#4: Peacemakers Go and Be Reconciled
Colossians 3:12-15 – Victory Fellowship
December 28, 2055 - Rev. Roderick Grabski
First Sunday after Christmas
I. Introduction: (Review)
a. Jesus – the Prince of Peace
i. He calls us to be Peacemakers as well.
b. (Ken Sande) Peacemakers Conflict Resolution:
Glorify God: How can I please and honor God in this situation?
Get the Log out of Your Own Eye: How can I show Jesus’ work in me by taking responsibility for my contribution to this conflict?
Gently Restore: How can I lovingly serve others by helping them take responsibility for their contribution to this conflict?
Go and Be Reconciled: How can I demonstrate the forgiveness of God and encourage a reasonable solution to this conflict?
c. Today we will focus on #4: Go and Be Reconciled: How can I demonstrate the forgiveness of God and encourage a reasonable solution to this conflict?
II. RELATING THE TEXT:
a. In the Colossians passage Paul and Timothy are reminded them that believers are chosen by God and as such, are HOLY.
b. Then they describe how Holy people behave:
Colossians 3:12-15 NLT 12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
c. Paul and Timothy actually outline a process for us to be peacemakers.
d. Once we have gone through as many steps as necessary in the peacemaker process to the point where the person we are in conflict with is repentant (explain) – Then it is time to go and be reconciled.
e. We reconcile with others in three ways:
i. We forgive as God forgave us.
ii. We look also to the interests of others.
iii. We overcome evil with good.
III. APPLICATION:
a. When we forgive as God forgave us we desire the relationship to be as good as it was before the conflict – if not better.
Imagine if you confessed to God a sin and He audibly said to you – “you know I forgive you but I can never be close to you again.” Would you feel truly forgiven?
But what if God said, “I forgive you. I promise never to think about your sin again, or brood over it, or dwell on it. I promise never again to bring it up or use it against you. I promise not to talk to others about it. And I promise not to let this sin stand between us or hinder our relationship. Would you feel forgiven?
i. That’s what we do when we forgive others as God forgave us. We say that by God’s Grace…
1) I will not dwell on this incident.
2) I will not bring up this incident and use it against you
3) I will not talk to others about this incident.
4) I will not let this incident put a barrier between us.
ii. Forgiveness is NOT a Feeling but an act of the will, not Forgetting but choosing not to hold a grudge, not Excusing but choosing to love the person despite their faults.
b. In the course of going and being reconciled - we look also to the interests of others when seeking a fair resolution to the conflict.
i. It there are material damages or costs that need to be restored or repaid, we use a cooperative negotiation and not a competitive negotiation. (explain)
c. In the act of being reconciled we also choose to overcome evil with good.
i. We choose to replace separation and hostility with peace and friendship.
ii. We also clothe ourselves with love and intentionally love our neighbor as ourselves.
C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity said…”Don’t waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as you do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”
IV. CONCLUSION:
a. Reconciling to someone can be a challenge – that’s why we so often just choose not to associate with someone rather than go thru all the hard stuff of reconciliation.
b. But God greatly rewards our efforts. He even appreciates and helps us when we are honest.
c. If you’re sitting here thinking about someone you have not reconciled with – but now your relationship with them is strained, try this Honest to God prayer:
Dear God, I can’t forgive this person in my own strength. Truth be told, I don’t WANT to forgive them, at least until they have suffered for what they did to me. They don’t deserve to get off easy. Every fiber of my being just wants to build up a wall and never see them again.
God I do love you and Your Word. You tell me that un-forgiveness will only eat away at my soul and damage my relationship with You. I don’t want that more than I don’t want to forgive this person. Also, You have shown me that you gave Your only Son to die for my sins. So please Lord, help me to WANT to forgive. Please change my heart and soften it so I no longer want to hold this against them. Change me so that I can love and forgive them the way that You have loved and forgiven me. In Christ’s name, Amen.
SONG: Freely, Freely
