336 Sermon Illustrations on Forgiveness

FORGIVENESS

Marlin Connelly

About AD 150, Ptolemy produced a work on geography in which he introduced those imaginary lines to be used in navigation -- latitude and longitude. By the time of the Renaissance any good mariner could use sightings of the sun and various stars in order to find his latitude -- his position north or south on a chart. But finding his longitude -- his ship's position east or west -- baffled man for centuries longer.

Like many an ancient mariner, some find it easier to orient themselves vertically than to do so horizontally. On the grid of life they feel lined up in relation to God, while they are woefully adrift in relation to man. Yet the scripture says:

"If anyone says, 'I love God' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20).

In his sermon on the Mount Jesus stressed the necessity of a complete orientation -- to fellow man as well as to God. To those who would approach God in a sacrificial offerings while remaining estranged from a brother, Jesus urged, "Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:23).

In his Egyptian years, Joseph learned his latitude and longitude. Both in servitude and in prison he maintained his vertical orientation to God, never seeming to blame Him for the adversity and the disappointment. And when, through God's providence, he had both the power and the opportunity to reimburse his brothers with the evil they had earlier given him, he repaired his horizontal connections with forbearing forgiveness.

How's your longitude?

--HILLSBORO HERALD, Nashville, TN

The great British automaker Rolls Royce takes great pride in the reliability of their handcrafted automobiles. An obviously wealthy owner of a Rolls took it to Europe on an extended trip. While traveling in France the car had some mechanical problem. He called the Rolls Royce factory and asked that they send out a mechanic straightaway to fix the problem.

The company responded in royal fashion. They put a mechanic on a private jet with all of the necessary tools and flew him over to France to make the repairs. The owner was so wealthy that he wasn’t at all concerned about the cost, and he would not spare any expense to assure that his beloved Rolls Royce was properly repaired.

However, after several months he realized he had not received a bill. He directed his secretary to contact the Rolls Royce factory to inquire about the bill. He received a prompt reply from the Rolls Royce company. With typical British aplomb, it said simply, “We have no recollection or record of any Rolls Royce having ever had a breakdown or being in need of repair anywhere in France.”

Reminds me of how God treats us when he forgives us of sin. Sometimes we have a harder time forgiving ourselves than does God. We sometimes feel weighed down with the burden of guilt long after God has removed the burden of sin. We need to follow God’s instructions to find forgiveness, then trust that God has kept his promise to forgive. Take comfort from these words:

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psa. 103:12)

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” (Heb. 8:12)

Praise be to the God who “forgets” when He forgives!

The 1996 walk across America was an eye-opener.

At Texas City, Texas, a deeply troubled couple waited for their guest speaker on the front porch of the thriving church. When they spotted Ted, they excitedly proclaimed, "Thank God you're here. God sent you." They soon explained that their teenaged son had just been arrested and charged with capital murder in the slaying of a convenience store clerk.

When they had completed detailing the sad history of their wayward son, they gratefully confided, "Thank God, we're members of this church. We don't have to be afraid to cry or express our pain in front of our fellow church members. They love us, and they even love our son, in spite of the terrible thing he is charged with doing."

A few days later another church member confided to the cross-country hiker, "My brother has a serious cocaine problem, and I'm worried to death about him!" Her teary eyes confirmed her deep fear for his future. "I love my church," she continued, "but I don't dare try to discuss my brother's drug habit with our members. At my church they play a game of 'let's pretend. Let's pretend no one is hurting. Let's pretend no one has a problem. Let's pretend everything is all right.' But everything is not all right," the young lady lamented. "My brother does have a problem, and he is hurting and so are we."

Whenever we are privileged to speak in churches across the nation, we often ask our rapt listeners the penetrating question, "What kind of church is your church?" We believe that our church fellowships are at last beginning to wake up to the truth. For many years we preferred that others handle the seeming dirty problem of drug abuse. We conveyed the impression that the responsibility for the dark tragedy and its solution lay with "those people" and not us. But now we are coming out of the self-imposed darkness of denial, and we are beginning to understand that the problem belongs to all of us and, therefore, the solution must be worked by those who preach daily, "Jesus is the answer." Surely the ultimate answer must lie in changing the hearts of men and women by the grace of God.

