DEALING WITH FORGIVENESS (4 OF 7)
Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35
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Dealing with Forgiveness (4 of 7)
Series: Life Choices
David Cawston
Matthew 18:21-35
INTRODUCTION:
Unforgiveness in our lives is a ball and chain that keeps us in constant bondage.
Roger was given a sawed off shotgun by a friend, and he used it. You see, his daughter Sara had been riding a bike when a drunk driver hit her.
She died almost instantly, and the driver was sent to prison for manslaughter.
When he was released from prison, Roger shot him, fully intending to kill him.
Charged with attempted murder, Roger was found not guilty.
Despite the fact that he had deliberately tried to kill the man, the jury found the victim so repulsive that unanimously they acquitted his assailant. Even so, though, it wasn't enough.
The bereaved father was asked if squeezing the trigger and watching the man collapse in agony made him feel any better. ''No,'' said. ''Only killing him could have made me feel better.''
During an interview in their home, Roger's wife Cathy was asked how she felt. Her answer was even more chilling: ''I could never be happy if Roger killed him, because that would mean that I hadn't killed him. I need to pull the trigger myself.
I need to see him dead and know I am responsible.''
Simon Wiesenthal, one of the best known writers and activists for the cause of Holocaust victims, would understand the vengeance that Roger and Cathy faced, because he himself was a victim.
In his book The Sunflower, Wiesenthal writes about the time he was taken from a death camp to a makeshift army hospital.
Once there, he was escorted by a nurse to the side of a badly wounded German soldier who requested to have a few moments alone with the Jew.
The man turned to Wiesenthal and told him how he had set an entire Jewish village on fire, burning countless numbers of men, women and children to death.
He still couldn't keep their screams from echoing through his mind.
Now that his death was near, he wanted to seek forgiv ...
Series: Life Choices
David Cawston
Matthew 18:21-35
INTRODUCTION:
Unforgiveness in our lives is a ball and chain that keeps us in constant bondage.
Roger was given a sawed off shotgun by a friend, and he used it. You see, his daughter Sara had been riding a bike when a drunk driver hit her.
She died almost instantly, and the driver was sent to prison for manslaughter.
When he was released from prison, Roger shot him, fully intending to kill him.
Charged with attempted murder, Roger was found not guilty.
Despite the fact that he had deliberately tried to kill the man, the jury found the victim so repulsive that unanimously they acquitted his assailant. Even so, though, it wasn't enough.
The bereaved father was asked if squeezing the trigger and watching the man collapse in agony made him feel any better. ''No,'' said. ''Only killing him could have made me feel better.''
During an interview in their home, Roger's wife Cathy was asked how she felt. Her answer was even more chilling: ''I could never be happy if Roger killed him, because that would mean that I hadn't killed him. I need to pull the trigger myself.
I need to see him dead and know I am responsible.''
Simon Wiesenthal, one of the best known writers and activists for the cause of Holocaust victims, would understand the vengeance that Roger and Cathy faced, because he himself was a victim.
In his book The Sunflower, Wiesenthal writes about the time he was taken from a death camp to a makeshift army hospital.
Once there, he was escorted by a nurse to the side of a badly wounded German soldier who requested to have a few moments alone with the Jew.
The man turned to Wiesenthal and told him how he had set an entire Jewish village on fire, burning countless numbers of men, women and children to death.
He still couldn't keep their screams from echoing through his mind.
Now that his death was near, he wanted to seek forgiv ...
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