Sermon prepared for Messiah Lutheran Church, Auburn WA

for the 8:30 traditional service, 8/20/00

by Gregory S. Kaurin, associate pastor

Texts: Genesis 50:1-5 and James 5:12-18

After our Evangelism Team meeting last Thursday night, I was watching the deconstruction of some of the political speeches and learned how to use a few new words. One of those words was "populism." My spell-checker on the computer accepted it, so it must be okay. A populism (at least the way it was being used) is a popular saying or way of speaking.

One populism is that "Saying doesn’t make it so." Isn’t that true? Just saying something doesn’t make it a fact. Saying a promise isn’t the same as fulfilling a promise. Saying that a bowl of lima beans are marshmallows doesn’t make them taste any better. "Saying doesn’t make it so."

There is an exception or two. Speechwriters and analysts have a name for these exceptions. They are called: "performative utterances." A performative utterance happens when the saying actually makes it so. For instance, by the exchange of promises at a wedding, two people are married. In the eyes of the state, even if they don’t act like a married couple afterwards, it doesn’t change the fact. A minister declared them husband and wife by their own promises in the presence of God, witnesses and a congregation. A performative utterance.

When the guilty verdict is read, in the eyes of the court, the accused moves from presumed innocence to declared guilt. A performative utterance.

You and I have authority and ability to speak or receive a performative utterance so powerful, that God allows it to ring true in heaven and before his throne. When we speak these words they have the power, the effectiveness and the permanence of God’s own Word! With a capital "W!" They are the words of forgiveness.

(But that’s too easy! Saying it can’t just make it so. There has to be follow-through. What if that person does the same awful thing? He may have asked God’s forgiveness, someone else may have forgiven him, but he doesn’t have mine. Forgiveness just can’t be that easy. Can it?)

Well, you’re right. Forgiveness is not easy. This is the double-edged sword you’ve often heard about. As free and powerful as forgiveness might be, it is a most difficult performative utterance for us to speak, and a most difficult promise for us to believe.

In our first lesson, Joseph showed his brothers the strength of forgiveness. They were afraid his forgiveness hung on his love for their father. So they manufacture a dying wish to protect themselves. But Joseph says, "Don’t be afraid. I cannot take back the forgiveness that was given to you by me, and by God through me. I am not in the place of God."

If Joseph were to take back the forgiveness and try to punish them, the guilt would not fall on the brothers, but on Joseph. I think James in our epistle lesson said it well about our word in general. Let your "Yes" be yes and your "No" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. No elaborate conditions, oaths or ceremony. Forgiven today means forgiven tomorrow. If not, then the guilt belongs to the one who tries to revoke it.

But what if I find new information, what if I find the person did worse than I thought? Well, another wrong may need to be exposed, confronted and dealt with, but separately. It cannot be used to revoke Christian forgiveness. More information about the same wrong, is just that. It only shows the power of forgiveness to be all the greater.

Okay, so forgiveness is a powerful thing. What about the consequences? Loss of trust, prison sentences, suspension, capital punishment, getting grounded, paying for the broken window, whatever. Regardless of forgiveness, there are still consequences, aren’t there?

Now this is a tougher question. Sometimes forgiveness and a release from the consequences go hand in hand! Joseph forgave his brothers. No consequences. In fact, he vowed to take the father’s place and care for them and their families! To apply punishment in that situation would have made the forgiveness conditional, false and vengeful. Payback. So, if after the forgiveness, the consequences of the wrong are for the sake of revenge, then the guilt falls on the person or people seeking revenge!

The second release is when the punishment, or consequences, turn out to be projection or scapegoating. There was a woman once, dragged out to be stoned for adultery. It was clear that she had committed the crime, probably many times. She was an embarrassment to her community. And there was a consequence for her actions. But Jesus had them look at themselves to discover that they were using this guilty woman in attempt to purge their own guilt and shame. (You know, it takes more than one to commit adultery.) "Let the one who has not sinned throw the first stone," he said.

The stones in their hands fell, weighed down because the guilt fell right back on them. To carry out the punishment would have been mere projection of their own guilt and sin onto her. It’s interesting: they wanted to make an example of the woman, what happens to people like her. Jesus ended up making an example of her, what can happen for people like her. She was forgiven and let go. Yes, he sent her with the command that’s given to all of us to "Sin no more," but without consequences, before God’s throne. She was truly forgiven by God.

