Author: Pastor Aleese Kenitzer

Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase “forgive and forget.” For years, I figured that’s what a “good Christian was supposed to do.” Isn’t that what Jesus alluded to in our parable from Sunday in which the slave was forgiven all his debts and he was in turn to offer that same forgiveness to the person who owed him money? 

Perhaps. But the more I’ve found myself in dicey situations, and the more stories I’ve heard from others, I can’t support the notion that we are to completely forget what’s happened when forgiveness is offered. Because if we are to just “forget” what’s happened, that seems to suggest that in forgiveness, you’re giving permission for someone to continue in sin rather than holding that person accountable. 

So instead of “forgive and forget” what would it be like to “forgive and let go”? 

The two sound quite similar. But consider these words from Pastor Craig Koester: “Forgiveness is not acceptance of the past. Forgiveness is the declaration that the past will not define the future. With that gift of forgiveness Christ Jesus opens up a future that is defined by love.”

By offering, and receiving, forgiveness, we are consciously letting go of whatever it is that happened so that that event won’t continue to dictate us (or our future interactions with another person) into the future. In short, forgiveness is freedom from that hurt, pain, guilt, or shame, so that we can live into a renewed future, and possibly a renewed relationship. 

So as you continue to ponder what it means for you to live forgiveness as a disciple of Jesus, ponder these questions this week:

1. Is there something that you did, or something that happened to you, that you’re hanging onto? What would it take for you to let go of that?
2. What makes offering forgiveness challenging for you, if anything?
3. What makes receiving forgiveness challenging for you, if anything? 

Living in a way of forgiveness takes practice, time and time again. But as we practice forgiveness as a way of life, we will receive a foretaste of the freedom and healing that God desires for us, and for all people.

 

As much as we’d like to avoid it, conflict is a given. It happens. Whether we like it or not, sin and brokenness have woven themselves into the very fabric of humanity, leading to hurt and division. Since sometime around preschool and kindergarten, we’ve learned how to react to not getting our way, and we’ve learned how to approach someone who’s hurt us. And yet, still, even as followers of Jesus in the church, resolving conflict (indeed, even approaching conflict!) can be quite challenging. 

Why? Well, there are a whole host of reasons. But at the core, I wonder if the reason we avoid conflict, or approach it in unhealthy ways, is based on fear. Because even to approach one another – either as the one who has sinned, or as the one who has been sinned upon – takes a good dose of courage. In any given situation, you can’t predict how another person is going to respond to what you have to say!

In short, there’s uncertainty in even attempting to resolve conflict. And yet, as we heard this past Sunday, as people who have already been reconciled to God through Christ Jesus, now we are the ones who are sent forth to carry out the ministry of reconciliation as ambassadors of Christ. Which means that now you have been given the ministry of testifying to what God has done for you. You have been given the ministry of enacting that reconciliation in your relationships. And you have been given the ministry of advocating for reconciliation between all peoples so that each and every person has a place within God’s community, and within God’s holy church. 

So as you continue to ponder what it means to witness to community, and to live as a minister of reconciliation this week, consider these questions:

1. What is your natural reaction to conflict? 
2. Does the way you engage with those around you – even with those who have sinned against you – witness to the message of God’s reconciliation? Why or why not? 
3. How are you being called to witness to community by carrying out the ministry of reconciliation? 

We won’t be able to create lives void of conflict. But as we look to Christ, who is in the midst of us, and as we rely on the power of the Spirit, we can live together in community – more fully and more freely – and we can witness to the promise that all people have worth, and a place, in God’s Kingdom.

This past Sunday, I shared with you all a story of my childhood dog, Dakota. She was a good dog, but one habit she never grew out of was finding Mom’s socks. She’d never do anything with the socks. Never shred em. She’d just take ’em around the house with her all day, and greet us at the door with ’em stuffed in her mouth. 

As one can guess, this led to commands of “drop it,” which, often wasn’t heeded the first time. So sometimes, in desperation, we’d try a “trade.” Trade the socks for a treat (not great dog training!), resulting in (eventually) getting the socks back. 

In our Gospel this past weekend, we heard a strong command from Jesus to “deny ourselves.” Other Gospels sometimes use the phrase “lose yourself.” Over the course of church history, this command has been interpreted to mean a whole host of things. But at the core, Jesus was inviting his disciples, and us, simply to let go of the things that we often hold so tightly onto (physically or metaphorically) that keep us from receiving the “treat” of God’s Kingdom that Jesus is trying to offer us. 

