February 2016

February 28 2016

“Lord, Teach us to Pray: Daily Bread” by Rev Cody Sandahl – February 28, 2016

codysandahl Sermons Littleton, sermon

Sermons

"Lord, Teach us to Pray: Daily Bread" by Rev Cody Sandahl - February 28, 2016

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Introduction

We are still in our series looking at the Lord’s Prayer. Last week Pastor Carol asked us what kind of Christians we want to be as we looked at “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This week we are continuing with “give us this day our daily bread.” Listen to how far we’ve made it in Jesus’ prayer from Matthew 6.

Matthew 6:9-11

⁹“Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. ¹⁰Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.¹¹Give us this day our daily bread.

THIS Day

Where do you do your grocery shopping? Are you a corner store person? Do you prefer King Sooper’s or Safeway or Trader Joe’s? Do you prefer a more all-in-one store like Target or Walmart? Or maybe you’re a bulk buyer – stocking up at Costco or Sam’s Club? Where do you do your grocery shopping?

And how often do you go grocery shopping? Are you the every day shopper or do you try to get everything for the whole week?

This prayer from Jesus is recorded in both the Gospel of Matthew, which we just read, and the Gospel of Luke. And they’re almost the same but there are some differences. One difference is that in Matthew we pray “give us THIS day our daily bread,” and in Luke we pray, “give us EACH day our daily bread.” A subtle difference.

My pastor friend and I were looking at this text, and he commented that these were different ways of shopping with God. If you pray for THIS day, that’s being a daily shopper, because tomorrow isn’t THIS day until after midnight. But if you pray for EACH day, that’s making a Costco run. You can store up several days’ worth of God’s daily bread if you pray for EACH day.

When we say the Lord’s Prayer today, which one do we say? THIS day. So sorry if you’re a pantry stocking grocery shopper, it seems that daily shopping with God won out.

Manna

And nowhere is this more clearly illustrated than with our first text today from Exodus. The Israelites are hungry in the wilderness, so God sends them this strange substance they call “manna,” and the closest analog in English would be a “whatchamacallit.” Highly technical and scientific name.

But did you catch God’s instructions to them? Gather what you need – no more, no less. Those who tried to Costco it up and stock their pantries? It was bad by the next day. Those who tried to leave some on the ground, worried that more wouldn’t come? It bread worms and stank. Those who thought God was kidding about resting on the Sabbath, so they thought more manna would come? They went hungry that day. God prevented them from having more than they needed or less than they needed for THIS day, or on the Sabbath THIS day and God’s commanded day of rest. No more, no less.

Or if you look at the Proverb from our call to worship, it hits on this, too. “Give me each day what I need. For if I have too much I might forget you are the one who provides. Or if I do not have enough, I might become hungry and turn to stealing and thus dishonor the good name of my God.”

So one of the main ideas in this prayer is to remain connected with God – THIS day – EVERY day – because God is the one who provides everything we have.

But this can be hard for us. Most Americans – not all – but most can stock up the pantry with food. Most – not all – but most of us can just run to the store or to a restaurant if we’re low on food. We don’t NEED to pray for THIS day’s daily bread, because King Sooper’s has us covered.

I know someone who went on a mission trip to Africa, and in the village they had a small granary to store their food between harvests. And this person asked one of the villagers, “What do you do when this runs out?” They stared back very confused. So this person went over and pointed to the bottom of the granary, “When the food reaches this point, where do you go? What’s your backup plan? What do you do?” Still confused, they replied, “We starve.”

Most of us – not all – but most of us don’t strictly NEED to pray for daily bread, because there are a plethora of backup plans. We don’t need our daily manna, because we have Trader Joe’s. Our granary isn’t going to run out. Praise be to God for that, but, as the Proverb warned, it also disconnects us from that rhythm of connecting with God THIS day.