I do believe that for the sake of loving the neighbor, loving the people in our communities, and even for the sake of loving the one who did wrong, in many cases the consequences need to be carried out. But we must always struggle and determine our own motives for carrying out the punishment. If it is for the sake of revenge, or projection of anger or guilt, then we ourselves are the ones who need forgiveness!

I understand the angry parent who cannot forgive the one who killed their child. It would take a miracle of faith to do so, even if the murderer were truly remorseful. I understand that no matter what I say from here, or what God commands, there will be consequences. I know that we cannot forgive and forget. I know that there will be a loss of trust. But these consequences are not justified in God’s court of forgiveness. They are a result of our inability to believe, trust and carry out forgiveness, that most powerful performative utterance.

Forgiveness: it is powerful …and it is not easy. We cannot do it, we cannot believe it, and we cannot accept it, except by the grace of God, and the strength of his arm. I do not say those words as mere religious platitudes. What I mean by them is that we have to look beyond our own strength. We need prayer to forgive. We need prayer to accept forgiveness.

There are two major prayers of forgiveness. One is when we ask God to forgive us. Second is forgiveness for someone else.

We don’t tend to accept our own forgiveness, not even from God, when we can’t forgive others. Or actually, it might be the other way around: We can’t forgive others, until we know what forgiveness from God is like. Either way, we would be thinking in terms of revenge and consequences. In our prayers, we wouldn’t be asking for true forgiveness, but just asking God not to take revenge, like Joseph’s brothers. Since they could not forgive Joseph and because they could not accept their own forgiveness, they remained afraid for their lives. Finally, they throw themselves to Joseph crying, "Make us slaves."

In forgiveness, you’re not saying to God, "Don’t punish me!" It’s about the relationship. You’re asking God to renew your relationship. It’s like saying to God, "Whatever, just don’t let me go, Father!"

And, incredible grace, the very same Father that we have so often hurt so deeply, reaches down to each of us, holds us to his heart, and promises, "I won’t let you go. You are my child."

I don’t want this to sound like God just casually overlooks our waywardness to forgive us. He apparently takes it very seriously. Enough to die for the greatest to the smallest sin. This is not cheap grace. It was very expensive. It took God on the cross, the greatest crime of all. It took the Son of God saying from that cross, "Forgive them." It took the power of God to say, "Yes. I do."

When you pray for forgiveness, God’s answer is costly, but entirely, powerfully and eternally strong. God has worked too hard, has paid too dear a price, to let sin drive a wedge between you and him now. This is why he created you. It’s why he hates sin enough to die for it. Forgiveness was never easy, never cheap.

But by the sacrifice and power of God it is yours for the asking. Cling to it in the face of all your doubts and fears. As long as you cling to the strength of God’s promised forgiveness, then nothing you or anyone else does can separate you from an eternal life with your Father!

The second prayer for forgiveness is for others. It is a powerful prayer, full of promise. Jesus said that if we forgive the sins of any in his name, they are forgiven, on earth and in heaven.

James, in our epistle lesson wrote that the prayer of faith, not only saves the sick, but also forgives anyone who has committed sins. James wrote, that "The prayer of the righteous (that would be us forgiven sinners) is powerful and effective. …Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be… [And here he places illness and sinfulness side by side, not because illness is or is caused by sin, but because there is a sickness in us that keeps us from being whole before God. A sickness that is called sin. He said,] …confess and pray for one another so that you may be healed."

The power of this prayer for forgiveness can even be seen by the destruction and pain that results when it is withheld. And a prayer for forgiveness has the power to stop such evil in its tracks and sends it back to the depths from which it came, easier than any movie exorcism you’ve ever seen!

It may be difficult sometimes, because sometimes we may be asking God to forgive and give us the strength to forgive someone who has hurt us deeply. And it may take him some time to work such a miracle in us, but I do believe that as soon as we begin asking, "God, help me to forgive," then the walls must begin to break down.

The prayer for forgiveness works. It works a change in the one asking God to forgive the other. It sends the Holy Spirit knocking on that person’s door, with a renewing promise.

We are promised that, whether it’s for ourselves or someone else, a prayer for forgiveness will not go unanswered. It may be spoken on earth, but is as if it comes from the throne of God. It is a most powerful performative utterance. Saying, "I forgive you," makes it so. It is a most powerful promise. Amen.