Forgiveness the Real F Word

FORGIVENESS—THE REAL F WORD

Finding Forgiveness March 27, 2005

Good morning. Welcome to The Journey. It’s great to see you. Welcome to Easter. We are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are really glad you are here. Thanks for joining us for Easter at The Journey. Happy Easter, Kerrick. My name is Nelson and next to me is Kerrick. We are teaching pastors here at The Journey. It’s going to be a great day today and we are really glad that you are here. This is number two of four Easter services we are doing. So thank you for joining us for this particular celebration of the resurrection. On your way in today, you received a program. If you will, go ahead and take just a minute and find that. Look inside. And find The Journey Connection Card. It looks like this. If you haven’t done so, take just a minute to fill that out. If you have been with us before, just simply put your name and email on the card. If today is your first time with us, we would love to get to know you just a little bit better. So maybe you would put your name and email, mark that box that says first or second time guest and then complete as much of the information as you feel comfortable doing. I want to ask everybody to fill out a card today because at the end of the service we are going to do a little survey, because this is such a big day here at our church, we want to make sure that we capture some information today that will help us be a better church in the future. So why don’t we all just take a minute and fill out the card. Maybe as we do this, we could get a little Journey Connection Card completion music.

It would be great if that music was Easter specific. Some Easter music. Let’s see what we can do. (Here comes Peter Cotton Tail)

I was glad to see that you didn’t wear your Easter bonnet.

I left my Easter bonnet back stage at the last minute. I hope you are about done completing your cards. I’m about done with this music. Alright. Hang on to them. We will collect the cards at the end of the service today. You can simply drop those in the offering container when it comes around. So keep that nearby, because we will be using the card. You will also notice on the back of the card that there is a place for growth group sign ups. We are in the middle of the growth group semester, but we have some new growth groups starting. If you look inside your program, you will see that there is a Prayer of Jesus group, a Purpose Driven Life group and also a Prayer of Jabez group, if you want to get into a group, just write that number on the back of your card. Today, as we talk about the resurrection, and of course we will since it’s Easter, and we talk about that when it’s not Easter as well, today we are talking about that, but we are also taking a little different approach on the resurrection today, we are going to look at the power of the resurrection as it is seen through a story that Jesus told that you and I know as the Prodigal Son. Kerrick is going to read that passage. The Prodigal Son is a pretty well-known story.

The parable of the Prodigal Son has been said, by many people, to be the greatest short story ever told and it’s not without reason. You find it in Luke 15 and it begins like this, “To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story. A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now instead of waiting until you die.’ So the father agreed to divide his wealth between the two sons. A few days later, the younger son packed all of his belongings and took a trip to a distant land and there he wasted all his money on wild living. About that time his money ran out. A great famine swept through the land and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. The boy became so hungry that even the pods that he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘at home, even the hired hand have enough food to spare and here I am dying of hunger. I will go home to my father and say, father, I have sinned against Heaven and you and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.’ So he returned home to his father and while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father I have sinned against both Heaven and you and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick, bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger. Sandals for his feet. Kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast for this son of mine was dead, and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.” Let’s pray together.

