Text: Luke 23:34 Title: Let it Go

Transcription

1 Text: Luke 23:34 Title: Let it Go UPGRADE VIDEO BUMPER Our mission as a church and as individual believers is to know, follow and share Jesus Christ. To know Christ means we know Him in salvation, but it also means that we know Him in an intimate relationship that we experience through prayer. Let s open our Bibles to Luke 23. We ve been tracing the prayer life of Jesus through the Gospel of Luke. We want to know when, where, how and what Jesus prayed. Time after time through Jesus earthly ministry we ve seen Him praying. And now in the last hours of His life we re not surprised to hear Jesus express His deep intimacy and complete dependence upon His heavenly Father. Now here in Luke 23 we are standing on holy ground. Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the Garden where last week we saw Jesus praying. Jesus was tried by the Jewish leaders who then handed Him over to the Roman authorities. He was tried by King Herod and Governor Pilate who condemned Jesus to be crucified. Then Jesus was forced to carry His cross through the streets of Jerusalem to a place called Calvary where He was crucified between two criminals. Crucifixion was an excruciating and humiliating way to suffer and die. But Jesus had accepted this as the Father s will for His life. He is drinking this cup for you and for me. Jesus died there on the cross for my sins and your sins. This is the most important work Jesus came to do. He cannot falter in this moment, so He prays. The Gospels actually record seven statements Jesus spoke from the cross and three of them are prayers. And Luke records the first words of Jesus as He is hanging on the cross as the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Luke 23:34 - Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. As Jesus endured the very worst that people could do to Him, He prayed. But He doesn t pray just for Himself; He prays for those who have hurt Him all of them. Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, the soldiers who beat Him and drove the nails into His hands and feet, the people who cursed at Him and insulted Him for everyone who put Him on the Cross. And that includes us. Our sins put Him there. And Jesus prays to His Father to forgive them to forgive us for what we have done.

2 The word forgive means to cast away let it go. Don t worry, we re not going to break out in song, Let it go, let it go! But that s what it means to forgive someone. It s what God does for us when He forgives us. He lets our sin go. And it s what Jesus teaches us to do for those who have hurt and offended us. Let it go. The first truth I want you to see today is that Jesus death on the Cross 1. MAKES FORGIVENESS POSSIBLE All through Jesus ministry He offered forgiveness to people over and over again. And that forgiveness is ultimately made possible through the offering of His body on that cross. You and I can be forgiven today because of the death of Christ, no matter how dark and ugly our sins may be. 1 John 2:2 - He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. God doesn t just wink at our sin and say, No big deal. I ll let it go this time. No. He is a holy God and He must punish sin, but he loves us so much that He allowed His sinless Son to become sin for us. So when Jesus died He became the atoning sacrifice for our sins. So what are we to do? Acts 3:19 - Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, The only thing that can keep God from forgiving your sin is for you to not turn to Christ, repent and trust in Him. And when you do that the Bible says that God will forgive your sins and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. ILLUSTRATION The image of the cross is one of the most powerful images in the world. It s the symbol of Christ and of the Gospel. There s a vertical part of the cross and a horizontal part of the cross. The cross deals with our vertical relationship with God. Through the forgiveness of our sins it is possible for us to be reconciled to God through Christ. But the cross also deals with our horizontal relationships with one another. The cross makes it possible for a holy God to forgive us, but it also 2. MAKES FORGIVENESS PRACTICAL

3 You see, when we experience forgiveness we can then extend forgiveness to others when they sin against us. Jesus sets the example for us in Luke 23:34 as He prays from the cross, Father, forgive them. Forgiving others is not an option for us as believers. I hear people make excuses all the time and what they re really saying is, I don t care what Jesus said, I will not forgive them. It s not optional for followers of Jesus. But neither is it easy. In fact, the wording in v.34 indicates that Jesus prayed this prayer repeatedly over and over again. With every insult, Father, forgive them. With every blow of the hammer on the spikes driven into His hands, Father, forgive them. With every lie told about Him, Father, forgive them. In the Model Prayer (Lord s Prayer) Jesus teaches us to pray Matthew 6:12 - Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. You see, sin puts us in debt to God. The debt of our sin far outweighs the assets of our righteousness. So we owe God more than we can pay. But when we put our trust in what Christ did when He died on the Cross, God put our sin debt on Christ s tab, on His card, on His account. And He credited Christ s righteousness to our account. That s the only way a righteous and holy God can justify letting our sin go. It s paid for. Then the basis and motivation of our forgiving our debtors (those who have sinned against us) is the forgiveness we receive through Christ. So we can let it go. ILLUSTRATION The longer you live the more scars you collect on your body. You bump into stuff, cut your finger, get some stitches. And there s a story that goes with every scar. Well that s true in life. People hurt us and we have scars from it. And there s a story that goes with every scar. We just can t get over it. Well, the cross of Christ makes it possible for a holy God to forgive us and it also makes it possible for us to forgive others who have sinned against us. So the Bible commands us Colossians 3:13 - Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

