LET IT GO

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." Ephesians 4:31

  

The sermon grabbed me. I wanted to cover my ears as the preacher warned about the consequences of clutching onto anger. A hardened heart had served me well for quite some time. As a warm cloak on a chilly evening, un-forgiveness insulated my heart from the calculated cruelty of my enemy. To remain safe, I wrapped myself in the wrong kind of protection. The façade was evident to those who knew me best. My interior was crumbling and my exterior was catching up.

My ears perked up as a story was told about a father and son who held onto a grudge long after its expiration date. (A grudge not released ensnares its victims.) So the father decided the time had come to lay aside all differences and hurts. He took out an ad in the local newspaper which read, “Pablo, I forgive you. Meet me at the town square this Sunday. Love, Papa.” Much to Papa’s surprise, hundreds of Pablo’s flooded the square that day. 

Hurt people flood the streets of every town in every country across the globe. A false theology soothes our consciences. “Build a wall so high, no one can crawl over to hurt you ever again.” Brick upon brick, sealed with the mortar of hurt and anger, the wall becomes a tower. This faulty religion is problematic. The person inside the wall holds himself hostage to his bitterness. Those outside the wall are suspect as potential threats. Loneliness is a strange bedfellow. Nights are long and the darkness perpetuates. The sun never really shines over this tower of protection.

Mentally I envision myself as Papa. I demolish the walls of the tower. I await the noon hour to see if my Pablo will come. I carry no grudges with me. A heart of forgiveness serves me well as I await my son, my only son. Will he release himself from his tower?

I wait…..

Inheritance Informer

Perhaps like me, you allow your mind to be the cinema of many make believe stories. One I have crafted over the years is the scene where I, the leading character, hear a knock at the front door. Upon answering I am greeted by a short man who proceeds to read a lengthy legal document. The pages inform me that a long lost deceased relative has bequeathed a huge sum of money to me. I feign a bit of sadness but can hardly conceal the elation I feel at collecting this untold wealth. When do I get to collect? What do I need to do? Is there any proof I need to bring to collect? I just want to grab this little inheritance informer and hug his sweet self! At last I come out of my cinematic coma and into real life. No inheritance informer is at my door and I haven't received anything huge lately except a property tax bill.
Wait just a minute! I am sadly mistaken. I remember the day that an inheritance informer came my way in the form of a preschool director. While interviewing me for a teaching position at a church program she asked me if I was saved and going to heaven? My answer was that I was a sinner going to hell. Just months before a priest in the confessional booth had told me my plight with no way of escape. Trust me, I had searched for ways to escape doom but no one I met had the answer. My informant, a.k.a preschool director, told me of a Savior who died for my sins. There was a forgiveness that took away my sin. The Savior, Jesus Christ, secured me an inheritance of eternal life collectible upon admission of sin and acceptance of pardon.
In the theater of my mind little attention is given to the inheritance informer. In my real life story without the informant I would have remained ignorant of my heavenly inheritance and my earthly delight.
I have to ask myself these questions, "Who am I trying to inform of their inheritance? Who needs to hear about the riches that belong to those who are in Christ? Who needs forgiveness and pardon?" Quite frankly I meet people who fit in the category of my questions every day. I have already received my portion of the inheritance. I need to become an inheritance informer. Acts 28:18 says," To open their eyes, [and] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me (Christ)."