Father, we thank You for this wonderful celebration of Easter and that no matter how far we might run from You, we can always return home. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good morning. Again, happy Easter. Today we are kicking off a brand new teaching series called—Forgiveness the Real “F” Word. It’s appropriate that we start this series on Easter, because without the resurrection, there would be no ultimate forgiveness. There would be no opportunity for you and I to receive ultimate forgiveness from our Creator, God the Heavenly Father. And without this ultimate forgiveness that God provides for us, it would be impossible for us to forgive ourselves, for us to forgive others and for us to live in the freedom of forgiveness. All of which, we are going to discuss over the next four weeks in this series. The subtitle of this series is called “Forgiveness The Real F Word”. It’s a word that is misunderstood, mismanaged and malpracticed. No one wants to admit that they need forgiveness. It is rare that we seek it and we are often resistant to offer it. Yet forgiveness is a universal need. There is something inside of us that cries out to be forgiven and to give forgiveness. There is something innate in us that desires to receive forgiveness from our Creator. The resurrection is the ultimate conclusion of God’s plan to forgive us, completely and to wipe the slate clean. When forgiveness is not fully explored, forgiveness will withhold us and will lead to things like bitterness and division and bondage and fear and disappointment and unhappiness and the sense of abandonment. Without forgiveness, there is no hope of reconciliation between us and other people and between us and God. Yet, at the same time there is great power in forgiveness. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to us when we seek forgiveness and when we offer forgiveness. With that in mind, find your message notes and go to the top verse that is in your outline from Romans 6:4. Notice the power of the resurrection and that same power is available to us. Romans 6:4. “Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we may also live new lives.” Would you circle the word “power” at the top of your outline. The power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power behind forgiveness and that’s the power of the resurrection. Finding forgiveness is the key to finding power for living. With that in mind, just real quickly, let me give you the three levels of forgiveness and we are going to explore these more over the next few weeks.

The third level of forgiveness, what might be considered the basic level of forgiveness, is forgiving ourselves. While this sounds difficult to forgive ourselves, we often carry around baggage and we all have to learn how to forgive ourselves. Since, this is a basic issue, we are going to spend all next week talking about that, next Sunday—how do we forgive ourselves, it’s the basic level of forgiveness.

One level higher, what might be considered level two, is the issue of forgiving others. Now, a lot of people think this is the area of ultimate forgiveness because it is very difficult to forgive others. Many of us have experienced the pain and hurt and we have been on the receiving end of another person offering that to us. And in two weeks we are going to look at how you forgive others.

But the ultimate level of forgiveness is this forgiveness that you and I need to receive from God. Level three and level two are forgiveness that we offer. We offer it to ourselves, we offer it to others. But the ultimate level of forgiveness is the level on which we are on the receiving end. The reason that it is so hard to give forgiveness to others, the reason that it is so hard to give forgiveness to ourselves, is because we haven’t properly received forgiveness. If you don’t understand this ultimate level of forgiveness, you are never going to get the freedom that forgiveness provides when you forgive yourself and you forgive others. You see, God offers us ultimate forgiveness. When we experience forgiveness from God, it’s the highest level of forgiveness possible and when we receive that, then we are able to give it to others.

Now, over the next few weeks, we are going to look at the walls that keep us from forgiving others and from forgiving ourselves. These walls that are behind be are symbolic of what we are going to look at. Over the next few weeks, you are going to see these walls change and you are going to see that as we deal with forgiveness how the walls will come down and you will see a picture of what it is like to live in the freedom of forgiveness. We will be exploring that over the next few weeks. But today, I want us to explore the top level of forgiveness—ultimate forgiveness. And to illustrate that, I want us to look at a very popular story. You may have heard us read this earlier if you were in here. That’s the story of the Prodigal Son. It is found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15. Jesus was telling a number of stories about things that are lost and He tells us of a story of a lost son. This is the called the “Story of the Prodigal Son.” You see it in your outline. I put the first few verses of that passage in your outline. Luke 15, verses 11-13. Follow along, as the story goes, “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now instead of waiting until you die.’” That’s pretty strong. “So the father agreed to divide his wealth between the two sons. A few days later, the younger son packed all of his belongings and took a trip to a distant land. . .” The younger son went off to live in this lavish lifestyle and we will pick up the story in just a few minutes of what happens with the son. But before we get to that, let me go ahead, up front, and give you today’s message from a theological point of view. Let me just set the stage of all that we want to talk about in this type perspective. Here it is, the Prodigal Son parable is a divine drama. It illustrates all of humanity’s decision to turn their backs on God, to sin against God, and to ultimately leave what is best for us. What is best for us in this story is illustrated with the word “home”. This story is an illustration of our need to find forgiveness, because we have sinned against God. In the parable, the son makes a decision to return home. And on his way home, back to his father, is clear. So it is with us. When we make the decision to return to God, God lays out very clearly how we can do that. The clear path of returning to God is through Jesus Christ, God’s Son. As we study this parable today, will you open your mind to the possibility that you just might find yourself in this divine drama, and in this Prodigal Son story. Would you open your mind to the possibility that you just might be the Prodigal Son or the Prodigal Daughter who needs to return home to the loving father. Would you consider, for just a few moments with us, God is indeed a loving Father who desires to restore this relationship with you, Who wants to forgive you, Who wants to wipe your slate clean, Who wants to welcome you fully back into the family even though you may have turned your back on Him. Would you consider, for just a few minutes, that you have exchanged your life for something best in the pursuit of something less. Would you just consider God has a better life for you and it is all available to you when you return to Him in your spiritual home. I hope you will open up your minds with these possibilities as we explore this today. You see, Easter is the promise that ultimate forgiveness is possible. Easter is the promise that reconciliation between us and God is, indeed, available to us. That’s the power of the resurrection. You can I can be forgiven. We can return home. We can start anew. With that in mind. Let’s look, today, at ultimate forgiveness as we talk about how to find forgiveness.