Our recent pilgrimage to Hawaii to share the message of hope confirmed the emergence of the open-door policy among Baptists. At the end of the early morning worship service in Honolulu, we offered the usual opportunity for those who had loved ones hurting because of drug-related problems to come forward and kneel, asking God to work a miracles in the lives of the ones for whom they prayed. We reminded the congregation that those who dared to pray for such a miracle must be willing to be an active part of that recovery experience in whatever way the Lord would lead.

One man knelt near the altar, and prayed tearfully to God for help with his own addiction. And then from a canvas bag around his neck, he carefully withdrew two unopened cans of beer and his crystal meth (amphetamine) pipe and deposited them on the altar as a symbol of his desire to be free at last. We prayed with him for strength and determination that only the Lord can provide.

That day we had been in a church of which the hurting could shout to the heavens, "Thank God for this church. They love me in spite of what I have done. For me there is hope!" We pray for more such churches.

*

I once heard a story about Camelot when King Arthur was away.

Guinever his wife was unfaithful with Sir Lancelot. When King Arthur

returned he found out about the affair and had his wife placed in a

convent for life. Towards the end of the story in a beautiful scene

he goes down to the convent and visits her trying to make everything

alright. In the closing lines of that scene he says, "Lo, I forgive

thee even as the eternal God forgives." Then he turns and walks away.

But that's not how the eternal God forgives! He doesn't leave you

in the convent! He doesn't leave you in your circumstance. Had he

forgiven his wife the way God forgives he would have said, "Honey I

forgive you, get your bags, the kids and I want you back. You're

coming home with us! You're still my queen and you're going to ascend

the throne again.

God forgives without conditions.

- Unknown

A lot of people say, “I believe in the resurrection; I just don’t understand it.” Pollster George Gallup said even 84 percent of people who never go to church believe Jesus rose from the dead. It is historical fact; it wasn’t done in secret. The whole city of Jerusalem and the whole Roman Empire knew about it. It was news. If CNN had been there, they would have had it live.

There are at least 15 historical references to Jesus meeting people, touching people, and talking with people AFTER he had been crucified. One time he cooked breakfast for some people. One time he talked to about 500 people after he had risen from the dead. A lot of people saw him.

Jesus did rise, he is who he said he was, he has the power he said he had, and he keeps the promises he makes. So what? Why does the resurrection matter? What difference does it make? It matters for three reasons.

1. My past can be forgiven. That’s good news. Have you ever been halfway through a project and wished you could start over? A lot of times people feel that way about life. They get halfway through and wish they could start over. We have all done things we wish we hadn’t done, said things we wish we hadn’t said, and thought things we wish we hadn’t thought. We all have regrets. We all feel bad about things. We all have guilt.

A fellow pastor received this letter:

“I’m 31 years old and divorced, though I fought the divorce

bitterly. I feel bad. I have no hope for my future. Often I go

home and cry, but there’s no one holding me when I cry. Nobody

cares. Nothing changes, and I continue to fail. I’m stressed

our emotionally, and I feel I’m on the verge of a collapse.

Something is very wrong. But I feel so hurt and embittered that

I can scarcely react or relate to others anymore. I feel as if

I’m going to have to sit out the rest of my life in the penalty

box.”

The tragedy is, I know a lot of people like that. They can’t get on with the present and the future because they’re stuck in the past. Some guilt or regret has tied them down. Sometimes they’re letting a former relationship mess up their current relationship. They say, “I guess I’ll just have to live with this the rest of my life.”

Here’s the good news. Colossians 2:14 says: “He has forgiven all our sins and canceled every debt we owe. Christ has done away with it by nailing it to the cross.”

This is God’s pardon program. Jesus nailed it all to the cross. He paid for my guilt. That means I don’t have to pay for it. He was hung for my hand-ups. Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, so I can quit nailing myself to the cross. He wants to forgive your past. He wants to cancel every debt you owe — emotional debts, relational debts, sins. All canceled.

