Hello Idols
How often do we place ourselves in the role of worshiper without first being a forgiver? Why do we forgive? Why do we worship? Often the answer hovers dangerously close to being, "To meet my needs."
Jesus said “first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).
This teaching of Jesus gets its roots from the ancient Jews. There is a 10-day period between the Jewish New year and the Day of Atonement. This 10-day stretch of time was to be used by all Jews to seek reconciliation from one another, followed by a nation-wide fast.
The great fast on the Day of Atonement was not to be observed by any person who did not first seek forgiveness from his or her neighbor.
Imagine for a moment how wonderful an observance this was as a magnificent communal experience for all God’s people when they spent 10 days reconciling all wrongs and bringing the entire nation to a place of peace with one another.
One survivor of the Holocaust is recorded to say, “If you could lick my heart, it would poison you.” This is the extreme, but a good example of the kind of dissention that was to be ridden of before the Day of Atonement and participation in the great fast.
First century Jews, including Jesus, placed such a high value on forgiving neighbors that the sages would teach, as recorded in the Mishnah,
“For transgressions that are between a person and God, the Day of Atonement effects atonement, but for the transgressions that are between a person and his or her neighbor, the Day of Atonement effects atonement only if one first has appeased ones neighbor.” –Brad Young, The Parables, page 124.
This is also the backdrop for Jesus' parable, “The Merciful Lord and His Unforgiving Servant” (Matthew 18:23-35).
The main goal of the Day of Atonement was for all of God's people to imitate Him as a forgiving and merciful being. God desires that we imitate Him by forgiving one another.
When God created human beings, He created them "in His image." The word "image" in Hebrew is the same word translated "idol." God tells us not to create idols, for we are not to go to anything or anyone other than God to have our needs met.
Yet God created many idols. He created each and every person, so that He could come to us and have us meet His needs.
One of God's greatest needs, of which He comes to His images in order to have met, is the need for his children to be reconciled with one another so that they can worship Him with clean hearts.
Forgive first and then come and worship your God.
Forever learning,
Johnny
11 comments:
Hello? Still waiting to see a picture of you and YOUR idol!
I took pictures of me and Mr. Maxwell, but the camera I used has no battery charger. Staci ordered one and we're still waiting to get it in the mail.
As soon as I get the camera back on, I'll put the pictures of me and Dr. Leadership on my blog.
Grace and peace,
Johnny
I've lead my church's divorce recovery program for several years, and am a "graduate" as well.
I have a LOT to say on forgiveness, but it is very late.
Gird your loins for tomorrow!
NAmaste
Forgiveness: A practical primer (In my experience)
Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
My pastor confronted me with these lines shortly after my divorce, when I was still feeling a great deal of anger.
“What?” I thought. "I can’t be forgiven until I forgive ’her’? I’m in trouble!”
It took me a long time to learn what forgiveness isn’t and is.
Forgiveness isn’t a feeling.
It isn’t saying there was ‘nothing wrong’ with whatever was done: “Oh, it’s OK” is not forgiveness.
Forgiveness isn’t done for the “forgiv-ee.”
Forgiveness is a decision
Forgiveness is a goal
Matthew 18: 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" [Three times was the norm in that society.]
22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Forgiveness is for you.
Anger eats you up, not the person you’re angry with.
Over time, anger damages your physical health, as well as your spiritual health.
Often, the person you’re seeking to forgive repeats the behavior that made you angry and you have to start over: I believe “Seven times seventy” is a practical observation, not a rule.
But, if you’ve been working on forgiveness, you don’t go back to square one, you’ve improved your walk and the next times are easier and faster.
“How do I know when I’ve forgiven someone?”
I believe when you find yourself truly hoping for the best for that person, truly hoping that person feel's God's love, you’ve achieved some significant forgiveness.
Back to 6:14: “Do I really have to completely forgive before I can receive God’s forgiveness?”
My personal view: No: you just have to truly begin on the process, not finish it, to show that you are living God’s word.
Namaste
Walker,
Thanks for sharing. That's probably not easy stuff for you to go over again.
Rob Bell has a Nooma video called "Luggage." That video is life changing. The whole premise is the idea of forgiveness. And Rob says exactly what you said, "Forgiving is the ability to hope for the best for the person who has hurt me, not necessarily the ability to be completely reconciled."
In fact, the point is made in Rob Bell's video that some people are like the fool who returns to his vomit and though he or she may come back to try and hurt you again, you don't have to be there when they do.
He said that leaving that person to live with the consequences of their actions, which may include living a life without the one he or she has hurt, can be part of the process of forgiveness. And the ultimate goal of the victim is to pray that their perpetrator will begin to live the way they are supposed to and find joy, peace, and the goodness that life is supposed to offer.
It's not easy to wish good things on those who hurt us, but that is God's way, and it should be the way of God’s images.
Grace and peace,
Johnny
8 of us got together and went to see Rob Bell on his "Everything is Spiritual Tour." Pretty awesome stuff.
That guy is incredibly gifted with God's Word.
I'd love to worship with at his place. I live to far away though.
Grace and peace,
Johnny
Kristy . . . that IS a picture of Johnny and his idol. ;)
Johnny, good post . . . I’ve been teaching parables in our mid-week Bible study . . . Young’s book is good.
Forgiveness can be hard . . . I have had to wrestle with this a great deal in the past.
Forgiveness is hard when you’ve been hurt really bad by others . . . However, Jesus is our example on that matter . . .
Blessings,
Bret
Mmmmm...these are hard truths. After doing a personal study on forgiveness I came to most of the same conclusions Walker just spoke of. The greatest thing was to understand that forgiveness is not an injustice. Often I would wonder how or why you should forgive someone who doesn't deserve it but God opened my eyes. Taking care of the justice part is his job. My job was to forgive, not for them, but for me. The pastor at our church described unforgiveness as a big dog that is chained to a bench. When the dog sees a cat, he takes off running, dragging the bench behind him. The bench flies from side to side as he runs, knocking out everything in it's path. Then he asked the question: Who's on your bench?
What unforgiveness is in your life that you're dragging around and it is destroying everything, every relationship you have?
Good blog Johnny. It's nice to be reminded of this stuff.
Great illustration, Kathy.
I try to remember that, though forgiveness does benefit me, it is more about imitating God and pleasing Him.
Grace and peace,
Johnny
thanks for this blog.
love you guys, thanks for everything. see you saturday (which will go a little differently than last time....)or possibly friday night.
don't lose my keys!!!
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