Forgiveness

SUN., JULY 12, 1987, 6:14 AM
FARM, STUDY

The sermon this morning is your first opportunity to present this very important story of forgiveness. A religion always seems to have its base in standards of conduct. Those who accept the religion must live by its premises and should be identified as keeping these faithfully. When those in the early Church were called little Christs or Christians this came from their capacities to “practice what they preached”.

High standards are important to Christianity, but high standards guarantee that some… or many… even all will fail. What happens when you fail to meet the requirements of your spiritual path? You usually are judged by others as having not measured up, and this should be more troublesome than failing in more secular and mundane tasks. When you declare your faith in Christ and in God Almighty and then you do not measure up to the standards this can only be seen as weakness.

But worse than being seen as weak and unable to keep a commitment by others is the feeling within self that you have failed. When you seriously acknowledge a spiritual path and “set your feet upon it” your spirit is attuned to living within the standards set and accepted. This gives comfort and a certain wonderful sense of mission and accomplishment. Then you fail in some small or great way, and the result is… and should be… bad feelings about self. This certainly encourages the concept of satan as an outside force that is manipulating you away from the conduct, even the thoughts, to which you aspire.

So it is some combination of feeling personal inadequacy directly or indirectly by succumbing to the wiles of satan. I foresaw that when such feelings would arise the person becomes less able to keep the standards, and more failures result. As these pile up, the spiritual misery increases, and the only honorable alternative rises – leave the faith… no longer subject yourself to standards you cannot keep.

As Jesus I had been forgiving, but mainly I was perceived as one who lived in direct relationship with God and whose life and teachings became the standards for those who would follow this path. My death became the basis for the forgiveness, when it was seen as a holy sacrifice and not just the power of enemies to prevail over an itinerant preacher. So I had to raise up one to recognize and bring this truth to the hearts of those who were gathering in My name. This truth was – you are forgiven. Why? Because I love you. And because, paradoxically, the only way to build the Church AND keep the standards high was to forgive mistakes and failures, from which would come self acceptance and the power to try again. “Nobody’s perfect.” When you ask for forgiveness and receive it in your heart you are as perfect as you need to be. You have become fresh and new, cleansed of all unrighteousness. Such a state of being and feeling is what can empower you to stay on the path and be all you can be.