2. My present problems can be managed. The number one complaint I hear from people today is this: “My life is out of control.” I hear it a thousand times:

I feel powerless to change the situation...

I feel powerless to break a bad habit...

I feel powerless to save a relationship...

I feel powerless to get out of debt...

I feel powerless to manage my schedule.

What you need is a power greater than yourself. You were never meant to live this life on your own power. God want to have a relationship with you. And here’s the good news. Ephesians 1:19-20 says: “How incredibly great is his power to help those who believe him, the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead.”

The same power that enabled Jesus to rise from death will help you rise above your problems. The same power God used at the Resurrection 2,000 years ago can be used in your life right now. You don’t know what the future holds. I don’t either. I don’t know what’s going to happen next year, next month, next week. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, and neither do you. But it doesn’t matter, because even though it’s out of my control, it’s not out of God’s. He will give me the power to face it. Philippians 4:13 says: “I’m ready for anything through the strength of Christ, who lives in me.”

“I want to help out,” God says. Some of you came crawling in here — you’ve had a tough week. God wants to say to you this: “Don’t give up.”

No problem is too big for God. No situation is hopeless if you’ll turn it over to him. “I am ready for anything through the power of positive thinking”? No, it doesn’t say that. “I am ready for anything because I psyched myself up”? No. “I am ready for anything through the strength of Christ, who lives in me.”

3. My future can be secure. One of the universal problems we’ve all got is death. Let’s face it — everybody dies. I’m going to die someday, and so are you. Only a fool would go all through life unprepared for something he knows in inevitable. That doesn’t make sense. But sometimes we get so busy in the here and now, we don’t stop to think about what’s going to come.

People don’t like to talk about death. If you don’t believe me, invite your friends over, sit them down, serve them some coffee and pie, and say, “Let’s talk about death.” See what happens.

U.S. News & World Report ran a cover article called “The Rekindling of Hell.” It says more people believe in heaven and hell than ever before in American history. Why? Because people are wondering, “What’s going to happen?”

There are a lot of misconceptions about heaven. Most of them come from movies with bad theology: Heaven Can Wait; Oh, God; All Dogs Go To Heaven. These are cute little ideas of what somebody thinks heaven is going to be like.

What is it really going to be like? Let’s check it out with the source. When you go to the Bible, what does God say it’s really going to be like in heaven and hell?

Number one, heaven is a perfect place. Total love, total peace, total joy, total perfection. No sin, no mistakes, no evil, no bad, no errors. It’s perfect in every area.

The second thing the Bible says is that in order for you to go there, you have to be perfect, because only perfection can exist in heaven. You say, “Well, thanks a lot. That leaves me out.” Yeah, it leaves me out too. You say, “I’ll never make it if I have to be perfect.” Right! That’s the point. Neither will I. Neither will any of us, because none of us is perfect; we’ve all messed up.

There are two ways the Bible says you can get to heaven. Plan A is to earn it. That’s the performance plan. And to earn it you only have to do this: never sin and always do what’s right for the entire time that you live. Just be perfect.

Since none of us qualify for Plan A, God came up with Plan B, which is this: You trust Jesus Christ when he says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” He was the only perfect person who ever lived, because he was God. He came so we could know what God is like. And by trusting and establishing a relationship with him, you get in on his goodness.

My friend Ron Dunn took his young son to a carnival one time for his birthday. His son picked six boys to go with him, so Ron bought a roll of tickets. Every line he’d come up to, he’d pull off seven tickets and give them to all the kids. When they got to the Ferris wheel, all of a sudden there was this eighth little kid with his hand out.

Ron said, “Who are you?”

The kid said, “I’m Johnny.”

Ron said, “Who are you, Johnny?”

Johnny said, “I’m your son’s new friend. And he said you would give me a ticket.”

Ron asked me, “Do you think I gave him one? Absolutely.”

