Benefits of Forgiveness

Benefits of forgiveness
Acts6:8-15
Jerusalem church chose 7 deacons. One of them is Stephen. He is the first martyr of Christianity. The persecutors stoned him to death. Bible tells his death like this, "All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel."(Acts 6:15)
We are very moved at this story especially as we see Stephen's face is like the face of an angel. He forgave them who stoned him to death. Hemingway's novel tells about forgiveness. It is the story of Spanish man. One father and his son Paco fought. The son ran away from home. He went to Madrid.
His father advertised in the newspaper saying, "Paco! Les's see at the front of Montana Hotel. I have already forgiven you. From your dad." On the day of meeting, his father was surprised because there were about 800 boys. Paco is the very popular name in Spain. This story says lots of people are waiting for forgiveness. Today I'd like tell about the benefits of forgiveness.
1. Forgiveness is the self-healing medicine.
If you forgive others, you are the first man who was forgiven. Stephen forgave the men who stoned him to death. His forgiving mind reflects on his face. His face is like the face of an angel. But the face of men who stoned Stephen might be the face of devil. Man of forgiveness is the real winner. Forgiveness is the self-healing medicine.
King Saul pursued David in order to kill him. It was because David' popularity is much more than Saul. David faced many dangers of death. King Saul mobilizes 3,000 soldiers to kill David. One day David and his followers were hidden in the En Gedi cave. Saul did not know that. He went in the cave alone and fell into a deep sleep.
David's followers told David, "It is very good opportunity to kill your enemy. Kill him right now." But David forgave Saul. He only cut off a corner of Saul's robe. Saul left the cave and went his way. Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul.
"See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. Now understand and recognize that I am not guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you."(1 Samuel 24:11-12)
Saul said, "Is that your voice, David my son? You are more righteous than I. You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. The LORD delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands."(1 Samuel 24:16-20)
God uses the man who forgive than the man who was forgiven. Later David became the king of Israel. But Saul lost his royal power. If you forgive other, you will be greater than the other. Forgiving joy is better than forgiven joy.
Dick Tibbits, psychologist tells the benefits of forgiveness in his book titled 'Forgive to live'. First, forgiveness gives you peace. Second, forgiveness gives you hope. Third, forgiveness leads you to the way of God. That is, forgiveness is the self-healing medicine.
2. Forgiveness is the smelting furnace.
Forgiveness smelts each other's bad feelings like the smelting furnace. Therefore forgiveness is good for each others. All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin decided to kill Stephen. All of them looked at Stephen. Stephen's face was like the face of an angel as he was praying for forgiveness. Their heart melted down as they looked at Stephen's face. Stephen spread gospel by his face. His face witnessed Jesus to them. Forgiving face is the gospel that smelt hatred and all bad feelings.
There were three old men sitting in front the veteran's memorial tower in Washington D.C. They talked each others. One of them told the other old man. "Have you forgiven the enemy who had tortured you?" The other man replied instantly, "No, I will not forgive him." Then the man said, "If you do not forgive him, you are still in the prison camp."
Let's look at Joseph. Joseph was kidnapped by his step brothers at the age of 17. But God made him the prime minister of Egypt. Joseph invited his family to Egypt. They lived in Egypt. Time passed. Just after their father Jacob died, Joseph's brother were terrified because Joseph would kill them.
Joseph's brothers went to Joseph and knelt down, saying "Your father left these instructions before he died: 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father."(Genesis 50:16-17)
When Joseph heard this, he wept. Why? Because he had pity on his brothers. Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." (Genesis 50:19-21)
Joseph forgave them. All of them wept. Forgiveness is the smelting furnace. Do you have any bad memory by which you cannot sleep well? Please forgive them. Then the bad memory will be smelt. Then you will be rejoiced. You will be very happy.
3. Forgiveness is a fresh start.
Martin Luther King said, "Forgiveness is a fresh start." Forgiven man can start freshly. And forgiving man can start freshly too. Stephen forgave them who stoned him. His face became like the face of an angel. He started the life of kingdom of heaven.
There was Saul among the forgiven men. Paul was sitting there when they killed Stephen. Paul also saw Stephen's face. Maybe Paul said in his heart, "How can his face be like the face of an angel?" His heart was moved. Stephen's forgiveness could give Paul a fresh start.
Lastly, I would like to end the sermon with this story. One night, in a deserted alley, an young wife suffered from a rude awakening by a man. Soon, the police rushed to the reported scene, "How does the man look like?" The young wife cried out, "He had curly hair!" Just then, an young man with curly hair was passing by the scene. And that young man was immediately arrested.
Belatedly, the husband of the young wife arrived to the police station. And when he saw the arrested young man with the curly hair, he started beating him to death. This happened in a blink of an eye. If the police had not stopped the beating sooner, the young man could of died. The young man ended up being released as no guilty. But he eagerly wanted revenge on the husband who had beat him.
From then on, he would always carry a knife in his coat, looking for a chance to revenge. When his mother found out about her son's plan, she tried to change his mind, "Son! You believe in God, right?" But the son would reply, "Mother! I cannot stand it. This is too unfair. The man beat me to death without even making sure that I was guilty. He did not even give me a chance to explain. I am going to kill him."
"Son! Think about the situation in that man's perspective. Jesus even forgave those who had killed him." "Mother, please don't try to stop me. I cannot stand this injustice." The mother could not change his son's mind. He was absolutely unstoppable. Then one night, the curly haired son woke up from a strange sound. He went outside to check what the sound was. He found his mother crying and praying. "God, please change my son's mind. Please let him be able to love his enemy."
The mom spent the night praying for his son. After hearing his mother pray for a long time, the son was touched. He ran to his mother and hugged her tightly and burst into tears. "Mother, I am so sorry. I will forgive the man." And the mother cried as well, "God has replied to my prayer."
Just then, the door opened and someone ran into the room, hugging the mother and son. The person started to cry. It was the man who had beat the son. He spoke after letting down a knife, "I am the person who beat you. I surely thought that you would try to find me and kill me in revenge. So I planned to get rid of you first. I sneaked into your home tonight to do so. I was planning to kill you with this knife. But now, I am fine with you killing me with it."
He handed the knife to the son. And the three of them held each other in tears. It was a beautiful moment, forgiving each other. And the three of them started a new life. In conclusion, in the world we live in, there can be hatred. The solution to this is forgiveness. It can melt everything. Forgiveness gives a chance to a new start. I hope you accept the benefits of forgiveness and earn the chance to a new beginning.