Welcome to Big Valley Grace Community Church. If it’s your first time, second time, you’re new, my name is Joel. I’d love to meet you. Right after the gathering I’ll be standing right here. I’d love to put a name and a face together and welcome you personally to Big Valley Grace. We’re really glad that you’re here. We hope that today is a great encouragement. You found the right place, and welcome. We’re thankful that you’re here.

Today we continue going through the book of Acts in our Bible. We’re in Acts chapter 6 and Acts chapter 7. If you have a Bible, you can turn to Acts 6 and 7. If you don’t have a Bible, we’ll solve that problem today. Come to the prayer room after the gathering and we have Bibles in there, and we’d love to give you a Bible as a gift. If you need prayer, also come and get prayer after the gathering.

I do want to make one note about our text today. At the end of our text, it’s a very difficult scene at the end of chapter 7. It is about a martyrdom. The reason I’m telling you that now is just to help out any parents that have young kids in the room so that you might have whatever discretion you want to use in this moment. We are going to be faithful to honor the Lord, and we’re going to be faithful to His Word, and we want to partner with parents so that you have a heads-up and are equipped knowing what’s coming. But it is a difficult scene at the end of chapter 7.

Before we get into this, I want to share with you something that happened yesterday. I heard a sound at my house, which is not super unusual because there are so many people who live there. But I heard a sound that caught my dad ears in a unique way. It was a scream. It wasn’t the kind of scream that’s the angry scream. It was the kind of scream that’s the “I am hurt” scream, and those are different screams. Parents know those screams.

It has a different passion. It has a different decibel. The door slamming behind it also got my attention. My daughter, who is eight—her name is Gigi—came into the house with her two older brothers who were in middle school, and her foot was injured. Mom scoops her up and picks her up, and all of a sudden we go into emergency response mode.

I’m calling out to all the lieutenants. “Lieutenant one, we need a flashlight. Lieutenant two, we need tweezers.” We’re dabbing the bottom of her foot. There’s a little blood coming out. We see there’s something stuck in the bottom of her foot. So the whole team is engaged. We’re all there, we’re all working together, and by God’s grace and some aim, I got the tweezers and pulled a metal sliver out of the bottom of my daughter’s foot.

I showed it to her, and I’m thinking, “No wonder you’re hurting. There’s a piece of metal that was in the bottom of your foot.” I showed it to her. “Hey, I got it out.” I was feeling pretty good about being a dad in that moment. Then I did what every good dad does: I put a Band-Aid on it. She got to pick out the Band-Aid. She liked the color, and she was real happy now that the Band-Aid was on it.

In that moment, I was like, “Okay, emergency has been brought to a conclusion. We did our job. We handled it. We fixed it.”

But in parenting, there are a lot of things that are not like that at all. There are a lot of things that don’t end up being brought to a conclusion. A lot of things we don’t get resolution about. A lot of things that don’t end up being fixed.

It’s not just in parenting. In our lives, all of us have experienced very different parts of our story where it didn’t ever seem to end well, get solved, or get fixed.

At the end of chapter 7, we’re going to come to a historical account like that in the Scriptures. I don’t know what this is going to stir up in your life, in my life, in our lives together as we address a subject that’s difficult, and what reflections from the things we’ve experienced that the Lord is going to remind us about.

But I know this: God loves us. His grace is enough. His forgiveness and His mercy are enough. He can care for us in this moment as we walk through this text together. That’s what I want to pray over us as we begin.

Father God, Lord, would You help us as we come to Your Word and there is a scene that’s going to feel very unresolved? Lord, would You help us? Would You help us navigate it as it calls things out in our own lives? Lord, would You help us as we’re being conformed to Your image? As You’re changing us, God, we need You to walk us through it. We need You to help us through it. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Acts chapter 6, verse 1. “Now in these days,” and the days it’s speaking about are the explosion of the birth of the church. The book of Acts describes the descent of the Holy Spirit of God to the disciples of Jesus Christ, the promise of the Father that Jesus said the Father would send when Jesus ascended back to the Father. When the Holy Spirit would come, He would give power so that the disciples of Jesus Christ might be witnesses for Jesus.

Now in these days, the disciples were increasing in number. If you’re keeping track of the numbers so far in the book of Acts, first we have eleven. We lost Judas, and then one is added. They get twelve. Then there’s 120 in an upper room.

