Burunche’s Blog

Genesis 19:1 – “Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed face down, and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.”

“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.”

At this point, Lot has lived in Sodom for many years and has become one of its leading citizens. As a city leader, Lot is sitting in the gateway when two strangers arrive at nightfall. Lot greets the travelers, offering them food, a chance to refresh themselves, and a night’s lodging – normal courtesy to strangers at that time. The travelers politely refuse, but Lot pushes the invitation strongly, and the travelers accompany him to his house. Lot receives his visitors appropriately; however, outside, trouble is brewing!

v. 4 – 8 “Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house. They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!” Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him. “Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing! Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them whatever you want. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” While Lot has a proper appreciation for traditional courtesy, the citizens of Sodom do not! Lot even goes to the extent of offering his virgin daughters to be raped rather than have these strangers be assaulted, but the men of Sodom refuse. The angelic visitors drag Lot back inside, slam the door shut, and strike the men of Sodom with blindness so that they cannot find the door again.

What a horrible place! Why has Lot remained in Sodom? Perhaps things weren’t that bad when Lot first came there. Remember that Lot chose to live in Sodom because there was plenty of water and grazing for his flocks and herds and the land was very fertile. Perhaps things deteriorated gradually without Lot being aware of it. And as things went from bad to worse, perhaps Lot kept encouraging himself that “really, things aren’t THAT terrible” or that “surely, my neighbors are actually better than that!” And at a point, Lot may have felt that he was too old to move somewhere else and that he would just have to make the best of a bad situation. Lot may have actually worshiped God privately without saying much to his neighbors.

The Apostle Peter described Lot’s predicament this way: ”…Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)” 2 Peter 2:7- 8

Despite Abraham’s prayers, the men of Sodom are truly evil and Lot is the only righteous man in the place. The story is too long to be quoted here but you can read it in Genesis 19. The angels warn Lot, who tries to warn his daughters’ husbands – to – be, but the young men think he is joking and refuse. Finally, the angels have to grab the hands of Lot’s family members and lead them out of the city. Even then, Lot argues with the angels, begging to be allowed to flee to Zoar, a small neighboring town that would otherwise also be destroyed. God graciously allows Lot and his daughters to go to Zoar and then rains down brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, wiping them out utterly. (Many people think that the Dead Sea contains the original locations of Sodom and Gomorrah.) Despite the warnings from the angels not to look back, Lot’s wife does so, delaying her escape, and becomes a pillar of salt or ash. (This story is not far-fetched; there are bodies preserved by volcanic eruptions such as that from Mount Vesuvius that have a similar appearance.)

APPLICATION: Sometimes we get into job situations or relationships, only to find that cheating and lying are the order of the day. Perhaps a family member develops major medical problems and we suddenly need a great deal of money. At that point, the temptation to embezzle may be incredibly strong. The longer we go on, refusing to acknowledge the mess into which we have fallen, the more difficult it will be for us to escape. In Lot’s situation, God had to intervene supernaturally. Everything that Lot had worked for – his herds, his possessions, his standing in the community – was wiped out in an instant. Had Abraham not prayed and had God not forgiven Lot for making a bad choice in the first place and then remaining in that situation, Lot also would have died. But God forgave Lot for his poor choices and God delivered Lot. God does not play favorites; if God forgave Lot and delivered him, God can do the same thing for you.

PRAYER: Father God, help! We are stuck in messes of our own creation and we have no way out! Lord, forgive us for not asking you for guidance before we got into these things. Deliver us from our poor choices. Guide us so that we will follow you and not our own ideas. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 18:16 – 26 ”When the men got up to leave they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off. And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.” Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous, I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”

And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there? Far be it from You to do such a thing! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.”

God is visiting Abraham and has already informed Abraham that Sarah is going to bear the son of the promise, although she is carrying her Social Security card. Two angels appearing as men have accompanied the Lord and now they are go on to visit Sodom and Gomorrah to verify the degree of their wickedness. God remains behind to inform Abraham about His intentions for Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is still living in Sodom, even though morally things are falling apart.

