Pastor Jeff Williams: February 27, 2011 Living Deb-Free, Part III, "Barriers to Forgiveness." [A clip from Forrest Gump was played here where they were throwing rocks at a house, and Forrest said, "Sometimes there just aren't enough rocks." Forrest has a way with words, doesn't he?] Good morning to you. We are on a series called "Debt-Free Living," and we are studying forgiveness together. We're taking our time doing so. We're going to spend a couple of months together on this subject. It's not a one-and-done kind of thing, but we're really trying to get deep into it. This morning we want to talk about some of the barriers to forgiveness. Why is it that some of us make it through and others of us get stuck? We're going to identify some of those barriers. If you're taking notes, I'd like you to write those things down, write those barriers down, and then identify which it is that's sticking you. Where are you getting stuck in your forgiveness journey? Circle that one and say, "That's the one by the grace of God that I'm going to break through." That's going to be our job today-to identify that barrier. Before we get into that, I want to have a little quiz. I want to test you on your Bible knowledge and your history. We're going to give you some quotes of last words from famous people. These are quotes many of you have heard before. Maybe you can identify who said them. The first one is from American history, "I regret I only have one life to lose for my country." If you think you know who said that, you don't have to say it; but how many of you think you have an idea? Yeah, it was Nathan Hale. A few of you? Yeah, some of you guys were real confident but you weren't quite right. Our first spy-that's what he said when he was killed by the British in the Revolutionary War right before he died. Here's one that you'll recognize, "Et tu, Brute?" That was Julius Caesar's on the Ides of March before he was stabbed to death, betrayed. Here's one from the Bible. Let's see if you recognize these famous last powerful words. "Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit." That was the first martyr of the church, Steven, as he was being stoned to death. The Apostle Paul was leading the charge. Steven said, "Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit," and then he died. What a dramatic way to go and what powerful last words those are. These next last words are also from the Bible. They're spoken by somebody that will surprise you. "Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood," (in 1 Kings 2:9, page 327 of pew Bible). This is somebody that you know, a Bible character that you know-these were the last words [he spoke] before he took his dying breath. The last words were words of vengeance, of bitterness, of unforgiveness. He was telling somebody to kill another person. Do you know who said this? David-the one who wrote Psalms 23 about "the Lord is my Shepherd" and those gentle words, the last words before he died, were to tell his son, Solomon, to kill a person. "Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood." What caused David to be so angry and so bitter? We're starting at the end, and then we're going to go back to the beginning. Let's first turn to 1 Kings 2 (page 327). David is on his death bed, and he is giving his son Solomon directives. He's blessing him; he's giving him a charge. It starts off really well, "Live for God. Serve Him. Do what's right," but then he starts listing people he is happy with and people he's upset with. When we get to Verse 8, he says, "'And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord: "I will not put you to death by the sword." But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.' "Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City" that bears his name. He said, "This person insulted me." Wow, that seems like an overreaction, doesn't it? Somebody insulted me, so I want him dead. He said, "I told him I would not kill him, but I never said my son wouldn't. I have a loophole here, and I'm going to use it." Let's see what happened. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the Book of 2 Samuel 16 (page 311 of pew Bibles). David was at a low point in his life and in his reign as King. He had a son whose name was Absalom, and Absalom rebelled against David. He decided that he too wanted to be King. He was rising in popularity with men and women. Men loved him because he was brave, and the women loved him because he was handsome. He had this winning smile and charm, and he was charming the people. The people started saying, "We wish you were King. We like you better than your father." Power started going to his head, and pretty soon he decided, "I think I want to be King." He staged a rebellion against his father. Now David loved his son and did not want to fight against his son; so he decided that for the time being, he would step down from his throne and leave the palace. Now David was wandering through the countryside. He didn't know what he was going to do; he didn't know what he was going to do. All he knew was that his son was trying to kick him out of power, and he didn't want to battle his son; so he voluntarily left his throne. Now his popularity was at a low at this point. There