In chapter 4 it says many of those who heard the Word believed, and the number of men came to about 5,000. Then chapter 5 says more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. Now in chapter 6, we see another increase in numbers.

So 5,000 men, plus multitudes of men, plus multitudes of women, and then an increase on top of that. Whatever that number is, that’s where we’re at with how many people have come to know Jesus Christ in this part of the historical narrative.

When the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose.

Imagine that.

Imagine a complaint happening with a bunch of people coming to Jesus. That’s not our experience, right? We’ve never heard that. A bunch of people who follow Jesus get together and someone complains. None of us have experienced that.

A complaint arose by the Hellenists, the Greek-speaking Jews, against the Hebrews, the Hebrew-speaking Jews, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

It’s actually a pretty cool scene because the church now has a lot of people in it and they’re caring for one another. They have a way they’re caring for one another through the distribution of food to widows who need help. They’re seeing a discrepancy. “This group of widows is not getting taken care of in the same way as this group of widows.”

So we have a complaint.

The twelve apostles summon the full number of the disciples. I don’t know that it’s saying all of the thousands of people came to a meeting. It may be that they put a call out to the disciples in the vicinity, and whoever was in the vicinity came and was accountable in that moment.

They say, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.” — NIV

The twelve apostles are saying, “We know we have a job to do. We know that we’re supposed to be preaching the Word of God. The distribution of food to the widows is also important. We can’t do it all. We’re not able to do it all, and we know we’re not supposed to stop doing this.”

So they say to choose seven men from among them who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom, and they will turn this responsibility over to them.

The ministry needs to happen. We cannot handle it all on our own. We need to identify seven men. They need to have a great reputation. They need to be full of the Holy Spirit, and they need to be full of wisdom. They will be given the opportunity to serve through the distribution of food for the widows.

Then the apostles say, “We will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” — NIV

“We know there’s something we can’t stop doing. We’ve got to keep devoted to the Word, and we’ve got to keep devoted to prayer. We know we can’t stop doing it.”

All the ministry needed people of good reputation. All the ministry needed people who were full of the Holy Spirit. All the ministry needed people who were full of wisdom. But one person can’t do it all.

The twelve couldn’t do it all.

Now they’re adding seven to the team to grow the leadership, which is a really cool scene, seeing how the multiplication of ministry is happening and new people are being invited in to take up leadership for the mission.

What they said pleased the whole gathering. As the people hear it, they’re like, “That makes total sense. Those guys need to be praying and doing the preaching of the Word. Great, we’ll have those seven guys take care of this need. That makes a lot of sense. The ministry is going to expand. Ministry is going to be taken care of.”

Then it lists them. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a convert to Judaism from Antioch.

The seven men are now named.

We see they were full of the Spirit and wisdom. Stephen is declared as a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. They present these men to the apostles, and the apostles pray and lay their hands on them.

There is ministry they need to do, and they’re going to start the ministry of these seven by bringing them before the leaders, praying for them, and laying hands on them.

These men were of good reputation, full of the Spirit, full of wisdom, and now had a ministry to do. The leaders help them start that ministry by laying hands on them and praying for them.

Church family, we have the opportunity to do that right now in our church.

I want to invite up Pastor Scott Elliott. I want to invite up our elders and our pastors. I want to invite up James Fuel and his wife and have them come up to the stage right now.

We’ve got a cool opportunity right now to do the very same thing that Pastor Joel was just sharing about. This is something we don’t do often because, as Paul wrote to Timothy, Paul said, “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands.”

That means it’s not something we should just rush into.

The reason we’re gathering right now to lay hands on somebody is because James Fuel has now completed the process to be licensed as a pastor of our church.

To get to this point, like I said, this isn’t something we rush into. There are biblical qualifications he had to meet. He had to pass a Bible exam demonstrating knowledge, but it’s not enough just to know a lot of things. He had to write about what he believes, but it’s not enough just to believe a lot of things to get into this place.

It’s really a place where we say God has to have a clear calling on your life. God calls you into ministry, calls you to the role of being a pastor, and that call is then confirmed by our elders.

We’ve watched his ministry as he’s already been with us, and we’ve seen how God has moved and worked. Our elders have decided to license him as a pastor, and we’re licensing him to a specific role.

James is going to be our worship pastor.

We’re excited about that.

So I’m going to have our elders and pastors gather around James, and we’re going to have the opportunity to pray for him. Pastor Joel, would you pray, and then I’ll pray for him as well?

