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-------- Original message --------
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org> 
Date:03/05/2016  9:04 PM  (GMT-05:00) 
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org> 
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Lent 4C 

Dear Friends,

 

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “The TWO Sons” or “My Father’s Heart” and deals with the Gospel (Luke 15: 11- 32).  Here it is:  

(Part 2 of 2)

Here are four thoughts about forgiveness that will reduce our tendency to become like the lost older son:

Forgiveness- what is it?  One of the best definitions of “forgiveness” that I’ve ever heard is as follows: “Forgiveness is giving up my right to hate you for hurting me.”  (Anonymous)

Forgiveness- how often?  When Peter asked Jesus how many times he had to forgive, the answer was seventy times seven, in other words the whole thing (seven) times ten (the whole thing) times seven (the whole thing). 

Forgiveness- why bother? 

Our Lord’s Prayer says, “Forgive us our sins AS (i.e. the same way) we forgive those who sin against us.”  To be forgiven, we must forgive.

We don’t forgive others for their benefit.  They probably don’t care if we forgive them or not.  Jesus tells us to forgive for our own benefit.  Bitterness is a heavy load to bear and ruins lives.

We don’t know what’s ahead in our own lives.  We may do something worse (or meaner) than the person we’re mad at.

 

The father is the other character in the parable.  You know how often people comment about how a baby has her father’s eyes, her mother’s smile, etc.  We are called to have our father’s heart, and you know who our father is!  We may have our Father’s heart, but only God can judge our neighbor.  No one is unredeemable.  No matter how evil they are, we can pray for them, love them (i.e. wish what is best for them), and reach out to them when possible.  The problem is, sometimes when someone has caused special pain, it’s so easy to say- “I can’t, I simply can’t forgive them.”   Let me close with a story.  “A holy man was engaged in his morning meditation under a tree whose roots stretched out over the riverbank. During his meditation he noticed that the river was rising, and a scorpion caught in the roots was about to drown. He crawled out on the roots and reached down to free the scorpion, but every time he did so, the scorpion struck back at him. The man finally flipped the scorpion safely on the grass.  An observer who had been watching this whole process said to the holy man, ‘Don't you know that's a scorpion, and it's in the nature of a scorpion to want to sting?’ To which the holy man replied, ‘That may well be, but I’ve got my Father’s heart, and it is our nature to love and to save.  Must I change my nature because the scorpion does not change its nature?’” (adapted from Joseph B. Modica)  Brothers and sisters- we have our Father’s heart, and it is in our nature to love.

 

For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .

 

Blessed preaching,

Judy Boli

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Saginaw, Michigan

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