September 2014
Dear AMC and JohnWesleyProject Family,
I am aware that the majority of followers of my blog live in the Northern hemisphere, while I live in the Southern hemisphere in sunny, almost all of the year round, South Africa. This picture entitled Autumn vs Spring by Kopczynski-Adam (sourced here) best sums my dilemma as I write for my local congregation here at AMC and my worldwide JohnWesleyProject.com family.
Our
Gospel text from the Revised Common Lectionary (followed by churches
worldwide) for the first (Southern hemisphere) Sunday in Spring/September is Matthew
18:15-20 and includes the following command of Jesus:
“If
your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just
between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them
over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so
that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or
three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the
church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them
as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”
Next
Sunday, the second Sunday of Spring, our text includes these words
from Peter:
Then
Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I
forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven
times.”
The
deepest wounds feel like they'll last a lifetime: The absent mother
who robbed you of the mother-daughter bond you craved and deserved.
The eighth-grade bully who turned the classroom into a living
nightmare. The boyfriend who broke his promises and chose her
instead....we each have folk who have hurt us. You feel bitter. You
still hold a grudge. But clinging to those betrayals and
disappointments, that hurt, is bad for the body and mind. I read an
article by a clinical psychologist recently in which he states a
truth I think we all know: "It's
inevitable that we'll all be hurt by others, and that it will happen
often. People have accidents, make mistakes, behave selfishly and
even intentionally try to hurt one another. We can't escape it.
Forgiveness is a vulnerable act that can feel like it opens us up to
more pain. But we need to have a way to process and let go of the
effects of injury, or we risk serious physical and emotional
consequences."
It is no wonder that Jesus speaks so often and so authoritatively on the subject of forgiveness, but my experience is that this is one area where we as disciples of Christ often choose to not let His word have authority over us. The result of this sin leads to much conflict in families, workplaces and of course, in the church. I often find that for most of us it hurts more when we are hurt in the church, because we believe that this is meant to be a safe place. I have seen in the lectionary readings for the next two weeks a God-given opportunity for us to submit to the authority of the Word and, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, ask Him who we need to forgive, who we need to ask forgiveness from, and then ask for His grace to do these in a way that helps His Kingdom to come and His will to be done in our homes, workplaces and church. To help us in this I've included a series of devotions, which while aimed at leaders, speak to each of us as individuals as well. Please consider using them over a five day period soon. I look forward to testimonies of how extending and asking forgiveness changes anger, bitterness and resentment into the beautiful (Spring) fruit of the Spirit.
Much love and grace and peace to us all in the LORD Jesus Christ,
Cedric
