Luke 2:4-7 And his shelter was a stable

Sermon taken from article by Nick Page in December's edition of 'Christianity' Magazine.

Every Christmas, in schools, and playgroups throughout the country, Mary and Joseph, riding on a donkey, arrive in Bethlehem. There they knock on the door of an inn and are met by an innkeeper – or several inn keepers, and when they ask whether there is a room available, the innkeeper shakes their head. There is no room at the inn. Eventually, however, they are offered a stable round the back and there, in the cosy straw, surrounded by children wearing animal masks Jesus is born.

It’s a very familiar scene, but there is very strong likelihood that it never happened like that at all.

Here is what Luke says,

Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.’ (Luke 2:4-7)

The image of the manger and inn has firmly established itself in our imaginations, in nativity plays, and on Christmas cards, we have this picture of innkeepers and cattle gently lowing.

The Inn

But the truth is that Luke may not have meant ‘inn’ at all. The Greek word he uses is Kataluma which can mean ‘inn’, but just as easily can mean guest room, or spare room, or anywhere you might put visitors.

Luke uses the word kataluma twice in his gospel: once in this passage and once to describe the room in which the Last Supper took place; the ‘upper room’. In Luke 22:11 two disciples are told to go and ask, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ No theologian suggests that the last supper took place in an inn. In fact, the whole tone of Jesus’ preparations for the Last Supper indicate a concern to find a private space, a space away from threats and interruptions and away from the vast crowds in Jerusalem for the Passover.

When Luke does come to talk about an inn, he uses an entirely different word. In the story of the Good Samaritan, the victim of the thief’s is taken to an inn, and here Luke uses the word pandocheion.

This indicates that either Luke is being inconsistent in his choice or words, or he didn’t mean an inn at all. Luke is however someone he likes to get the details right. So Luke says, not that the inn was full, but that there was no room in the guest room, or spare room. It is also likely that Mary and Joseph were probably staying with relatives in Bethlehem, rather than trying to find the nearest travel inn.

This actually makes more sense of the story, because for Joseph to return to Bethlehem for a census meant that he had to have strong links there, and if he had relatives there, it would make sense that he and Mary would have stayed with them.
And just because Joseph travelled for the census doesn’t mean that a lot of other people did. There may have been compelling reasons for him to escape Nazareth for a while, to escape the rumours that must have circulated regarding Mary’s pregnancy. Certainly Luke gives no indication that Bethlehem was full.

This means that sadly for schools and playgroups everywhere, the story of the hardhearted innkeeper who grudgingly opens the stable round the back may well be a complete misreading of the story.

The Stable

On top of this, there may not have even been a stable as well! Luke records that Jesus was placed in a manager, an animals feeding trough, but this would not have necessarily been in a stable.

We have to remember that Mary and Joseph were poor. When Mary receives news that she is going to give birth to the Messiah, she sings a song full of delight that the poor and hungry have been blessed by God. “He (God) has brought down the powerful from their thrones,” she sings, “and lifted up the lowly, he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich empty away.” (Luke 1:52-53)

This song makes no sense at all unless Mary – and the man she was to marry – were ‘lowly’, poor, and even hungry. The language is full of the idea that God has chosen to bless the oppressed, rather than the oppressors. And quite clearly Mary was ‘lovely’ in a number of ways. She was the subject of a scandal and she was a virgin. This probably means that she was quite young; although older marriages did occur, the usual age for a Jewish girl to be married was between 13 and 16. Parents usually arranged marriages through intermediaries. Betrothal was legally binding and could only be dissolved through death or divorce.

The fact that Mary and Joseph were poor is back up by the sacrifice they later give at the Temple. Luke records that they sacrificed a ‘pair or turtledoves or two young pigeons.’ – which was the sacrifice you gave if you were too poor to sacrifice a sheep.

Given this information, we can assume that Joseph came from a simple, poor background, and simple homes did not have stables!

The homes of ordinary poor families of the time were frequently built on two levels: there was the lower level where everyday living took place, and an upper level where the family slept. Or if they lived in caves, as many people did, the family would have slept in the central part of the cave, with the animals kept at the entrance.