was a lot of dissention in the southern region of the Kingdom, the Kingdom of Judah. By the time his son took the throne, David was already out the back door. He had a group of faithful followers with him; his general and others were with him. They came through town and found a man who absolutely hated him named Shimei. Shimei couldn't stand the ground that David walked on. Shimei saw this as an opportunity to tell King David exactly what he thought. He was vulnerable; he was in a defeated posture, and Shimei said, "This is my chance. He's not going to be King anymore. He can't hurt me anymore. I'm going to tell him exactly what I think!" He was going to get so mad and so worked up that he would pick up stones and start throwing them at David. He was going to pick up dirt and start throwing it at David, along with insults and cursing toward him. Imagine what it would be like for Governor Walker if he were to take a stroll through the protestors today. With all the hatred that there is right now, he'd be in danger, wouldn't he? Imagine if Gaddafi were to take a walk through Libya right now in the midst of the protestors. Imagine if Mubarak were to walk through the Egyptian protestors. Wow! They would be taking their lives into their own hands. David was actually walking with his bodyguards, and that didn't even stop Shimei. This guy was so mad that not even the presence of bodyguards would stop him. Let's take a look in Verse 5, "As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul's family…" Remember Saul was the one who was King first and then David. "…came out from there. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out. He pelted David and all the King's officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David's right and left. As he cursed, Shimei said, 'Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel!'" He doesn't think to highly of David. "'The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!'" Tell us how you really feel, Shimei. Don't hold back. Wow, he just puts it all on the line. "Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the King, 'Why should this dead dog curse me Lord the King? Let me go over and cut off his head.'" Some of those stones were hitting him, and he didn't like it. Some of that dirt was landing on him. He said, "Let me just go ahead and take care of this little peon for you. It'll be my pleasure." You know how it is when you're having a bad time? Maybe you're feeling like a failure, you're feeling like the world is against you, and it doesn't matter anymore. Have you been there? "Go ahead, throw the stones. I deserve it. I'm a bad King. My people hate me! I'm a bad father. My son is going against me. Go ahead-I deserve it. Kick me while I'm down. Save what you need to say. I don't care!" Have you ever been there? You're just so discouraged and so upset that you just don't care anymore. "Go ahead and insult me. Go ahead and try to hurt my reputation and say things. I don't care anymore. Everybody else is, so go ahead!" That's his attitude; that's his posture, so he tells them, "No, don't stop him." Maybe God is just telling him to do that. "Just go ahead." Verse 13, "So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt." When they arrived at their destination, all the people with him were exhausted, "And there he refreshed himself." He took a bath and cleaned up his wounds. I've never been walking down a road while being sprayed by rocks, dirt, and insults continually; but I'm sure that was very stressful for David. David seems to take the high road. David doesn't order him to be killed or anything like that. What happened was Absalom was killed in a battle. David said to his men, "When you go to battle, don't harm my boy. Whatever you do, be gentle with my son." Well, it didn't work out that way. David's general killed Absalom in the field of battle. David was broken-hearted; but as a consequence of that, the southern kingdom regrouped and decided to make David King once again and unite the North and the South. It was the end of Civil War. It was the end of brother against brother. The nation was restored. Israel was one, and David was the one King. There were no more threats to his throne; so nationally, even though it was a time of grieving for David, it was a time of rejoicing. We think of our Civil War, and we think of the joy in our country when we were united as one country under one President again. It was a time of healing and rebuilding. That was how David looked at it. So this was good news; the country was one, but there was one citizen that was not happy about David becoming King again. There was one citizen who, when he picked up Israeli Newspaper, read an article that said, "David is now King again." He read that headline and went, "Uh-oh. I'm in big trouble." Do you know who that might be? Shimei. "I am in so much hot water. That king is going to come after me, and this time he's not going to be so nice; so he decides what he is going to do is find the King first. "I'm going to find David first, and I'm just going to beg for my life. I am going to say, 'I am so sorry. What was I thinking? You're awesome. I'm a scumbag, and maybe I can live?" In Chapter 19:18 (page 316), he's coming his