Scripture
–
Genesis
50:15-21 –
When
Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph
holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”
So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions
before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive
your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’
Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When
their message came to him, Joseph wept.
His
brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,”
they said.
But
Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended
to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done,
the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and
your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Psalm
103:1-13 –
Praise
the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD,
my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals
all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love
and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth
is renewed like the eagle’s.
The
LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
He
made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: The LORD is
compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not
always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as
our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the
heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as
far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from
us.
As
a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those
who fear him;
Romans
14:1-12 –
Accept
the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One
person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak,
eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt
the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge
the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone
else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will
stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
One
person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day
alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever
regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to
the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord
and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of
us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die,
we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For
this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord
of both the dead and the living.
You,
then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with
contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:
“ ‘As
surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue
will acknowledge God.’ ”
So
then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
Matthew
18:21-35 –
Then
Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother
or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus
answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore,
the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his
servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of
gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that
he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“At
this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged,
‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him,
canceled the debt and let him go.
“But
when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a
hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you
owe me!’ he demanded.
“His
fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I
will pay it back.’
“But
he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he
could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were
outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then
the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled
all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy
on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him
over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This
is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother
or sister from your heart.”
Bob’s
thoughts:
We
were warmly welcomed before the service, during the passing of Christ’s peace,
and after worship. Some who talked to us as we entered stopped by after the
service as well. Not a large complex but minimal signage that I noticed.
There
is an exceptional carved wooden cross that includes the Communion elements. The
wood paneling on the rear chancel wall is diagonal, highlighting the cross. The
ceiling is a high arch with wood paneling worked well to draw focus to the
cross. Some excellent banners adorn the sanctuary walls.
The
children’s message was about Joseph forgiving his brothers, and the pastor told
a personal story of forgiving a brother. This brought to mind a memory of mine:
when I was walking with my brother to a birthday party and we were extremely angry
with each other over some “unforgivable” sin. As we were walking up the hill
through the woods to our friend’s house, a neighbor lady who was watching from
her bay window perch exclaimed something about “brotherly love.” In that instant,
we forgave each other and our anger was redirected to her. But we did forgive
each other.
I was
delighted that the children stayed for the service and found their smiles most
welcoming.
The
message started from Christ’s admonishment to Peter to forgive 77 times after
Peter asked if seven was a limit. The pastor had a skillful explanation of numbers
in Christ’s time on Earth: three, seven, and 40 were frequently numbers
signifying completeness and a myriad was equivalent to our google (one with 100
zeros)…numbers so large it was beyond comprehension there could be a need for
anything more.
Compared
with the piano, the volume of the organ made it hard to keep track of where we
were in the songs; it might be easier to hear when more people were singing.
We
were grateful the pastor could spend so much time with us after the service.
Jan’s
thoughts:
We
were greeted warmly upon entering this pretty building and found seats five
minutes before the service started. As the greeters realized we were first-time
visitors, they handed us the bulletin and worship folder and briefly explained
the service. Others welcomed us prior to worship and still others afterward.
The
sanctuary is pleasant, with an unusual cross in the front and colorful banners
on each wall. The high ceiling provided something of an echo, but I was still
able to understand spoken words and music.
The
pastor used his time with the children as a lead-in to the sermon, giving them
an example from his childhood of how natural it is to find siblings annoying.
Even the youth seemed to identify.
The
untitled sermon was about forgiveness. The pastor began by considering how
often our society would say we should forgive others, and estimated it at
exactly zero. He stated that, in fact, many would be proud of their unforgiving
attitudes. I wish I could argue that, but, unfortunately, I must agree.
He
then entered a contemplation of the number of times one person should forgive
another. In Jesus’ time, rabbis taught forgiveness should be extended as many
as three times. However, seven was one of the numbers of completeness, so when
Jesus was asked this question, He indicated 70 times 7 to denote the ultimate
number of completion.
The
pastor also spoke to the amounts and time periods in the parable of the
unmerciful servant, stating one talent equaled 15 years of work, so the first
servant owed his master 150,000 years of work. How obvious he would never be
able to repay his master.
I
am very far from being a number person, but somehow this numerical explanation
made clear the magnitude of the debt we owe our Master but will never be able
to repay and the degree of the wrong we do when we refuse to forgive someone
who has wronged us.
As
the pastor said, we owe God “complete completeness.”
Several
members were kind enough to invite us to the fellowship time, but the pastor generously
spent a good while with us in conversation, so we did not make it.
Our
prayer for this church:
Lord,
Your church seems in a good location to minister to the lost sheep of this
community, and we pray You bless their efforts. Amen.
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