Father God, Lord, thank You for my brother and his bride. God, it’s a special moment. This is just so cool to have the Scripture revealed and we’re getting to live it out right now, really practically, as a church family.

So we lay hands on him and we pray for him.

Lord, Your clear calling is on his life. We’ve all been witness to it very clearly, and he’s given great testimony to the work of God in him.

We pray for him. We pray for his bride alongside him. We pray for them together. We pray protection over them. We pray protection over their marriage and their family.

God, we ask for You to be glorified and lifted up and exalted by their lives.

Father, we pray for Your blessing on James and his ministry and on his whole family, Lord, and just the ways already that they’ve been a blessing to our church family.

Father, we ask for many more years of faithful service in honoring You and leading people. Father, would he have great wisdom as he shepherds people who are under him and as he leads in the direction You’d have him go.

Father, we ask that each step of the way You would continue to utilize the gifts You’ve given him, that he would serve by the power of Your Holy Spirit, walk according to Your Word, and act in a way that brings You honor and glory.

As we sang earlier, that You would be magnified, that You would be exalted in him.

Lord, we pray Your blessing over each step that he takes as he follows after You. Father, we license him. We commission him. We pray Your blessing on him in his ministry as he sets out in this role.

God, we pray all of this in Your name. Amen.

Let’s appreciate Pastor James.

Very cool, church family.

Verse 7 says the Word of God continued to increase and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.

So 5,000 men plus multitudes of men plus multitudes of women plus an increase, and now it says the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.

A very significant number of people have come to faith in Jesus Christ at this point in the historical narrative.

One difference in verse 7 is that it says a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Very, very significant.

I know you’ve been keeping track of how many times the word “priest” has shown up in the book of Acts. It’s nine. Good job.

The first four are in chapter 4, all in a negative context because it’s in opposition to the gospel. The second four are in chapter 5, all in a negative context because the priests are named in connection with the questioning, persecuting, and ridicule coming toward those following Jesus.

But number nine, right here, we see it used by saying a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Something has significantly changed.

Really, really special to see.

Stephen, full of grace and power—listen to the description so far about him. Full of the Spirit and wisdom. Full of faith and the Holy Spirit. Now full of grace and power.

He was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Remember, this is a guy who was set aside for the purpose of the daily distribution of food to widows.

Now look at the description.

Full of grace and power, doing great wonders and signs among the people.

If you’ve been tracking through the book of Acts, you’ve seen clearly that this has nothing to do with Stephen and everything to do with God.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses.” — NIV

The Holy Spirit of God has come upon Stephen’s life and changed him.

His life is now a reflection full of grace, full of power, because of God.

His life is now a conduit of the great wonders of God, the signs of God among the people.

God is using him in an incredible way.

Then some men from various synagogues rise up and begin to dispute with Stephen, which is exactly what is to be expected when someone is operating in the power of God.

There will be opposition that comes to those who are operating in the power of God.

But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

They’re coming at him to dispute, argue, and discredit, but they couldn’t match him because He who is in Stephen is greater than them.

They were no match for the wisdom of God in Stephen.

They were no match for the Spirit of God in Stephen.

Then they secretly instigate men.

That always ends well.

Secretly instigating men.

They secretly instigate men who say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

They can’t match the Spirit of God and the wisdom of God in him, so they secretly instigate men to put up an accusation.

The accusation is extremely serious for a man like Stephen to receive in that place and time.

They stir up the people, elders, and teachers of the law. They seize Stephen and bring him before the council.

Now a physical attack comes, a physical arrest, and they’re bringing him before a religious court to be tried.

They set up false witnesses.

False witnesses.

That’s not going to end well.

They set up false witnesses to give false testimony.

The false testimony says this man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law. They claim he says Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the place and change the customs Moses handed down.

They secretly instigate men to bring a false accusation, and then they prepare false witnesses to bring false testimony.

That’s a tough situation to be in.

That would be a tough situation for any of us.

Everyone sitting in the council gazes at Stephen and sees that his face is like the face of an angel.

That word “gazing” is important because we’re going to find it important again at the end of chapter 7.

When I experience people bringing accusations against me, I don’t know that they would say my face looks like the face of an angel.

When false testimony and false witness are coming at me, I don’t know that anyone is saying, “Look at Joel. He’s so angelic.”

I think my response would be very different.

My face would look very different.

But God’s doing something here.