1.Recognize I need God. As you write that down, I want to give you a quick quiz about the story about the Prodigal Son. Just quick, by a show of hands, how many of you have heard the name “the Prodigal Son” before. Is that a familiar term with you? Alright, here’s a question for you. What does it mean to be a prodigal? I asked pastor Kerrick back stage. He’s going to be out in a few minutes. I was talking to him back stage. I said—hey man, what’s a prodigal? Well, he said—it’s someone who’s smart at a really young age. No, I said—that’s a prodigy, not a prodigal. But he’s straightened out now. He’ll be out later to figure that out. What’s a prodigal? I mean, you’ve heard this term. I’ve been asking people all week—okay, what’s a prodigal? A lot of people got really close. For example, some people said—well, a prodigal is someone who runs away from home. Certainly, in our story, you can see that, the younger son departs. Someone else said a prodigal is someone who turns their back on family. We see that in our story. The guy does, indeed, turn his back on his family, goes off on pursuits. Another person said a prodigal is someone who turns their back on their faith. Then someone said a prodigal is someone who wastes money on lavish lifestyle. All these definitions I have been collecting this week are partially correct. But let me give you the formal definition of a prodigal. A prodigal is someone who leaves a better way of life for a lesser way of life. In other words, it’s saying “no” to the best and saying “yes” to the less. But as we see in our story, God allows the prodigal to return, to return back to the best life possible, even though the prodigal in this story is off to pursue and spend money extravagantly, and even viciously and without necessity. The lavish expenditure never recreates the best life that he left. And the prodigal, by definition, returns that he receives all of the best that he left behind. So that’s the definition of a prodigal—someone who leaves a better way of life for a lesser way of life, but upon returning can regain that better way. When we last left the prodigal son, he was heading off with all of his belongings packed and he was going to spend them extravagantly. The Bible said that as you begin to spend more and more, eventually, he ran out of funds. Ever been there? I’ve been there. You run out of money and as fate would happen in the story, a famine set into the land. And the Bible says, and he began to starve. He looked around and saw a “help wanted” sign on a local hog farm and he got a job working with pigs in the pigsty. And he persuaded to a local farmer to hire him his job was to feed his pigs. I don’t know if you have ever done that before. I have never done that, but it doesn’t sound very glamorous. The Bible literally says this, “The boy became so hungry that even the pods that he was feeding the pigs looked good to him.” Have you ever been that hungry? Well, by the trashcan on the corner of 34th you can see a half a Big Mac laying in the trash, you may say—mmm, lunchtime for me. I don’t know if you have ever been that hungry or not. But this guy begins to think—this is what the pigs are eating. They are eating better than me. Pick up the story in your notes in verse 17. It says, “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘at home, even the hired men have enough food to spare and here I am (the son of the man who I left) dying of hunger.” What did he do? Well, he began to recognize that he was experiencing a lesser life than what was available to him.