Extending Grace When Personally Wronged -

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Oh boy, is this topic meant for me!  In the very short but powerful epistle, a letter from the Apostle Paul to his close friend and “partner” in ministry, Philemon, we have a message of grace that is one for the ages.  (Aren’t all grace stories for the ages?)  Let me share with you briefly why I struggle with the message of grace as revealed through Philemon.

As a business owner I have had a few employees who “wronged” me.  I’m sure that in some cases their intentions were not deliberate or pre-meditated but in other situations the individuals may have been very deliberate.  No matter, forgiving their wrongness was a difficulty that I struggled with, in some cases even to today.

In a majority of the cases the individuals apologized for their actions or behavior.  I think that many of these folks were sincere.  Forgiving them and offering “grace” was not hard to do.  However, for those few that were not apologetic and who more often quit working for me, my extending “grace” and forgiveness was much harder to consider.

However, my ability or desire to forgive or not to forgive is not the issue.  What is at issue is that I am called to extend a God-given grace to those who have wronged me.  No different than the challenge that Paul made to Philemon, Paul is making the same challenge to me today.  Paul not only called upon Philemon to forgive a runaway slave by the name of Onesimus, he charged Philemon to restore the ex-slave, i.e. “property,” to partner status in ministry just as if it was Paul himself that had returned.

Loving God demands that we love others.  This is quite easy with those who are loveable.  However, the “bitter herb” comes to us when that “other” person has personally wronged us.  Guess what, the same demand to extend grace is the answer here also!

Is forgiving and restoring someone as difficult a thing to do for you as it is for me?  Especially when that someone is a . . . co-worker, friend, child, sibling, even a parent?  There are no qualifiers here folks; we are called to love them with God’s grace!  Ouch!!

Still learning to allow God to work His grace through me,

Pastor Brad

Archived Sermons

God&Me @ Work (weeks 1-3) - January 2010

God&Me @ Work (weeks 4-6)

Blessings of Christmas - December 2010

Prayer Basics - September-November 2010

OLDER SERMONS

CURRENT SERIES - Sermon Notes & Weekly Message

Loving the Prodigal Child

God's Grace: A Snapshot of Philemon - April 11, 2010