way. Shimei went to meet him, and it says, "…he fell prostrate before the king and said to him, 'May my Lord not hold me guilty. Do not remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the King left Jerusalem. May the King put it out of his mind. For I your servant know that I have sinned, but today I have come here as the first of the whole house of Joseph to come down and meet my lord the King.'" You're awesome! You're the greatest King ever! Abishai does not buy it. He doesn't like this guy. He still might have scars from the stones that he threw, so he says, "Let's put this guy to death. I mean he cursed the King's anointed. He cursed you. Can I take care of him now?" Remember in history how we read about Abraham Lincoln when the South was defeated, there were many in the North who said, "Yeah, let's stick it to them. Let's make them pay." Abraham Lincoln gave his famous speech at his second Inauguration and said, "With malice toward none and charity to all." He talked about uniting the country and gently helping up the brothers that had fallen and healing the country. His focus was on healing. This wasn't a time to gloat. This was a time to heal; this was a time to unite, and that's what David said. David said, "No one's going to be put to death in Israel today. Do I know that today I am King over Israel?" Verse 23, "So the King said to Shimei, You shall not die." And the King promised him on oath." I won't kill you. You will live. Shimei lucks out because he catches him on a low and a high. The first time he insults him, David doesn't care because his kingdom is in chaos, and his son is trying to kill him. He is so low that he doesn't care. The second time he encounters Shimei, the country is united. He's not feeling good, so you know when you're in a good mood, sometimes things like insults don't bother you as much. If you were to go out today and win the lottery and your enemy then called you and said, "You're just lucky, and you're still a no-good so-and-so even if you won the lottery. Even if you're rich, you're still a no-good blankety-blank." You'd laugh and say, "What do I care? I'm rich. Okay, have a good day, bye." It's a great day for you. It's a good day, so David says, "I'm going to let him off." But over the years, something changes. From that time as a middle-aged man until the time when he is an old man at age 70, years later, he thinks about that. He mulls it over in his mind; and the more he thinks about it, the angrier he gets. He says, "He embarrassed me. He showed total disrespect for me. He caused me emotional and physical pain. He made me look ridiculous when he threw dirt on me. I said I wouldn't kill Shimei, but I never said my son wouldn't kill Shimei," so by the time he reaches his grave, the last words out of his mouth are "bring his gray hair down to the grave in blood." Somewhere along the line, the forgiveness process broke for David. He became so consumed with anger and bitterness that his last dying words were words of revenge, so let's talk about those barriers. Let's try to identify those barriers. Number one, a failure to empathize with the person who heard us is a burden for forgiveness. A failure to empathize will keep us in unforgiveness. Empathy is one of the most important steps in unforgiveness. Empathy is where I put myself in the place of another and try to figure out why they did what they did. It doesn't make what they did right. It doesn't justify it. It doesn't take my pain away, but it helps me in the forgiving process. Not one time does David say to Shimei, "Why are you so angry with me?" Not one time. "I don't know you. You don't know me. Why are you throwing stones at me? What have I done to you?" If he would have asked that one question, maybe he would have learned something about Shimei that could have saved Shimei's life and saved himself the embarrassment that happened. If he would have said, "Stop throwing stones. Stop cursing me. Tell me why you're angry," maybe he would have won over a loyal subject that day. Maybe Shimei would have gone from hate to love. Remember the Bible gives us a clue. It says he is from the household of Saul. When Saul died, David became King; but when he became King, it was a divided kingdom. There was the North and the South. When Solomon's son died-when he was killed-David eventually became King over the whole country, but Saul's family and loyal followers continued to fight David's followers. Over time, David's power increased and Saul's power diminished to the point where David was in complete control; but there was a lot of bad blood between Saul's side and David's side. Because he was related to Saul, possibly somebody in David's army or maybe even David himself in battle, killed a relative. Maybe he was mad because he lost his father to David's father or his brother to David's army. Maybe he even lost a son. That changes everything, doesn't it? "If I understand the reason for your anger with me is because somebody in my army killed a close relative of yours, then that anger is justified, is it not?" David didn't take the time to find that out. David didn't take the time to empathize with the man who was throwing the stones. Sometimes when somebody is throwing stones at