Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Forgiveness lies at the heart of the good news of Jesus Christ. It’s what our Christian faith is all about. And yet only some of us really desire to be forgiven because only some of us are humble.
Our reading from Joshua indicates that the people had been shamed and disgraced. They needed a new start. The Promised Land was not theirs until they were all in covenant relationship with the Lord, and for that they needed to submit to the knife of circumcision. It takes humility to submit. Mostly we would prefer to exempt ourselves from acknowledging who we really are. But as Psalm 32 tells us: once we have humbled ourselves and confessed our need, then we are truly happy and our strength that has been expended in denial is renewed.
Forgiveness is a profound experience. It alters our entire perspective on life. We view people differently; we view ourselves differently; we view Christ differently. Everything is now understood through the lens of reconciliation, and as we see the father in Luke 15 running to greet the son who had been lost, and as we listen in to him begging the stay-at-home son to join in with the festivities we start to realise that life will never be the same again.
Forgiven, we arrive home. Forgiven, we are free to forgive. And forgiven, we are enabled to do justice in a world that desperately needs it.
Rev Helen Martin
Forgiveness lies at the heart of the good news of Jesus Christ. It’s what our Christian faith is all about. And yet only some of us really desire to be forgiven because only some of us are humble.
Our reading from Joshua indicates that the people had been shamed and disgraced. They needed a new start. The Promised Land was not theirs until they were all in covenant relationship with the Lord, and for that they needed to submit to the knife of circumcision. It takes humility to submit. Mostly we would prefer to exempt ourselves from acknowledging who we really are. But as Psalm 32 tells us: once we have humbled ourselves and confessed our need, then we are truly happy and our strength that has been expended in denial is renewed.
Forgiveness is a profound experience. It alters our entire perspective on life. We view people differently; we view ourselves differently; we view Christ differently. Everything is now understood through the lens of reconciliation, and as we see the father in Luke 15 running to greet the son who had been lost, and as we listen in to him begging the stay-at-home son to join in with the festivities we start to realise that life will never be the same again.
Forgiven, we arrive home. Forgiven, we are free to forgive. And forgiven, we are enabled to do justice in a world that desperately needs it.
Rev Helen Martin
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