Daily Necessities

So if we’re so blessed that we don’t have to literally pray for our daily bread, what else is covered here? Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that “daily bread…covers the entire sphere of the necessities of physical life.” It’s anything you need to survive THIS day.

There have been times in my life where I needed patience to survive this day. Sometimes I have needed hope to survive this day. Sometimes I have needed trust to survive this day. What do you need to survive THIS day?

Or expand that a bit. If you picked up one of our Joys and Concerns lists at the entrances to the building, you’d see a list of what other people need to survive THIS day. Some need strength to deal with chemo. Some need peace in a storm. Some need the doctors to finally figure it out. Some are celebrating where God has already provided. “Give us this day, our daily bread.”

Interestingly, I know people who struggle to pray for others, because they’re so focused on their own needs. And I know other people who struggle to pray for themselves, because, “God can’t be bothered with my tiny things.” If you’re praying for yourself but not others, remember that Jesus says, “give US this day OUR daily bread” – it’s a communal prayer. But if you pray for others but not yourself, remember that Jesus cares about even the bread we eat – he’s asking you to pray for it even if it seems small. And if you’re not praying at all, well, THIS day sounds like a great day to start being a daily shopper.

Getting to Bread Too Soon

So to recap, when Jesus says, “give us this day our daily bread,” he’s encouraging us to be daily shoppers with God, don’t do a Costco run with God and just pray once in a while. And he’s encouraging us to pray for all the little things we need in life to survive THIS day. That prayer covers our personal needs and other people’s. So how are you going to pray THIS day? And how will you pray when tomorrow becomes THIS day? And when Tuesday is THIS day? [LONG PAUSE]

But there is a danger in this prayer, too. As NT Wright said, “The danger with the prayer for bread is that we get there too soon.” Let me say that again, “The danger with the prayer for bread is that we get there too soon.”

Notice where this is in the prayer. Does it come first? No. It’s in the middle. It comes AFTER “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” All of that other stuff is supposed to be prayed first.

Think back on some of your recent prayers. How did they start? I know I often launch right into my daily bread, “Holy God, please help me by…” “Heavenly Father, I’m in desperate need of…” “Holy Spirit, please reveal to me…” How do your prayers start?

I believe Jesus intentionally placed the prayer for bread right in the middle. I’m a big Downton Abbey fan, and Mr. Barrow is always looking out for himself. So whenever he’s nice to someone, everyone wonders what he’s after. Do you know anyone who’s always trying to get something for themselves? Do you have a friend or family member who only calls when they need something? Or maybe a kid in college who the only time they call is when they need more money?

If we always launch right into our daily bread prayer – our wish list prayer – aren’t we being Mr. Barrow to God? Aren’t we being that me-first friend or family member to God? Aren’t we being the kind of person whose phone calls we want to dodge?

Don’t get to bread too soon. We start with Our Father and reinforce our close relationship with God. Then we remember God’s power and might as we hallow God’s name. Then we pray for God’s will, not my will, God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Only THEN do we get to our daily bread.

So are your prayers jumping to bread too soon? Mine often do. I need to reinforce my relationship with God, to remember God’s power and might, to pray for God’s will first before I ask for my daily bread.

Prayer Walk

Next week we’re organizing a way for us to reinforce our relationship with God, to remember God’s power and might, to pray for God’s will, and then to ask for daily bread for our neighbors. Next Sunday, we’re inviting everyone who is able to set aside 20-30 minutes to walk one of the blocks around our church and pray for the businesses, organizations, houses, apartments, and whatever else you see. Some groups have already said they’re going to pray for some blocks together as a group, but there’s no need to sign up. I’d love to know if you or your group plan to walk a block and pray so I can celebrate with you, but you can just do it on your own next Sunday. I’m doing the West #2 block so I can pray for Charlie’s preschool – you’re welcome to join me.

