"Why should I forgive you?" Those words ring out from injured people all over the world. Why? Why should I? I’ll get even! Well, if we do not have the love of Jesus Christ within our life, that is about all we can do - get even. But that kind of living is hard - rough - cruel. There must be a better way. It is the way of forgiveness. And that way takes us into an area we’d just as soon skip - the area of SIN.

But wait! The Apostles’ Creed: I believe ... in the forgiveness of sins. There it is! And there is the problem. We have lost that word from our vocabulary! How can we forgive sins, if no one sins anymore? Karl Menninger wrote a book with a great title: Whatever Became of Sin? He reflected that people don’t talk about sin very much these days- personal or corporate sin. In their calls for a national day of prayer, no president since Eisenhower has mentioned our sin and a need to repent. "As a nation, we ceased sinning since 1953!" (Menninger)

It seems only strong fundamentalist types and the TV evangelists mention the word. To the rest of us the word seems quaint. The new science of psychology began using new words to replace sin: neuroses, psychoses, complexes, maladjustments. We are not sinners we are told. We are maladjusted angels. Give us a little more time, and we will be perfect. We are basically good. We have infinite possibilities. Or so we’re told.

We need a little more help to become full-blown angels on earth. How naive. One boy wrote an essay on the life of King David: A great king of Israel, he just had "a slight tendency to commit adultery." That’s what a lot of people think sin is- a slight tendency. Sin is more than a slight tendency. If that be true, "what then shall we do with our Bibles, for they shall never agree with this!"(Wesley) Sin is an over-arching fact of life. "I’m not prejudiced toward any race of people. All I need to know is that a person is a man. Nothing could be worse than that." (Twain)

Whatever we may call it, it is still there. Every day we see sin on the TV or read of some violence in the news. We lock doors to our houses and cars. In major cities it is almost the norm to deal with a bank teller who stands behind bullet-proof glass. Just to have banks says much about human nature! Sin shows itself everywhere we go.

Today, review the Bible definition of sin and who sin affects. Then, be refreshed with God’s answer. Finally, learn the art of forgiveness for ourselves and others!.

The Bible says sin is "I" in the middle. It is missing the mark. (hamartia) ... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). Shoot an arrow at a target, but miss the bull’s eye. Our target: worship God! but instead, we hit our idols. "[The world] knew God, but they did not honor Him as God....exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image... for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator." (Rom 1.21f)

How many people are affected by sin? Go back to Romans 3.23: ALL HAVE SINNED! That little word ties us down. We all sin. In our prayer of confession today, we read the words: "We have left undone those things we ought to have done; we have done those things we ought not to have done." Ouch! Go back to Adam and Eve. That’s where it all started. "The woman made me eat it...the Devil made me do it." It continued, like the old joke: Adam showed Cain and Abel their former home, the Garden of Eden. "Yep, boys, that’s where we used to live, ‘til yo’re ma ate us outa house and home." We are all affected...no, infected by sin. We do it so well! Anyone of us who does not have Christ is a highly skilled sinner!

Be refreshed by God’s answer to sin with His Son Jesus Christ. .God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while were yet sinners, Christ died for us," (Romans 5:6f). He who know no sin, became sin for us,...(huper)", (2 Cor 5:21).

God is in the forgiving business. He is not in the punishing business. Forgiveness comes at a high price. Sin brings pain and suffering to the heart of God. A young man staggers down the street. Drunk, some people laugh at his folly. But if his father sees him, the heart of the father breaks. Read juicy details of a scandal between a man and woman. You read the story unmoved, unless one of those named is your own daughter. If you love another, you never look at their sin objectively. So with God! The cross reminds us of the ultimate heartbreak of God.

We can be CHANGED, REFORMED, TRANSFORMED. No matter how bad our sin may be, God will forgive us. We need only to come to Him. We place our trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, asking forgiveness! Easy to say - hard to do!

How do we start to live a victorious life over sin? "If you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation...whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed," (Romans 10:9f).

When we come to God to be forgiven, He does two things: He forgives us; then He "will cast all [our] sins into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:19). Now, in Christ, instead of being a very skilled sinner, we become stumbling sinners. We don’t sin so well now!

Great! Now, if only God and you lived alone in this world, you wouldn’t have to deal with the one who caused a problem.... They made you mad. You said the wrong thing. Bam! Separation. She saw a nice way to get rich quick. She lied to you, neighbor, about the scheme. Money exchanged hands. She made money. You didn’t. Separation!

But then, those same people realized the pain they caused. God spoke to them through the words of Jesus. They come to you. They want your forgiveness. With Peter, you might ask, "Lord, how many times do I have to forgive?" Every time! Why should I forgive you? The Bible says so! Forgiving one another even as God in Christ has forgiven you! (Eph 4)

Jesus said, forgive, IF you have anything against anyone, so that your Father will forgive you. (Mark 11) To be effective as followers of Jesus, learn the art of giving and receiving His forgiveness. Forgiveness can be learned and practiced!

When we make horrible mistakes in life...when we sin...there are two parties that we hurt. First, we hurt God. He must be faced first. David understood that. "Against Thee only have I sinned and have done what is evil in Thy sight...so that Thou art blameless when Thou dost judge." (Psalm 51)

When we have honestly confessed to Him, those sins we committed head for the bottom of the sea of forgetfulness. Honesty with God hurts. It is hard to do. But when we are, Wow! We meet the Prodigal God! Prodigal means wastefully lavish. He lavishes His forgiveness on who ask His forgiveness.

Second, we hurt another person. He or she must be now be faced. Recall the prodigal son. When he stumbled home he cried, "Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and in your sight..." (Luke 15:1ff) When we sin, we usually include others. So we learn the verse in the bulletin: "Forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you." Here is a safe example to start learning the art.

You borrowed a special book belonging in the family of your best friend. Then, you were careless- the book is damaged. You try to fix it, but do more damage. The book is beyond repair. Start with God. "Lord, Heavenly Father, you see what I did to my friend’s book. I feel awful. I’m sorry. Please forgive me for ruining the book. Help me face my friend." Has He forgiven you? Yes! Go to your friend and be free!

"Friend, I borrowed your prize book. I was careless. See the damage. It’s ruined. I asked God to forgive me. He has forgiven me. Could you forgive me, too?"

Notice that the violation was clearly stated. Do not say, "If I have done anything to hurt you,..." They might have a whole list of other offenses to bring up.

Do not say just the words, "I’m sorry." That may be true. But in order that your friend can forgive, you the violator, must be specific:

++++

Now, see yourself as the best friend. You hear the bad news. The book meant so much to you and your family. But your best friend is in pain. She was very careless. You are faced with keeping your friend in bondage, or making her free.

Here is bondage: "O, it’s O.K."..."We all make mistakes."

Now, God will see that your prayers will be answered. You keep a valued friend. You build up your faith in Christ.

Why should I forgive you? Because God in Christ has forgiven me! That is why I believe in the forgiveness of sins. We experience release and relief when we give and receive the forgiveness of God! Forgive me...I forgive you!

Oh yes, I believe in the forgiveness of sins...yours and mine...every day!