4 We let it go. Forgiveness means that we release the anger or bitterness we have toward someone. It means that we let go of our right to get even or to hold a grudge. And there s a connection between forgiveness and our praying. If you want to be right and intimate with your heavenly Father you better make sure you have forgiven people that have hurt you. Mark 11:25 - And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. Someone has said that, No prayers can be heard which do not come from a forgiving heart. This may be hard for us to reconcile. Isn t God s forgiveness of us unconditional? Yes, as believers, all of our sins are forgiven in Christ. Our sins will never be legally held against us again. There is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So what does it mean that if we don t forgive others their sins our Father won t forgive our sins? Theologians sometimes make the distinction between judicial forgiveness and relational forgiveness. Judicial forgiveness means the debt has been paid and forgiven. Relational forgiveness has to do with just that our relationship with God. An unforgiving spirit is totally inconsistent with one who has received forgiveness from God. And we cannot enjoy intimacy with God if we are holding on to sins others have committed against us. Now, people ask, How do I know I have truly forgiven someone who has hurt me? I don t want to communicate that forgiveness is easy or doesn t sometimes take time. But there s a point where you know you ve let it go. Let me give you five ways you can know that you have truly forgiven someone who has hurt you. First, you know you have forgiven when YOU CAN THINK ABOUT THE PERSON WITHOUT REKINDLING THE BITTERNESS. When you see them across the room, or see their post on Twitter, or someone mentions their name, you don t go to that dark room of reliving the hurt they inflicted on you. You ve let it go.

5 Now forgiveness and forgetting are two different things. We may never forget what was done, but we can refuse to let that memory become a poison in our souls. ILLUSTRATION Someone has said that unforgiveness is like eating rat poison. You re not killing the rat who hurt you; you re really just killing yourself. Whenever we remember the incident we have to keep on releasing the bitterness. It s a choice we have to make. Next, you know you ve forgiven when IF THE PERSON IS IN TROUBLE YOU WOULD TRY TO HELP THEM. Now obviously this doesn t mean that we release them from the responsibility for their actions or that we don t have healthy boundaries. And that doesn t necessarily mean we automatically trust them again. You can forgive someone immediately, but trust has to be rebuilt before you will allow them access to your heart. It just means that we ve let go of the right to get even and we can actually love them and serve them. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said Matthew 5:44 - Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, That s what Jesus was doing on the cross loving His enemies, sacrificing to help them and praying for them. Next, you know you ve forgive when YOU CAN SEE PAST THE HURT TO THEIR GOD-GIVEN WORTH. You can actually see the good in that person. You can see the value that God places upon that person. You believe that God loves the one who hurt you just as much as God loves you. After all, that s what God does for us. God sees past our sin to the worth of our soul and sacrificed His Son to save us. Next, you know you ve forgiven when YOU NO LONGER THINK ABOUT GETTING EVEN. Sometimes we hang on to memories of past hurts so we can use them as weapons when we feel we under attack. ILLUSTRATION Sometimes husbands and wives get into an argument over something one of them did to hurt the other. And when the offending partner is

6 confronted they reach into the bag and grab what I call a grudge grenade of something the other one did to them years ago. Well remember when you did this? And the other says, Well what about and they grab a grudge grenade out of their bag and lob it into the conversation. You haven t truly forgiven someone so long as you hang on to the offense as a weapon. 1 Corinthians 13:5 (Love) is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Are you keeping a rap sheet on someone just looking to add one more offense to the list that would justify you not forgiving them? You have to let it go. Remember, forgiveness means that we release the anger or bitterness. We let go of the right to get even or to hold a grudge. Also, you know you ve forgiven when YOU NO LONGER WANT THEM TO FAIL. When we haven t forgiven someone we secretly hope they ll fail and get what s coming to them. But the Bible says Romans 12:14 - Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. When we forgive we can leave it all in God s hands. He alone is the righteous Judge. We can truthfully bless them and wish for them God s best. You see, an unforgiving, bitter spirit is a spiritual infection; you ll never be spiritually healthy or strong until you let it go. But we cannot do it in our own strength. It s the cross of Jesus that makes it possible for a holy God to forgive our sin and it makes it possible for us to forgive those who have sinned against us. We can forgive through the cleansing power of the love of Jesus when we come to Him. What do you need God to forgive in your life today? Who does God want you to forgive?