The Divine Crash

I bought a new recorder and last week it worked fine. Today it recorded without a problem but now it appears to have erased everything.  Not sure why or how it happened but at least my notes will go up.  Enjoy them and feel free to comment.  We are working through forgiveness and the 6 steps of what it means to forgive someone who has hurt you, including yourself.

 

Scripture: Luke 23:13-25

Prayer: “God, as we draw closer to the empty tomb, draw closer to us.  Bring us into your temple and refine us until we are as white as snow in the image of Jesus.” – Amen

 

Last week we examined our selves, we declared the something that we have done and something that have happened to us are just wrong.  This week we look at the idea that we recognize the harm done to us was harmful.  Not only was it wrong but it hurt.  It took something from us and fundamentally changed us.

 

Forgiveness never says it was okay

Forgiveness does not mean going back to that abusive relationship

Forgiveness lets the consequences happen

Forgiveness might mean staying as far away as possible from that toxic person

Forgiveness calls the authorities when needed

 

And today we look at the idea that forgiveness means we recognize that the past has changed us.

 

Look at our text, Jesus was just in front of Herod who “mocked him” put him in a robe and sent him back to Pilate. Pilate says there is nothing wrong and no reason for their request and he wants to only hurt him a little then release him. Pilate is recognizing that what happens is wrong.  He knows their request is wrong and that it will create harm in people.

 

For us, we now know that things are wrong but we need to recognize that that wrong has changed us.  If we truly want to forgive others and ourselves we also need to notice that the events that happened have changed us.

 

For Jesus, the wrongs that happened change not just him.  Hebrews 7 says that Jesus changed the very laws of nature.  Everything got changed because of Jesus.  All things past and present are changed.  The wrongs done to Jesus literally changed time itself as the transfer from BC to AD

 

Now, We can’t change the past but we can recognize that the past has changed us.  In a recent study done by Dr. Michele Borba found that helicopter parents create children three times more likely to commit suicide as a freshman in college.

The things that you did and the things done to you will impact your future.  However, if you can catch this before it happens then you can prevent your past from determining your future.

- If you can catch that your parents were helicopter parents before you get to the point of attempting suicide then you can change your future and not end it too early.

 

According to Crisis Connection Inc. 81% of men who commit domestic violence grew up in a domestic violence home

.  You may understand that domestic violence is wrong but if you do not understand that being a witness to it as a child will impact your future you cannot take steps to break the cycle.

 

While we don’t know for sure Barabbas’ home life we can assume that there is a cycle of violence that he was unaware of and until he recognizes that he is actually hurting people he won’t stop.  That is the thing with violence, there seems to be a level in which people forget that what is happening is hurting someone else.

 

When we find forgiveness it is said that we finally stop allowing others to hurt us.  We recognize that we are human.  So then, on this journey towards forgiveness we must recognize that we are fundamentally different because of what happened.  If we were abused we are going to see the world the eyes of an abuse victim.  If you had an eating disorder you are going to interact with others through the lens of an eating disorder.

 

All of the things that have happened to you become not just something that you see and interact with but also how you interact with the whole world.  They are like your glasses or contacts, not only do you see them and interact with them but they are also how you see and interact with the whole world.

 

This is not always bad but if you don’t recognize it then it can be disastrous.  For example, I grew up in a very small town.  We had 4 traffic lights and you could always leave your doors unlocked and I would often leave the keys in my car with the windows rolled down when I would run to the grocery store or something.  I came to college at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  My first week I left the windows down in my car in the campus parking lot while I went in to have lunch.  When I came back my cd-player and several CD’s were gone.  I always viewed my world through the lens of a small town and not knowing that proved disastrous for my wallet when I had to go buy a new CD player.  However, I was then able to recognize how I viewed the world and now I roll my windows up and lock the doors all the time.

 

For our scripture, Barabbas is seeing his entire life as one who is a murderer who was about to be killed and now he is free.  For the first time in his life he is able to see the world through the eyes of a free person.

 

So then, the question becomes through what lens or lenses do you see the world.

Are you:

a cutter?

Scam artist?

Rapist?

Victim?

Offender?

Tax Cheat?

Abuser?

Speeder?

Control Freak?

Have you been told so often that you are fat? Ugly? Dumb?

 

If that is you, if you are seeing the world fundamentally different because of your past, look at what happens to Barabbas?  He has just been forgiven of his crimes.  He has been forgiven of his past.  Now he can look at the world through the lens of forgiveness and new life and second chances.

 

For Barabbas, a new word has been spoken.

For Barabbas, a second chance exists.

For Barabbas, a new day has dawned.

For Barabbas, things are fundamentally different again this time in a way that leads to real life.

 

You have seen the world through pain, hurt, grief, and anger but once you recognize the harm that was done to you and the affects of that harm then you can identify how to forgive what happened and avoid the same mistakes as well how to make the world better so that no one else needs to forgive their offender for what happened.

 

After you see that you have been harmed you are able to make changes in your life that show that while the harm changed you it does not control you anymore.  Instead, it informs your life and your choices but that

• Your rape does not have the final say.
• Your cancer does not have the final say.
• Your car accident does not have the final say.
• The lies and painful words you have been told you do not have the final say.

 

Instead, like Barabbas the fact that you have been forgiven gets the final say.

Like Barabbas, a new word is spoken and a new chance has been given.

 

So then, do you need a new day? Do you need a fresh new word spoken into your life? May you Hear that new word.  May you know that Jesus has changed everything, including your future.

 

So then, if you have been harmed may you see that those evil things have changed you but that they do not need to control you.  That because of Jesus, you are able to rise above them and you are able to move beyond them into a life that is healthy and whole again.

 

So then, as we pray, may you be like Barabbas; changed because of forgiveness.

 

Let us pray: “Dear Jesus, we know some things are just wrong.  We know that those things have happened to us.  Give us courage to declare that they will not control us and that they will not determine our future.  That like Barabbas we can see the world as one who has been forgiven.” – Amen.

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Sermon by RevBT