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Newington Three Angels Church

Eric Walsh

Forgiveness: The Power of Letting Go

Here again to present another message This 1 during this holiday season and As we were talking about things to present towards the end of the year.

We thought about a message I've done before But probably has new relevance in the era of the pandemic the separation of families What I found is that there is some even some families are having some family hostilities In this 2020 year dealing with this pandemic interacting only through zoom and Facebook and so forth So I spoke to 1 gentleman who hasn't spoken to his sibling for about 6 7 years And he told me that they fell out even further when something this year was posted on Facebook that he had no idea that a baby was born.

And he made a comment and they kind of fell out all over again.

And even now we are preparing for vaccination.

We now have more information about the virus that in fact, if someone has had coronavirus, there probably is some natural immunity that comes with it.

A Great article came out that talked about the power of the phytochemicals flavonoids in in plant foods and their ability to actually work as good as Many of the medications That have either been purported or used for the treatment of kovat that simple whole food plants are Powerful in fighting coronaviruses we've talked about many times So as this year comes to a close there's something healing that has to happen a lot of economic loss a lot of loss of of life a lot of loss of Of of trust in systems And so the message tonight is to is to really deal with that Our scripture reading is taken from Luke chapter twenty-three starting at verse thirty-four.

It says then said Jesus father forgive them for they know not what they do and they parted his raiment and cast lots a message tonight.

The power of letting go 2020 version forgiveness as an agent for healing forgiveness as an agent for healing.

We go to Genesis chapter 50, but let's pray first.

Father God, we thank you for this opportunity to study your word.

Lord, I ask once again, you make me just a nail upon the wall, a rusty, sorry nail, Lord.

Lord, don't let the world see the nail that is Eric Walsh.

Hang the portrait of Jesus Christ upon that nail So that only Christ is seen tonight his precepts and his ways This is our prayer for this message in Jesus's name.

Amen So in Genesis chapter 50, there is a great loss Just like I said many have been lost.

I found out 1 of my good friends mother Pastor that I worked under in California So this is a year of a lot of loss.

And in Genesis chapter 50 and verse 15, it says, and when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us and will certainly requit us all the evil which we did unto him.

They sent a messenger unto Joseph saying, thy father did command before he died, saying, so shall ye say unto Joseph, forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren and their sin, for they did unto thee evil.

And now we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father.

And Joseph wept when they speak unto him.

In a year of loss, 1 of the things that happens is that those who remain after the loss have to make sense of what is happening.

Families are being strained this year because 1, there has been a lot of loss of life.

I lost, as I mentioned in previous sermons, my aunt, my mother's sister, who I loved dearly and was like another mother to me very difficult I've been others this year that we've lost as we've gone through a year of of coronavirus not everyone to coronavirus.

There are those who lost a good friend of mine in california who worked with me a nurse while I was there Committed suicide that was very painful Another good friend of mine this year, her son was murdered in California.

As if a dark cloud sat over 2020 in many ways.

When all of that loss happens, somebody's gotta stay behind to try and put together the pieces.

And sometimes the person that we're most angry at is God himself.

And so it's difficult, and families will often begin to infight and bicker as they try to put the pieces back together, and it can be incredibly stressful.

The Bible says that when Joseph's brothers came to him after their father died, that they begged him to remember what their father had said.

Their father had said, listen, forgive them, Joseph, for all that they did.

And Joseph had clearly already forgiven his brothers.

He told them already what you meant for evil, God meant for good.

And the Bible tells us in Genesis 50 and verse 17, that when Joseph realizes that his brothers are still thinking, that he remembers and holds against them what they did, Joseph begins to weep.

Because Joseph only ever from when he was a child wanted to be accepted by his brothers.

Verse 18, and his brethren also went and fell down before his face.

And they said, behold, we be thy servants.

Joseph said unto them, fear not, for am I in the place of God.

He says this because the Bible teaches that vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I shall repay.

