Forgive? R U Kidding Me? Forgive?

Several years ago, Jim Mora was head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. At a press conference after a loss in the latter part of a particularly difficult season, he was asked a question as to whether he thought his team would make the playoffs at the end of the season. His response at the time has become a current day humorous commercial for a particular beverage company. He said, "Playoffs? Playoffs? Are you kidding me? Playoffs?"

He answered the question posed to him with a series of questions of his own that revealed loudly and clearly what he thought about the possibility of his team making the playoffs -- not a chance!

I think we sometimes feel the same way when it comes to forgiveness. Think about the times in your life, and maybe now is the time, when someone has wronged you in some way. Maybe they know they have wronged you and maybe they don't. If in the midst of that situation you were placed before microphones at a press conference and asked the question, "When will you forgive __________?" would your response be similar to Coach Mora's, "Forgive? Forgive? Are you kidding me? Forgive? -- Not a chance!"

I'll admit I feel that way sometimes. The degree of pain I feel that a perpetrator has inflicted on me determines the degree of difficulty I have in forgiving that person. The greater the pain the more difficult it is to forgive.

Last Monday, March 16, a powerful testimony of forgiveness was aired on national television on the CBS morning show. Last Monday, Julie Chen interviewed Cindy Winters. Eight days prior to this interview, on Sunday, March 8, Cindy and her family were attending their church services at First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois. Cindy's husband, Fred, was the pastor of the church.

As a minister, I have an idea about what Fred's week was like prior to that Sunday. He probably spent much of his time that week preparing a sermon, praying for God's will and guidance, counseling hurting people, leading a church staff, attempting to meet the spiritual needs of congregants, attending meetings with various committees and groups in the church, and trying not only to shepherd a church but also to shepherd his family - a typical week for a minister. But Sunday, March 8, was everything but typical.

Terry Sedlacek was a troubled man who decided that same Sunday morning that he would attend First Baptist Church Maryville, Illinois. Terry needed help. Turns out, I think he came to the right place. What he did while he was there was not the right way to go about finding help. For whatever reason, Terry came to church that day with a plan that maybe in his mind was some sort of solution to his own problems. He walked down the aisle of the Baptist Church and allegedly murdered the Pastor, Fred Winters.

I don't know about you, but I would have understood if in the aftermath of that tragedy Cindy Winters would have stepped up to the microphone and said, "Forgive? Forgive? Are you kidding me? Forgive? -- Not a chance!" Amazingly, just eight days after the event, Cindy did step up to the microphone on national TV. She did have a press conference, and if I may summarize what she said, it would be "Forgive? Forgive? Are you kidding me? Forgive? -- Absolutely!"

How in the world did she pull that off? I think I found the answer in two people in the Bible.

First of all, Joseph did the same thing in the book of Genesis that Cindy did. Joseph's life was a series of peaks and valleys. His story begins with him being the favorite son of his dad, Jacob. He held a position of privilege in the home as evidenced by a coat of many colors. This made his brothers jealous of him and they plotted to throw him into a pit and do away with him. He was sold into foreign slavery, moving him from a position of privilege to the pits. The Bible says that God was with Joseph in the peaks and the valleys, and it wasn't long until Joseph's integrity and God's grace elevated him out of the pit to a position of privilege once again. Joseph eventually became the "lord of Egypt" second in command to Pharaoh.

A famine in the land brought Joseph's brothers to Egypt to seek relief. Joseph recognized them, and though he was now in a position of power and could return vengeance upon his brothers in greater degrees than the vengeance his brothers had delivered to him, he had compassion on them and gave them good land to dwell in and food resources to survive the famine. Eventually, Jacob died, and the brothers thought the kindness of Joseph toward them would die with their father. They became worried for their lives, so, they approached Joseph with this concern.

This was Joseph's press conference and when he stepped up to the microphone and was asked about the forgiveness, Joseph said, don't fear. What you intended for harm, God intended for good so that today many lives are saved. Joseph was saying, "Forgive? Forgive? Are you kidding me? Forgive? Absolutely!" How did he do that? Certainly he could have had a Jim Mora experience!

