Justin March leads the Bethany Lutheran Church Men’s Ministry and sends a weekly email message to the Men’s group every week.  Justin has generously permitted us to post his weekly reflections here.

“Then Peter came to
Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins
against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not just seven
times, but seventy-seven times!’” Matthew 18:21-22

Over Memorial Day
weekend my family and I bought a hot tub. We were excited to learn that it
would only take 4 weeks for our outdoor adventure to be manufactured, and as
the delivery date drew near, our anticipation of having a new home feature was
growing. We could not wait to have something the entire family could enjoy,
especially in a time of lock down, and it was going to be special and bring us
closer together.

That four weeks never
happened. As I received the first phone call, telling me it would be six weeks,
I was understanding, forgiving, and gracious as I understood things were now
taking longer than normal. As I received the second phone call, telling me the
color we ordered was no longer available, I still was understanding, forgiving,
and gracious as I understood the plastics were becoming more difficult to
procure. And as I received the third phone call, telling me the hot tub was now
going to take 10 weeks, my anger started to grow, but I was still
understanding, forgiving, and gracious as I understood it was becoming harder
and harder for manufacturers to keep up with the growing demand.

After ten weeks, our
hot tub was finally on the road and would be delivered in the next couple days.
We were excited, and after having our backyard landscaped and finished to
accommodate this new feature, the wait was finally over, and we were about to be
rewarded for our patience. As we scheduled our delivery though, another snag
came into the equation. We were told that the delivery team needed 49” of space
to get the tub into the backyard. Well, the gate is only 39”, then we have a
post, then a section of fence that is another 39”. That means we had to dig up
the post and take down the entire section of fence to accommodate the delivery.
I was no longer understanding, forgiving, or gracious.

You see, this was
never explained up front. The fence was just replaced and finished by our
landscape team, and now we had to tear down this new structure to accommodate
something that was never discussed. I was over it. I was no longer the
easy-going customer that understood all the delays, color changes, and unexplained
circumstances. I was no longer gracious to the unforeseen events that were out
of everybody’s control. And I was extremely upset, used abusive language, and
did not care whether I hurt the supplier’s feelings or became unreasonable to
deal with.

That was four days
ago. After having loving discussions with my family and friends, I now
understand that I need to practice forgiveness and grace. I need to be the one
that forgives, even if I feel I have justification not to do so. It does not matter
who was right or wrong, it us up to me to act like the disciple Jesus wants me
to be. The longer I hold the anger in, the longer I refuse to forgive, and the
longer I wallow in the idea of being wronged, the longer my soul is empty and
unable to receive the messages God wants me to embrace.

 As I thought about
this entire situation, I remembered a sermon Pastor Gary gave that talked about
not forgiving once, not forgiving twice, and not even forgiving seven times.
Jesus told Peter to forgive seventy-seven times! So, I looked up what the
meaning of this verse was, and I learned that it is symbolic for infinity. That
we, as Christians, are called to forgive an infinite number of times because
that is the number of times we are forgiven by God. And when we fail to
forgive, this becomes inconsistent with the infinite forgiveness we are
rewarded from above.

Wow! It does not
matter who was right or wrong, does it. If we are to become the disciples God
wants us to be, we must be able to forgive an infinite number of times. We must
be able to tear down our pride, erase the expectations that stop us from
forgiving, and extend God’s grace in every situation. I will be making a phone
call this week to apologize for my actions. It does not mean the supplier had
no fault in the way he handled our transaction, but what it does mean is that I
forgive him and can move on with the life God wants me to live. It means I can
cleanse, open my heart to what God wants me to do, and let me light shine
again. And when I can forgive, the weight of my anger is lifted, and the
situation can no longer hold me back.

What are you holding
onto that needs to be forgiven? What do you need to let go so God can use you
to be the disciple you need to be? Whatever it is, I pray that you take the
steps needed to rectify whatever holds you back. I pray that you may understand
every situation, forgive, and extend grace where needed. And I pray that the
people you forgive are accepting, gracious, and forgiving as well so that we all
take a few small steps to get along. It is what I will be doing this week, and
I pray that you find the grace needed to forgive whatever it is that weighs you
down. Remember, we are to forgive an infinite number of times, and if we can
practice this, maybe, just maybe, we can take a step closer to loving one
another as Jesus loves us!