you can't feel it anymore? No, jesus has taken for those of you who are Christians in the room. Jesus has taken your sin. He has pushed it to the side. To be more accurate, he has put it upon himself and has pushed it from you to the cross, so that he, when he looks at you, no longer sees this anymore.
Speaker 2:And the question is when it comes to your forgiveness of another, have you pushed it to the side? Some of you sit in this room and if you were to take out your phone right now and look at your bank account, you see that things are not the way they're supposed to be, because someone sinned against you To the tune of thousands of dollars, tens of thousands of dollars. They may have even claimed to be a Christian. You probably haven't spoken to that person in years and you can still look at where you are financially with increasing levels of frustration and anger. And my question to you is simply this and simply biblical have you pushed their debt to the side or are you still holding them accountable? Maybe your disruption is not financial, Maybe it's emotional. Maybe you have never felt normal since your dad did this. Maybe you have never felt like yourself since this person said that. Maybe you've never looked in the mirror the way you used to look in the mirror because you heard someone say this thing Christian, have you pushed it to the side?
Speaker 2:If you're in this room and you're not sure if you're a Christian, this is a metric of it. If you are unable to do this, it may be because you have not received forgiveness from God. By the way, this is also one of the realities of Jesus's answer to the disciples' questions. Jesus, how are we supposed to pray and Lord, forgive them of their debts, as you have forgiven us of ours? Secondly, do I entrust justice to God? Am I going to bring about the punishment that they deserve or am I entrusting justice to God? By the way, this would be called providential judgment. This is you saying. I am trusting God and His goodness, holiness and timing is going to do what is right and necessary. That judgment will not be pushed away forever.
Speaker 2:But Christians in the room, let me just read to you what God's word says to you Beloved, never avenge yourselves. When I hear Christians talk about forgiveness, I hear more times them saying I could never forgive them. For You're not going to find that in the Bible. What you are going to find is never avenge yourselves, leave it to the wrath of God. It is written vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. Do I entrust my justice to God? Maybe they haven't apologized. Maybe they haven't apologized fully or properly, maybe they haven't made an appropriate gesture.
Speaker 2:The question is simply this can I trust God with judgment or do I feel like I have to be the one who brings it? And can I just tell you what is tucked into that? There's nothing wrong with having a sense of right and wrong and what is just, but there is something wrong with the convicted criminal feeling like they should also be judge and jury, and there is no one in this room who ought to be judge and jury over another person's soul. You can be right and still not be called to be judge. Have you trusted God to bring the right amount of justice at the right time? Thirdly, do I wish them harm or do I wish them good? Full transparency this is the tough one for Will. This is the one that is hard for me.
Speaker 2:The reason that it is hard for me is not in maybe the typical sense. I think all of us at one point had somebody on the bus do something annoying or horrible. They throw your homework out the window and now you're like no, like bad things should happen to that person. When they get out, I do hope that they cross and get hit by a car and I think, look, we can laugh at it. But let me just tell the adults in the room what's happening. Kids have a sense of right and wrong and justice, just like you do. They just don't clean theirs up on the outside. They feel the same stuff you do. You've just figured out how to clean it up on the outside. You still feel the same stuff on the inside, and it may not be that you want them to get run over by a truck, but it might be, and this is where it is true. For me, it might simply be. You know, if something bad happened as a result of the sin that they did, the world would know that God is not okay with that, or wanting something difficult to enter into their life so they would realize what they had done was wrong.
Speaker 2:Can you still seek the good of those who have done the opposite to you? It's either a limit or it's a lifestyle, and what you apply to the people in your life is what you ought to apply to yourself from God. You do not want limited forgiveness from God. He is the stained glass. You are the basic window. You want a lifestyle of forgiveness from God? Oh, I didn't show you the scripture on that one, apologies. Listen to this as though you've never heard it before, because there are a lot of people in the room who have.
