God's Open Secret -- Forgiveness
Sermon
One of the most difficult concepts in Christianity seems to be that of forgiveness. Many people are so hurt and damaged by sins committed against them at some point in their lives that they are unable ever to forgive the perpetrator of that event, and they often think they're justified in that lack of forgiveness. Other people are so convinced of their own terrible sin that they're unable to forgive themselves and take it for granted that although God is a God of forgiveness, he will never be able to forgive them.
These are not usually very rational thoughts, but are much deeper seated within the emotions. Most people agree that God forgives, and on an intellectual level accept that God forgives all sin. But they're unable to feel that God forgives them and sometimes are unable to feel forgiveness for those who have sinned against them. And many people have difficulty with the concept of unconditional forgiveness for all sins, for they demand justice and justice doesn't always sit easily with unconditional forgiveness.
This has a number of important repercussions in real life. When a nation of people is unable to forgive, cycles of violence continue and grow ever worse. The situation in the Holy Land is a typical example, where the levels of violence are constantly escalating because each side in the conflict plays a tit-for-tat policy. Suicide bombings follow assassinations which then cause further suicide bombings which then cause harsher repercussions and so on and so on. In the end, the situation is so awful that the rest of the world is unsure where right and justice lie.
But it's similar in individual lives. Somebody causes injury, whether physical, emotional or imagined, so the injured person retaliates. This causes more upset and so the situation escalates and may eventually reach stalemate with neither side speaking to the other and both sides spreading poison about the other.
For Christians, things may be different. Christians are aware of the need for forgiveness because that's part of Christian teaching, so rather than retaliate, Christians may simply walk away from the situation. This may have the desired effect of calming things down on the surface, but underneath the surface there's often a seething mass of resentment which is never addressed. Hence good Christian people may have a stone inside them weighing them down, because they're unable to address those who have caused their pain and therefore are unable to forgive them.
The English say that "rolling stones gather no moss", but stones inside us don't roll. They just sit there and they do gather moss. They gather all sorts of physical and emotional detritus and eventually they undermine physical and emotional and spiritual health.
The way through all this misery is to allow God to come in and to flood us with his forgiveness. That means facing the fact that we have a problem and allowing God to deal with it in whichever way he chooses. It might mean making an apology after many years. It might mean accepting someone else's apology. It might mean making reparation or confessing a long-forgotten sin. It might be a painful process, but it will certainly be a worthwhile and life-enhancing process and will lead to great joy.
During the two hundred years or so that the prophets were mainly active in the Holy Land, they constantly warned the people of God's displeasure. The people were acting in all sorts of heinous ways which were completely against God's laws. In the reign of King Josiah, there were some reforms, but they were too little and too late. During this time, around 640-609 BC, the prophet Zephaniah protested against the worship of false gods and condemned the pro-Assyrian regents who advised the young king Josiah. There was widespread religious degradation, and rites which were completely alien to the laws taught by Moses, were rife in Jerusalem.
Zephaniah announced impending judgment on the corrupt city, threatening "The Day of the Lord", which would be a time of doom and gloom and overwhelming disaster. God is a God of justice and the just deserts for the behaviour of the people were frighteningly apt, for soon after the time of King Josiah the people were removed from their homes and dragged off into exile in Babylon.
All the prophets saw this exile as God's judgment on his people for their corruption.
But where God is concerned, punishment is never the end of the story. The punishment was inevitable, for throughout history corrupt nations have always been brought down by other, more powerful nations. Great empires inevitably fall when corruption is allowed to seep in and undermine the morality of the people, and this is exactly what happened with both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Although almost all of Zephaniah's book is concerned with threats of doom-laden judgment, it doesn't end that way. Zephaniah is aware of God's forgiveness no matter what the people have done, and the book closes with a hymn of resounding joy which points not only to God's forgiveness but to the reparation of the bond between God and his people.
“Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies,” says Zephaniah in today's reading. And he goes on to prophesy, “I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.
Despite their evil ways and with no guarantee that they had learned their lesson, God forgives his people and brings them home. And God has promised this for all of us. No matter what our sin, God forgives us and will bring us home. God restores the relationship between himself and us, and if we allow him to do so, will restore the relationship between us and those who have wronged us or those whom we have wronged.
Our part is to turn to God and to acknowledge our sins no matter what the provocation which caused them, without attempting to justify ourselves. Then we need to accept and receive God's forgiveness, making sure that we find the courage to do whatever is required to mend broken relationships. After that we need to enjoy God's love flooding our whole being, making sure we don't indulge our own inverted pride by pretending that we are so bad that God can never forgive us.