There’s a map taped to the outside of the office and a few sample handouts. So I’m going to print up handouts for each of those blocks with some prayer ideas. If you walk the block across the street, pray for the success of Romano’s and thank God for our partnership with them. When you walk by the eye care business, pray for everyone who has trouble seeing. If you walk by the car repair shop, pray for everyone who has difficulty with transportation. If you walk the block with the preschool, pray for the parents and teachers and especially the kids at the preschool who have developmental delays. If you walk the block with the rec center, pray for the health of our city. You get the idea.

Most importantly, we’re not handing anything out. We’re not promoting any church event. This isn’t about getting people from the community to join us. This is about changing how we see our neighborhood. This is about changing how we pray. This is about growing our hearts toward those around us. This is about orienting ourselves and hopefully our church around being FOR others, not about what’s in it for US.

So I encourage you and invite you to invest in your prayer life, invest in your heart, invest in your compassion for our neighbors by walking a block next Sunday and invite any groups from the church that you’re in to join you. If you can’t walk, maybe drive it slowly once and then park on the street somewhere by the block and pray for what you saw. Pray for THEIR relationship with God. Pray for THEM to know the power and might of God. Pray for THEIR daily bread. Our hearts will change by praying for them.

Summary

Sisters and brothers, Jesus encourages us to pray daily, not just a once-a-week Costco run. And he encourages us to pray even for the small things, whatever we need to survive THIS day. And he encourages us to pray for those small things for others, too. But he also placed this prayer for daily bread in the middle for a reason. So how will you start your prayers this week, and what daily bread is needed THIS day? Amen.

February 14 2016

“Lord, Teach Us How to Pray: Our Father” by Rev Cody Sandahl – February 14, 2016

codysandahl Sermons Littleton, sermon

Sermons

"Lord, Teach Us How to Pray: Our Father" by Rev Cody Sandahl - February 14, 2016

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Introduction

We kicked off Lent this past Wednesday, and from now until Easter we are going to be diving deeply into the Lord’s Prayer as a way to prepare our hearts for Holy Week and Easter. To frame this sermon series, pick someone close to you. Maybe it’s your spouse. Maybe it’s a parent or another family member. Maybe it’s a close friend or mentor. Got it?

OK, for me I’m picking my wife, Becca. So how do you think it would affect our relationship if I got home after the worship services today and said this to her, “Greetings and salutations! I must say that the aromas wafting off the midday supper are truly congenial.” Do you think speaking that way would affect our relationship? What about for you and the person you just picked in your mind? Would such formal and stilted language affect that relationship in some way?

How we talk affects our relationships with each other. So this series is about peeling back the cover on our conversations with God. Are there areas where we could use some new vocabulary? Are there areas where we could use some new tone? Are there areas where we need to put the emphAsis on the right syllAble?

These are all questions that Jesus’ disciples wanted to know. After all, Jesus spoke to and about God in ways that were completely foreign at the time. They wanted to know how much of that just applied to Jesus and how much applied to them.

Matthew 6:5-14

⁵“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.⁶But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ⁷ “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹“Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. ¹⁰Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.¹¹Give us this day our daily bread. ¹²And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. ¹⁴For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

Hallowed?

I may be from Texas, but I did grow up skiing in New Mexico and Colorado. And I believe we were skiing Breckinridge one particular year when I was little. My mom and I were riding the chair lift together up the mountain. We slid up to the line, crouched down, and rode the lift halfway up the mountain. Now I emphasize the word “halfway” here because that’s where we stopped – at one of those spots where you’re really high above the ground.

And, well, “stopped” is really the wrong word, because it implies a lack of motion. We were surely not moving forward anymore, but there was a LOT of movement side to side in the wind-whipped snow storm that abruptly arrived, pinning us to the lift until conditions were safe to resume.