In an effort to save his nephew, Abraham begins to bargain with God. “Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there? Far be it from You to do such a thing! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

Abraham starts out asking God to save Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of 50 righteous people, but then he has second thoughts…and third thoughts….. By the end of the passage, Abraham has gotten God to agree to save Sodom and Gomorrah if He can find at least 10 righteous people there. Perhaps Abraham is mentally counting the number of people in Lot’s household and figuring that at least God will spare Lot and his family.

How is this passage an example of forgiveness?

1. Abraham has forgiven Lot. Remember Lot, the junior guy who grabbed the best land for himself? the guy who had to be rescued after being captured? the guy who, as far as we know, never even said “thank you” to Abraham? Abraham has obviously forgiven Lot for all those things because here he is pleading for God to save Lot and his household. (Perhaps at this point, Abraham is also crossing his fingers and hoping that Lot has not already gotten caught up in all the horrible practices of the inhabitants of Sodom!)

2. God has forgiven Abraham for deceiving Pharaoh about Sarah, failing to inform Sarah about God’s promise of a son, and also allowing himself to be enticed into taking Hagar as a second wife.

3. God has had to forgive Lot for ignoring Him. Presumably, Lot is righteous, or certainly more righteous than his neighbors in Sodom. But nowhere in any of the scriptures is it mentioned that Lot had any relationship with God or that Lot worshiped God.

“ Far be it from You to do such a thing! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” Amazing! Puny little human Abraham is reminding the Creator of the Universe that He is a just judge! This verse is one of the keys to the entire passage. At various times, Abraham was a liar, a deceiver, a wimp, and a manipulator. BUT Abraham knew who God was and honored God. And because of Abraham’s faith, God forgave him and answered his prayers.

APPLICATION: Think about the number of times you have done wrong things and have tried to excuse yourself. We are very willing to overlook our shortcomings but oh so ready to attack others for minor infractions. Ask God to help you confess your own sins and then to forgive anyone against whom you are holding a grudge.

PRAYER: Father God, open our eyes to see our own shortcomings and our own failures. Help us to see the times we have wronged others. Help us to make a clean breast of these things to you and to seek forgiveness from those whom we have wronged. And then help us to forgive anyone against whom we have a grudge. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 17:17 – 21 “Abraham fell face down. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”… But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

Genesis 18:9 – 15 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked. “There, in the tent,” he replied. Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent. And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’ Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh.” For she was afraid. “No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.”

Isaac and Sarah had given up! After years of waiting for God to fulfill His promises, they had decided that God must have been kidding or else that Abraham couldn’t have heard God correctly. And then God showed up and everything changed.

Many times, we have our ideas about how situations are supposed to unfold. We have a time table all laid out, and when God fails to meet our expectations, we become discouraged. Even when God came to Abraham personally and told him that Sarah was going to get pregnant and bear a son, all Abraham could do was to laugh. And Sarah had a similar reaction when the Lord visited Abraham.

In some cultures, laughter is not merely a sign of humor or of derision, but also a sign of embarrassment. And perhaps Sarah was a bit embarrassed. Several years earlier she had made the mistake of giving her maid Hagar to Abraham as a second wife, and that had not gone well. Perhaps Sarah was thinking about being heavily pregnant and trying to get up in the morning with creaking knees – who knows! But Sarah and Abraham both laughed.

What was God’s response to this laughter? Many of us would have become indignant had we been God. “Don’t these humans know who I am or what I can do? What kind of attitude is this?” But God was not offended; in fact, He might have been chuckling right along with Abraham and Sarah. You see, God is all – knowing and He knew the joy that Baby Isaac would give Abraham and Sarah. God knew all the wonderful things that would happen because of this miraculous birth. And so, God forgave Abraham and Sarah and blessed them with the son He had promised.

APPLICATION:

How do you respond when your best efforts have been scorned? Obviously, none of us is God and none of us is all – knowing. But we can still follow God’s example. Abraham and Sarah laughed because they didn’t have all the facts and they found God’s promises incredible. But after that baby was born, they were laughing with joy.

When others laugh at you or criticize you, forgive them. They may not have all the facts that you have. And given them time, just as God gave Abraham and Sarah time. If you have acted appropriately, future events will justify your deeds. And even if your critics refuse to change their minds, forgive them anyway! Why carry a burden of resentment that only hurts you?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us so much that You forgive us for our unbelief. Thank You that You are the God of heaven and earth and that nothing is too difficult for You. Help us to love you and trust you and to forgive those who criticize or scorn us. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 16:1 – 6 “Now Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne a child to him, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.”

Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife. And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

“Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.”

The curse of being a barren woman! Few things are more difficult for wives than to be unable to bear children! In many parts of the world, a childless wife has no status or very low status. It is not unusual for husbands to divorce a barren wife and marry someone who can give them offspring. For whatever reason, Sarai, Abraham’s wife had never been pregnant. After that amazing covenant ceremony with God, did Abraham share any details with Sarai? After all, God had promised to make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens.

At any rate, Sarai decided to take matters into her own hands. If she could not become pregnant, she would use her Egyptian maid as a stand – in. But Sarai’s scheme backfired, as schemes frequently do. When Hagar became pregnant, she despised Sarai and made no effort to hide her disdain. Sarai goes back to Abraham and blames him! (One might ask why Abraham didn’t go to God to ask if Sarai was the one to bear the promised heir; evidently, he failed to do so.) And Abraham wimps out on the whole thing, throwing the matter back to Sarai. Sarai promptly drives Hagar out of the camp.

The story continues with God preserving Hagar’s life and with Hagar bearing Ishmael to Abraham. But our focus here is on Sarai.

1. Sarai didn’t really trust God and had lost all hope. She was old and she had been married to Abraham for a long time; surely by now, she would already have gotten pregnant. Many times, we have such a small view of God that we only think of Him in human terms.

2. There is nothing to suggest that Sarai herself had any kind of a relationship with God. Sarai never prayed and asked God for guidance. God doesn’t play favorites; if Sarai had asked God for information or for confirmation, God would have told her.

3. Sarai failed to think the situation through before suggesting Abraham have sex with Hagar. We can make the same mistake – forcing a situation before we have thought it through.

4. Once the predictable happened, Sarai became offended and drove Hagar away; meanwhile, Sarai was the one who had created the problem in the first place. Sarai refused to acknowledge her mistake and refused to forgive either herself or Hagar.

APPLICATION: Have you ever forced a situation and then blamed others when it turned into a disaster? When that happened, did you refuse to acknowledge your role in the situation? If you cannot admit your fault, you will be unable to forgive anyone else. And you will also be unable to forgive yourself for creating the problem in the first place.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, help us to look to you and to trust you for guidance and for hope. Help us to realize that when we force and manipulate, things never end well. And help us to confess our sins of manipulation to you, to others, and to ourselves. Help us to forgive those whom we have entrapped in our schemes and to forgive ourselves for creating the problem to begin with. Thank you for loving us so much that you forgive us completely. Amen.

Genesis 15 “After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”

And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”

So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut. And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.

Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own; they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.

Many of us may have heard of the term “cutting covenant” without having any idea of its significance. In Abraham’s time, when covenants were being made, men would split an animal. Each man would then walk between the split carcass as a sign that if he broke that covenant, the same thing should be done to him as had been done to that animal! When God made this covenant with Abraham, God has Abraham slaughter one of every animal and bird traditionally used in sacrifices. Once Abraham has split the carcasses, God comes. But rather than having Abraham walk through the carcasses, God Himself passes between the split halves, indicating that God is responsible for keeping the covenant.

What does this graphic scene of covenant – cutting have to do with forgiveness? When God cut covenant with Abraham, he was also establishing that same covenant with Abraham’s descendants. Was God fully aware that those descendants would rebel and fall away from Him? Yes. That’s why God didn’t ask Abraham to pass between the carcasses as well. God knew that even Abraham would fail, that no human on earth would ever be faithful enough to earn his or her way into heaven.

Even as God was cutting covenant with Abraham, God was already providing ways in which men could return to him. Look at the right hand side of the illustration; there is Jesus on the cross. Abraham didn’t know anything about Jesus, but Jesus knew about Abraham. God was already preparing to forgive the sins of those who would truly repent.