Joseph understands that Revenge is not served By the people of God they allow God to do it Just recently we had an Adventist who was The youngest I think 1 of the youngest people ever put to death in a federal criminal justice system after a crime he committed when he was 18 and I think he was only like 40 years old, Kim Kardashian tried to come to his rescue.

And I don't often quote or refer to anything Kim Kardashian said, but I think she said it very well when she said, putting this person to death could never bring back the people who died then.

And I'm not saying, I'm not for or against what happened in terms of a legal standpoint, but I will say that in your own heart, if you hold that the other person, Someone must be destroyed for all things to be made even.

Sometimes what happens is there's a hollowness that happens when you try to take the place of God.

And Joseph was wise enough not to want to take the place of God.

He says, listen, am I in the place of God?

Genesis 50 and verse 20 says, but as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people.

Verse 21, Now therefore fear ye not, I will nourish you and your little ones.

And he comforted them and spake kindly unto them.

Joseph says, No, in fact, I don't want revenge.

What I want to do is take better care of you.

Joseph says, I'm not gonna do harm to you because of what you did to me.

Joseph says, instead, I'm gonna make sure your children are taken care of.

Joseph was able to live a life free from the weight of all the trauma he experienced because Joseph let go.

He understood the power of letting go of forgiving his brothers and accepting what God did because of all of the harm God used Joseph and he wouldn't Joseph would not have been who he was as a man if he had not gone through those difficult times.

1 of the people who taught a lot about forgiveness is Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr., who said, we must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive.

He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.

There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.

When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

And this was the mantra, the philosophy even, of the civil rights movement that Dr.

Not like much of what goes on today between the different groups and sides and all of the political wranglings in the world today, Not many are looking for a way to love and even bless those who might be considered their enemies.

So the first lesson around forgiveness comes from Mahatma Gandhi.

Remember, this is a man who brought the British to their knees nonviolently.

Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

You have to be able to forgive your enemies if you're going to ever be successful in moving the world forward or making things better.

The Sabbath School lesson from the last quarter of 2018, the teacher's comment says this, forgiveness involves a conscious choice to give up feelings of resentment toward another person and consequently, it also removes any right to seek revenge for what he or she has done.

Forgiveness does not require you to be the guilty party or imply that the other person deserves forgiveness.

Rather, forgiveness roots out anger and bitterness from our own lives, helps heal wounds, and builds a basis for restoring relationships.

Forgiveness does not mean excusing wrong behavior or removing any consequences that might result from the behavior.

True forgiveness recognizes the seriousness of the offense but chooses a path of healing.

God forgave humans, even though we were undeserving of his forgiveness, but divine forgiveness did not undermine the seriousness of sin or remove all the consequences of sin.

Indeed, Jesus took the ultimate consequence of sin, suffering death on our behalf.

Forgiveness says that I'm going to allow God to deal with it.

Forgiveness says, I recognize how serious the offense is, but forgiveness says I'm not gonna allow what was done to me to make me a slave to someone else.

And the wife says like this in the testimony, she says, the real greatness and nobility of the man is measured by the power of the feelings that he subdues, not by the power of the feelings that subdue him.

The strongest man is he who while sensitive to abuse, will yet restrain passion and forgive his enemies.

In Matthew 18 and verse 21, then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?

Till 7 times, Verse 22, Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee until 7 times, but until 70 times 7.

To truly forgive, as we're going to talk about, is a consistent thing.

It doesn't mean that you allow people to keep walking all over you, but it means that even with repetitive injury, you'd refuse to hold on to anger and malice and the desire for revenge.

Well, 1 of the reasons is our second point.

You know, the studies show it creates better relationships.

In fact, the reason many relationships don't work, I mean romantic relationships, is because people come into the new romantic relationship still mad at the person from the old 1.

And they treat the person in the new relationship as if they wronged them, because that's the person standing in front of them.

But you won't have good relationships if you can't forgive.

It decreases anxiety, stress, and hostility, lowers blood pressure, as we'll see in a second, gives you less depression symptoms, builds and boosts the immune system.

To be forgiving helps your immune system.

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Forgiveness: The Power of Letting Go

Transcript

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