Chris Hodges - Jesus Forgives
- Watch
- Donate
All right. Who’s glad to be in church today? Anybody? How about we give Jesus some praise? Let’s start right off the bat and give Him some praise today. Amen. Good to see you guys. Give me a moment just to look straight into the camera and say hello to all our campuses and locations across Alabama and Georgia. Of course, to the men and women in the Alabama Department of Corrections, what an honor it is to be in your lives, and yours in our lives. We don’t consider you a project; you are our church family. God bless you guys today. And, of course, we know that we have people who are watching online or later on demand. We’re glad you’re along for the ride.
I want to give a very special welcome to everybody who’s here for the very first time. Maybe even the events of this week have drawn you to the church. You came to the right place today. How about we put our hands together, everybody, and say a big hello? God bless you guys today. For those of you who watch on demand, I encourage you to watch the whole service, not just the message. You get that option whenever you watch our services to see just the message. But if you just watch the message, you’ll miss this beautiful moment where we reflected and prayed that Pastor Mark led us through in the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk and all the events that have taken place in our culture. I want to go on record that my heart and prayers are with Erica and the family, and really all who have been affected by the tragedies this week. Can we put our hands together? Amen, everybody.
I also want to say how much I honor and love Pastor Mark. He wasn’t even supposed to be here today. This was a week we had scheduled months ago for me to speak. But when all the things happened, he called and said, «I’m coming home.» I said, «I got it, my brother.» He replied, «No, I’m coming home. I want to be with the people of Church of the Highlands.» Let’s show some love to Pastor Mark and Jill, everybody. God bless you, sir. I love you. Of course, we’re in this series called The Goodness of God. Man, what a great thing to be thinking about and focusing on in the middle of all the evil and tragedy that has surrounded us this week and, honestly, way before that as well. Throughout this series, we’re just getting our minds and hearts set on the fact that our God is good. We are in week number two of that series, and it is my honor to bring you God’s Word today.
Our theme verse for the series is found in Psalm 34:8, and it’s an invitation. It says, «If you haven’t tasted it yet, if you’ve not experienced it yet, that’s what we’re inviting you to: to taste and see that the Lord is,» say it out loud, «The Lord is good.» He is very, very good. Blessed- this is the same word in the Bible for internal happiness -blessed is the one who takes refuge, which means there are times when life gets very, very hard and heavy. There is a safe place under the shelter of the Almighty, under the wings of our God, to be kept safe from the storms.
So we’re thinking about the goodness of God. There are a couple of things I’d like for all of us to be reminded of, especially as it relates to the theology of the goodness of God. One of them is that God is actually incapable of being bad. The Bible says in James chapter 1, whatever is good and perfect comes from God. Therefore, God is completely incapable of anything bad. He created all the lights in the heavens; He never changes. I love this phrase: He doesn’t cast a shadow. God’s not the author of anything bad. Our God is a good God; the devil is a bad devil. There’s no goodness in the devil, and there’s no badness in God because God is totally good, and the devil is totally bad. Therefore, I will serve God. Can I hear a good amen, everybody?
All right. So that is a truth. But then life comes along and gives us all these things that make us wonder, and it’s okay to think this: then why, then why does God allow so much bad? Why is this going on? Here’s the thought that you have to keep in your heart. It was actually my very first thought, not only with the tragedies that took place this week, but every time it occurs. I always think of this verse, Romans 8:28, that we know that in all things — that means the bad things, the unexpected, the things you wish had gone another way — God will actually work it for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. And so, we remind ourselves of these truths as we think about the goodness of God.
Now, one of the things we’re doing in this series is that we’re not only discussing the verses and the theology of the goodness of God, but we actually had this thought: what would it look like if we showed how Jesus embodied it? Because if God is good, the Bible says that Christ is the visible, the earthly; he came to earth. He’s the visible image of our invisible God. So, if you want to know how good God is, all you have to do is look to Jesus. Each week we’re not only giving you a topic on the goodness of God, but we’re going to show you how Jesus was the perfect embodiment of it. What that does is give us an earthly example so that we can go live it out and experience it for ourselves.
