He forgave the unforgivable after hearing my sermon
The miracle of the power of God's love
I was nervous about preaching the sermon.
First of all, it was animal blessing Sunday. We were having service outside, I was bringing my Great Dane. The whole day had a celebratory air about it. I didn’t want to bring everyone down.
But the Gospel reading was Luke 17:5-10:
if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘be uprooted and planted in the sea’, and it would obey you.
I always understood to this to be hyperbole on Jesus’ part, but all of the sudden, I was not so sure. Given how bad it feels out there - especially the violence swirling around us - it began to feel that Jesus means this literally.
How do we end the horrible divisions among us? Maybe it starts with the tiniest bit of faith in God’s Kingdom.
Maybe it starts with forgiveness.
So I preached about what I have witnessed lately - people forgiving terrible crimes. Even the murder of their loved ones. And the immense power of transforming love this has released.
It seems like the tiniest thing. Just three words: ‘I forgive you.’ Especially in the face of the enormity of this kind of loss.
And yet… the faith this takes! It feels impossible. But when forgiveness happens anyway, it unleashes a torrent of peace. Of love stronger than death.
Todd wasn’t even sure he would make it church, but he really wanted to be there for the pets. He has health struggles and sometimes the effort to get there is hard.
He made it on that Sunday.
He’s heard me preach on forgiveness before. But when my sermon started on that day, he says he heard God say to him, ‘Pay attention. Listen’. And he did. Even though it was hard.
Because twenty-eight years ago, someone murdered his twin sister, Tracie.
He’s never been able to forgive that person, or even say their name.
Honestly, even though I knew about this, I wasn’t thinking about Todd specifically when I preached that sermon. Otherwise, I might have been even more nervous to say what I did:
Do we have to forgive those who harm us? Jesus says YES.
NOT because of fear of punishment, but because Jesus wants us to know the power of God’s love. Jesus wants us to have this kind of faith.
The sermon affected Todd. It made him confront how he’s held onto the anger all these years, and it led him to believe it was time. He would forgive his sister’s murderer.
So he did. Publicly. On Facebook live.
It was stunningly brave. I was moved to tears when I saw it.
Todd says he felt immediate release. Like it was a new day. He still grieves, of course. He still cannot say the name of the person who caused such harm. But he forgives.
To me, this is a miracle.
It is the comparably tiny moment of faith that has hurled darkness into the sea.
And it is the power of God’s love that gives those who forgive terrible crimes the strength to do so, which inspired me to preach the sermon, which empowered Todd to be able to forgive.
A tidal wave of peace. Beautiful, yet immensely powerful.
Capable of healing us all.
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