us, we don't take the time to figure out why they're doing what they're doing, why they're saying what they're saying. Remember the story we told about the gunman coming into that schoolhouse and shooting those little girls? Do you know one of the reasons why the Amish could forgive? Then the Amish said to his widow, "We forgive your husband." They empathized with her. They said, "She does not have a husband. She does not have a father or her children. We want you to know we're here to support you. We want you to know we love you." Then she shared with them a story. She said, "My husband was very angry with God because he had a child who died. The child became sick, and he prayed to God to heal the child; but God did not heal the child. God let the child die. He was so angry over the years, he became increasingly bitter; so he decided he would take revenge on God and go out and kill these innocent children because he was so angry with God." Of course that doesn't make it right. It is still just as awful and horrendous as it ever was, but it allowed the Amish to empathize and understand what was going on-twisted thinking though it was-they began to understand that this man had pain in his life, excruciating pain. He was acting in anger. The Amish forgave the gunman. Empathy is very important. It's part of that receiving process. It's part of that listening process. Why did the person hurt me? What happened in their past? Who hurt them? It doesn't make it right. It doesn't take away my pain, but it's a very important beginning in the process of forgiveness. I want to talk on this briefly, but number two is sometimes unforgiveness is a failure to trust God, a failure to trust the justice of God. What does God's Word say about those who've harmed people-those who've committed unjust acts against people? Romans 12:17 (page 1123), "Do not repay evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." Now I'm not talking about somebody who deserves to be prosecuted by the law. If somebody has committed a crime against you, yes, the state should punish them. They deserve to be punished or even go to jail if it's an egregious enough act. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about your right as an individual, not the state, but as an individual. You do not have the right to enact revenge. The Bible says revenge belongs to God. God will carry out justice. Do you trust that? Do you trust that God's keeping records? Do you trust that God's keeping an account? If you trust in the justice of God, then you don't have to take revenge into your own hands. The Amish said this many times, "We trust in the justice of God. We understand why he did what he did. It's not right, but we are not seeking revenge. It is God's place to judge and merit out justice." So maybe you're having a barrier and you're holding onto that grudge because you want revenge. Forgiveness is giving up the right to revenge. It's putting that into the hands of God. Thirdly, it is a failure to recognize the danger of unforgiveness. We fail to recognize the danger of unforgiveness or the power of unforgiveness. Did you know science is confirming what the Bible has taught-that unforgiveness is unhealthy for you? Did you know that if you're retelling a story-sometimes you're retelling a story, and there's unforgiveness-that your blood pressure can reach dangerous levels by just telling the story? Your physical body will begin to recreate and manifest the signs that happened when you were hurt. That anger will resurface. Did you know there's a part of your brain that is stimulated by the thought of revenge, literally? Physiologically there is a chemical change. There are pleasure centers in your brain, and guess where those pleasure centers are located? The same area where we have sexual cravings and cravings for things like food. There is a pleasure center of your brain that is aroused when you go into your restaurant, you think about your favorite dessert or your favorite food, and then you smell it. There is a pleasure center in your brain. If we were to take an MRI of your brain, we would see that there's an arousal in your brain for what you're about to eat. In that same pleasure center where there is a chemical reaction to sexual intimacy and desire for that-in that same center of the brain, we are stimulated by revenge. When somebody you hate is getting what's due, you love it a little bit too much. That's what that study says to us. It says it's a little dangerous because something chemical is happening there that you can get hooked on, that you can get pleasure from, and you're going to likely repeat that behavior because it is giving you pleasure. When your favorite football team is winning, you're happy; but when your favorite football team is defeating the football team you hate the most, you're really happy. When David was walking through the crowd and was leaving his throne, Shimei was in his glory. Shimei was like, "Yeah, you dirty dog! You scoundrel! You are getting what you deserve," and he was loving it! I'm not going to ask you for a raise of hands, but I guarantee [some of you would say yes]. How did you feel when you were a kid and there was a bully at school that was picked on. How did you feel