Last week, Pastor Mark kicked it off with Jesus reigns, and today he gave me the topic of — boy, talk about a great week for this, only the Holy Spirit would know — and that is we’re talking today about how Jesus forgives. It’s particularly difficult to think about forgiveness when you want to be mad, angry, and want someone to pay for what’s happened, right? It’s hard to do that. I think it’s a beautiful thought that I’m asking you to lean into for a few minutes as we study God’s word.
Here’s what I know: you can not only learn it, but you can experience it today. What you need to know is there’s a quality of our God that makes him good; he forgives us. Forgiveness is the act of letting go. God lets go of the resentment and the demand for recompense for hurt or offense. In the Bible, it’s even described as canceling debt. He’ll take something you actually owed, and he’ll just forgive the debt. That’s a beautiful thing to think about. Before we even get into this topic, I want you to think about just how God’s canceled our debt. I think sometimes we can receive God’s forgiveness and salvation, thinking, «Well, Jesus has saved me.» But the truth is, we were supposed to pay for all of that.
Jesus stepped in and did something for us that we do not deserve. Say a good amen right there, church. It’s very healthy for us to remind ourselves of that — that we were dead. I had a death sentence. I’d already been convicted because of my crimes. I was already headed to a Christless hell. I was dead in my transgressions and sins. So were you, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, who is the spirit that is still at work. We’ve seen that the prince of the power of the air, the little g, the god of this age, the devil who’s been cast to earth is now at work in those who are disobedient.
All of us — everybody say all of us — that’s every single one of us. There’s none righteous, no, not one, Romans says. All of us lived among them, and at one time were gratifying our flesh, following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. I want you just to make sure you remind yourself of that from time to time: I’ve been given a beautiful, wonderful, undeserved gift called forgiveness. I was deserving of wrath, but because of his great love for us, God — and I love this phrase — who is rich in mercy. In one place in the Old Testament, it says that God delights to show mercy, which means it’s the best part of his day when he can let you off the hook. Everybody, he enjoys doing it. God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were supposed to receive a different penalty or destination, when we were dead in our transgressions. It is by grace.
Grace means getting something you did not deserve. That’s the definition of grace. For it is by grace that we have been saved. Isn’t that a beautiful verse? And I remind us of that. I remind us; I know we need to walk in our righteousness and our forgiveness, and we need to have confidence. And if Jesus has forgotten our sins, we don’t need to bring them up either. But it doesn’t hurt every once in a while just to say, you know what? I was headed to a different destination. And God, you completely saved me and changed my life. Come on, give Him praise if you believe that, everybody. Right? You do. But I also want to give you another part of the theology of forgiveness that is very important to understand, and that is He didn’t just forgive us of our sins, but He’s continuing to do it like it’s ongoing.
So that means that our sins are paid for by Jesus past, present, and future. First John chapter 1 says it this way: and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies-not purified past tense-but purifies ongoing, and He’s still doing it. Every thought, every action, everything in our heart that is wrong, or every action we take, He’s continuing to purify us from all sin. We call that the finished work of the cross. So, He’s doing it constantly. And I say that because I don’t want you to ever step into a place of guilt or shame. If you walked through the door today and you just feel like, man, I don’t-I’m not deserving of clapping. I shouldn’t even try. Oh, and you know what? What you did? Listen to me. He was-He’s continuing. If you’ve made Him the Lord of your life, He’s continuing to purify us from all sin in Jesus' name.
Now, all throughout the Gospels, Jesus, again, who embodies forgiveness, gave us examples of it. And one of the challenges that Pastor Mark and the creative team said, «Hey, let’s tell a Jesus story on the topic of the day,» which made me have to choose from so many that are in there. My mind first went to the restoration of the Apostle Peter. So, I don’t know if you know the story or not, but Peter was actually one of the closest disciples to Jesus, and on the night before Jesus would go to the cross, he had a very embarrassing moment. He had a moment where he abandoned his friend Jesus. I mean, during Jesus’s trial, he ran away. Wouldn’t you like to think that if you go through your toughest day, your closest friends will be there? And Peter wasn’t.
In fact, even when he was asked, «Do you know who that guy is?» he said no. And he didn’t just say no once; he said it three times. And I’m not talking about people who would have locked him up or beaten him; he couldn’t even tell a little girl, the Bible says, that he knew Jesus. He denied Jesus three times, and he knew he let his friend Jesus down. He knew he did that. So, after the cross of Jesus, I don’t know if you know the story or not, but before Jesus ascended into heaven, for 40 days after the resurrection, He just kind of showed up in His glorified body, popping in and out and showing up in places. And even Jesus, once said at His resurrection, «Hey, go tell the disciples and Peter» that He wanted to make sure that the person who felt bad about what he did knew he was still included in the relationship.
Jesus knew what he did and still forgave him. But the Bible says that Peter decided, «I’m out of ministry now. I messed up. I’m broken goods. I can’t do this.» And so he leaves the ministry. And of course, Jesus goes and finds him. He calls him back into it and says, «I want you to feed my sheep. I want you to feed my people. I want you to get back into this place with Me.» And then when Jesus and the Holy Spirit were selecting the very first person to preach the very first sermon of the very first early church, guess who He picks? Peter. Yeah. And that just shows the heart of our God. Look at me, everybody; He’ll give you a second chance. He’ll give you a third chance. He’ll give you a fourth chance. You need to receive the forgiveness of God. Amen.
But I didn’t pick that one. I actually thought about this one, too. I thought about the prodigal son. I’m getting to it. I’m going to tell y’all the ones I didn’t choose to teach you today, and I’m still going to teach you them. All right. So, because I thought about the prodigal son, too. What you would think, man, that’s probably one of the most beautiful stories of forgiveness. The parable that Jesus told in Luke chapter 15. You know the story where basically this son said to his dad, «I wish you were dead because if you were dead, I could get my inheritance now, and I kind of want the money now.» And the dad says, «Well, I’m not dead, but I’ll go ahead and give it to you now if that’s what you want.»
He broke tradition and gave the son his inheritance, only for that son to go spend it on prostitution and partying and basically gambling and drinking, and he messed up his whole life, squandered, the Bible says, all of the hard work of the dad-everything he had laid up for that son’s good. This prodigal just blew it all away, and he ends up in this pigpen. In the pigpen, the Bible says he came to his senses, and he just said, «I’m going to go back home to the father. Maybe he’ll hire me as a hired hand; I know he probably won’t receive me back as a son, but I bet he’d hire me because I know he needs the employees there.»
And so he goes back, and the Bible says — and I have this one on the screen for you — that while the prodigal who blew all the money was still a long way away, who, by the way, didn’t even have the chance to say, «I’m sorry» yet, the father wouldn’t have even known particularly if the son was ready to repent. But when the father saw him, he was filled with compassion for him. He ran to him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. And I say that to somebody here who feels like you’ve really let God down. That God’s posture already for you, before you even say the first word, is He sees you. He has compassion on you. He’ll run to you, throw His arms around you, and kiss you because God loves you.
Come on, somebody say amen right there. You have to know the heart of the father. That is how God-that is the goodness of God embodied in His Son, Jesus. And then you would think probably the greatest moment of forgiveness is neither one of those. It would be the moment, as Pastor Mark so vividly described last week, where Jesus hung on that cross, and nails were going into His hands and His feet and thorns in His head and stripes on His back and a spear in His side. And not only that, but the mocking and the spit just hanging off His face from how they would mistreat Jesus. We don’t talk about it, but He was hanging there naked; they would have shamed Him. Just all the horrors of the cross.
And you would think, man, if there’s ever a moment where we can maybe break the rule of forgiving, He demonstrates it when He looks down at all these people and makes an appeal to God the Father, basically saying, «Daddy, don’t be mad at them. I know they mistreated Your Son. Don’t be mad at them. Forgive them. They don’t even really know what they’re doing.» How do you say that? What a God we serve. What a God we serve. But I settled on one for a particular reason for you guys today. Aren’t you glad I finally got there, everybody? Right. And that is, I went straight to — I thought about the woman caught in the act of adultery.
And it’s in John chapter 8. And here’s how the story goes: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in the act of adultery. I don’t know why the man wasn’t brought, but that’s just a side note. Because, last time I checked, it takes two to tango, right? But they made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, «This woman was caught in the act of adultery, and in the law of Moses, it’s commanded that we are supposed to stone such women.»
And they said, «Now, what do you say about this?» They were saying this to trap Him; it was a question to trap Jesus in order to have a basis for accusing Him. Because basically, that would have been a lose-lose situation. If they said, «Well, then yeah, follow the law and stone her,» well, then Jesus is complicit in the stoning of a woman. And if He says, «No, don’t stone her,» well, now He’s complicit in breaking the law of not following the law. But the Bible says that Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger.
Notice he did not answer. By the way, can I just make a statement? You don’t always have to answer the questions of the world the moment they are asked. And we, yeah, I’m just-so Jesus didn’t answer. He doodled in the dirt. Some of you would find that your life would be a whole lot better if you just slowed down a little bit before you respond. So, if you’re new to the Bible, that means think on this for a little while. That’s what that Hebrew word means. He doodled in the dirt. And when they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them this famous line that even people who aren’t followers of Christ know: «Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to cast the stone.»
And then he stooped down in the dirt again and started doodling again. The next line is pretty interesting to me. And you all know me; I can see humor. I see humor in Scripture because it says he doodled the second time in the dirt. And at this, those who heard or saw this began to go away one at a time, starting with the oldest to the youngest. We don’t know. Scholars have debated for years about what he was doodling that made them go away one at a time. I have a theory, and that is that he was writing the names of their mistresses: Cindy, Sally, you know, I don’t know. But it’s a good theory, right? Until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there.
Now notice she still hadn’t said, «I’m sorry,» or, «Oh, I’m so embarrassed.» Nothing. She hadn’t said anything. And Jesus straightened up and asked her, «Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?» And she replied, «No, because you ran them all off.» No one. You have to know this line because it shows the immense forgiveness and love of God. I think someone in one of our rooms today might need to hear this: «Neither do I condemn you.» In other words, I’m not going to let this be the most condemning thing that ever happened to you. This is not the end of your life. He gave her grace. He didn’t leave her there.
By the way, some people read that and say, «Oh, God will just let you off the hook.» No, no, no. He gave her grace and then he gave her truth: «Now go, leave your life of sin.» He led her into both because God has a wonderful destiny and restoration for our lives. I thought about all the lessons we could learn from this story. There are three I want to focus on as they relate to the forgiveness of God. The first is that the forgiveness of Jesus comes at our worst moments.
Let me say it this way: He was offering it before she even asked for it. He was already in the middle of her worst day, giving her something she hadn’t even asked for yet. Are you all seeing that, everybody? And I say this to you: God’s not over in a corner in some holy space waiting for you to crawl back to him on hands and knees begging for his forgiveness. No, he’s looking for you in the middle of your worst moments and is ready to step in and say, «If you’ll step toward me, I do not condemn you. You can leave your life of sin.» He’s already there. That’s what I want you to see.
The second thing I’d love for you to see in this story is that the forgiveness of Jesus doesn’t ignore justice; it shifts it. He actually did follow the law because he knew the stones they were getting ready to throw would be the stones that would actually end up on Jesus’s body while he hung on the cross. He was going to take the penalty for what she did. So he doesn’t ignore truth. He shifts the justice to himself. He’s ready to take the blame for everything you did. He shifts it to himself. And by the way, it was paid for. Somebody got stoned; it was actually Jesus on that cross. Are you following me, everybody?
And then the last thing I just thought in this story is that the forgiveness of Jesus removes not only the past, but it restores the future. He wasn’t just focused on what she did; he was focused on who she could still become. That’s good. Let me say it this way: you can’t go too far to not only receive the forgiveness of God but also have your life completely turned around, where God uses you again. Come on, give Him praise together, everybody. It’s just a beautiful thing, and I think somebody needs to hear all of this. In fact, let me say it to you on behalf of the One who loves you deeply. Look into my eyes. He doesn’t condemn you. You can go and leave your life of sin. And I truly believe somebody needs to hear that.
So what do we do with this? What do we do with the goodness of God expressed to us through Jesus in that kind of way? What should be our response? Let me offer three things for you today. Number one: receive it. And I say this for every person who has a hard time receiving it. Some of you have so self-condemned yourselves. You think about your mistakes over and over and over again, and you are not in conviction; that’s what the Holy Spirit does. You’re in condemnation. And, by the way, modern psychology has already affirmed what Scripture teaches about this: that guilt and shame will produce something. It produces you withdrawing from family, friends, and God. It produces self-punishment. You live a life of shame and you don’t like yourself.
On the other hand, when you receive the grace of God, again, psychology has proven this: when you receive the grace, love, and forgiveness of God, it produces gratitude, intimacy, and generosity. You’re a brand new person when you can receive this. And then I thought about, «Well then God, if I were to lead our church into something that will help them receive it, what would that be?» I’m going to offer something that almost sounds counterintuitive, or it’s actually the opposite of what you should do, because I was thinking about the Lord’s Prayer. I love prayer models; you guys know that. I’ve written prayer books, and I love prayer plans and prayer models.
One of my favorite prayers to pray is not the prayer itself but the phrases of the Lord’s Prayer. One of the phrases is " forgive us.» To which you’ve got to think: if He’s already forgiven you of all your sins, why do we need to say that? Why would we ask God to forgive us if He already has? And I was thinking, «Lord, why do you want us to daily say, 'forgive us' for something again that You' ve already done?» And I feel like I have an answer for you that’s going to help some of you walk in this and receive the forgiveness of God. We ask God to forgive us not because He hasn’t, but so we can remember that He actually has.
What if every day you have a time with God? And when you get to this part, «forgive us our trespasses,» you say, «And I want to thank You that all my sin, past, present, and future, has been paid for by the precious blood of Jesus.» I think it will actually draw you so close to Him and allow you to receive His love and forgiveness in your life. Amen, everybody? Are you understanding that? I want you to try that. When you pray and spend time with God, not only ask Him to do it, but thank Him that He already has. Because here’s what I know: the more you can receive this, the more you’ll fall in love with Him. And the more you fall in love with Him, the easier and better He is to follow. It’s so important that you have the right view of God. Your view of God determines your relationship with God. I want you to see Him as a loving Father.
I’ll tell you this quick little story. Years ago, when Tammy and I had our kids, they were very, very little. We had just had our fifth, and it felt like a lot. Five kids is a lot, you know? And when they’re in that range-come on, parents-in that 7, 8, and 10-year-old phase, oh, it’s just a lot. There’s always something, right? I’m kind of conditioned to that. Tammy’s way more gracious than I am. I’m a little bit more, «Okay, what did they do today?»
You know, that kind of thing. I came home, and we had a beautiful bed that had a tall wooden headboard and a smaller wooden footboard. When I came in and took my sport coat off, I threw it across the footboard. As I was undressing from work, I noticed that one of the knobs on the footboard was now smaller than the other knob, and there were wood shavings on the floor. One of the kids had gotten a knife and decided to carve on the knob. It was significantly smaller than the other one. My blood was boiling in my head, just like, «Oh my goodness.» And I knew who it was. Parents, come on. Where y’all at?
I won’t tell you which one so he can protect his anonymity, but it’s David. Okay, it’s David. I know it’s David. So, I had a way of getting the kids to respond; if I whistled real loud, they would all come in like the Von Trapp family. They lined up, " Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. " And they’re all, and I’m talking to all five, but I’m really only talking to one. Who’s been whittling on the bed? I said to David. And my sweetest child in our family, the most gentle, the kindest, the funniest, the nicest, who never did anything wrong, Jonathan goes, and he immediately confesses to doing this. And he did so with a little sheepish smile on his face.