God's forgiveness, like his love, is all around us. And like the Ancient Israelites so long ago, we simply have to reach out and take it.
These are not usually very rational thoughts, but are much deeper seated within the emotions. Most people agree that God forgives, and on an intellectual level accept that God forgives all sin. But they're unable to feel that God forgives them and sometimes are unable to feel forgiveness for those who have sinned against them. And many people have difficulty with the concept of unconditional forgiveness for all sins, for they demand justice and justice doesn't always sit easily with unconditional forgiveness.
This has a number of important repercussions in real life. When a nation of people is unable to forgive, cycles of violence continue and grow ever worse. The situation in the Holy Land is a typical example, where the levels of violence are constantly escalating because each side in the conflict plays a tit-for-tat policy. Suicide bombings follow assassinations which then cause further suicide bombings which then cause harsher repercussions and so on and so on. In the end, the situation is so awful that the rest of the world is unsure where right and justice lie.
But it's similar in individual lives. Somebody causes injury, whether physical, emotional or imagined, so the injured person retaliates. This causes more upset and so the situation escalates and may eventually reach stalemate with neither side speaking to the other and both sides spreading poison about the other.
For Christians, things may be different. Christians are aware of the need for forgiveness because that's part of Christian teaching, so rather than retaliate, Christians may simply walk away from the situation. This may have the desired effect of calming things down on the surface, but underneath the surface there's often a seething mass of resentment which is never addressed. Hence good Christian people may have a stone inside them weighing them down, because they're unable to address those who have caused their pain and therefore are unable to forgive them.
The English say that "rolling stones gather no moss", but stones inside us don't roll. They just sit there and they do gather moss. They gather all sorts of physical and emotional detritus and eventually they undermine physical and emotional and spiritual health.
The way through all this misery is to allow God to come in and to flood us with his forgiveness. That means facing the fact that we have a problem and allowing God to deal with it in whichever way he chooses. It might mean making an apology after many years. It might mean accepting someone else's apology. It might mean making reparation or confessing a long-forgotten sin. It might be a painful process, but it will certainly be a worthwhile and life-enhancing process and will lead to great joy.
During the two hundred years or so that the prophets were mainly active in the Holy Land, they constantly warned the people of God's displeasure. The people were acting in all sorts of heinous ways which were completely against God's laws. In the reign of King Josiah, there were some reforms, but they were too little and too late. During this time, around 640-609 BC, the prophet Zephaniah protested against the worship of false gods and condemned the pro-Assyrian regents who advised the young king Josiah. There was widespread religious degradation, and rites which were completely alien to the laws taught by Moses, were rife in Jerusalem.
Zephaniah announced impending judgment on the corrupt city, threatening "The Day of the Lord", which would be a time of doom and gloom and overwhelming disaster. God is a God of justice and the just deserts for the behaviour of the people were frighteningly apt, for soon after the time of King Josiah the people were removed from their homes and dragged off into exile in Babylon.
All the prophets saw this exile as God's judgment on his people for their corruption.
But where God is concerned, punishment is never the end of the story. The punishment was inevitable, for throughout history corrupt nations have always been brought down by other, more powerful nations. Great empires inevitably fall when corruption is allowed to seep in and undermine the morality of the people, and this is exactly what happened with both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Although almost all of Zephaniah's book is concerned with threats of doom-laden judgment, it doesn't end that way. Zephaniah is aware of God's forgiveness no matter what the people have done, and the book closes with a hymn of resounding joy which points not only to God's forgiveness but to the reparation of the bond between God and his people.
“Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies,” says Zephaniah in today's reading. And he goes on to prophesy, “I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.
Despite their evil ways and with no guarantee that they had learned their lesson, God forgives his people and brings them home. And God has promised this for all of us. No matter what our sin, God forgives us and will bring us home. God restores the relationship between himself and us, and if we allow him to do so, will restore the relationship between us and those who have wronged us or those whom we have wronged.
Our part is to turn to God and to acknowledge our sins no matter what the provocation which caused them, without attempting to justify ourselves. Then we need to accept and receive God's forgiveness, making sure that we find the courage to do whatever is required to mend broken relationships. After that we need to enjoy God's love flooding our whole being, making sure we don't indulge our own inverted pride by pretending that we are so bad that God can never forgive us.
God's forgiveness, like his love, is all around us. And like the Ancient Israelites so long ago, we simply have to reach out and take it.
