May I confess here? Is that okay? Will you listen and show me mercy? I mean, listening. Really listening. It can be such a gift. Such a simple holy moment to give to someone to genuinely listen. But anyway, I'm not a good forgiver. There's something in me that likes to cling to old wounds and injuries. There's part of me that just has a hard time letting go. I wrote that book, everybody needs to forgive somebody and a new one, the 12 ways that forgiveness changes everything. For one reason only, selfishly, because I'm not a good forgiver and I really, really, really want to become one. And frankly, I've discovered it for most of us, it's pretty hard to do. I say all that because this gospel reading is tough, and we avoid it, and I can understand why. I mean, look at a few challenging things here. Number one, the responsibilities on you with your fellow believer if he sins against you for you to go to him. Somebody spreads gossip about you and takes your reputation. You go to him. Somebody cheats you on a business deal and takes your money. You go to her. I mean, have you ever tried that? I have. And it's the hardest thing I've ever done. Sometimes it becomes a holy moment. And sometimes it's anything but. Second thing to notice here, take leaders with you so that you have witnesses. And third, if then still doesn't work, tell it to the whole church. You want to make this thing right, if at all possible. And then finally, if it's still not resolved, let the person who has harmed you be like a tax collector of gentile. In other words, shun them. This is the passage where the Amish community gets the idea of the shunt. The shunt is not some mean-spirited punishment, it's a hopeful discipline. We're taking this step in the hopes that you will miss being a part of the community so much that you will repent. That you will return, apologize, make amends and restore yourself with the community. We want you here. Not out there. We want this correction to actually be a holy moment.
Because as Christians, we're more about restoring than we are about punishing. We're more about healing than we are about revenging. We're more about loving than we are about hanging on to grudges and nursing old wounds. I mean, Jesus means business when it comes to this forgiveness stuff, think about it. When he teaches us to pray, what does he say? It's right there in the our father. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Help me be right with you, oh Lord. And with the people around me, it's important because if I can't love other people, how can I possibly love you, Lord? Or Jesus teaches them to forgive 70 times 7, 490 times, hoping to restore to heal to reconcile. In other words, love knows no limits. I don't know how else to say it. And it's a dangerous word to say out loud, especially on video, but just between you and me, Jesus was an extremist. He was a radical. I think you probably remember the story. A man, let's call him George, he went to work. It was a regular day, but it turned out to be anything but regular. He couldn't contain the joy that day. He earned a new coat. On his way home from work, he had to stop by the pub and show it to his buddies. Check out this new coat I got today. Can you believe it? Feel the hand of the fabric. Check this thing out. This is some coat. He went by the office. Hey, coworkers, check it out. I'm styling today. Get a load of this coat. No doubt about it. He had had a good day. He had a new coat. He walked into his home and his wife wasn't going to believe this. A new coat in such a fine one, honey. Check it out. What do you think? Totally seamless. That's a fine coat dear. How'd you get it? Well, honey, it was a regular day at work. Some fellas and I were out on the hill like we always are. We were just minding our own business. I was minding my cross Tony Robb. They were mining in theirs. I had a fellow up on mine who the crowd really hated for some reason. And they yelled at him, and they spat at him, and they cussed, and they mocked and they poked him.
So me and the boys decided to cast lots for his coat. Not a bad code for some Jewish guy up on a cross. We cast lots and I won. Can you believe it? Wow, dear. That's some fine coat. Jesus hung on the cross. He looked down at the crowd. He heard their ridicule. He absorbed their mocking and he saw the soldiers casting lots for his garments. And Jesus, the master, outrageous, radical, extremist, looked up into heaven, into the eyes of the father and said with his last words, "Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Lord Jesus have mercy on me a sinner. Forgiveness is hard. Help me forgive the people who harm me just as I hope to be forgiven by them and by you. Help me truly to be a person of peace. To seek healing. To pursue love, Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner."