ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 24, 2026
Building on yesterday’s Etching, forgiveness — genuine and intentional forgiveness — seeks to reveal an alternative world; a world driven, not by revenge, but by a hope that reconciliation and transformation are possible. Again, there is nothing naive about this alternative view of reality. Forgiveness doesn’t happen with a snap of the fingers. It requires many steps, including realization, a contrite heart, repentance, apology, receiving, offering, and acceptance of the forgiveness. And I’m sure I missed numerous steps in there. As I mentioned in a sermon a few weeks back, Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive. Is seven times enough? Jesus responded by suggesting that it should be 70×7. Yet Jesus wasn’t upping the number, but stepping outside the games we play where we want rules and limits and ways of making sure we can explain to others, “I did what the law required.” It’s not about fulfilling a law, but about becoming a healthy person and assisting others in that work. It is acknowledging how unresolved pain and unspoken woundedness hinders us from becoming the people God desires for us to be. And the world that currently exists is a collection of our individual lives, and if we are not healthy, then the world is not healthy. I am not suggesting we overlook injustice or whitewash systemic exploitation, but a mindset that wants revenge and for others to suffer only gives fuel to the fire that will burn this whole thing down.
Continue to help us envision a very different world. In Jesus, you offered us a vision of what is possible—healing, hope, transformed hearts, and a path forward that acknowledges the past without being defined by that past moving forward. Teach us how to step into that world with you, as we desire to be a part of your Kin(g)dom manifesting itself in the here and now. Amen.