Israel can get very cold at night, so the animals would have been a heating source for the house, a kind of primitive central heating. What Luke is saying is that there was no spare room in the residential part of the house. The place was packed out. So they had to go to the lower level, where the animals were kept. This would explain why a stable is never mentioned. There wasn’t one, the animals were kept downstairs in the home; what happened was that Jesus was put downstairs with the animals, because the rest of the house was full.

A Real Story

What difference does this make, apart from ruining many a nativity play? Well for one thing it shows the truth of the incarnation, of Jesus becoming man. It brings alive the fact that Jesus was born in a very specific place at a very specific time. And that place was a cramped peasant’s home in the tiny town of Bethlehem.

We can see that Jesus was born into a lower class family. It blows apart the cosy Christmas card picture of a nice warm, clean stable, with golden straw illuminated by the flowing halo round Jesus’ head. In many ways it’s a much more ‘ordinary’ scene. In some ways Jesus’ birth was highly unusual: very few births are announced by angelic choirs. But in other ways it was almost painfully normal. The home was an ordinary peasant dwelling; the first cot an animals feeding trough. In some ways, as well, the birth is more shocking. The Son of God is laid, not in some kind of rustic cot, but in the place where usually the animals ate. He slept in hay full of ticks and fleas, in a home that was small and cramped. His parents were poor, his mother was incredibly young.

Most of us accept the idea that Jesus was born into a poor family, but we don’t stop and picture what that meant. The Renaissance paintings which inform our view of the event were painted for rich, wealthy patrons. They did not want to see conditions of slum like poverty, even had the artist managed to interpret the text correctly. So we have become conditioned to see a roomy stable full of colourful characters. We have sanitised the unsanitary stable. We have swept it clean from the dirty straw, given the animals a wash and brush up, spared a bit of myrrh around to cover the unsavoury smell of sweat and animal dung.

To do so is to miss the point. The point behind Luke’s depiction of the birth of Jesus is that it WAS dirty and smelly and poor and cramped and hard and utterly, utterly, wonderful.

And this is surely the more wonderful deeper truth.

Joseph

Introduction:

A Sunday school teacher asked her class, “What was Jesus’ mother’s name?” One child answered, “Mary.” The teacher then asked, “Who knows what Jesus’ father’s name was?” A little child said, “Verge.” Confused, the teacher asked, “Where did you get that from?” The child said, “Well, you know how they are always talking about ‘Verge and Mary.’”

On Wednesday Beata and I went to Tomek’s school to see him take part in his first big performance as a sheep in the school nativity play! There is one very important character in the nativity play who often gets overlooked, and that is Joseph. Joseph is definitely the forgotten hero of the nativity story, and yet he plays such an important role.

The use & abuse of Joseph
Poor old Joseph has a hard time. He is often portrayed in art and literature as a passive, elderly, sexless and silent figure who is always in the background. But Joseph plays an extremely important role in the story of the birth of Christ. His faithfulness and responsiveness to what God called him to do, is no less impressive than Mary’s own response.

It significant that God choose Mary AND Joseph to be the parents of baby Jesus. Before Jesus learned to call his heavenly Father abba – daddy, he called Joseph his abba. In Luke chapter 2, we read about how when Jesus was twelve years old, his parents, Mary and Joseph took him to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. On the way home Mary and Joseph realise that Jesus is not with them, and they return to Jerusalem to search for him. Eventually they find him in the Temple, and these are Mary’s words to Jesus. “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."

The baby Jesus did not become the man Jesus by only being at the breast of Mary. The boy Jesus became the man Jesus by also being in the arms of a father. Joseph was the man who gave Jesus the sense that fatherhood was a glorious reality that imaged the infinite tenderness and strength of God.

Joseph has much to teach us. We need to allow him to regain his youth, his manhood, his marriage and his fatherhood in our imaginations, so that we can learn from him.

Joseph & Mary Give an Interview to Hello Magazine

Looking happy and relaxed together after their first Christmas as the Holy Family, Mary and Joseph welcome Hello readers to an exclusive tour of their new home.

As their adorable three week old baby Jesus plays happily on the floor- doing the Times crossword- Mary told us about the rush to get everything ready in time for the birth of Jesus. ‘We only exchanged on the property on Christmas Eve – it was all a bit last minute. Nothing was ready. Joseph was marvellous. He just got his tools out and soon had the place liveable’. She gazes lovingly up at his rugged handsome features- and affectionately squeezes those strong sensitive craftsman’s hands.

