The past four weeks, I have preached on “Healing the Hurts You Don’t Deserve.” In the sermon titled “The Big Bang Theory” I talked about turning the corner through forgiving the offender. Sometimes, this is not easy to do. Forgiveness is often a process where we decide to forgive, but it may take a while for the pain of the offense to go away.
As difficult as it may be to forgive someone who has hurt you, it is often more difficult to forgive yourself for things you have done to others. John 8:1-11 is the passage of a woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus dispatched her accusers by asking them to stone her only if they had not sinned. We all cheered at his challenge because we have all been sinners fending off accusers. But nothing is said about the woman after this incident. She was forgiven by Jesus himself, undoubtedly felt ashamed and unworthy of His grace. But could she forgive herself? Could she give her sins to Jesus and live in his forgiveness without guilt and shame?
1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and will purify us from all unrighteousness.” Diedrich Bonhoffer, a Lutheran pastor who died in a Nazi concentration camp, said, “Confession is the God-given remedy for self-deception and self-indulgence.”
One of the reasons we have altar calls is that they give us a way to confess publicly our commitments and by doing it in the presence of the church, you receive the affirmation of other sinners saved by grace. There is forgiveness and encouragement. You realize that you are surrounded with men and women who welcome you into the family of God, a family born not of their own self-importance and righteousness, but by the loving Grace of Jesus.