when your bully got what was due? Yeah, you got pleasure from that. Somebody wronged you or robbed you-maybe somebody robbed you financially, and the day they went to jail, you were like, "Oh, I'm loving this article a little bit too much." Why I'm telling you that is to say this: forgiveness is not for the light-hearted. Forgiveness is not for the week of heart. Forgiveness is tough because you're battling not just emotions and memories but something physiological that is going on in your brain. There's a war going on. We're saying, "By forgiveness, I'm going to change my response to that person and that event." To take on that process is not for the faint of heart. It's a struggle, so we need to be aware of that. Fourthly, a breakdown is when we fail to finish the process. We don't complete it all the way. Years ago, I had strep throat, and I had to speak on a Sunday. We only had one service back then, but I remember something really cool. When I would preach, my throat didn't hurt anymore. My glands were swollen to the point where I couldn't talk properly, but when I preached, I had my normal goofy voice. As soon as I was done, everything started to hurt again, and I could hardly talk. It was really weird. The doctor gave me a bottle of meds, and he said, "Take this all the way through until it's gone." I said, "Okay." I'm halfway through the bottle, and I'm feeling good. In fact, I'm feeling normal. My throat is normal; my headache is gone; no fever. I'm feeling 100 percent normal. I don't need to finish this prescription. I know the doctor said to finish the bottle, but I'm cured; so I put it aside, and about two days later, like really fast this time, I was like, "Oh no. Oh, gee. I should have finished the bottle." So the next time when I got strep throat, the same thing happened. My glands were so swollen, and it really hurt. When I preached it was fine. As soon as I was done preaching, it hurt again. I finished my bottle [this time]. Friends, sometimes you will think you have the battle licked. You'll just not pay attention to it. Maybe you'll start nursing some of those bitter thoughts, and there's just this little bit of bitterness left, a little neglected there. You feel like "I'm fine. I'm normal. I'm over it. I can move on." There's this little bit of bitterness, and you neglect it. You don't finish the process, and all of the sudden, those feelings start coming back. Those emotions start coming back. Everything all of the sudden is where it was before. The past has become the present. Is this making sense to anybody? Finish the process. Stick to it. Some offenses are so wrong that you're committing to the process of forgiveness for an entire lifetime. It's not just this one event and then it's done. It is a process I enter into, but there might be times years from now where I'm reminding myself of the grace of God. I'm reminding myself of the decision I've made. I'm taking control of my thoughts and feelings and saying, "I have forgiven. I have released the past. That no longer defines me." Remember what victim identity is. We said victim identity is this: You are a victim. You've been hurt. You've been damaged. You're a victim. What happened to you is you were victimized. That's the verb, so the noun is you are a victim. The verb is you are victimized, but when victim identity takes place, the verb and the noun become one. The verb and the noun become the same. You become that offense, so that starts to define who you are. You're no longer just you. You are this person who had this terrible thing happen to you, and that becomes your identity; so you live in a state of perpetual victimness. Forgiveness we said was the key to breaking free and becoming a victor instead of a victim. You say, "This does not define me anymore. Grace and forgiveness define me. I am an even better person because this happened to me. God is making me a better person. I'm helping others. I'm a victor, not a victim. I'm letting go of the past." Now this last barrier is that in the opposite. This last barrier is a failure to see the whole person. How many of you woke up this morning looking exactly like you do right now? Nobody, right? Except Justin Bieber. He wakes up and his hair is just like that. Ladies, that's true. I don't want to pop any teenage bubbles here today. What if we were to come in your room this morning as soon as you'd woke up, the moment you sat up for the first time, and take your picture? I know that's creepy, but this is an illustration. What would we see if we were to put that picture of you on the wall today? How would your hair look? What if we got in really close where we could see the drool there? We see you, ladies, without your makeup. We see you guys without your hairpiece. Some of those 8 o'clockers, we'd see them without their teeth. You don't say a word (congregation breaks into laughter)! I will not forgive you. I will show up, take your picture, and put it up on the wall. We wouldn't look very good, so what if we took that picture and put it on the wall and said, "This is you! This is what you look like. That's who you are." You'd say, "Well, yeah, that was me at that moment, but give me 20 minutes. Let me take a shower, wash my hair, and put on my