Joseph’s design skills are apparent throughout the house. He has retained the original rustic features of the cattle shed – in fact several animals still live there.

He proudly showed us the charming nursery with its unusual manger feature, designed in the style of a cattle trough. ‘Jesus loves it – in fact he loves everything – he’s just a perfect baby. Of course, since he’s been born we have a constant flow of visitors. It has been very busy, but we managed to find a child minder who been a real angel.’ (Continued on page 10)

The Real Joseph

So what do we know about the real Joseph.

If you look in the Bible, you will see that Joseph doesn’t say a single word. He listens and obeys. We might assume his words are recorded, because we can imagine the conversations he had with Mary, and the Angel Gabriel. He can “hear” him talking to the innkeeper. We can visualize him teaching Jesus about carpentry…but then he fades from the scene. It is widely thought that Joseph was much older than Mary, and when Jesus began His ministry, Mary appears alone, and although the Bible doesn’t say she’s a widow, we assume that Joseph has since died.

In Matthew’s Gospel we are told that Joseph was a righteous man and a man of integrity.
We see this in the way in which Joseph deals with the news of Mary’s pregnancy. We are told that Mary and Joseph were pledged to be married, this was a much more binding contract that being engaged is today. The pledge to be married was legally binding. Only a divorce writ could break it, and infidelity at that stage was considered adultery. Under Jewish law, Mary could have been stoned for this apparent act of adultery. But in the face of apparent appalling betrayal by his fiancée- who is pregnant by someone else – Joseph has no doubt he cannot marry her, but he is not willing to humiliate her in public, and so he resolves to dismiss her quietly.

There is a gentle & strong dignity here in the face of what for Joseph must have been awful pain and heartache.

But God intervenes in a dream, saying to Joseph, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

And Joseph says yes to God in a way that is every bit as amazing as Mary. Both of them step outside socially acceptable behaviour, into the costly adventure of faith. In our own time when fatherlessness has become an epidemic, Joseph’s example is a powerful one.

The brief portrait of Joseph in Scripture suggests he was a quiet, unobtrusive man, available when needed, willing to endure hardship and disappointment. Looking forward to fathering his own child, Joseph was faced with being a step-father to a child not his own. He accepted the humbling circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth. He trusted the providential care of God every step of the way. He didn’t have any parenting books, any training on how to be a father to the Son of God, but he possessed faith and compassion, and was clearly an effective provider and protector of the family.
Illustration
A Sunday School was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that part, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead. He was pretty upset about this but he didn’t say anything to the director.During all the rehearsals he thought what he might do the night of performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph. Finally, the night of the performance, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage. They knocked on the door of the inn, and the inn-keeper opened the door and asked them gruffly what they wanted.Joseph answered, "We’d like to have a room for the night." Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, "Great, come on in and I’ll give you the best room in the house!"For a few seconds poor little Joseph didn’t know what to do. Thinking quickly on his feet, he looked inside the door past the inn-keeper then said, "No wife of mine is going to stay in dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn."
In all the Christmas pageants performed, Joseph doesn’t get a starring role, but his part is so important. His task is to watch over Mary and the baby Jesus. When our lives go in a direction we don’t expect, we cry out, like Joseph must have cried out, "God, how can this be?" But like Joseph, we hear a still small voice from God saying, "Trust Me." God’s ways are not always our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and we may never understand everything that God is doing this side of heaven, but God says, "Trust Me, and all things will work together for good."What do we learn from Joseph?

So what can we learn from Joseph.

a) Obedience & trust in the face of the unknown

b) A man who listens to his dreams (Matt 1.20 & 2.13)

Joseph not only responds to the dream from God telling him to marry Mary, but he also responds to the dream warning him that take Mary and the infant to Egypt to escape from King Herod. He is someone who listens to God, and responds accordingly.

c) Willing to respond to God’s call

As we look ahead to 2008, I cannot think of a better example to follow than that of Joseph. I hope and pray that as a church and as Christians we will demonstrate the same level of obedience and trust that Joseph showed in the face of the unknown. I pray that we will be people who listen to what God is telling us, and that like Joseph we will be willing to respond to God’s call.

