Is forgiveness real?

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Frequently avoided questions of the Christian faith, "Is forgiveness real?" John 8:1-11

Intro…. One year anniversary of the Chelsea King death (John Gardner)
• Crazy, weird, unexplainable, awful things happen in our lives.
• How do we forgive others?
• Or maybe you are wrestling with a sin in your own life that seems unforgiveable.
• For some of us, the first step may be learning to accept God’s forgiveness, before we can ever consider forgiving others.

Big Pic: If we can learn to accept God’s forgiveness for our “wickedness” we’ll have an easier time forgiving others for their wickedness.

Text: John 8:1-11
(v. 1-2 Get ready for a teaching moment…)
v. 3-6 The accusers, Scribes and Pharisees.
• These Jewish leaders had already disregarded the law arresting the woman without the man.
• The law (Lev. 20:10) required that both parties to adultery be stoned.
• When it comes to pointing fingers and accusing others, often we are quick with our judgment, ready to attack.
• The Scribes and Pharisees started out with good intentions to obey God, but eventually they became so devoted and extremist in very limited parts of the Law, plus all that they themselves added to it, that they became blind to the Messiah when He was in their very midst. They became nitpickers of the law always trying to trick Jesus.
• And now they are attempting to use this woman as a trap to trick Jesus.
• If Jesus said the woman should not be stoned, then they would accuse him on not keeping the Mosaic law.
• If he told them to stone her, then his reputation for compassion and forgiveness would have been questioned and,
• They could report Jesus to the Romans who did not permit the Jews to carry out their own executions. (18:31).
• This is a classic example of someone who wants to skip right over the possibility of forgiveness and land on judgment…
• That’s too easy and too fun for most of us…think about that.
• Why is that the case?

What we need to do first of all is remember that God forgave us in our wickedness.
• “Wickedness” may too heavy of a word for some of you, but it’s actually accurate for all of us.
• And that’s why Jesus says in verse 7, “Let him is who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone at her.”
• Romans 3:23 …”all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
• It started with Adam and Even in the garden. They did exactly what God told them not to do and sinned.
• Then they (rightly so) ran and hid. They were ashamed and probably expected God’s wrath.
• And what did God do? He called to them. (Gen. 3:7-9)

v. 9 Jesus’ reaction and statement silenced the Jewish leaders and sent them away.
• Imagine the impact this must have had on the crowd.
• It would be the same today. As Christians, we love to pounce on people who have public sexual sins.
• At the top on the list would be premarital or extramarital affairs, abortion, divorce and pornography.
• While those are wrong and have dire consequences, you know what else is just as wrong with dire consequences?
• Greed, pride, injustice, self-indulgence, stinginess, gluttony, hatred, materialism, domestic violence and just plain meanness, polluting the air, exhausting the earth’s resources, hoarding our possessions, ignoring those in need, supporting oppression or slavery through what we buy, gossiping, slandering and maligning others...
• Or what if someone is going through a divorce, or their kids are on drugs, or came to church “messed up.”
• Any of us can fall into any of these categories!

• So, let’s not act like the Scribes and Pharisees in today’s story.
• They needed to learn how to forgive others.
• When it comes to forgiving others, there is a way to love and forgive people, even to show them mercy and at the same time act toward them with wisdom and discernment.
• I started today’s message with the example of Chelsea King, that kind of forgiveness take time and doesn’t need to be rushed into.
• That will take an act of God on her parents hearts…
• Forgiveness should cost you something, “One of the basic characteristics of forgiveness is that the one who forgives is the one who suffers.”

Let’s be especially careful when it comes to creating two classes of Christians:
• “First class” those who have never been divorced, never had an affair or abortion, never looked (or got caught looking) at pornography etc.
• “Second class” anyone who is guilty of one or more of these actions and is therefore unfit for church membership or ministry in the church.
• What we need to be saying is, “How can I dare judge someone else, seeing how messed up I am?”
• However, forgiveness, mercy and understanding does not translate into freedom to disregard the Bible’s moral code.
• It also does not allow us to live a permissive lifestyle or fail to address sin because we know we’ll be forgiven. That’s abusing grace.
• Look what Jesus said at the end of this story, (v. 11) “Go and sin no more.” or, “Leave your life of sin.”
• There is a condition with Jesus’ forgiveness. We are to continually strive to walk away from sin. To press on, move forward.
• Jesus will forgive any sin in our lives, but confession and repentance means a change of heart.
• Communion intro…
• With God’s help we can accept Christ’s forgiveness and stop sinning.

Eventually it came down to just the woman and Jesus. v. 9b.
• And that’s what it always comes back to.
• Can we continually accept the forgiveness that Jesus offers us?
• Many of us will carry the scars of our sins for the rest of our lives, even though we are forgiven and spiritually healed and restored to God.
• There are some people who love God and want to serve him, but have made a serious mistake and are forever blackballed from Christian service. That’s not right!
• In reality, we’ve all made mistakes and would do well to confess those mistakes and share our growth.

Conclusion:
• What if our churches really practiced mercy to the degree that Jesus taught and demonstrated?
• True forgiveness includes healing, in the one doing the forgiving, in the one being forgiven and the relationship between them.
• As Christians, we should never forget the debt we’ve been forgiven and as a result, know how to extend mercy when mercy is what God wants to give us.
• Who are we in this story? Either the woman or the accusers…