When you get to heaven, you’ll say, “God, I can’t get in on my own effort. The only way I can get into heaven is because I’m a friend of Jesus Christ.” John 17:3 says: “This is the way to have eternal life: by knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ, the one he sent to earth.”

That’s what the Bible says. Jesus has already paid for your way to heaven. This is news you can use.

________

Rick Warren is pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. This column is excerpted from “What Difference Does Easter Make?” published by PreachingToday.com, issue 223.

Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/LEADERSHIP Journal.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #1209]

"We have the thought here,"

{\reference{Isa. 1:18}{Isaiah 1:18}} says Lionel B. Fletcher, "of wool

that has been scoured. There is nothing lovelier in the world than scoured

wool. I have shorn many hundreds of sheep. I know what it looks like,

clotted together with grease. When you buy a tube of lanolin at the chemists,

you will see then what it is that is contained in sheep's wool. At first

the wool is dirty and matted together; you can almost squeeze the oil out of

it. But look at the wool when it has been purified; when it has gone through

the scouring process. Take it up in your hand, and it will run through

your fingers like feathers, so beautiful and snowy in its whiteness. That

is the picture here in Isaiah. The sinner's heart is to be made like scoured

wool." Gary Bowell p. 16

The Chinese consider

Jesus' teaching about forgiveness unmanly. A Christian Chinese was once explaining forgiveness to a group of people gathered

in the chapel by the mission hospital. He said, "I will tell you how we obey

this commandment. When you are sick or hurt, you come to the hospital and

we nurse you, dress your wounds, and care for you, but you go away and revile

us and lie about us. Then, when you are sick once more, you come back and we

nurse you, and care for you again and again. That is forgiveness.

In recent days in

Budapest, Billy Graham had what all members of the Billy Graham team agree was the most fantastic crusade. It was in a stadium.

. . there were 90,000. When he gave the invitation to come forward and to

receive Christ, 25,000 crowded into the center of that stadium. The crowd was

so intense among those who had come forward that there was no way to

counsel them individually. When they tried to distribute literature individually

to them, it was impossible to get through the crowd. So they took boxes of

literature about the Lord... and pitched it into the crowd, hoping that each

could grab some. This nation the communists had trained to be a godless society.

Why do you think they came forward? I suggest it was the appeal of the

forgiveness of sin and guilt.

"Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for

forgiveness, or else forgiving another."

- Jean Paul Richter

- _Instant Quotation Dictionary_, p. 136.

"'I can forgive, but I cannot forget,' is only another way of

saying, 'I will not forgive.' Forgiveness ought to be like a

cancelled note -- torn in two, and burned up, so that it never

can be shown against one."

- Henry Ward Beecher

- _Instant Quotation Dictionary_, p. 136.

Can you lose your salvation? Can the belief of “once saved always saved” be biblically supported?

When God saves a person, He gives an irrevocable relationship with a Savior who promises to protect by His own power.

There is only one basis upon which anyone can qualify for eternal refuge from the judgment of God’s law, which is summed up in two simple words: in Christ. Because I believe and trust in Christ, I have a protection that begins and ends with God.

Can I be “in Christ” today but lose that protection tomorrow? Could my faith or lack of faith determine whether I am presently “in” or “out” of Christ?

God’s Word doesn’t call us to uncertainty but to believe in Christ, and to assume a new identity and a new destiny.

The Past In Christ: Salvation Accomplished. What if I told you that I know my future is secure because all of my sins are already paid for? I enjoy immunity from the eternal punishment of God. The basis for my security is that I am in Christ (Romans 6). I have been crucified with Christ (Rom 6:6) and resurrected with Christ (Rom 6:4-5). In Christ, I have already paid for my crimes against God.

The Present In Christ: Salvation Protected. This is security that doesn’t depend on what we do but on what Christ has done for us. It reminds us that our Savior has not only paid the price for our salvation, but He has also promised to intercede for us now on the basis of what He did for us in the past.

The Future in Christ: Salvation Completed. What about that day when we all stand before the Judge in the final day of accountability? Is it possible that at that critical point we might lose everything?