Speaker 2:But I say to you love your enemies. Love your enemies by the way, I think that is actually easier than what Jesus says next and pray for those who persecute you. And I'll tell you why. As a Christian, I can say love, 1 Corinthians 17. Love is patient. I can do that. I'll be patient because I'm never going to talk to him again. Love is kind. I can do that because I'm never going to talk to him again. It's self-controlled. That's easy, because I'm never going to talk to them again.
Speaker 2:But what happens when we move past our limited version of love and we start praying for somebody? All of a sudden, it doesn't live in tight little confines. All of a sudden, when you're praying for your fill in the blank, you have to be active about it. You have to be seeking their good, you have to be praying. Notice it says pray for them. It's not praying for you because of them, it's actually praying for their good, and some of us in the room wonder why it is that we have tried so many of the things that are already up here and we don't feel like we've fully forgiven someone.
Speaker 2:You haven't prayed for them. You haven't taken the person who wronged you and taken them to God as the person who most wronged God, recognizing that they too could find forgiveness. Maybe you don't want them to. Maybe you, when you see do I wish them harm or good? Recognize that you are very much like a prophet, but not the one you want to be aligned with. Maybe you're an awful lot like Jonah. Maybe you look at these Ninevites and you say do you know the history of what they have done to me? Do you know what they have done to my friends? Do you know what they have done to my family? Do you have any clue, god, what they have done? And I know I know if I offer them forgiveness, they're going to gobble it up and live as though they had never done anything wrong. Maybe we need to recognize that it does not go well for Jonah at the end and God has to teach him a lesson. Jonah, what did you do to have the life that you now have Nothing. I have done this for you. You need to forgive those around you.
Speaker 2:Fourthly, am I seeking reconciliation? Fair warning, this is going to be the hardest for most of you. Am I seeking reconciliation? Fair warning, this is going to be the hardest for most of you. Am I seeking reconciliation? It is also going to be the hardest one to measure, by the way. You can now look at the board and I want you to realize something. Have I released their debt? Do I entrust justice to God? Am I wishing them harm or good, and am I seeking reconciliation? Let me get your eyes for just a minute.
Speaker 2:You don't have to feel a thing to do this. Why is it that people sometimes feel far from God, even if they are justified with him and have asked for the forgiveness of their sins? Because if they base their relationship with God on feelings, they are going to go from highs to lows, to highs to lows. Why is it so often when I meet with couples that they say I just don't feel like I love them anymore Because you don't feel love for them anymore? Love is not just a feeling, it is an active choice, and forgiveness is the same If you think you can only be close to God when you feel close to him. You can only love someone when you feel love toward them and you can only forgive someone if you feel like forgiving them. You will not do any of the three well. You will not do any of them in a lifestyle type way. Love is a choice, relationship is a choice, forgiveness is a choice. You don't have to feel a thing to do these four. You can do all of them devoid of feeling. I hope your feelings catch up, but it isn't a requirement. And when it comes to reconciliation, it's going to be the toughest when it comes to feeling. Romans 12 puts it this way If it's possible, so far as it depends on you, puts it this way if it's possible, so far as it depends on you. Live peaceably with all One of the follow-ups that I had from last week.
Speaker 2:I was having breakfast with somebody at Chick-fil-A and while we're talking about a relationship in which they were mistreated and abused, they said I think I've forgiven and I know I'm never going to talk to them again. And I said flag on the field timeout. You just used a never where God's word would not use a never. You just said I'm never going to talk to them again. Might it be that God has a level of reconciliation tomorrow that you can't imagine today? Yes and absolutely, if it is possible. So much as it depends on you. Live peaceably with all. Can I tell you I find it non-surprising and yet fascinating that Jesus had already come 51% of the way to Peter. Can I just tell you that I find it beautiful that Jesus is already on the shore. He has already made the meal and now he was calling out Peter. Do you want to fix this? Do you know how many steps Jesus had to take towards Peter when Peter was taking steps towards them? Zero, he was already there, as much as it depended on Christ, he had come.