Joseph was able to respond this way because he saw life as a bigger picture than himself. There is a God running things. He has a plan that will succeed, and to the extent that any of us are given an opportunity to play a part in that plan how much better are our lives! Rather than focus on himself and "Woe is me-ing," Joseph had a confidence that God's plan was greater than his own life. When we have that kind of confidence in God, whether we live or die is insignificant. In fact, when we have that kind of confidence in God, either life or death is a blessing. Just ask Paul, who wrote the words, "For to me to live is Christ (isn't that a blessing?) and to die is gain (to be with Christ - isn't that a blessing?)"

The second person in the Bible is Jesus. Just imagine if you had lived a perfect life, had never done anything wrong morally or legally, had even made life better for some of your fellow human beings like the sick, lame, blind, and even dead, yet one day a large crowd turns on you and falsely accuses you of a crime punishable by death. That's what happened to Jesus. Like Joseph, Jesus was in a place of power. He could have enforced vengeance upon that crowd the likes of which they had never seen. But without a fight, he laid down his life and died for you, me, and that crowd that treated him unjustly.

Jesus had his press conference too. The crowd wanted to publicly humiliate Jesus by nailing him to a cross. Yet Jesus used that as a podium from which to speak these words into the microphone that echo throughout all of history and are about you, me, and that crowd, "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they are doing!"

Jesus was saying, "Forgive? Forgive? Are you kidding me? Forgive? Absolutely!" How did he do that? Let me show you. Let's go back to the night before he died and visit a garden. We find Jesus and his disciples there. It is late. Perhaps it is a little cool because it is early springtime and the sun has long set for the day. It may have been cool in the garden that night, but Jesus was perspiring profusely to the point of dropping blood, sweat, and tears. Why the agony? He knew what was coming. He had been sent by the father to die in your place, in my place, in the crowd's place -- in the place of all who would believe. He came to face the punishment that we all deserve for our sins, and he knew it. In less than 24 hours he would be dead. He would have already cried out from the cross, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" But he would also have prayed, "Father, forgive them."

Why? How? Because of what we hear him praying now in the garden on this cool spring night - the night before his death, "Father, not my will, but yours be done." Jesus submitted his life to God's bigger picture, and what the crowd intended for harm, God intended for good so that many souls may be saved.

In some ways, though the significance of their lives pale in comparison, you notice a common thread in the life of Joseph and Jesus when it comes to forgiveness. Maybe that thread is just the rope we need to restore seemingly irreparable relationships.

If you have or are struggling with whether or not you should forgive someone, I can answer that. Yes, you should forgive. The Bible tells us to. If you are struggling with the "how," here's the thread: Life is much bigger than you or I. There is a God running things and to the extent that He gives us opportunities to play parts in His plan how much better are our lives! We can have the confidence that God's plan is greater than our own lives and whether we live or die, either is a blessing!

On March 16, eight days after her husband was murdered in church, Cindy Winters had a press conference. She stepped up to the microphone, and when asked what her feelings were toward Terry Sedlacek, she responded with humility and offered a thread of hope to his hurting soul in need. It is a thread called "forgiveness." The strength of its fiber is the confidence we have in God and His bigger picture. It is the same thread that is common to Joseph and Jesus.

Terry Sedlacek, a troubled man, decided to attend church services at First Baptist Church, Maryville, Illinois on March 8. Terry needed help. Fortunately for him... I think he came to the right place. Fortunately for us all, what he intended as harm, God intended for good so that potentially his and many other souls might be saved!

What about you? Do you have that kind of confidence in God? Is there someone to whom you need to extend a thread of hope?

Here's a side note: When you think about the common thread between Jesus and the Old Testament Joseph, is it any wonder that Jesus' earthly father was named Joseph and the man who buried him was named Joseph as well? Think about that one! May have to continue that thought in next week's blog!

The story about Cindy Winters as well as a video of her interview with Julie Chen can be found at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/16/earlyshow/main4868070.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._4868070