«Daddy, I did it.» The way he did that, y’all, I was biting my cheeks trying not to laugh, you know, because of how he came to me about it and why. And the question is, why did he have the confidence not only to do it immediately, but also so honestly and transparently? You know why? Because he had confidence in his father. I went, «Well, bro, why did you do that?» And now I’m smiling; I’m not mad anymore. «Why did you do that to my bed?» And of course, parents, you know exactly what he said. «I don’t know.» I said, «Well, don’t do that again.» «Yes, sir.» And he went off and played. That day taught me something: that I always wanted to have a relationship with my kids in which they could immediately say, «Daddy, I did this. I know it was wrong, but I also know you, and I know you’re still going to love me. I’m not going to get kicked out of the family.»
Come on, somebody needs to hear this today. You need to receive the forgiveness of our God. Everybody, you need to receive it. That’s the way He loves you. Secondly, we’ve taught you a ton. I won’t spend a lot of time on it, but we also need to release this forgiveness to others. I always say that you actually cannot do it until you’ve received it yourself. But once you’ve received it, it is important for you to be a forgiver. I say this in the middle of a culture that has about lost its mind. Okay? We need to get the anger out of our hearts, and we need to get the hatred out of our hearts. If you have it in your heart, if you’re mad and angry at somebody — even if they deserve it — it’s going to kill you long before it kills them.
That’s just a fact. Unforgiveness is a stopper of everything beautiful. Everything. Un-everything. And we think we’re punishing them. You’re not punishing them; you’re punishing yourself. If you’re carrying something around about a family member or somebody in culture — the opposing party of whatever your party is -we’re picking sides these days, and we build all this stuff in our hearts. You think you’re punishing them by holding that against them. I heard someone say unforgiveness is like setting yourself on fire and hoping your enemy dies from smoke inhalation. You' re not hurting them; you’re hurting you. Right? And when we forgive, it does more for us than it does for them. So, what do we do? Here’s a thought: Follow the Bible that says, I don’t know when we' ll learn to live like this and treat people like this, but we need to get rid of bitterness and rage.
What an appropriate verse for this week: anger, brawling, slander, and every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other. How? Because He did it for you. In fact, let me go so far as to say it this way: You’ll never have to forgive somebody more than what Jesus forgave you. How about that thought? And here I am, holding onto resentment and hatred. It just can’t be. Therefore, here’s another one: as God’s chosen people, that’s who you are, Highlands. I’m giving you your marching orders for this coming week and really for the rest of your life. You’re holy and dearly loved by God. Hey, clothe yourselves.
You know what «clothe yourself» means? Put it on. It isn’t on you right now. You have a choice. This is not a feeling; this is a choice. Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other. I don’t want to. Too bad. Put it on. Clothe yourself with it. I’ve just decided I’m not going to get mad. That’s what I’ve decided. Bear with each other and forgive one another for any grievance you have against someone. Chris, you’re asking too much. No, I’m not, because it’s already happened to you. Jesus already did this for you.
C.S. Lewis said it beautifully: to be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in me. This is what we do. This is so good. And by the way, I don’t have time to tell the whole story, but I thought about another forgiveness story. This one is about the woman, the prostitute, who had the alabaster jar of perfume pouring it over Jesus' feet. The Pharisees were mocking this whole situation, asking if He even knows who is doing that to Him right now. He was the judgmental Pharisee. And Jesus said this: Think about this. Two debts. One was just a few dollars; one was billions of dollars. Both are canceled. Which one of those two do you think is the most grateful? And the answer, of course, was the one who owed the most.
Jesus said, «That’s all of us.» Then He goes on to say this: He who has been forgiven little loves little. So, if you find yourself loving little, it’s because you have forgotten. You think you’ve only been forgiven little. But he who has been forgiven much loves much. And I’m calling on all of us to embody that, to release that to the world around us. I wrote a book this summer that’s going to come out in April. It’s my «old age» book. I’m not old, but I’m 62. I said I’m going to write my life principles book. The ones that I’ve learned. Every chapter is self-contained; you can pick any chapter. You don’t have to read it through. It’s 30 principles, my life principles. On a whim, as I was writing these, I summarized one of the chapters.