God has already announced that He has given authority to His Son to judge the earth (John 5:24-30). It is at the judgment seat of Christ where we who are in Christ must one day appear (Romans 14:1-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10). It is that same Judge who has already promised all who are in Him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).

If you have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, count on those words. They are God’s promise to you.

*

[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]

There was a dispute which had grown into a lawsuit between two farmers as to just where the line between them was and where a fence should be. Finally one of the farmers sold out, and the purchaser moved in. Soon he met Farmer Smith, who was agitated and said to his new neighbor, “They tell me you have bought this farm, and I just want to inform you that you have bought a lawsuit.” He was asked to explain, and said, “Well, the fence, being located where it is, cheats me out of two feet of my land.” “Then,” said the newcomer kindly, “we will move it back four feet.” “No,” said Farmer Smith, “that is more than I ask.” “But,” said the new neighbor, “I would rather have peace with my neighbors than a few feet of earth!” “Then,” said Farmer Smith very quietly, “if that is the way you feel, the fence stays just where it is and the lawsuit is all off.”

The Bible says, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

AT ONE TIME the Horse had the plain entirely to himself. Then a Stag intruded into his domain and shared his pasture. The Horse, desiring to revenge himself on the stranger, asked a man if he were willing to help him in punishing the Stag. The man replied that if the Horse would receive a bit in his mouth and agree to carry him, he would contrive effective weapons against the Stag. The Horse consented and allowed the man to mount him. From that hour he found that instead of obtaining revenge on the Stag, he had enslaved himself to the service of man.

When we allow the spirit of anger or revenge consume our heart, we allow ourselves to become enslaved.

In the stirring story of the Scotch Covenanters a thrilling incident is told of Captain John Paton. After being apprehended he was led to Edinburgh for trial and execution; and on the way he met an old comrade in arms who had fought with him under Gustavus Adolphus. His comrade was surprised and grieved to see him bound. “I will write to the king and get a pardon for you,” said he. Paton replied, “Ah, you won't get one for me, I'm afraid.” “Well,” answered his friend, “if I do not, I will never draw sword for his majesty again.” So he made intercession for the Covenanter captain, and the pardon he asked for was granted. It arrived at Edinburgh. But it was held back by the lords of the congregation, and Paton went to the scaffold. Now, you brand that as a most heinous crime, and you do well. But what better is the man or woman who receives the Divine message of peace and mercy and refuses to pass it on to those who may be delivered thereby from the bondage and death of sin?

__________

J. Wilbur Chapan, “Present Day Parables.”

Luther was one day seated in the confessional at Wittenburg.

Many of the townspeople came successively and confessed

themselves guilty of great excesses: adultery, licentiousness

usury, ill-gotten gains--such were the crimes acknowledged. He

reprimands, corrects, instructs. But what is his astonishment

when these individuals reply that they will not abandon their

sins! Greatly shocked the pious monk declares that, since they

will not promise to change their lives, he cannot absolve them.

The unhappy creatures then appeal to their letters of indulgence; they

show them, and maintain their virtue. But Luther replies that he has

nothing to do with these matters, and adds, "Except ye repent, ye

shall all likewise perish." They cry out and protest; but the doctor

is immovable. They must "cease to do evil, and learn to do well, or

else there is no absolution. --D'Aubigne

In the 1100's in England, people who couldn't pay their debts were placed in debtor prisons. Also people who expressed political views that were not in harmony with the reigning monarch could find themselves sentenced to royal prisons. It was not until the 1700's in America that criminal prisons as we know them came into being. Up until that time, offenders of public law were flogged in the public square or, if the offense was serious enough, sentenced to public execution.

In 1790 the Quakers in Pennsylvania built what has become known as a "penitentiary." This was a place for penitents. People who felt or expressed sorrow for their sins or misdeeds. The penitents worked hard each day and were separated by their cells. The Quakers believed that this separation would cause these people to think about their sins and repent, that is, have a change of mind, a change of heart that caused one to turn away from evil.