So as we take this Sunday’s message with us into the coming week, I encourage you to consider these questions:

1. Are there things, expectations, perceptions, or long-held beliefs that you’re clutching, keeping you from receving Christ’s promise for you? 
2. Are you satisfied with the “sock” that you have? Or, do you desire something more? 
3. What would need to happen for you to let go of the “sock” you’re holding to receive God’s life for you?

As we’ll discover in the weeks to come, Jesus’ call to discipleship isn’t always a fuzzy-wuzzy, comfortable message. But the irony is that as we lose ourselves to Christ, and to one another, we actually won’t be losing anything…and we will be gaining everything. 

This past Sunday, we explored how we are both conformed to Christ and transformed into Christ. Drawing on Paul’s letter to the Romans, we were challenged to conform ourselves to Christ’s teachings, Christ’s grace, and Christ’s Kingdom while also allowing the Spirit to transform us and our faith. 

So then what does that look like to conform ourselves to Christ and allow the Spirit to transform us more and more as people of faith who seek God’s will? 

Well, in the next four weeks of worship (through September), we’ll embrace this question as we explore what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus. But fair warning: what we’ll hear in our Gospel passages isn’t fuzzy-wuzzy comfortable stuff. Discipleship asks something of us: to lose ourselves, to live in community even when there’s potential for hurt, to forgive one another, and to extend God’s boundless generosity with those that we’d rather not associate with or even think about ever again. Not easy asks. And yet, as we reach this point in the Gospel of Matthew, as Jesus himself begins to turn himself toward the cross, this is the message Jesus has for his disciples – and for us.

So as we make our way through September, I hope you can join us as we dive into, and adopt, these marks of discipleship. On our own, these upcoming teachings would be too much to absorb. But led and transformed by God’s Spirit, all of us (indeed, all people), are ushered into God’s Kingdom. 

As many of our kids in the greater Muscatine community return to school tomorrow, we offer a prayer for all students, teachers, mentors, coaches, nurses, and all who form our children and youth. Have a great first day back Shepherd students – whether here in Muscatine or away at college!

Dear God, as we get ready to start another year in school, we ask your blessing on students. Bless them with eagerness to learn, that their world may grow large; respect for teachers and fellow students, that they may form healthy relationships; love for nature, that they may become caretakers of your creation; happiness when learning is easy and stick-to-it-iveness when it is hard; faith in Jesus as their best teacher and closest friend. We ask for your protection over all who learn and teach. Watch over them and keep them safe as they travel to and from school. As they learn, help them also to discover the different gifts that you have given each one of them to be used in your work in the world; and as they hear the many voices that will fill their days, help them to listen most carefully for your voice, the one that tells them you will love them always, no matter what. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Blessings to all engaged in education in the coming year, and blessings to all of us as we continue to grow and learn in faith! 

This past Sunday, Elyse Eichelberger publicly confessed her faith and affirmed her baptismal promises. And together in worship, we all confessed with our lips that Jesus Christ is Lord through the words of the Apostle’s Creed. 

But how does the faith we confess on Sunday morning impact the rest of our lives? 

Some might say that the faith we confess on Sunday mornings sends us forth to live in service to God and to our neighbor throughout the week. True, very true. And others might say that the faith we confess on Sunday mornings is what we hold onto when life gets rough. Also true, very true. Both are examples of how the faith we confess on Sunday mornings impacts the rest of our lives. 

But this past week, as I prepared for Sunday worship, I realized that our faith really can only impact the rest of our lives if we are willing to put our faith in God, rather than within ourselves. 

Take for example the story of Peter walking on the water. For a while, Peter was able to walk on the water. Was it because he was focused on Jesus? Or, was it because he trusted his Lord? We don’t know. But what we do know is that at some point, he faltered. And I got to wonder if one of the reasons Peter faltered was because he began to rely on his own abilities rather than on Jesus. And yet, once Peter cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me”—a cry of trust and a cry of faith in Jesus and what Jesus could do—Peter was lifted from the waters. 

In many ways, we’ve been groomed to rely on what we can do and rely on our abilities to do what needs to be done. But part of living our faith is recognizing that we can’t do it all on our own. That might sound trite, and like messages that come from a self-help book. But that message of a living reliance on God is actually quite counter-cultural to the society in which we live. 

So if you were to take stock of your life of faith, would you say that you put your faith in God? Or, that you put your faith in yourself and your own power to muster your way through life? Or, somewhere in the middle? Each of us may find ourselves in a different spot. But out of love, our God desires for us to place our trust in Christ, more and more, so that we might experience for ourselves the faithfulness and mercy of our Lord.