This isn’t about Stephen in his response. It’s about God doing something greater than Stephen is able to do, to where they look at him and say, “His face looks like the face of an angel.”

Then the high priest asks, “Are these charges true?” — NIV

Are the accusations being brought against you true?

Is the false witness being set up against you true?

Are these things so?

It brings us all to at least wrestle with the question: How will we respond when we are questioned about our faith in Jesus?

When we experience being questioned about our faith in Jesus, how will we respond?

We’re about to look at a response Stephen gives, and his response is probably going to be very different than our response.

But what we can understand through Scripture is that Jesus said we don’t need to worry when we’re brought before authorities because God will give us what to say when we need to say it.

There’s also an instruction in Scripture that we can be prepared in season and out of season to give a defense for the hope that’s within us.

So there is preparation we can do on the front end, and there is also help in the middle of something that God will bring so that we will have words to give in response.

But how will we respond when questioned about our faith in Jesus?

Acts chapter 7 begins Stephen’s response.

He says, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham…” — NIV

This begins your homework assignment for the week.

Your homework assignment is to read the next 50 verses and study them, because in this moment I don’t have time to teach through all 50 verses.

What I can do is summarize what the 50 verses are about and why he says what he says.

But I’m going to need you to open your Bible on your own and do some work this week to study his response.

The accusation comes: “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

What Stephen does in the next 50 verses is show, “I am not blaspheming against God. I’m not coming against the law of Moses.”

He gives a summarized historical recap of the redemption and work of God to redeem Israel.

His speech is in direct response to the accusation that he’s blaspheming against God and Moses.

The false testimony said he never stops speaking against the holy place and the law and that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the place and change the customs Moses delivered.

As Stephen responds, he’s showing he’s aligned with God, not blaspheming God.

He’s aligned with God.

He’s aligned with God’s work.

He’s aligned with God’s Word.

He’s aligned with God’s law.

He’s not working in opposition to God.

He’s working underneath the direction of God.

As you dig into your homework assignment this week, you’re going to learn a lot about the historical redemptive history of God to the nation of Israel.

But in verse 51, he stops the summarized historical narrative and directs his comments back toward his accusers.

That’s where we’re going to pick it up.

The first words directed toward his accusers, toward those who gave false witness and were part of the religious council, are:

“You stiff-necked people!”

That’s four tough words to start a sentence directed toward somebody.

What does stiff-necked mean?

It is: “I am so proud and so arrogant that my neck is going to be like a rod of iron, and I’m unwilling to bend and flex to the direction of God. I’m not pliable in the hands of God.”

At least in attitude and thought.

All of us break in the hands of God.

But the attitude is, “I am so proud I cannot be moved. I cannot be disciplined by God. I stick my neck out and I’m stiff-necked.”

Stephen is saying that’s who they are.

“You’ve accused me of being blasphemous, but you are a stiff-necked people.”

And that’s not it.

He says they are uncircumcised in heart and ears.

That’s a direct connection to the physical circumcision they had according to the law.

He’s saying, “You may have the marks of physical circumcision on your body, but your heart is not for God. Your ears do not listen to God.”

You’ve got a stiff neck.

You’ve got an uncircumcised heart.

You’ve got uncircumcised ears.

And guess what?

That’s not it.

“You always resist the Holy Spirit!”

Throughout all the work the Holy Spirit continues to do, you push against it.

You resist.

And guess what?

It’s a big family problem.

“As your ancestors did, so do you.” — NIV

It’s a generational problem that’s been passed down.

Your family has a stiff neck.

Your family has an evil heart.

Your family has ears that don’t listen to God.

Your family resists the Holy Spirit.

You are in the pattern of your family.

Stephen continues: “Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?” — NIV

He’s saying, “Open up the law. Open up the historical books. Open up the words God gave you. Pick a prophet. Just pick one. Which one of these prophets did your family not persecute?”

They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One.

The Righteous One is Jesus Christ.

Think John the Baptist.

Think of the prophets who came before saying, “He’s coming. The Righteous One is coming.”

Stephen says, “Your family killed those who announced the Righteous One.”

Not only that, but the Righteous One whom you have now betrayed and murdered.

He takes his comments and puts it directly on them.

“You are the ones who betrayed the Righteous One of God. You are the ones who murdered the Righteous One of God.”

Then he says they received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.