In the Bible, the story is told of the apostle Paul speaking to a man named Felix about faith in Jesus Christ. As Paul spoke of righteousness, self-control, and about a time when God would Judge everyone, Felix grew fearful and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave" (Acts 24:24-25 NIV).

It is uncomfortable to think that we must answer for our deeds. "For there is going to come a Day of Wrath when God will be the just Judge of all the world. He will give each one whatever his deeds deserve" (Romans 2:5-6, LB).

In 1829, a man named George Wilson robbed the United States mails killing a person in the process. Later he was caught, found guilty and sentenced to die for his crime. Some friends intervened on his behalf and were able to speak to the then President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. President Jackson granted Wilson a pardon. But when Wilson was informed of this pardon, he refused to accept it! An appeal was sent back to President Jackson. The President, not knowing what to do, turned to the U.S. Supreme Court for an answer.

The Court gave this ruling: "A pardon is a piece of paper, the value of which depends upon its acceptance by the person implicated. It is hardly to be supposed that a person under the sentence of death would refuse to accept a pardon; but, if it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must die."

The sentence of death was carried out upon George Wilson even though a pardon was lying in the Sheriff's office. [see also #1697]

The Bible tells us that God was in Christ, restoring the world to Himself, no longer counting men's sins against them. As Christ's ambassadors, we beg you, as though Christ Himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you, be reconciled to God that is, come back to Him and receive His pardon (2 Corinthians 5:19-20, LB).

Can't you see that the pardon is there waiting for you? But it must be received in order to avoid the Day of God's Judgment. "...the wages of sin is death..." - separation from God eternally (Romans 6:23). Who earns those wages? As sinners, you and I do. Do you wish to take your wages or the pardon that God so freely offers you today? God says, "I call heaven and earth to witness... that today I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Oh, that you would choose life; ... that you might live!" (Deuteronomy 30:19, LB).

If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NIV)

For three days a fierce winter storm had traveled 1,500 miles across the North Pacific from Alaska, packing galeforce winds and torrential rains. In the Sierra Nevadas to the east, the snow was piling up and would offer great skiing once the storm had passed. In the foothills of the Sierras in the town of Grass Valley, California, the streets were flooded, and in some parts of town, the power was off where trees had blown down. At the small church, the heavy rain and high winds beat against the windows with a violence that Father O'Malley had never before heard.

In his tiny bedroom, O'Malley was laboriously writing Sunday's sermon by candlelight. Out of the darkness, the phone in his office rang, shattering his concentration. He picked up the candle, and with his hand cupped in front of it, ambled down the hall in a sphere of dim flickering light. As he picked up the phone, a voice quickly asked, “Is this Father O'Malley?”

“Yes.”

“I'm calling from the hospital in Auburn,” said a concerned female voice. “We have a terminally ill patient who is asking us to get someone to give him his last rites. Can you come quickly?” 'I'll try my best to make it,” O'Malley answered. “But the river is over its banks, and trees are blown down all over town. It's the worst storm I've seen in all the years I've been here. Look for me within two hours.”

The trip was only 30 miles, but it would be hard going. The headlights on Father O'Malley's 20-year-old car barely penetrated the slashing rain, and where the winding road crossed and recrossed the river in a series of small bridges, trees had blown down across the river's banks. But for some reason, there was always just enough room for Father O'Malley to make his way around them. His progress was slow and cautious, but he continued on toward the hospital. Not a single vehicle passed him during his long, tense journey. It was way past midnight, and anyone else out on a night like this would also have to be on an emergency mission. Finally, in the near distance, the lights of the small hospital served as a beacon to guide O'Malley for the last 500 yards, and he hoped he had arrived in time. He parked behind the three other cars in the parking lot to avoid as much wind as possible, slipped into the right-hand seat and awkwardly wrestled his way into his raincoat before stepping out into the wind-whipped deluge. With his tattered Bible tucked deep inside his overcoat pocket, O'Malley forced the car door open, stepped out and then leaned into the wind. Its power almost bowled him over, and he was nearly blown away from the hospital entrance.