The best Christmas gift

Read thank you letter based on 12 days of Christmas (page 134 A Stocking Full of Christmas, compiled by Mark Stibbe & published by Monarch Books).

If you ask any child what they most look forward to about Christmas, chances are they will talk about receiving presents. I suspect it is true that Christmas time is, for most people, is about the giving and receiving of gifts. Do you know that in Britain we will spend around £15 billion pounds on gifts at Christmas! Someone once asked, what three words best sum up the Christmas season. “Peace on earth.” “Goodwill to all,” and “Batteries not included.”

Although I get pleasure out of being able to give gifts to my family, I don’t personally enjoy the process of shopping for those gifts. I hope that most of the time the gifts I buy are appreciated. I was looking at the BBC Cumbria website earlier in the week, and they have been running a competition to see what the worst gifts people had received. Amongst the ones that caught my attention were these gift ideas.

One man in Carlisle was sent by his mother industrial sized toilet paper and air freshener for Christmas. Another man in Berwick, a keen football support, was sent a book on football teams by his gran. The only problem was it was about teams he didn’t support, and it also happened to be three years out of date. But probably the award for most least inspired Christmas gift has to go to the man who sent his brother a pack of Bachelors Cup a Soup. However, I suppose we shouldn’t be too disparaging because as the saying goes, it is the thought that counts!

If you ask a child what they enjoy most about Christmas, probably at the top of their list will be receiving gifts. And Christmas is all about the celebration of the greatest gift that has ever been given. That is the gift of God Himself, revealed to us in his Son Jesus Christ. This is amazing message of Christmas, that God came into the mess and confusion of this world, to show us his love, and he came not as a powerful conquering King, but as a tiny baby. Christmas is really the ultimate love story, because it is about God’s love for you and me. Those famous words in John 3:16 remind that it is because ‘God so loved the world’ – that is you and me ‘that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’

Jesus brought special gifts to all those who encountered him, the gifts of love, joy, peace and hope. Every person in the Christmas story who encountered this child, had their lives touched in a very powerful and life transforming way. And to this day Jesus is still touching and transforming lives here in St Martin’s, in Walsall, in our nation, and throughout the world. Jesus today is bringing God’s gifts of love, joy, peace and hope to the lives of millions of people around the world. Jesus came into the world, to reveal to us God’s love, so that we might enjoy the fullness and abundance of life that God offers us all. It is the most wonderful gift that anyone can receive, the gift of knowing that we are God’s child.

How do we respond to this gift? When you wake up on Christmas morning and see the parcels under the tree, you have two choices, you can open the presents and receive the gift with gratitude, or you could choose to leave the present unopened under the tree. It is the same choice that we face with Jesus. Today Jesus is offering us the gift of God’s love, joy, hope and peace, he wants to come and fill our lives so that we can discover life in all its fullness. The question is do we receive this gift with joy, or do we choose to leave it unopened?

The reality is that at Christmas time, when we receive presents we don’t really need, God offers us a gift we cannot do without, his love, his joy, his hope and his peace in our lives. What will your response be this year?

Freedom in Christ: Session 10 Growing in Maturity

Introduction

What are the signs that you have matured?
1. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
2. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
3. You and your teeth don't sleep together
4. Your back goes out, but you stay at home
5. When you are on holiday your energy runs out before your money does
6. You sit in a rocking chair but can't get it going
7. Your actions Creak louder than your words
8. You are warned to slow down by your doctor instead of the police
9. Getting lucky means you found your car in the multi storey car park

Over the last four months we’ve been thinking about how to grow and mature as Christians. Being a mature Christian has nothing to do with how old we are, or even how long we’ve been a Christian, it’s about the depth and quality of our relationship with God, it is about becoming more like Christ.

Made in God's image

When God originally created people He said, “Let us make human beings in our image and likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) God is not talking here about physical likeness, but a spiritual likeness. To be made in God’s image means to reflect God’s character. The evidence of a godly character is that we produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This includes growing in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). This is what the image of God “looks” like, this is what as Christians we should be aiming for, because this is what it means to be a mature Christian.