APPLICATION: Make up your mind that you are going to forgive those around you who offend you, even before anything happens. Remember that God in His mercy has already forgiven you; therefore, you can forgive others.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for your boundless love and forgiveness. Lord, help us to truly turn from our sins, to confess them to you, and to trust that you don’t keep records once we have done so. Help us not to keep records of the offenses we forgive in others. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 14:8 “Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and arrayed for battle in the Valley of Siddim 9against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. …11The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food, and they went on their way. 12They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom. 13Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the oaksd of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram.”

Well, Lot’s decision to move into Sodom has already proved to be a poor one! Lot has barely gotten settled in Sodom when he becomes a victim in a local conflict and he and all of his household are carried off as prisoners and slaves. Someone escapes and brings word to Abraham. Abraham could have responded with disdain, “Humph! Serves that young man right for having been so greedy and so quick to align himself with those godless Sodomites!” But that’s not the way Abraham reacts.

v. 14” And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night, Abram divided his forces and routed Chedorlaomer’s army, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He retrieved all the goods, as well as his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the rest of the people.” Abraham mobilizes and captures the entire army, retrieving all the goods and the people.

 v. 11The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share for the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. They may take their portion.” This is quite interesting. Abraham had no problems receiving things from Pharaoh in Egypt, but he wants nothing to do with the king of Sodom. Evidently, Abraham already had heard something unsavory about the behavior of those from Sodom; he had no desire to become obligated to them in any fashion.

Notice something: throughout this entire story, there is no evidence that Lot ever thanked Abraham for saving him and his family. Lot is a very passive participant in all of this. And yet, Abraham has carried out God’s will as we will see in Genesis 15.

What does this passage teach us about forgiveness?

1. Forgiveness is a choice that we make, not a response to someone else’s actions. Lot rushed in to claim the choicest grazing land without investigating the character of the people with whom he would be forced to dwell. Abraham CHOSE to save Lot; he did not wait for Lot to make any apology or any appeal.

2. Forgiveness does not depend on an appropriate response from the person whom we are forgiving. Abraham did not say, “Well, I will save Lot, but Lot had better be properly grateful!” Abraham acted swiftly and decisively without any consideration for the way Lot might respond.

3. Forgiveness does not keep records. Abraham didn’t threaten that this was the last time that he would rescue Lot.

APPLICATION: When someone has made a stupid mistake, do you help them get out of their problems, or do you allow them to struggle while you gloat? Think of how many times God has been patient with each one of us and how many times we have had to beg God for assistance; yet, God never turns us away.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for loving us and forgiving us. Help us to learn to love and forgive as you do. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 13:1 – 6 “So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him. 2 And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and golden…. Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land was unable to support both of them while they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they were unable to coexist.”

No matter what time of the year it is, the Negev Desert in southern Israel is a barren place. Modern methods of drip irrigation and highly sophisticated methods of agriculture have caused the desert to bloom in places; however, in Abraham’s day, it would have taken a lot of territory to support all those animals. No wonder that Lot and Abraham’s herdsmen began having fights! Realizing that something must be done, Abraham graciously allows Lot, his nephew and therefore a junior person in rank, to have first choice. Lot chooses the well – watered plain of the Jordan and settles in Sodom. v. 13 “But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.”

 What was Lot thinking? Given the rich nature of the land with abundant water, there must have been other cities apart from Sodom and Gomorrah! Anyway, Lot makes his home in Sodom; meanwhile, God comes to Abraham.

v. 14 – 18 “After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west, for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted. Get up and walk around the land, through its length and width—for I will give it to you. So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.”

What an incredible promise! God doesn’t set any conditions; He simply makes these promises then and there. Now, God is all – knowing and exists outside time. This means that God knows that sooner or later, Abraham is going to make mistakes. God knows all the ways that Abraham is going to fail, and yet, God is still making these promises. This means that even before Abraham messes up, God has already chosen to forgive him!

APPLICATION: Many times, friends and family members fail us repeatedly. They may beg for forgiveness but then turn right around and repeat the same mistakes. When this happens, how do you feel? Do you make the same choice God did with Abraham and choose ahead of time to forgive, or do you sit waiting for them to goof up so that you can attack them?

