When we say the Lord’s prayer, we ask that our sins, or trespasses, be forgiven as we forgive those who sin against us. Forgiveness is a gift from God which is encompassed by unconditional love.

A meme was posted online last week which said in effect: ‘When someone makes you cry, don’t forget all of the times they made you smile.’

The thing is - we all get it wrong at times. I wince when I recall how many times I’ve put my foot in it. I often forget names, and faces, and I say the wrong thing. I’ve said and done things I regret in my lifetime, and I still do, although I make every effort not to. My brother says the devil stands on one shoulder and an angel on the other, and sometimes we allow the tune of temptation to be heard over the rift of right.

To be able to love and trust in God, to admit to our wrongs and resolve once again to do better, gives us peace in our hearts. But if we won’t forgive others, our peace will be shattered. We’ll brood on their wrongs, and allow one event to hurt us over and over again in our minds. Forgiveness doesn’t mean making excuses, or allowing repeat behaviour. It means mustering the strength, with God’s help, to let go and move on, whether or not the relationship with those who hurt us will continue.

One of things we all do is to grade sins, seeing some as far worse than others. Those who harm people physically as well as mentally or spiritually, especially if they are young or vulnerable, seem far worse than those who only hurt someone’s feelings. Sometimes it’s necessary to hurt or even kill other people, however, if they attack us first, as in a war. I won’t go into the ‘just war’ arguments today, but we all have the terrible events in Ukraine fresh in our minds.

Are we supposed to forgive Putin? If we love and trust in God, and believe that we will all stand face to face with Jesus with the open book of our lives revealing every secret, then perhaps we will pity him.

We can only look to ourselves and our own failings, those we are accountable for, and do our best to listen to the voice of the angels, to the teaching and example of Jesus. This is our task during the 40 days of the Lenten wilderness. To spend time in prayer and self reflection. To admit to our failings, our temptations, and resolve to do better, in word and in action. To make our confession. To be cleansed. To replace bad habits with good ones.

And when we say the Lord’s prayer, we can remember that forgiveness is a gift from God which is encompassed by unconditional love. Amen.

Julie Rubidge, Lay Minister