Speaker 2:Christians, this is the expectation of your reconciliation, and I would also just note there is something special about a meal. There is something that God has created Husbands, if you want to be closer to your wives. Vice versa, boyfriends, if you want to have a cool little trick in your back pocket to cause them to just think. I just feel close to this guy. And I do not know why, when you sit down to have a meal with your loved ones, parents, as you think about your kids eat meals looking at each other. There is something about eating food in the brain that tightens relationships. There is something when eating food in the brain that tightens relationships. There is something when you have a difficult situation with someone to do it around the meal rather than under fluorescent lights on the lifetime plastic table.
Speaker 2:I can tell you how the ladder is going to go. We're going to lay it all out. You did this. You did this. There's something that happens in a meal. By the way, pro tip, guys, don't face televisions and you'll do better at this if you happen to be in a restaurant. I did that this weekend and my wife was like you should tell guys that that's a good pro tip. I still glance at the basketball game twice, in full honesty. Finally, I would say this as we get ready to come to the table of communion. This is number five and the last one, by the way. This is the one from which all of them flow. This is how you can move from a limit to a lifestyle, because you'll look at those four questions and you're gonna be prone to check them off the box. Am I continually viewing them, whoever they are, in light of what they've done to me or what Christ has done for me.
Speaker 2:Christians, you have this ability. Unbelievers, if you come to Christ, he will give you this ability to look into the face of the person who has most wronged you and, instead of seeing them, see the wrong you have committed to Christ, and when you can see their sin next to your sin, all of a sudden something begins to change. All of a sudden you can realize the lengths that God went to to draw you near so that you may be kind to one another, that you would be tenderhearted, that you would forgive one another. And there could be a period, but there is a comma. Why? Because we forgive people as God in Christ forgave us. This is what forgiveness looks like, and if you look at that person's face and your stomach turns, you need to quit looking at their face and you need to be looking at the cross. You need to look at the face of your brokenness that Christ went to the cross for. This is how we can know if we have forgiven someone, and I would be willing to bet that there are a couple of those you feel pretty good about and one or two that catch you up. I just want you to know. I'd be happy to talk with you. So in any pastor, mcg leader in the room, we would love to talk with you. But I wanna close this out and I wanna take us to the table, and the way that I want to do that is by reminding you of the women that Maddie read about. This struck me.
Speaker 2:The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed and they saw the tomb. They saw how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. They did what their culture demanded. Jesus deserved to be buried properly. He deserved to be honored with spices and ointments. He deserved this. The problem was he died so late in the day. They laid him in the tomb, they went to honor him the best way they could and then, all of a sudden, the Sabbath began and they couldn't walk, they couldn't work, they couldn't leave, they couldn't do this thing. So on the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment. I tell you this because, when you look at this, what I want you to realize is this not only has Jesus already come to the shore, not only has he prepared the table of communion so that you need only to walk to him. I want you to realize this.
Speaker 2:Those women felt like they had done everything they could do and it wasn't enough.
Speaker 2:But they did not realize that Jesus was working while they were waiting.
Speaker 2:All they realized was we weren't able to do enough for Christ, we weren't able to honor him. We can't fix this. Our emotions are raw, we can't do anything about it, we can't see how this is going to be made right and it seems absolutely hopeless in the moment. The same is going to be true with you forgiving others, but Jesus is working in the unseen. He's working when you can't feel it and when your emotions are raw. He is working while we are waiting. Can we trust him and know that he has come all the way, so that we simply need to come to him? Our team's worked on a few questions for us to wrestle through as we go to communion. Dave, if you wouldn't mind throwing those up, I would encourage you, before you come to the table that is prepared for you, that you think is there someone I need to go to first, and we've also put together a few questions so that you can meaningfully come to the one who forgave you so meaningfully. We'll move as Stokes leads us in a few moments.