Count the Cost - 09-08-19

Ian Reed Twiss Sermons

This sermon invites us to consider that it is better to know ourselves, and count whether doing something will be too hard for us, than to go rushing into something because "it seems like the right thing to do."

"Let's take forgiveness, for example. Parishioners in the course of my career have admitted to me privately that they were struggling to forgive in some aspect of their lives. I think many of us are. Now, in the Bible, Jesus certainly calls on us to practice forgiveness, not just seven times but seventy-seven, as he says in Matthew at one point. And yet forgiveness is a tricky thing. We can't simply will it into being. And if we start declaring forgiveness before we are ready to feel forgiveness--then, like the impetuous builder or the king in Jesus' examples, we risk doing a lot of damage. We might succeed in acting forgiving toward one who has hurt us--but then find we become angry and short with our own family members, or feel tired and flat all the time. There are no emotional short cuts in following Jesus. We can't bypass what we have to move through. There's no resurrection without the cross. So if offering forgiveness does not free us in our heart, then we are probably attempting it too early. It's more productive in the long run to stay in touch with our genuine hurt and anger than to put on feelings we don't really have."

For more information about the life of the church where this sermon was preached, find our website at www.holycrossnovi.org or our facebook page under the name “Holy Cross Episcopal Church.” Or join us for worship, Sunday mornings at 8:00 and 10:00 at 40700 W. Ten Mile Road, Novi, MI 48375.