I was in chapter twenty-something, and I had a hunch to write the principle over again at the end of the chapter in letter form to my grandkids. I wrote the principle, and it just said, «Dear Grandkids,» and then I conveyed it in an endearing way, almost like a deathbed way, but I’m not dying, okay? You know, but I was in that frame of mind. Like, when I’m gone, I want you to remember this. So, I ran down and said, «Tim, Tim, Tim-Tam, read this. What do you think about this?» I came back three minutes later, and she was sobbing on the couch like, «Yes.» It worked!
So, I went back and summarized every chapter in letter form. I’m calling the book «Legacy Letters: Timeless Principles I’ve Learned, Lived, and Leave Behind.» Chapter twenty-something is the «Second Chance Principle,» and here’s how it goes: Give people a second chance; you never know when you’re going to need one, too. I’m just asking the world: can we be a bit more gracious? Can we be a bit more loving? Can we imagine treating people the way Jesus treats us? I’ve got to close. Here’s the last one. Are y’all getting anything out of this today?
Okay. Number three: once you receive it and then release it, go represent it to the world publicly. Let me say it this way: the hope of this series is not for you to go home and say, «Ooh, isn’t God good?» The hope of this series is for you to experience the goodness of God so you can show that goodness to the world around us.
I will close with a heartbreaking story because that is where my mind went this week. I was reminded of June 17, 2015, when a 21-year-old gunman went into Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and murdered nine people in the middle of a Wednesday night Bible study. I remember it vividly. They caught him the next day, and then two days later, within 48 hours, there was a bond hearing where he was on video, and the families of the victims were there to confront this killer. They shocked the world because the daughter of victim Ethel Lance looked directly into the camera and said, «I forgive you.» Two days later, not a year later, two days later, the mother of Taiwanza Sanders said, «Every fiber in my body hurts and I’ll never be the same, but may God grant you mercy.»
Reverend Anthony Thompson, the husband of Myra Thompson, told the gunman, «I forgive you. Give your life to Jesus Christ. That’s what really matters.» Can you imagine? One pastor later reflected that their forgiveness was an extension of who they already are; it was just part of them. I thought that’s my hope. My hope is that we don’t just believe this, learn this, or know this, but we become this. When tragedy happens, we represent this to the world around us. President Barack Obama, the president at that time, said their forgiveness is an expression of faith that he called unimaginable. He couldn’t believe it. May this be our lives as well. In fact, let me close by saying this: we’re not just supposed to experience the goodness of God. God’s forgiveness was never meant to stop with us; it was always meant to flow through us. So church, go show people the goodness of Almighty God. Come on, give God praise together, everybody.
So, Father, let us not just learn this in our heads, but let us believe this in our hearts. You have already shown it to us, and we have multiple stories of how you embodied it throughout the Gospels. Change us, I pray, God. We want to look like you. We want to act like you. We want to treat people as you would. God, may the courage of the people in the story I just told happen in the hearts of the people at Church of the Highlands.
With your heads bowed and your eyes closed, if you’re here today and you feel far from God but now feel drawn to Him, maybe you’re a Christian, maybe you’re not, but you’re ready to be forgiven. Some of you in this room need to be forgiven. You need to walk out of here free, clean, and pure because you have received the forgiveness of Almighty God. You’re ready to make Him the Lord of your life. I’m not going to call you to the front or make you stand up, but at all of our locations, if you’re ready to receive the forgiveness of God today, without hesitation, would you put your hand in the air as high as you can and say, «Count me in on this prayer?» Lift it high. Good. Good. Good. Good. All over this room. Yes. Yes. Just lift it high. Just lift it high. Just say, «I’m ready. I’m ready. I’m ready.» Thank you. Thank you. Just literally all over the room. God bless you today, way at the top. God bless you today. Thank you. Slip those hands down. Just whisper this prayer right now where you are. Say:
Jesus, thank you for taking my penalty, and I receive the cancelling of the debts I incurred. Would you be the Lord of my life? I surrender my life completely to you because you are the Son of God. You rose from the dead, and I put my faith in you. Thank you for loving me, and thank you for saving me. In your name, I pray. Amen.