The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Thursday, 23 June 2016 - "God forgives"

The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Thursday, 23 June 2016 - "God forgives"
Daily Scripture: Acts 13:38 “Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you that through this man is proclaimed forgiveness of sins! 39 That is, God clears everyone who puts his trust in this man, even in regard to all the things concerning which you could not be cleared by the Torah of Moshe.Reflection Questions:
“To err is human—to forgive, canine.”[Unknown]
One reason so many of us love dogs so much is that dogs are wonderfully forgiving creatures. They are seemingly always ready to wag their tail and lick our hand even after we’ve messed up. Dogs’ forgiving natures, it turns out, are just a pointer to the nature of their creator. When Paul preached in a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, the central fundamental Christian message he shared was “forgiveness of sins.”

• When we fail to be all that we think we should be, all that we know God wants us to be, we tend to be hard on ourselves. Our hearts condemn us. But Scripture said “God is greater than our hearts” (cf. 1 John 3:20), and even more than our canine pets, God forgives us. Is there something you are having trouble forgiving yourself for? If so, claim God’s forgiveness, and let Jesus restore you to a right relationship with God.
• Hmmm—a “right relationship with God” suggests that there might be a wrong relationship with God. What do you think that might look like? Could at least one form of it be a relationship that sees God as angry, unhappy with us all the time, and demanding all kinds of harsh self-punishment (cf. Colossians 2:20-23)? What do you think is the difference between healthy self-control and a destructive life-and-joy denying attitude?

Today’s Prayer:
O Jesus, you forgave and forgave. Even on the cross, you prayed forgiveness for the Roman soldiers hammering nails through your wrists. Thank you for your willingness to forgive me when I blow it. Amen.
-------Insights from James Cochran

James Cochran serves as Director of Counseling Ministries at The Church of the Resurrection, helping to connect the Resurrection family and community with counseling resources and group programming.
My dog Lizzy is mostly a joy. Mostly. She’s a lab mixed with perhaps 30 other breeds. The deepest desire of her heart is to cuddle with me and my wife. For Lizzy, the right to cuddle is one she anxiously defends. When strange visitors take our attention, she politely but firmly reminds all gathered that she is due some cuddling.
Up until my daughter was born just over one year ago, this habit of Lizzy’s was mostly endearing. But now, on occasion, Lizzy gets a little too jealous about the distribution of our family’s cuddling resources. She’ll often bark when my daughter Evelyn encroaches on her cuddle territory, and, when she’s in a particularly foul mood, she’ll issue a harmless but anxiety-provoking growl. These behaviors often trigger “defensive dad” mode, which usually involves some harsh words for Lizzy.
Invariably, after I’ve had time to cool down, I feel bad for lashing out at her. However, and invariably, Lizzy has already moved on. She’s ready to cuddle.
In this series we’re meant to look past our furry friends to the One who created them (and us). The obvious lesson here is God’s forgiving nature. Look one step further, and it’s about how we’re often less inclined to forgive ourselves than God is to forgive us.
But as I consider this dynamic with Lizzy, one that’s become a daily occurrence, something else is coming forward. It’s chiefly about the differences in the way God (and, I expect, Lizzy) experiences time.
If we were so inclined, we could understand our lives as a cycle of failure and redemption. We somehow fall short, then we seek forgiveness. This makes sense when we interact with other people. If I say something unkind to my friend, and then go to him seeking forgiveness, he proceeds to forgive me. A, then B, then C.
But when I go to Lizzy, seeking forgiveness, I find that I am already forgiven. You see, in general Lizzy does not experience her life in the same cycle of failure and redemption. When I fall short with Lizzy, forgiveness is there by default. Perhaps this has something to do with the kind of in-the-moment consciousness Lizzy uses to engage with the world around her. In this moment, and all moments, I am forgiven.
Could it be that the same is true of God? When we fall short and subsequently seek forgiveness, I think it has more to do with what’s going on in our hearts than what’s going on with God. God, I think, has already forgiven us. Because God is always forgiving us. Or maybe God is never NOT forgiving us. Perhaps a better way to think of forgiveness is “reconciliation.” God is constantly and relentlessly working to reconcile us to God’s self.
As hard as I am working to describe this, the true nature of God’s forgiveness probably transcends our capacity to understand, which is probably why it’s so hard for us to embrace it for ourselves. What would it be like if we could participate in this constant, relentless reconciliation? Offering ourselves grace by default, and forgiving ourselves not because we want to be free of the debt of sin but as a means to reconcile ourselves to the Creator?
I’m not sure. But I think if we could work towards an understanding of forgiveness that looked more like a way of being, rather than a process of doing, the world would probably be a little more cuddly.

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Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States

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