The Apostle Paul encourages Christians to “grow in the Lord” (Colossians 2:7) and that God wants us to bear His likeness and character. But how do we grow?
Holy Spirit

It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that God helps us to develop character (Philippians 2:13). Paul in Colossians writes, “the mystery revealed to the saints…is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). We do not develop Christ-likeness by imitation but by inhabitation. This means that our own efforts at becoming spiritually mature are useless unless it is Christ working in and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual growth does not happen automatically. Although God initiates the desire to grow spiritually within us and gives us the power to grow, we must be willing to accept and cooperate with His work. To grow spiritually requires intentional commitment to change our lives in order to conform to the likeness of Christ. God gives us the resources and opportunities for growth, but we must work them out. We are encouraged: “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13).

Changing thought patterns

What is the best way to grow spiritually? The first thing we need to know is that there are no short-cuts to spiritual growth. The most effective way to change your life is to change the way you think. Behind everything you do is a thought. Every behaviour is motivated by a belief, and every action is prompted by an attitude. Some people try to effect a change in their lives by sheer willpower. They will say, for example, “I’ll force myself to eat less…exercise more…quit being disorganized and late.” Whilst willpower can produce short-term change, it can also create internal stress because you haven’t dealt with the root cause of the problem. Eventually you will give up and revert to your old patterns.

There is a better and easier way to effect permanent change. The Bible says, “Let God transform you into a new person by the changing of the way you think” (Romans 12:2). Your first step in spiritual growth is to start changing the way you think. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act. Paul said, “There must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes” (Ephesians 4:23).

Becoming like Christ means to develop the mind of Christ, laying hold of the truth about what God says about ourselves, other people, life, our future, and everything else. Growing spiritually means to take on Christ’s outlook and perspective.

Reading, Meditating & Struggling

How then do our minds become transformed? Martin Luther expressed his method for spiritual transformation through reading, meditating and struggling. The first step is reading the Scriptures. Here we expose ourselves to the mind of God. Here in the Word of God we find truth (John 17:17) and this truth has the power to transform our lives. God’s truth uncovers the lies in our lives. Spiritual growth, then, is the process of replacing lies with truth. Jesus put it this way: “The Spirit gives life. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). God’s Word is living and active. It has power to generate life, create faith, produce change, cause miracles, heal hurts, build character, transform circumstances, impart joy, overcome adversity, defeat temptation, infuse hope, release power, cleanse our minds, bring things into being, and guarantee our future forever!

We cannot live without God’s Word. It is the spiritual nourishment you must have to fulfill your purpose in life. Therefore, your attitude towards God’s Word is the most important indicator for how you will grow spiritually. We must receive it, read it, study it, remember it, meditate it and apply it to our lives so it can change the way we think and act.

Essential to spiritual growth is reading and meditating on God’s Word. Another thing we need is to undergo struggles or temptations. The Bible says, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17). God has a purpose behind every problem. Besides asking God to deliver us from our troubles, we are also to ask what spiritual lesson God wants us to learn from that circumstance. As any Christian can attest, no significant spiritual growth happens without struggles. God uses problems to draw you closer to Himself. The Bible says, “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; He rescues those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

Problems don’t automatically produce what God intends. Many people become bitter, rather than better, and never grow up. Therefore, we must respond to troubles in the way God would have us. We must remember that God’s plan is good and that He knows what is best for us. Corrie ten Boom, who survived a Nazi concentration camp explains what helped her through her struggles: “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest!”

Maturing spiritually also involves growing through temptations. Every temptation is an opportunity to grow spiritually. Temptation can be a stumbling block or a stepping stone to spiritual maturity. While temptation the Devil’s primary weapon to destroy you, God uses it to develop you. Every time you choose not to give in to temptation, you grow in the character of Christ; you develop the fruit of the Spirit.

Just as fruit takes time to develop and ripen, spiritual growth only happens slowly over time. God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re tempted to express the exact opposite quality! Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity.

For instance, God teaches us to love by putting some unlovely people around us. It takes no character to love people who are lovely and loving to you. Likewise, God teaches us real joy in the midst of sorrow. Happiness depends on external circumstances, but joy is based on your relationship to God. God develops real peace within us, not by making things go the way we planned, but by allowing times of chaos and confusion. Anyone can be peaceful when things are under control and running smoothly. But we learn real peace by choosing to trust God in circumstances when we are tempted to worry or be afraid. God uses the opposite situation of each spiritual fruit to allow us a choice. Every time you overcome a temptation you become more like Jesus!