Now my mom is a bit of a worrier, and that gets kicked into overdrive when it has to do with the weather. If there’s even a remote chance of danger to her children, well, you can just forget it. So here we are, spraying about in the wind with nothing but a bar of steel between us and the now invisible mountain below. And being the young, impressionable boy that I was, I listened intently to my mom’s repeated and rapid recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. But I had a deep theological question suspended as we were above the mountain. “Mom,” I asked, “why is God named Howard?”

Our Father, who art in heaven, Howard be thy name?

And thus began my fascination with the word, “hallowed.” It’s not exactly a common word anymore, except in the month of October when we celebrate “Halloween.” That’s a shortening of all-hallow-even. Now a hallow is a saint, someone set apart and holy, so all-hallow-even means All Saints Eve. So to hallow something is to make it holy, special, set apart, like a saint. If you’re wondering where dressing up in ghostly costumes fits in to “hallowing,” you’re going to have to go elsewhere – I’m baffled on that one, too. I think it’s a conspiracy by the costume stores.

So how exactly do we “hallow” something or someone?

Samuel and Hannah

One of the most direct examples of this hallowing, this setting apart, comes from 1 Samuel 1. Hannah was barren for many years – so long, in fact, that she was routinely taunted by the other women around her.

One day she went to the Tabernacle, despondent, and “she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.”

Give me a son, and “he will be yours for his entire lifetime.” Her very son will be dedicated to God. His life will hallow God’s name. And she even makes it public – people will KNOW he’s dedicated to God by his hair.

So hallowing God’s name involves dedicating some part of our lives to him AND making it visible somehow. That visible component is key. A secret dedication to God is good, but it’s not hallowing unless there’s some way for other people to notice. Now of course Jesus cautions against being an attention-seeking hypocrite in prayer, and he cautions against lots of public flowery language, so it’s obviously possible to move from hallowing to self-aggrandizing. There’s a difference between hallow and spectacle.

Jesus Hallowed God’s Name (John 17)

Since Jesus is the one telling us to hallow God’s name, let’s see how he hallowed God’s name. How did Jesus strike that balance between public witness to God and public attention-seeking? The first text we read from John 17 is a prayer Jesus says, and in it he lists what he’s done.

V1 – “glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.” Just like Hannah and Samuel, if you have been blessed by God with a gift, how can you use it to point to God? Does your job provide a platform? Do you have financial blessings? Have you experienced miraculous healing physically, emotionally, mentally? Jesus gets at this one again in v7: “Now they know that everything you have given me is from you.” Do people know that about you?

Jesus continues in v3: “this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Part of hallowing God’s name involves getting to know God better. Is there some way God wants you to invest in knowing him better? Maybe one of our Bible studies, or the Lenten devotional we have at the entrances, or emulating Christ through service?

Finally v4 – “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.” We talked a few weeks ago about having a mission from God, and it doesn’t have to be some huge earth-shattering thing. Does God want to use you in some way to support another, to bless another, to help transform another? Does God want to send you somewhere OR use you where you are?

Jesus shows us three ways that he hallowed God’s name – #1 by redirecting our blessings to the source. Let people know you’re blessed by God, not yourself or chance. #2 by knowing who God is. And #3 by doing the work God commanded.

Are there any blessings you can use to point to God as the source? Are there any ways you can know God better? Is there any work God is sending you to do? Those are ways of hallowing God’s name.

Earthly vs Heavenly Father

All right, that’s hallowing, but I kind of skipped the first part – “Our Father.” Let’s back up to that.

This one is tough for some people. I know people who have been abused by their earthly fathers. I know people who have been abandoned by their earthly fathers. I know people who have been taken advantage of in every way imaginable by either their fathers or other men. Talking about God as Father is less than helpful for them. In fact, it can bring back many of those raw, painful, atrocious memories.

