I preached last Sunday night… we’re still in Proverbs… preaching it thematically…

I got the topic of Repairing Relationships… which is ironic at best. But it was good to use lots of resources collected on the topic of Forgiveness, lots of Keller influence who’s just very helpful at explaining and applying the Proverbs…

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I’ve speaking at BSMS CU on Monday, that’s the Brighton and Sussex Medical School Christian Union to you… they’re studying parables at the moment, and have been asked to speak on Matthew 18, the parable of the Unmerciful Servant.

Fortunately, I’ve already preached on this, earlier in the year, so have most of the talk ready. But I’ve been listening to some Tim Keller to help stimulate my thoughts afresh… by well of illustration he uses the story of Corrie Ten Boom, put in a concentration camp by the Nazis for sheltering Jewish refugees. She tells this story about forgiveness in her book ‘The Hiding Place‘:

It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie’s pain-blanched face.

He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein.” he said. “To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!”

His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.

Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.

I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.

As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.

Well it looks as though the fuss over the Lockerbie bomber, Ali al-Megrahi is slowly dying down. But while it’s still in the news I wanted to pen a few thoughts that have been brewing over the last few weeks, that perhaps show some inconsistency and hyperbole in what’s going on:

• I wasn’t on the jury that convicted al-Megrahi (surprisingly), but the evidence presently looks somewhat tenuous…
• If al-Megrahi was indeed guilty, then it seems likely that he was sponsored or in some way directly or indirectly supported by the Libyan regime. With that in mind is it fair to make al-Megrahi a scapegoat while we make friends with Colnell Gadaffi…?
• Ronnie Biggs (a Great Train Robber) was also released from a prison sentence earlier this year on compassionate grounds… sure he didn’t kill 270 people, but he was English and didn’t upset any Americans, which also helps his case. But no-one that I heard claimed it was wrong to release Biggs.
• There’s talk of Brown making concessions to Libya for oil and trade deals… David Cameron came out stronly against this, saying he wouldn’t have released al-Megrahi. The reality is that if this was the case, Cameron would have, and he would have been right to if it was in the interests of the UK.
• Why should mercy be contradictory to justice?

“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.”  -  Zechariah 7:9

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face”  -  Psalm 89:14

The Mercy and Justice of God is most wonderfully displayed at Calvary… Jesus is crucified, he dies, taking the punishment for your sin and my sin – justice is served, but it’s also merciful, God pours his just anger at sin on himself, letting you go free into new life! Amen

“It aint about forgiveness, I’ve done that lots of times over the years, forgiveness is just a switch in the heart. But forgetting is different, and trust is different, there aint no short cut to them.“  -  Dot Cotton, Boxing Day Eastenders

I think I actually agree with her… forgiveness is a decision you make in your heart, in your mind. But, forgetting (the point where it doesn’t hurt?), and trust of people who’ve hurt you and just trust of other people generally… she’s right, that’s not a switch, something easy, it’s not a decision that can be made, surely that just takes time, and God’s grace to heal…?

Usually I cringe at the Dot Cotton ‘spiritual input’ into Eastenders, but I think she was fairly on the mark with this one.

I’m currently sitting in an executive pad in Bristol, it’s got a nice plasma TV and a comfy leather sofa with a bit you can recline on, it’s very nice. Anyway, this morning we visited a local church and was intrigued by the ‘Confession Prayer’, intrigued for two reasons…

First, it was all about Forgiveness, something which I’ve had to think a lot about recently and have consequently blogged on. Here’s the prayer:

Dear Jesus, it is hard to forgive people when they hurt us and our friends. We want to hit back – and sometimes we do. But You teach us to love our enemies no matter what they do. Forgive us Lord Jesus, when we do not forgive others. Help us to understand why people hurt others, and let our hearts be filled with love for them. Amen

I like the prayer because it’s simple, kids can understand it, but it’s also brutally honest about the reality of life and how hard forgiveness is, not just that but the sinfulness of not forgiving people.

Secondly, I was intrigued because it’s a really weird “Confession”… usually when we do corporate confession in church it’s a bit more general, we acknowledge a complete depravity in all areas of life and bring that to God… although in this the only act of confession is to confess our refusal to forgive others. So, great prayer about forgiveness… slightly strange as an act of corporate confession!

On a related thought… every so often for one reason or another I get the opportunity to visit other churches, and I’ve always thought it would be fun to do a bit of a ‘Mystery Worshipper’ thing, essentially to blog a review of the church service – how good was the service, coffee, how comfy the seat, how warm the welcome? This isn’t a new concept (see Ship of Fools), but that site tends to be a little disappointing in terms of the quantity and quality of the reviews there. Anyone interested in joining me in this??