{"id":877,"date":"2010-06-22T15:01:49","date_gmt":"2010-06-22T22:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groansfromwithin.com\/?p=877"},"modified":"2011-07-06T20:07:15","modified_gmt":"2011-07-07T03:07:15","slug":"philemon-forgiveness-that-leads-to-reconciliation-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/2010\/06\/22\/philemon-forgiveness-that-leads-to-reconciliation-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Philemon: Forgiveness that Leads to Reconciliation, part one"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What follows is a manuscript from a sermon I have preached on a few occasions.\u00a0 I walk through the whole book of Philemon.\u00a0 Love to have you follow along in this series.\u00a0 My prayer is that it will inspire you to \u201cforgive as you have been forgiven\u2026\u201d
\nThe rest of the 5 part series is here<\/a>.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

I want to start out with a bit of a story to give you a window into my story.\u00a0 In high school, a good friend convinced his dad to let him take us out on their boat out on the Kings river.\u00a0 This was a huge deal for my 16-year-old friend because it was the first time that his dad let him take it out on his own.\u00a0 So, the four of us went out on the river, but what we failed to mention to his dad was that we really were going on the river with a mission in mind\u2026let me show you.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now I bet your wondering what that could be for?\u00a0 Well, one of the guys thought it would be great fun to shoot at the swallows that had made their home under the overpasses on the river.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now when you see this next picture, you are going to think that I am barely (if at all) a Christian (ha, ha!)\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of you are thinking that this is a very dumb mission\u2026 I now agree.\u00a0 Some of the others in here are thinking to themselves: \u201cWhy would these mean guys go and shoot one of baby Jesus\u2019 little birdies?\u00a0 I think that it all comes down to the fact that we decided to play the \u201cdumb card.\u201d\u00a0 We knew what we were doing was wrong\u2026 but we didn\u2019t think that it was going to be a big deal to push the rules a little bit.<\/p>\n

At that point we got into the water and as soon as we made it to the first bridge, it was time to \u2018bust some caps\u2019 (or shoot) at some defenseless birdies.\u00a0 We would one pump \u2018em and shoot\u2026 until we finally ended up getting a couple swallows.\u00a0 Then, into a black trash bag they went, so that we would have our trophy.\u00a0 In spite of my bad decision about hunting little birdies for cruel fun, I actually love animals and although I am not a vegetarian, I think the only type of bird that I could shoot these days is a \u201cclay pigeon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, we were feeling as though we were no longer boys and had graduated into manliness when all of the sudden a boat began to follow us in the distance.\u00a0 Then we heard a deep voice\u2026 \u201cPull over!\u201d<\/span> (it was like, \u201cGod? Is that you?).\u00a0 Then, this boat began to make a loud sound, and all lights started to flash.\u00a0 We knew that we were in for it.\u00a0 At this moment, the owner of our boat began to tear up and said,<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad is going to kill me!\u201d <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I thought in that moment: Yeah, your dad probably is going to kill you as long as these sheriffs don\u2019t do it before he gets to you. <\/em> So, we docked the boat and had to meet the sheriffs on the shore.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you boys have firearms on this water vehicle?\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course we had to say yes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy partner and I received several reports that a group of boys were shooting at the endangered birds on this river\u2026 that you were killing swallows.\u00a0 You know, it\u2019s a several thousand dollar fine to kill a swallow in California\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then, the sheriffs proceeded to scream and holler at us for the next half an hour.<\/p>\n

I can remember one thing that is okay to say from this stage\u2026<\/p>\n

One of them looked at me and said\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI like your braces boy, but you ain\u2019t goin\u2019 to need them after your daddy gets through with you.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I said,<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy\u2026 cause he\u2019s going to knock my teeth out, sir?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He didn\u2019t answer me with words, but with a nod, I knew what he had been referring to.<\/p>\n

Well, they finally let us go after calling all of our parents and giving us a good chewing out.<\/p>\n

Our punishment in this conflict was that we were banned from using the boat in the Kings River for the rest of the summer.\u00a0 We had chosen to create a conflict that luckily was in a sense \u201cforgiven\u201d by these sheriffs who let us off easy.<\/p>\n

Now, why did I tell you this mischievous story (besides the funny factor)?\u00a0 It\u2019s because this serves as ridiculous example of how in life we often find ourselves in the midst of conflict.\u00a0 This is especially true in our relationships with each other.\u00a0 Tonight I want to look at what a proper Christian response to conflict is, by focusing on 2 words: forgiveness<\/strong> and reconciliation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Turn in your bibles to a small and neglected book: Philemon<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

MORE TO COME.<\/p>\n

I\u2019D LOVE TO HEAR SOME OF YOUR PERSONAL STORIES OF HAVING TO BE \u2018FORGIVEN\u2019 FROM STUPIDITY AND THE LIKE \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

OTHER THOUGHTS?<\/p>\n

\"Share\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What follows is a manuscript from a sermon I have preached on a few occasions.\u00a0 I walk through the whole book of Philemon.\u00a0 Love to have you follow along in this series.\u00a0 My prayer is that it will inspire you to \u201cforgive as you have been forgiven\u2026\u201d The rest of the 5 part series is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,42,71,86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-philemon-forgiveness-that-leads-to-reconciliation","category-openness-of-god","category-philemon","category-sermon"],"yoast_head":"\nPhilemon: Forgiveness that Leads to Reconciliation, part one<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What follows is a manuscript from a sermon I have preached on a few occasions.\u00a0 I walk through the whole book of 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