In light of that, for a while I started very intentionally trying to talk about God as God instead of God as He or Father. I’m following where God leads, not where He leads. It gets a little funky with English, though, given how many pronouns we use. Going back to that language question I asked at the start, what if I talked about Becca by saying things like, “When I was getting ready to propose to Becca I was worried that Becca would say no. Becca would probably say yes, of course, given my relationship with Becca up to that point. And being in Becca’s hometown in one of Becca’s favorite state parks would certainly appeal to Becca.” That just sounds weird, doesn’t it? But that’s what you have to do in English to avoid gender-specific pronouns like “he” or “she,” and “it” just doesn’t work at all.

I found that my change in language was affecting my relationship with God. Instead of being close with my heavenly Father, I felt distant from God. It didn’t work for me. So I still try to use God whenever possible – I changed from starting my prayers, “Heavenly Father” to using “Holy God.” But you’ll also hear “he’s” and “him’s” and “his’s” from me as well. That language helps me remain connected to God as a person, not just an idea.

And so to my friends who have such a negative association with the word Father, or with men, my response now is to encourage them not to let their earthly father ruin their relationship with their Heavenly Father. There are other ways of referring to God, of course, but be cautious about that impersonal language. Don’t let it turn God into an idea instead of a person.

Ideally some day there’s enough healing and transformation within their souls that they can let God define what it means to be Father instead of letting a terrible earthly father set that definition, but I won’t pretend that I know what it takes to make that switch. I just pray for that on their behalf.

In the meantime, for all of us, how we think about God and how we talk to God affects our relationship with God. You don’t have to use the word “father” for God, and you don’t have to use gender-specific pronouns for God. But check your spirit – is God a person to you or an idea? When Jesus says, “Our Father,” he’s praying to a person.

Summary

Sisters and brothers, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray because how we converse WITH and ABOUT God affects our relationship with God. “Our Father” is a person, not an idea. And we can “hallow God’s name” by pointing our blessings to the source, by increasing in our knowledge of God, and by doing what God commands.

Does anything in your conversations with God need to shift as a result? Amen.

February 7 2016

“Hard Sayings of Jesus: Infinite Forgiveness” by Rev Cody Sandahl – February 7, 2016

codysandahl Sermons Littleton, sermon

Sermons

"Hard Sayings of Jesus: Infinite Forgiveness" by Rev Cody Sandahl - February 7, 2016

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Introduction

We are still in our series looking at some of the hard sayings of Jesus. Last week we looked at our need to both empty and fill. Empty out whatever separates us from God and then fill that replace it with the Spirit of Christ.

This week our text is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s provision. I plan out our sermon series and Scriptures a few months in advance, and I had scheduled this week to talk about Jesus saying, “let the dead bury their own dead.” But I was thinking about changing this week’s text because several people in our church had asked me to talk about praying for our enemies. Then I looked at the schedule I created and actually I had put in the wrong text. Instead of “let the dead bury their own dead,” I accidentally put in this text about forgiveness and our first reading today – praying for your enemies. I guess the Holy Spirit knows more than I do.

So hear what the Spirit wanted preached today, not what I had planned.

Matthew 18:18-22

¹⁸Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

²¹Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” ²²Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

Infinite Forgiveness

Two brothers were about to go to bed when something happened. Somehow Harry hit James with a stick, which resulted in tears, bitter words, and charges and accusations. As their mother got them ready for bed, she told James, “Before you go to bed tonight you’re going to have to forgive your brother.” James contemplated this and replied, “Well OK, I’ll forgive him tonight, but if I don’t die in the night, he’d better look out in the morning!”

Another set of brothers got into a fight – I don’t know why it’s always brothers in these stories, but I can certainly attest to the frequency of brotherly brouhahas. Their dad was debriefing the chain of events that resulted – nay COMPELLED them to hit each other. The older one said, “Well he hit me first.” “And what did you do?” “I did what Jesus said and turned the other cheek.” Surprised, the father said, “OK – that’s great – but how did you wind up in the fight later?” “Oh that’s easy. He hit me again and I didn’t have any more cheeks to turn.”

