At the beginning of movies shown on TV, one of two notifications often appears: “Revised for length” OR “Revised for Content.” Either the movie is too long to fit in the allotted time slot for television, or the content does not meet the standards to send over public airwaves, and so the original movie is clipped appropriately.
The same thing happens to sermons. At times, there is too much content to fit into the allotted time.1 There are other times, the content is not suitable for the occasion. Yesterday, both were true. I was already over time, and when I came to the end of my sermon, I knew I was going to struggle emotionally (I know, shocker!). So, I chose to shorten my conclusion.
However, I want to share with you how God has worked powerfully in my life in the area of forgiveness. The story that follows in from the cutting room floor:
“For most of my adult life, my relationship with my dad was strained. Even in the best of times it was distant. We went years without any regular communication, and when we did speak, the words between us were unkind, angry, manipulative, and full of hurt and bitterness.
After years of those kinds of interactions, I knew something had to give. During the same time, I found myself regularly contemplating my salvation. While I was an enemy of God, running hard after my own pursuits and seeking my own acclaim, He forgave me! God graciously drew me to Himself, gave me new life, helped me see Jesus’ death and resurrection with spiritual eyes, and filled me with the presence of His Holy Spirit.
It was only when I understood the significance of His forgiveness in my own life that I was able to move beyond the state of constant conflict with my dad. I confessed my own shortcomings and made the decision to forgive him regardless of what had transpired between us.2
I wish I had a happy ending to share with you. I wish that our relationship was restored, but that is not what happened. In 2020, my dad died. At the time of his death, our relationship—though it was better—was still strained. In the moment I heard of his passing, though, I came to a surprising realization. Even though I was never able to fully reconcile with him and experience a ‘happy ending,’ forgiveness had allowed me to experience freedom from the anger and bitterness of our conflict.”
After the Sermon
After the sermon, Terry Ricketts reminded me of a story of forgiveness from Dallas several years ago (seen in the YouTube clip below).
Terry said (and I concur), “It is the most graphic example of forgiveness I have ever witnessed. Especially considering that he is a black man forgiving a white police woman who shot and killed his brother in a racially charged community. Many black citizens were protesting that she was given a shorter sentence than they wanted. Any Christian who cannot forgive someone for something wrong done to them should see this video.”
- In the past, I have shared about preaching complete units of thought. That means you will not see many part 1, part 2, part 3 sermons. I would rather us hear the author’s completed thought than squeeze every detail out of every word in a passage. ↩︎
- For those who are wondering, no…that was not a one-and-done event. I had to keep making that decision to forgive. ↩︎