Once inside, the wind slammed the hospital door shut behind him, and as he was shaking the water from his coat, he heard footsteps headed his way. It was the night nurse.

“I'm so glad you could get here,” she said. “The man I called you about is slipping fast, but he is still coherent. He's been an alcoholic for years, and his liver has finally given out. He's been here for a couple of weeks this time and hasn't had one single visitor. He lives up in the woods, and no one around here knows much about him. He always pays his bill with cash and doesn't seem to want to talk much. We've been treating him off and on for the last couple of years, but this time it's as though he's reached some personal decision and has given up the fight.”

“What's your patient's name?” O'Malley asked.

“The hospital staff has just been calling him Tom,” she replied. In the soft night-light of the room, Tom's thin sallow countenance looked ghostlike behind a scraggly beard. It was as though he had stepped over the threshold and his life was already gone.

“Hello, Tom. I'm Father O'Malley. I was passing by and thought we could talk a bit before you go to sleep for the night.”

“Don't give me any of that garbage,” Tom replied. “You didn't just stop by at 3:30 in the morning. I asked that dumb night nurse to call someone to give me my last rites because I know my deal is done and it's my turn to go. Now get on with it.”

“Patience,” said Father O'Malley, and he began to say the prayers of the last rites.

After the “Amen,” Tom perked up a bit, and he seemed to want to talk. “Would you like to make your confession?” O'Malley asked him.

“Absolutely not,” Tom answered. “But I would like to just talk with you a bit, before I go.”

And so Tom and Father O'Malley talked about the Korean War, and the ferocity of the winter storm, and the knee-high grass and summer blossoms that would soon follow.

Occasionally, during the hour or so before daylight, Father O'Malley would ask Tom again, “Are you sure you don't want to confess anything?”

After a couple of hours, and after about the fourth or fifth time that Father O'Malley asked the same question, Tom replied, “Father, when I was young, I did something that was so bad that I've never told anyone about it. It was so bad that I haven't spent a single day since without thinking about it and reliving the horror.”

“Don't you think it would be good for you to tell me about it?” O' Malley asked.

“Even now, I still can't talk about what I did,” Tom said. “Even to you.”

But as the first gray light of dawn crept into the room and began to form shadows, Tom sadly said, “Okay. It's too late for anyone to do anything to me now, so I guess I might as well tell you.”

“I worked as a switchman on the railroad all my life, until I retired a few years ago and moved up here to the woods. Thirty-two years, two months and 11 days ago, I was working in Bakersfield on a night kind of like tonight.”

Tom's face became intense as the words began to tumble out. “It happened during a bad winter storm with a lot of rain, 50-mile-an-hour winds and almost no visibility. It was two nights before Christmas and to push away the gloom, the whole yard crew drank all through the swing shift. I was drunker than the rest of them, so I volunteered to go out in the rain and wind and push the switch for the northbound 8:30 freight.”

Tom's voice dropped almost to a whisper as he went on. “I guess I was more drunk than I thought I was because I pushed that switch in the wrong direction. At 45 miles an hour that freight train slammed into a passenger car at the next crossing and killed a young man, his wife and their two daughters – I have had to live with my being the cause of their deaths every day since then.”

There was a long moment of silence as Tom's confession of this tragedy hung in the air. After what seemed like an eternity, Father O'Malley gently put his hand on Tom's shoulder and said very quietly, “If I can forgive you, God can forgive you, because in that car were my mother, my father and my two older sisters.”

At a dinner party one night Lady Churchill was seated across

the table from Sir Winston, who kept making his hand walk up and

down -- two fingers bent at the knuckles. The fingers appeared

to be walking toward Lady Churchill. Finally, her dinner

partner asked, "Why is Sir Winston looking at you so wistfully,

and whatever is he doing with those knuckles on the table?" "That's

simple," she replied. "We had a mild quarrel before we

left home, and he is indicating it's his fault and he's on his

knees to me in abject apology." --Alan McGinnis

Genuine forgiveness runs deep. It is not a thin surface patch on a

relationship, but an inner change of heart toward the offender. Too

often we think we have extended forgiveness when we have only covered

over our resentment.