These might sound silly, but they’re basically the same questions that Peter has for Jesus. He’s asking what we should do when we have a fight. But before we laugh at Peter for his question, consider this. The standard teaching in Judaism at the time was that forgiving three times constituted a generous heart. Peter, after hanging out with Jesus, is willing to grant more than DOUBLE the culture’s answer to the question. That’s pretty good!

Have you ever asked, “how many times do I have to keep forgiving?” Have you ever asked, “how can I ever forgive this person?” Have you ever asked, “how can I ever forgive myself?” [LONG PAUSE]

I bet Peter was expecting a pat on the back for his show of generosity. But instead Jesus replies, “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” So going back to the second set of brothers, does that mean we have to keep one of those clickers they have at concerts to count how many people come through the door, and once the clicker hits seventy-eight we can stop turning our cheeks? That’s our signal to let the fists fly?

Now that sounds like a big number, right? Some translations have Jesus saying, seventy times seven – that’s 490. That’s an even bigger number. But I guarantee you my brother and I fought more than 490 times. I guarantee you that most of the married couples in this room have had more than 490 times they needed to grant or receive forgiveness. It’s a big number, but it’s a number we can reach with the people who are closest with us. So is Jesus saying, “forgive strangers all the time, but you don’t have to forgive your family and friends after a few years?”

Have you ever thought, “I used to be able to forgive them, but now there’s too much water under the bridge?” Have you ever reached your limit? Even if it’s a big number, have you ever reached it?

The great scholar and theologian Bruce Metzger said of numbers like this in the Bible that, “they don’t mean what they say, they mean what they mean.” In other words, the point isn’t literally forgiving someone 77 times, or even 490 times. The point is that Jesus is commanding infinite forgiveness. The Jewish culture said you were off the hook after three times. Jesus says you’re never off the hook. Never. Never. That’s a hard saying of Jesus.

Is It Possible?

But it’s also a hopeful saying of Jesus. Because Jesus wouldn’t command infinite forgiveness if he didn’t also make each and every one of us with the ability to forgive. Think about that – Jesus made you, made me, made all of us with the capacity for infinite forgiveness. He doesn’t say forgiveness has to happen immediately, just that it has to happen.

But why is Jesus commanding infinite forgiveness? There is a story about Leonardo da Vinci that when he was in the midst of painting The Last Supper, he was about to paint the face of Jesus. But earlier that day he had a confrontation with another man and he was so furious he physically threatened the other guy. Still fuming, he returned to his studio and resumed painting. But every time he tried to paint the Savior’s face, the brush strokes wouldn’t come. Finally da Vinci realized the problem. He put down his brush, sought out the man he had threatened, and asked for forgiveness. Then the brush strokes came freely. His anger prevented him from knowing the face of Christ. His lack of forgiveness prevented him from painting the face of Christ. His need to receive forgiveness separated him from the face of Christ.

That’s our problem, too. That’s why Jesus commands infinite forgiveness. Because a lack of forgiveness within our hearts separates us from the face of Christ. Our unforgiving hearts can’t stand to be in the presence of the One who forgave us all our sins.

Is there anything in your life you’re still holding on to – anything that prevents you from knowing the face of Christ – anything that causes your blood to boil so you can’t sit down with the Prince of Peace? [LONG PAUSE]

Horace Bushnell once said, “Forgiveness is man’s deepest need and God’s highest achievement.” You and I NEED to grant and receive forgiveness. And it’s possible. It’s within us. We can choose forgiveness.

Enemies

I said earlier that several congregants had asked me to address our first text today – praying for our enemies. Specifically, the question arose around groups like ISIS. How do we forgive someone who wants to behead us for our faith? How do we pray for someone who has literally killed Christians simply for being Christian? That’s an excellent question.