In other words, “You’re so proud to hold the scrolls. You’re so proud to have the book. You’re so proud to have the written words, but you don’t live by them. You don’t do them. You don’t keep them.”

You boast that you received the law, but you don’t observe it.

That’s quite a response, isn’t it?

And that was just the portion directed at them.

That wasn’t even the summarized historical lesson.

That’s pretty intense.

When we are questioned about our faith, I don’t know what our response will be.

Our response will probably look different than this response.

But we can know this: when we are questioned about our faith in Jesus Christ, God will help us respond.

God will give us what we need to obey Him and honor Him so that we might give a response.

It might be customized for us in the moment by the power of the Holy Spirit giving us the words we need.

Now they respond back.

When they hear these things, they’re furious and gnash their teeth at Stephen.

This verse is a description of what we might call bloodlust—anger to the point of desiring to murder.

They heard these things and were enraged, grinding their teeth at him.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazes into heaven.

Remember earlier they gazed at him and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.

Now he’s gazing into heaven.

He sees the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Somehow in this moment, God gives Stephen a gift.

Stephen is on planet Earth.

God is in heaven.

Jesus is standing at the right hand of the Father.

God allows the reality between Earth and heaven to be opened up for a window so that Stephen can look through that window.

Apparently he’s got a lot better eyes than I do because he can see all the way to God in heaven and Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father.

God gives him a gift of a vision of heaven.

Stephen gives testimony to what he is seeing:

“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” — NIV

That is remarkable.

What an incredible thing for us to read about—a gift God gave Stephen in this moment as he is being persecuted.

God gives him a vision of heaven.

But they cry out with a loud voice, cover their ears, and rush together at him.

Then they cast him out of the city and stone him.

They pick up rocks and throw them at him until enough rocks have hit his body to kill him.

The witnesses lay down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

That detail is going to become very, very important as we continue in the book of Acts.

This very small detail:

They laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

As they are stoning Stephen, he calls out:

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” — NIV

Then he falls to his knees and cries out:

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” — NIV

When he had said this, he fell asleep.

He died.

I don’t know what all of our experiences are going to be related to persecution.

Some of us may never experience any type of persecution related to faith in Jesus Christ.

Some of us may experience verbal persecution.

Some of us may experience physical persecution.

There may be some of us who end up dying for our faith in Jesus Christ.

I don’t know what levels of persecution we will all experience because of faith in Jesus Christ.

But I know we can learn something about what God showed Stephen in this moment because he gazed into heaven and God gave him a gift.

What does this gaze into heaven reveal about our own lives?

Stephen gazes into heaven, sees God, sees the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God, and then we see what happens immediately afterward in his life.

What does that reveal about us?

Number one: Jesus is the only way by which we will see God.

There is no other possible way to see God except through Jesus Christ.

In this moment, God gives Stephen the gift to see God because of his relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus said:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” — NIV

Stephen, as he’s dying, says, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

God allows him to see God.

I find it interesting to match the things Stephen says at his death with the things Jesus said at His death.

At His death, Jesus said, “It is finished.”

What does it mean when Jesus on the cross says, “It is finished”?

He’s declaring that the sacrifice of His body and His blood—the sacrifice on the cross to pay with His own blood the debt of our sin—was completed.

The debt was paid.

Redemption was completed.

The atonement was completed in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, where He can say, “It is finished.”

Because Jesus was able to say, “It is finished,” redemption is complete.

That’s why Stephen is able to say, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Stephen was trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ for salvation.

This matches what Jesus taught in the Beatitudes:

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” — NIV

There is no way for me to have a pure heart or for you to have a pure heart without the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

It is the finished work of Jesus on the cross that enables us to have a pure heart.

There is a blessing for those who receive the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross for salvation.

That blessing is: they will see God.

If you’re here and have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation, if you have never trusted in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, I want to challenge you.

I call out to you and challenge you to place your faith in Jesus.

Trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross to pay for your sin because there is an incredible blessing for the pure in heart:

They will see God.

Number two: Jesus is the only way by which we will go to heaven.

He’s the only way by which we will go to heaven.

Stephen says:

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” — NIV

He’s given a vision of God and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the Father.

He sees Jesus, and he knows that’s where he needs to head.

He needs to head toward the vision he sees.

He sees Jesus.

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Compare that with what Jesus said on the cross.

Jesus, knowing He’s heading toward the Father, says:

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” — NIV

He knows He’s heading to the Father.

