Sunday Sermon Reactions: Forgiveness

Forgiveness was the topic of today's sermon.

Brett started out with the parable of the unmerciful servant.

It's a parable I've heard many times. Forgiveness is a core tenant of Jesus' teaching.

Two new things stuck out to me today.

Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive. "Up to seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven times.*"

First, Michael's child pick-up ticket was 490! I forgave him when he stuck a sticker on my leg hair. I forgave Carrie, too, when she thought it was funny and mimicked him.

Second, Brett mentioned a nuance I never thought of.

The "seventy times seven" could refer to a quantity (i.e. forgive them 490 times). Not new.

Or the "seventy times seven" could mean to keep forgiving an offense (maybe muttering "I forgive them" like a mantra) over 490 days until you really do forgive it. New.

I'm not a preacher, but both seem applicable to me.

Some transgressions are small. They're easy to forgive. They're easy to forget (when appropriate).

Some transgressions are not small. You may want to forgive someone, but it doesn't happen instantly. You may have to do your best to treat them as forgiven them while the wound heals and you truly forgive them in your heart.

Brett summed it up at the end with, "Forgiveness is free, but then Jesus expects you to do something about it." Being forgiven is not carte blanche to keep committing the same offense over and over. After Jesus told the crowd "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her," he tells the woman, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.**"

I'll hyperlink the sermon here whenever it goes up (and if I remember). I liked the part about the $10 million dollar research grant on forgiveness, and the medical effects of bitterness. Science confirms what was written down many, many years ago.

Carrie liked a lot of the studies and points Brett brought up, too. She asked him if she could look at his notes for her Batterer's Intervention course after church.

I'm going to attempt to do a quick sermon reflection each week. Writing helps me process and internalize. Hopefully, it may benefit someone who reads it, as well.

Notes:
*Some translations say "Seventy-seven."
**The full parable is John 7:53-8:11