Worship Preview 5.17.26 "Sins... Debts... Trespasses... & Forgiveness"

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY: 10:30am. “Sins, Debts, Trespasses...& Forgiveness”.”  Scriptures: Matthew 18, Luke 11:1-13, Colossians 2:6-19. Rev. Christopher Eshelman preaching.

Our world is broken and divided. Everywhere we look we see greed and excess, we see poverty, violence, economic and racial injustice. I’ve shared before that formative to my faith journey were the stories of “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland and Apartheid in South Africa. You could not watch the news in the 1980s without reference to one or both. Growing up in Wichita, my closest friends were Catholic while my family was Lutheran before Dad left, and Episcopalian afterwards. Northern Ireland was split between Protestants and Catholics and my friends and I wrestled with the idea that “if we lived there we’d hate each other.” We also lived in an area of town that was predominantly African American. In fact, I was part of the ethnic minority in my 3^rd and 4^th grade elementary classes. But the time we combined in to what was then called Junior High and on to High School, that had changed. Then as I reached college, the world was changing – Nelson Mandela was freed and through a remarkable process of “truth and reconciliation” led by figures like Bishop Desmond Tutu and President F.W. de Klerk, people who had been killing one another were struggling to form a democratic government and find a way through accountability, justice, and forgiveness. 

As that was unfolding, author Adam Kahane relates that  "A popular joke at the time said that, faced with the country's daunting challenges, South Africans had two options: a practical option and a miraculous option." The practical option was that everyone would "go down on their knees and pray for a band of angels to come down from heaven and fix things for us."  The miraculous option was that people would "talk with one another until we found a way forward together." 

In this Easter season, we’ve been talking about prayer and have done so guided by the familiar yet challenging words of the Lord’s Prayer. We’ve noted our interconnectedness as siblings in paying to “Our Father.” We have considered what it means to hold God’s name as hallowed – and how we live that out in creation. We’ve talked about what it means to do God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven” and “our daily bread” what these tells us about heaven and God’s dwelling – and our dwelling or abiding with God. We’ve looked at metaphors for these relationships – vine, gate, good shepherd. This week we come to perhaps the most challenging words of the prayer. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.” I remember the first time it really stuck me what I was saying in those words. The Golden Rule is “do unto others as you would have done unto you” and how we might also think about that as “treating others as they would like to be treated.” In these words about forgiveness, I am asking God to treat me precisely how I treat others… and one day I became aware that I was holding a grudge I refused to let go. Uh oh! How was I thus asking God to treat me?

In my wandering journey through different denominations, I had spent time with different translations – knowing that some said “debts” or “sins” – and we’ll explore the reasons for that – and what each word choice emphasizes. I think it’s helpful to wrestle with each. Each might carry different weight in different seasons or circumstances and all faithfully translate the sense of Jesus’ words. In a bitterly divided world, talking with one another and finding a way forward together truly is miraculous. And some of us don’t think it’s possible. Yet stories like this, and 1998’s “Good Friday Accord” that led to peace in Northern Ireland shows that it is. Our call is to a “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5) where we rediscover our interconnectedness andcommon humanity. That is not simple or easy. Bishop Tutu offers a “Fourfold Path” of forgiveness -1) Telling the Story 2) Naming the Hurt 3) Granting Forgiveness and 4) Renewing or Releasing the Relationship. He writes “Forgiveness is not the end of the Fourfold Path because the granting of forgiveness is not the process of healing. We all live in a delicate web of community, visible and invisible, and time and again the connecting threads get damaged… to finish the forgiveness journey and create the wholeness and peace you crave, you must choose whether to renew or release the relationship.” Both involve wiping the slate clean of all debts and resentments. Releasing, especially where safety or a lack of remorse is involved, is a valid choice – we are not holding on to resentment but establishing a healthy boundary. And renewing is a creative act that establishes a new relationship. Both involve asking ourselves what we need – restitution? An apology? The decision to renew or release may hinge on being able to clarify, request, and receive what we need. 

How do we forgive? How do we seek accountability in ourselves and others? How do we choose the “miraculous option” of doing the hard and necessary work that actually leads to both personal and social transformation? Sunday we’ll explore these questions – not seeking easy answers or quick certainty but, through prayer, entering more fully into the miracle and mystery of Easter and preparing ourselves anew to receive the Holy Spirit of Pentecost. 

This is the miracle and the mystery. Christ is risen indeed! In life, in death, in life beyond death. God is with us! We are not alone. Thanks be to God. Amen! Wherever you are on your walk of faith, you are invited to bring your whole self to worship at 10:30am each Sunday. 301 S. National. Blessings on your journey!

UPCOMING EVENT: FEEDING FAMILIES IN HIS NAME: Wednesday, May 20 - A free, no obligation meal is served “to-go” style from underneath our portico from 5:15pm to 6:15pm each Wednesday, prepared each week by our members as well as several area churches and community groups. We aim to provide 400 meals per week.