Spiritual growth takes time. It takes time for us to develop a character that reflects the character of God. It happens when you expose yourself to the truth of God’s word; when you read it and meditate on it. It happens when you allow the Holy Spirit to transform your life through repentance and conforming your mind to that of Christ’s. Spiritual growth happens as you struggle with temptations and difficulties which God uses to develop your character.

The good news about spiritual growth is that God is the one who gives you the motivation and the power to grow. God has poured out His Spirit on all of you and all you need to do is to allow Him to do His work in your life. Who better to direct your life than your Creator who made you and loves you, your Redeemer who gave His life for you, and the Spirit who gives you the joy and peace that surpass all understanding? May God then bless you on your journey towards Christ-like maturity. Amen.

Freedom in Christ: Session 9 Forgiving from the heart

Introduction

On July 7th 2005, Jenny Nicholson, got on the tube at Paddington Station, to travel to the publishing company where she worked. It was a journey she had taken many times, but it was to be her last. She was one of fifty two people killed that day, as terrorists attacked the transport network in London, Jenny Nicholson was only 24 years old.

Just over three weeks later, on the 30th July 2005, Anthony Walker, a young 18 year with a very promising future ahead of him, was brutally murdered by a gang of racist thugs in Merseyside.

The one thing linking these two stories, is that both Jenny Nicholson and Anthony Walker came from Christian families. But the families have responded to their deaths, has been quite different.

The mother of Jenny Nicholson, the Revd Julie Nicholson, found it impossible to forgive her daughter’s attackers, and resigned from her role as Parish Priest. In contrast however, the mother of Anthony Walker, Mrs Gee Walker, publicly forgive her sons killers. She went on to say that she felt no hate for her son’s killers, only sadness, she said, “Jesus commanded, ‘Take up your cross and follow me.’ So I try to stay focused and my message is peace, love and forgiveness.”
Both stories, illustrate the challenge of forgiveness. As Christians we are called to be prepared to forgive, yet as we see from these two stories, forgiveness can be costly, and difficult
What do we learn about forgiveness?

So why is forgiving people so important?

1 Forgiveness reaches out to the undeserving.

When Jesus was being nailed to the cry, he cried out Father forgive them. The people who had beat Jesus, mocked Him, and nailed Him to the cross did not deserve forgiveness. But Jesus offered it to them, and this shows how forgiveness reaches out to the undeserving.

We are the undeserving. Jesus’ words on the cross, reminds us that God’s forgiveness also extends out to each one of us, and that none of us are beyond the reach of God’s love or forgiveness, now matter what it is we have done. There is nothing that God cannot forgive.

2 We are to follow Jesus’ example

As Christians we are to follow the example of Jesus, we are to be people who are willing to forgive others, to extend the hand of forgiveness to the undeserving, just as we have been forgiven ourselves. But the reality is that, many people find this extremely difficult, like the mother of Jenny Nicholson. To forgive someone who has wronged you is not easy.

You yourself may have been hurt in the past, and you may feel that the person who wronged you doesn’t deserve to be forgiven, but then again did the people who put Jesus to death deserve to be forgiven? No. Do we deserve to be forgiven by God when we sin against him? No. But yet God still forgives us. And we too are called to forgive because God has forgiven us. Paul in Ephesians 4:31-32 writes, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

1. Forgiving is linked to being forgiven ourselves:

We are called to forgive other people, because being prepared to forgive other people is linked to being forgiven ourselves.

In the Lord’s prayer, there is only one petition that has any condition attached to it: it is the petition of forgiveness. Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us”, and said “For if you do not forgive others from the heart, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your sins.”

Notice first of all, that Jesus assumed we would forgive others. Forgive us, AS WE forgive others… To forgive as Christians is not an optional extra, it is something we are meant to do. Notice also that our forgiveness in effect depends on our own willingness to forgive others. If we refuse to forgive those who have hurt us, it will have an impact upon our relationship with God. Jesus said, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

2 Because it is part of our spiritual growth

Another reason why we are to be prepared to forgive others, is that the more we learn and practice forgiveness, the more we become like God, who himself is merciful and forgiving. As Christians what enables us to forgive is the knowledge that we ourselves have been forgiven by God. God has forgiven us, not because we deserve it, but because he is full of grace and mercy. Those

3 Because it is in our own interest

An unwillingness to forgive people can have a detrimental effect upon us. If we hold on to resentment, anger or hatred, it can damage us, far more than the person we are unwilling to forgive. For example, I am sure we can all think of people, whose lives have been corrupted by the strong sense of bitterness and anger that they have felt towards a person or a situation. To refuse to forgive someone is a bit like walking past a fisherman and getting snagged by a fish hook in your cheek. How do get rid of the pain? By leaving the hook in place? No, by taking it out!