Rabbi David A. Nelson likes to tell the story of two brothers who

went to their rabbi to settle a long-standing feud. The rabbi got the

two to reconcile their differences and shake hands. As they were

about to leave, he asked each one to make a wish for the other in

honor of the Jewish New Year. The first brother turned to the other

and said, "I wish you what you wish me." At that, the second brother

threw up his hands and said, "See, Rabbi, he's starting up again!"

Joseph Parker, as a young man, used to debate in the mining fields of England, and on the town green, with infidels and atheists. An infidel once shouted at him, “What did Christ do for Stephen when he was stoned?” Parker said the answer that was given him was like an inspiration from heaven. “He gave him grace to pray for those who stoned him.”

Stephen had the mind of Christ, and hearing him pray for those who did him wrong at once recalls the prayer of Jesus Himself under like circumstances: “Father forgive them.”

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Another version:

When Joseph Parker was a young minister at Banbury, he had a public debate with George Jacon Holyoke, who was what they called in those days a secularist. Holyoke closed his attack on the Christian faith with the apparently crushing question: “What did your God do for Stephen when he was stoned to death?” The audience felt the force of the argument, for it gathers up into itself all our prejudice for bodily welfare. But they were simply electrified and thrilled with awe when young Parker made the simple rejoinder, “This is what my God did for Stephen in the hour of his stoning: He enabled him to pray, 'Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.'“ -Selected.

_________

William Moses Tidwell, “Pointed Illustrations.”

In the home of Dr. Goheen, a missionary in India, a native was

dusting the furniture and carelessly upset a beautiful vase, which

fell to the floor, breaking in many pieces. The frightened native

dropped on his knees before Doctor Goheen, begging for mercy. The

doctor smiled and said, "Never mind; I forgive you." The astonished

servant looked for a moment upon the quiet face of the Christian man,

where there was not the slightest trace of anger; then leaping to his

feet he cried, "I believe! I believe!" He then told how, as a servant

in the home, he had been gradually coming to know Christ through the

doctor, and now his readiness to forgive had won him completely to the

Master. --Christian Work

Lamesa, Texan Don Nut says he and his wife have been married fifty

years. He says that the secret is that they never went to bed without

settling any differences between them. But Don concedes there have

been times when he went ten days without sleep. -- Associated Press

When Leonardo da Vinci was painting the "Last Supper," he had an intense, bitter argument with a fellow painter. Leonardo was so enraged that he decided to paint the face of his enemy into the face of Judas. That way the hated painter's face would be preserved for ages in the face of the betraying disciple. When Leonardo finished Judas, everyone easily recognized the face of the painter with whom Leonardo quarreled.

Leonardo continued to work on the painting. But as much as he tried, he could not paint the face of Christ. Something was holding him back. Leonardo decided his hatred toward his fellow painter was the problem. So he worked through his hatred by repainting Judas' face, replacing the image of his fellow painter with another face. Only then was he able to paint Jesus' face and complete the masterpiece.

[Holwick - this is probably no more than a legend. See HolwickID #16734. Also see #30203]

Ethel and Tom are two children in a family. Ethel quarrels with

Tom, and their father is grieved by their quarrel. Ethel is very

unhappy. So, in tears she goes to her father and says, "Daddy, I am

truly sorry. I can see I have made you unhappy." But while her

father's arms go round her, the minx is putting out her tongue at Tom

behind his back. The father wants to forgive her, but he cannot

forgive her if she will not forgive Tom. "You've got to make it up

with Tom first," the father wisely says. "If you shut Tom out, you

keep me out, for I love Tom as well as you." "If ye forgive not men

their trespasses," said the Master, "neither will your Father forgive

your trespasses." --Leslie D. Weatherhead

The power of absolution is not dependent on the faith of him who is

being absolved but on the promise of God. If a king presents you with

a castle, but you refuse to accept it, the validity of the gift is

thereby not affected. The absolution of even a godless preacher is

valid. A pearl remains a pearl, even though it be in the hand of a

thief.