First off, let me tell you a Colorado story. On February 9, 1960 – that’s 56 years ago this Tuesday – Adolph Coors III was murdered by Joseph Corbett. Adolph’s body was found near Pike’s Peak and an international manhunt finally apprehended Corbett. Adolph’s son, Ad Coors, had his world turned upside down and found his heart fueled with rage and hatred for Corbett. Later in life, Ad became a Christian and one day he was challenged that, “Someday you’re going to have to forgive Joseph Corbett.”

Over time through prayer, Ad was eventually compelled by the Holy Spirit to visit Corbett at the prison. Corbett refused to see him, so Ad left him a Bible with this message written in it: “I’m here to see you today and I’m sorry that we could not meet. As a Christian I am summoned by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to forgive. I do forgive you, and I ask you to forgive me for the hatred I’ve held in my heart for you.” To put an even finer point on it, Ad later said, “I have a love for that man that only Jesus Christ could have put in my heart.”

So, is Jesus telling us to forgive even someone who wants to kill us and our families? Yes. Is Jesus telling us to pray for – to LOVE, to want the BEST for – even someone who wants to kill us and our families? Yes. Talk about a hard saying.

Now maybe you’re thinking, “But that was just a murder. ISIS wants to kill anyone who simply believes in Jesus. That’s different.” But Jesus says in Matthew 5, “¹¹“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Jesus doesn’t make an exception for people who hate him. Even then we’re supposed to offer forgiveness and even pray for and even want the BEST for them. A very hard saying.

So here’s the very hard challenge. Pray for the people who are deceived by the message of ISIS. If you’ve been struck by tragedy as the Coors family was, pray for the ones who perpetrated it. As we continue in this political season, if you feel threatened by some or all of the candidates, pray for them. If your boss at work is a vampire upon your soul, pray for them. If you and your spouse are furious with each other, pray for them. Who do you NEED to pray for, now that you’ve heard this hard saying of Jesus? Your forgiveness and your prayer are the price of admission for coming nearer to the face of Christ. [LONG PAUSE]

Progression

That’s a lot to chew all at once, so let’s rewind a bit and see how we can saddle up to this monster of a horse.

The first step is forgiveness, right? If you can’t yet forgive someone, pray for Christ to give you the ability to forgive them. That’s pretty much what Ad Coors had to do before he could even think about forgiving Corbett. Pray, “Jesus, I know I’m supposed to forgive this person, but I can’t right now. Help me forgive them eventually.”

The next step is to choose forgiveness. It’s just an internal switch. It’s a hard one to flip, but all that stands between you and forgiveness is your heart. Maybe as part of this, you realize like da Vinci that you need to also ask for forgiveness. Maybe.

The next step is to pray for and want the BEST for this current or former enemy. Now the cynical might point out that Jesus was nonspecific as to how we should pray for an enemy. You’ll probably want to pray something like Psalm 137, “Happy shall they be who pay you back for what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!” Hey Jesus, I’m just praying Scripture over my enemies! I get credit, right?

Instead of praying for your enemies’ destruction, I would suggest doing what we did for forgiveness. First pray for the ability to pray for your enemies. “Jesus, I know I’m supposed to pray for and want the BEST for my enemies, but I can’t right now. Give me the ability to pray for those deceived by ISIS…give me the ability to pray for the one who destroyed my life…give me the ability to pray for these candidates…give me the ability to pray for my friend or my spouse or my family member.”

And finally, pray for your enemies. Pray for the best for them. You know what the best thing is for someone deceived by ISIS? To change their worldview and renounce violence. The best would be for them to come to know Christ. Can you pray for that?

Summary

Sisters and brothers, Jesus commands infinite forgiveness. But that also means he built us with the capacity to forgive regardless of the circumstances.

Jesus even went so far as to command us to pray for and want the best for our enemies.

These are some of the hardest sayings of Jesus. But he knows that. Ask for his help. Ask him to help you forgive. Ask him to help you pray for and want the best for your enemies. It’s your ticket to a closer look at Christ’s face. Amen.