Anne DeArmond - March 14

Week 4 - Luke 23:32-43
Saturday, March 14, 2015
A Reflection on Forgiveness from Anne DeArmond

This passage describes Jesus as he and two men are crucified and the words spoken to them and between them.  While these men committed deeds warranting their deaths, Jesus did not.  However, Jesus was not afraid and told the remorseful man that he would be with him in paradise.  Jesus spoke with God and was prepared to die; he accepted God’s will.

I believe when an individual is in a position of great peril that goodness can prevail. 

On a drive back to Wisconsin from Christmas break with my family, I was hit on the freeway by a drunk driver.  My car crossed the median and was on cruise control headed the wrong way on the freeway.  I imagine by divine intervention, God protected me.   I remember seeing headlights coming at me and suddenly my car was on the other side scaling a guard rail.  Facing death, I knew God’s mercy and love. 

I spent the year following my mother's passing in processing my feelings and lamenting my loss.  I missed my mom deeply, and I missed the letters that she wrote me.  I expressed my loss to several friends, knowing in my sorrow that this correspondence was one more thing I couldn’t have.  Then, one day I went to get the mail, and there it was, a letter from my mom in her handwriting.  It was her reminder to have a health screening.  I called the medical office, and they apologized to me, saying that they always pull deceased patient's envelopes.  I told them I couldn't have been happier to receive just one more letter from my mom.  In my despair I saw again the mercy of God.

Forgive, O Lord, for Thy dear Son-

Forgive, O Lord, for Thy dear Son

The ill that I this day have done.

That with the world, myself and Thee,

I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

Amen.

Cheryl Juech - Friday, March 13

Week 4 - Luke 23:32-43
Friday, March 13, 2015
A Reflection on Forgiveness from Cheryl Juech

All of us struggle to give and receive forgiveness. I continue to learn that forgiveness is not an event; it is a life-long and daily process infused with mystery, intention and grace.

Today is a pivotal word is this passage. 
It touches on the curious promise of limited time that we live with every day.

We may resist. We may flounder. We may negotiate. We may mock. We may blame. Or, we may learn and re-learn that today is the day to seek and offer forgiveness, and to accept the forgiveness that is offered to us . . . today . . . as promised and revealed in this passage.

Our own hearts and souls depend on forgiveness to breathe and to grow and to remain faithful to the end. Others are depending on our forgiveness as well. We are all worthy and waiting and today is the day. Today is a gift, wondrous and valuable and honorable.

There is an old story of an elderly father in Spain who was suffering over his estrangement from his son Paco. This father decided that today is the day, and he placed an ad in the newspaper which read:

Dear Paco, Meet me in the square at noon. All is forgiven.
~ your father.
When he arrived in the square at noon, there were hundreds of sons named Paco.

Far too often, despair and hope compete for our attention.
Every day there is breaking news. And, the real breaking news is that 
people enter and leave the world every day. Echoing the words of poet Mary Oliver: “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” What will you do today?

Much is beyond our control. Choosing hope over despair is within our control. Despair can be noisier, more frantic and compelling. Today, we can choose to crowd out despair with hope and faith and forgiveness.

Let us pray: 
Today is the day the Lord has made. May we rejoice and be glad in it, attentive to the light that dawns within us when we join our hearts with those who forgive us our debts as we forgive those with debts against us. May we know God’s good grace and mercy and hope on this wondrous day. Amen

Mark Bjorgo - Thursday, March 12

Week 4 - Luke 23:32-43

Thursday, March 12, 2015
A Reflection on Forgiveness from Mark Bjorgo

Every week we ask for and receive forgiveness for our sins in worship, but how many other times during the week do we experience forgiveness?

I’m sure we all can cite examples from our daily lives of how we forgave a family member, co-worker or neighbor for a small infraction. How many times do we ask others for forgiveness? How many times do we ask God to help us forgive others?

This scripture recounts the ultimate example of forgiveness. During His crucifixion, Jesus asks God to forgive those responsible for His earthly death. And as the one thief rebukes the insults of the other, Christ again demonstrates the power of forgiveness by His promise that because of his faith he would be with Him in paradise that day.

Like many Americans, I went to see the movie Unbroken after Christmas. It was the magnificent story of World War II POW Louis Zamperini. I had read the book prior to seeing the movie and was surprised that much of his story after the war was not included. After surviving the torture he endured in a Japanese POW camp, Louie returned home and was seen as a hero and celebrity. But that was not how he felt. He was haunted by the pain and suffering he endured and had dreams and thoughts of retaliation upon his captors. That was, until he attended a Billy Graham crusade in 1949 and turned his life over to the Lord. It was then that he was able to forgive his captors. And it was then that he was free of his pain and suffering. In Louie’s words, “True forgiveness is total and complete.”

For me the power and comfort of forgiveness is the feeling of freedom: freedom from the worry, anxiety, stress or depression of the sins we commit or that are committed against us. This is the power of forgiveness.

Lord help me realize the power and freedom of forgiveness that your unselfish act on the cross provides me today and always. Amen

Deb Endean - Wednesday, March 11

Week 4 - Luke 23:32-43

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

A Reflection on Forgiveness from Deb Endean

I find this to be one of the most painful, shameful passages of scripture.  Jesus’ suffering and the injustice of his execution. The mockery, the taunts to prove who he was by saving himself, when the proof was manifest in his choice to die. It’s too much to bear.  My outrage quickly turns to shame and sadness, however, because I know I am no better than his persecutors, and no matter how hard I try, nothing I do can change that.

But then Christ’s words from the cross remind me that He did something to change that, forever:  “Father, forgive them . . . .”  Forgiveness, releasing us from the punishment we justly deserve.  Forgiveness, won for us forever by Jesus’ sacrifice, in his death and resurrection.

But why?  Why was our redemption so important to God that he gave his only Son? Why was Jesus willing to take on our sins to earn for us the freedom of forgiveness?  Perhaps forgiveness is not an end unto itself.  Perhaps we are forgiven so that we can reclaim the relationship God intends for us to have with Him.

The first thief just wanted to be let off the hook.  The forgiveness Jesus offers is not a “get out of jail free” card that wipes the slate clean so that we can resume our lives unchanged.   The second thief acknowledges that his punishment is just.  In repenting, he accepts the forgiveness Jesus offered.  He asks only that Jesus remember him, a request for reconciliation.  Jesus’ reply, “Today you will be with me in paradise,” affirms that His forgiveness clears the way for us to be restored to our Father.

Forgiveness is Jesus’ hand stretched out to us, breaking through the separation created by our sin. Like the two thieves, it’s up to us to decide. Will you grasp that out-stretched hand, and accept Jesus’ invitation to “be with me,” entering into a new and life-giving relationship with God?

Loving Jesus, thank you.  Let me take your hand and accept the redeeming gift of forgiveness, so that I too might be with you, forever.  Amen.