If we do not forgive, we shall not enter into the all the joy and freedom God wants for us. Unwillingness to forgive ties us to the past, so that we cannot move forward.

Reluctance to forgive

Sometimes we may be reluctant to forgive. It may be that we are afraid that if we do forgive, we will in effect by saying:
• That the offence didn’t really hurt me
• That I and my feelings don’t matter much
• That we believe the offender had a valid excuse to hurt us
• That the offender need not face any consequences for their actions
• That it is okay to hurt me again.

But forgiving someone doesn’t apply any of these things. Just as when Jesus said from the cross, Father forgive them, he wasn’t saying that our sin which took him to the cross wasn’t significant, it was, but he still forgave us.

What forgiving involves

So what does the process of forgiving involve?

Forgiveness doesn’t mean denying our feelings of hurt, anger, outrage, loss, but acknowledging them, and learning to let go of them so we can move forwards in freedom. And it means refusing to seek revenge, if you wrong me, and I forgive you, I shouldn’t then go and look for ways in which I can get my own back on you.

How can you forgive someone when you have been really hurt, especially when we have been hurt or let down by those who are closest to us?
But there are some things we can do which can help us.
• We can talk about it, especially to a wise and trusted friend.
• We can try to understand why the person who has upset us has acted in a certain way. For example, Professor Sheila Hollins, the mother of Abigail Witchalls, the young mother who was left paralysed after been attacked whilst walking with her young son, was able to forgive the attacker, Richard Cazaly, who later committed suicide. Professor Hollins said “His death is the real tragedy in this story because he lost his life and almost certainly this was the consequence of the mind-altering drugs he was using." She was able to forgive this man, in part because she understood the effect these drugs had upon him.
• We can pray:
1 Pray for ourselves, by sharing our feelings with God, and asking for his help and grace to lead us to a point where we feel we can forgive.
2 Pray for the person who has hurt us that God will bless them- this can be difficult but helpful. Jesus said pray for those who persecute you.
3 And we can pray that God will somehow use what has happened
for our good.

Forgiveness is not just a one off event, it is an ongoing thing. In Matthew 18:21 Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" To which Jesus replies, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. In other words, it is an ongoing thing, and for some people, the process of forgiveness may take many years.

Corrie Ten Boom

There may be some people here today, thinking I know I should forgive, but I don’t think I can. I want to finish by telling the story of Corrie Ten Boom, and how she had to face the challenge of forgiving someone who had hurt her. Corrie was sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp along with 9 members of her family, for sheltering Jews feeling from Nazi persecution in Holland. Although Corrie survived the camp, many of her family didn’t. In 1947 she came face to face with one of her former guards, and this is what she wrote about that encounter.

“Memories of the concentration camp came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment of skin.

Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: "A fine message, fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!" It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.

"You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he was saying. "I was a guard there. But since that time I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein--" again the hand came out--"will you forgive me?"

And I stood there--and could not. My sister Betsie had died in that place--could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. For I had to do it--I knew that.

Still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling." And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. "I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!"

For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then.
Conclusion

Forgiveness is to set a captive free and then to realise that you were the captive. God commands us to forgive because he loves us. He knows how refusal to forgive leads to the corrosive and destructive influence of bitterness, and causes us to miss out on the abundant life that Jesus came to give us.

The greatest symbol we have for forgiveness is the cross of Jesus. The cross also reveals to us just how costly forgiveness can be, but also how necessary it is. Mother Teresa said, If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive. In Christ’s suffering on the cross that not only do we see true love revealed, but also the power of forgiveness to bring healing & wholeness. This is what Corrie ten Boom discovered when she met her former capture, and this is what we too can discover if we are people who are prepared to forgive.