HOW TO FORGIVE THE UNFORGIVABLE (PART 2)

It’s a “HOW TO FORGIVE THE UNFORGIVABLE” (PART 2) Friday.

LORD HELP US TO FORGIVE OTHERS AS WE WANT TO BE FORGIVEN. AMEN.

How can we forgive the unforgivable? First, by remembering that the people who hurt us don’t really know what they’re doing. 2. It is possible to forgive the unforgivable by remembering that Jesus forgave us when we were unforgivable.

This is where the words of Jesus become very personal. We’re included in his prayer. When he prayed, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”, who was included in “them”? The soldiers, the mob, the women, the disciples, Pilate, Caiaphas, Annas, Judas, Peter and all the Jewish leaders. You know who else was in it? You were. I was. He was praying for you and he was praying for me. “Pastor Rocky, No. You don’t understand. I’m not like those people. I’m different. Pastor Rocky, I’m not that bad. I’m not the kind of person who could crucify anyone. I’d never do anything like that.” Oh, yes you are, and yes you would, and yes you have many times, and yes you will again. You’re not as good as you look. If you had been there you would have held the nails. If you had been there you would have been clapping and cheering. If you had been there you would have said, “Crucify Him. Crucify Him. Stick it to Him again. Another nail. Let Him have it.” We’re not that much different. We’re not that much better. Do you know what keeps us from forgiving the people who hurt us? At the root it is this: We think we’re better than they are. We think we would never hurt anybody the way they have hurt us. “I’m just not as bad as that. I’d never treat anybody the way they treated me.” We get angry because we think that we would never do to another person what they have done to us. Oh, how foolish. Oh, how false. How deluded we are when we think that way. It is our false pride that keeps us from the hard step of forgiving the unforgivable. Not So Good, Not So Nice. Don’t you understand? It’s not as if we are all good and they’re all bad. It’s not as if we are all pure and they’re all evil. It’s not as if we’ve got all of life wired together and they’re just a bunch of fools. It’s not as if we’re totally in the right and they’re totally in the wrong. That’s not the way the world really works. It’s not as if we know all the answers. It’s not as if we’re as good as we think we are. As cool as we think we are. As righteous as we think we are. As justifiable as we think we are. Do you want to know what the truth is? We get mad just like they do. We lose our temper just like they do. We write stinging letters just like they do. We say stupid things at Holiday time just like they do. We slap our friends just like they do. We hurt our children just like they do. We crucify our friends just like they do. We break our promises just like they do. When you really get down to it, we’re just like them. No, we are them and they are us and if we don’t see that, we’ve missed the real point of Jesus’ first cry from the cross. If we think we’re so much better than the people who have hurt us so deeply, we are self-deceived. If only we could see that when we really get down to it we’re all in the same boat together. We’re all truly sinners in one way or another. We all fail in many ways. They fail in one way and we fail in another. It would keep us from being so angry if we could see ourselves the way we really are. If we would admit that we really don’t know it all. If we would admit that we really don’t have it all together. If we would admit we’re not as good as we think we are. We’re not as together as we pretend to be. If we’d ever admit the truth we’d find it easier to forgive the people who have hurt us in an unforgivable way. The secret of forgiveness is to understand that between you and the person who hurt you there’s really no difference at all. None whatsoever. It is possible to forgive the unforgivable but you’ve got to realize before you do it, that Jesus forgave you when you were unforgivable. When he prayed that prayer, he wasn’t just praying for them back there, he was praying for all of us twenty centuries later. I think it is enormously significant that the first word from the cross is a word of forgiveness. We are being told by that, that Jesus came to establish a religion of forgiveness. He is at heart a man of forgiveness. He came into this world to establish a church that would be an oasis of forgiveness. And to bring to the world a race of forgiving men and women. Forgiven! Forgiven! Forgiven! It’s just Amazing. That’s why I sing amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!  I once was lost but now I’m found. Was blind but now I see……Yes Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise, For it was grace that bought my liberty.  I do not know just why He came to love me so. He looked beyond my faults and saw my need. I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary. To view the cross where Jesus died for me. How marvelous the grace that caught my falling soul. He looked beyond my fault and saw my need. Yea!!!