Now Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, and Stephen is looking at Jesus at the right hand of the Father.

Stephen speaks to Jesus:

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

This matches what Jesus taught in the Beatitudes:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” — NIV

Being poor in spirit means I am at the bottom of the barrel spiritually, which means all I can do is look up and ask God to help because I’ve got nothing else to do.

That place of spiritual poverty.

There is a blessing when we realize we’ve got no chance without Jesus Christ and our only chance is Jesus Christ.

“For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

He’s asking Jesus in heaven to receive his spirit.

He can see Him.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Number three: Jesus is the only way by which we will offer forgiveness.

We talk a lot about receiving forgiveness.

This text is about offering forgiveness.

Jesus is the only way by which we will offer forgiveness.

Stephen says this as he’s dying:

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” — NIV

He is the first recorded martyr after Jesus’ resurrection.

He’s saying that about the people who are murdering him.

What did Jesus say on the cross?

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” — NIV

As Jesus is being murdered on the cross, He is asking God the Father to forgive the people who are murdering Him because they don’t know what they’re doing.

This matches what Jesus taught in the Beatitudes:

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” — NIV

Mercy is not giving the due punishment to someone who deserves it.

That’s what mercy is.

It is not giving them the punishment they deserve.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Following Jesus Christ is not just about receiving love, receiving grace, receiving mercy.

Following Jesus Christ is also about giving love, giving grace, and giving mercy.

There is only one way by which we will be able to offer forgiveness, and it is through Jesus Christ.

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

I shared at the beginning about my experience yesterday being able to pull the metal sliver out of my daughter’s foot and, in some sense, being able to solve that problem and fix that problem.

But there are some problems I haven’t been able to solve for my daughter.

My wife and I met our daughter when she was two months old. Her biological mother was a blackout drunk. Every day when my daughter was in the womb, she was washed with alcohol. My daughter has fetal alcohol syndrome. She is autistic and she has a low IQ.

I have needed God’s help to forgive the person who hurt my daughter.

I’ve never heard, “I’m sorry.”

I’ve never heard, “I shouldn’t have done it.”

I’ve never heard, “I’m remorseful.”

I’ve never heard, “Will you please forgive me?”

I’ve never heard repentance.

I’ve never had any opportunity for reconciliation.

But you know what I can’t live with?

I can’t live with bitterness because bitterness is poison in my soul.

I’ve got to let it go, even though I don’t have any opportunity to talk with the person who did it, who brought the harm against my daughter.

That is just one example of how God, in His goodness, does whatever the “peel back the veil of heaven” thing is to allow me to see God and His goodness and Jesus and His goodness and the ability to say:

“I forgive.”

I forgive even though it’s just between me and God that I’m doing it.

So that I can be the dad that my daughter, who has special needs, needs.

So that I can love her and be gracious and merciful and fully present with her and not be burdened by the sin of unforgiveness, the bitterness of unforgiveness.

I don’t know what your story is.

I don’t know what the aspects of your story are, but I know we all have a story.

I know there is real pain and there is real hurt.

I know in life there are a lot of things that feel like they never got resolved.

They never got concluded.

They never got fixed.

If you’re here and you’re like me and you can relate to part of my story, that I needed God’s help to forgive, I’d love to pray for you right now.

If you’re here and you need help to forgive somebody, I just want to invite you to stand.

I’m going to pray for whoever stands.

You’re here. You’ve got something that’s happened, and you just need God’s help, just like I’ve needed God’s help, to ask God to help me forgive.

You need God’s help too.

I’m going to pray for you right now.

Father God, we need You.

We stand together, brothers and sisters.

Lord, we come before You and we’re asking for help.

We are publicly acknowledging that we need help to forgive.

Lord, when there is no resolution and there is no conclusion and there is no repentance and there is no remorse and there’s no reconciliation, and God, it feels like we just got left with the really bad end of the deal, Lord, we ask for help.

Help us not to live in bitterness.

Help us release bitterness.

Help us embrace forgiveness.

Lord, that we might be able to have that with You, between us and You.

Would You give us the gift of being able to offer forgiveness so that we can walk around in love and grace and mercy?

So that we can walk around with peace in our heart, not being controlled by the actions of others but being under the control of the Holy Spirit of God.

Lord, we are asking for help.

We are standing together and asking You, please, Lord, will You help us be a people who can offer forgiveness?

We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and Savior.

Amen.