makeup. Let me comb my hair, brush my teeth, and shave. I can look better than that. I have looked better than that! That's not an accurate representation of who I am. That was me in a moment, but that's not what I look like all the time. That's not fair!" Friends, unforgiveness is taking a snapshot of a person at their worst and saying, "That's who you are! That's all you are-that terrible thing I see, that ugly person I see in this snapshot. That is you!" That is not them. That was them at that moment; that was them at that time, but this did not define who they are either. When there's unforgiveness, we define, and we say, "That is you! That is all you are! That is all you'll ever be!" Remember Jared Loughner, the man who shot Congressman Giffords in the face because he hated her and killed a little girl? He killed a staff person, and he injured others. She is now rehabilitating. We've all heard that story; we've all seen his picture, right? The bald head, the creepy smile, the eyes that kind of look through to your soul-he has that maniac Charles Manson kind of face. We all look at that face, and we go, "That guy's a monster! Anybody who'd do that to people is a monster!" Friends, it is easy to have unforgiveness to a monster, isn't it? When we look at that picture, that defines who he is. To all of us who do not know him, that guy is a monster; and that picture, that event, defines him in our minds. When his mom and dad see that picture, what do they see? Do they see a monster? When his brother, sister, or his best friends look at that picture of Jared, do they see a monster? They see what he did as monstrous, but when they see him, they see their son, their brother, their friend; and their heart breaks because they see the whole person. When David looked at Shimei, all he saw was the stone thrower. All he saw was the guy who insulted him and threw rocks and dirt. He didn't know him. He didn't know what kind of dad he was. He didn't know what kind of father he was, whether he was a Godly man or not, took care of his family or not. He didn't know whether he was a hard worker or whether he was a good friend or not. He just took a snapshot of Shimei and said, "That is Shimei-this crazy, cursing, dirt-throwing, stone-throwing jerk, and I want him dead! It gives me pleasure as I go into eternity to know that my son is going to kill this dirty jerk." Wow! "David, how about if we defined you like that? How about if we defined you and took a snapshot of you in bed with Bathsheba and said, "That's who you are, David. That's all you are. What if we took a snapshot of you signing the death warrant for her husband Uriah to be killed in battle? How about if we put that up and said, 'Here, David, that's you'?" David would say, "Yeah, that was me, but that's not all I am. I wrote the Psalms. I led our nation into battle and victory more than any other soldier in history. I united our kingdom. I established our capital. I brought the Ark to the capital. I started building the Temple of God. I've been a great king!" Well, David wouldn't want that standard applied to him, would he? Nobody does. When we say, "I'm not going to forgive," we are saying we are going to take a snapshot at their worst and say, "That is all they are to me." One of the barriers of forgiveness is that. It's easy to not forgive a monster, but when we see the whole person, that enables us to forgive. We watched a clip from the movie "Forrest Gump" as you were coming in. Jenny, the character, had gone through nightmare experiences in her home. We could only imagine what she went through as she was throwing the rocks at the house in anger and saying, "How could you do that?" We can only imagine the abuse her character must have went through in the story. Then she collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Forrest Gump says, "Sometimes there's just not enough rocks." Now we're going to look at an artist who wrote a song called 70x7 about the house he grew up in and the memories of neglect and abuse that he endured; but through the power of forgiveness, he's no longer throwing stones. He's experiencing healing. Let's listen to this song together: (here's a link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5-Q1zAhqpA). Would you join me in prayer this morning please? Father, we can identify with that young man. We have had events in our past that have shaped who we are-things that are good but also things that are painful, people who helped us but also people that hurt us. Some hurt us deeply, and we have a choice to make. We can either live with anger and bitterness and throw stones till we are exhausted, or we can choose to forgive by Your grace and through Your strength. We can begin to heal. That will not define who we are. We can have a new start. Father, I pray for those of us who identified our barrier today. This is the area we struggle in; this is the area where we keep losing the battle. I pray that that area of weakness could become a strength. I pray, Lord, that we would put down the stones and pick up the cross. There we would find grace not only to be forgiven but to forgive. I pray that we'd exchange death for life and hope for despair. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.