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for knowing us better than we know ourselves. Thank you that you know ahead of time when we are going to make mistakes and that you choose to forgive us, even when we repeat the same mistakes over and over. Help us to have the grace to forgive others in this same way. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

When my mother died with cancer in 1980, I gave Dad time to grieve and then began encouraging him to consider getting married again. We met Mary, my stepmom in March 1983 and immediately fell in love with her. Mary was a bright intelligent lady with a zany wit and an uncanny knack for analyzing events.

Our first close contact with Mary was when she gave me a ride to the Quad Cities Airport in Moline in March 1983. We had lunch together and Mary and my husband Bob began talking about the plastic parsley on the buffet. Before long, those two nuts had dreamt up “Parsley Sheen,” a spray you could use to brighten up the plastic parsley so you could use the same sprigs longer.

Mary and Dad married in the Bishop Hill Colony Church in October 1983. I played the foot pedal organ in the church and we used “Till There Was You,” from “The Music Man” as part of the music. The wedding reception took place at a truck stop just off I-74, one of the few local places large enough to hold the eye – popping number of friends and relatives who came to celebrate.

A lifelong newspaper woman, Mary had begun as the girl who made the coffee and ended her career as a highly – acclaimed farm news editor with many national awards for her writing. Mary was a passionate defender of the truth; she deplored the depths to which mainstream media has descended in recent years. To the end of Mary’s life, she could analyze current events and political leaders with lightning speed and accuracy.

Mary kept working at her newspaper job until her last child was through school, at which time she became a freelance writer and reporter. One of her favorite assignments was writing articles for an in – house publication for a dairy company. Dad and Mary traveled all over the upper Middle West interviewing the families who sold milk to this company. In addition to writing the articles, Mary also took the photos to accompany the articles.

When Dad and Mary got married, they moved into the house one set of my grandparents had owned. Over the years, that place underwent a number of transformations until it was a warm and cozy nest. The kitchen windows looked southward and eastward, and Mary would hang sun catchers in those windows. One of my favorite memories was of Dad and Mary having morning devotions while the rainbows from the sun catchers danced around the room.

Dad and Mary had twenty – eight happy years together until Dad’s death in 2011. Even after Dad died, Mary remained extremely active. If you didn’t call Mary first thing in the morning, you would not find her at home. She had places to go and things to do! Mary bowled, she had “The Coal Valley Girls,” (a group of women who had grown up in the small town of Coal Valley), and a host of other social engagements. And she faithfully attended her grandchildren’s activities.

Through Dad’s work as a docent at Bishop Hill and his involvement with the Bishop Hill Heritage Association, Mary became part of the Vasa Lodge crew. For a long time, Mary was the Lutfisk Queen of Bishop Hill, cooking up Lutfisk in a white wine sauce for Swedish smorgasbords. Mary was an inspired cook, and her “killer mushrooms” drenched in butter and garlic were a staple of the big family dinners she loved so much. Mary loved nothing more than filling her kitchen counter tops with food and crowding as many family members as possible into her open plan kitchen/sitting room. Holidays, birthdays, or any special occasion – family members squished together around the table or balanced plates as they sat on the sitting room floor, laughing and telling stories.

Sometimes blended families can present challenges, but when Dad married Mary, we won the lottery! I instantly acquired another wonderful brother and four fantastic sisters. We remain close to this day. Folks, thanks for sharing your mother with us! It was in the home of one of my sisters that Mary spent her last few weeks. No mother ever received more tender care from her children.

My dad was a graceful dancer, having grown up in the big band era. Mary could dance but she never felt as proficient at it as Dad did. I like to think that when Mary was freed from her failing body, she danced all the way into heaven!

We made it a point to call Mary from Ghana regularly. The last time we spoke with her, her voice was still firm and her sense of humor intact. Mary died sometime on the morning of January 13, 2021. We are still struggling to wrap our heads around the idea that we can no longer pick up a phone and chat with Mary.

In closing, I want to quote from The Pilgrim’s Progress as John Buchan quoted it in his book Mr. Standfast. Buchan was writing about a brave man who sacrificed his life to save others in World War I. The quote comes when Mr. Valiant – for – Truth is crossing into heaven.

“Then said he, ‘I am going to my Father’s; and though with great difficulty I am got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who now will be my rewarder.’

So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.”

Genesis 12:1 – 4 “Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him.”

WHOOEE!!! This little guy Abraham is just sitting there in a place called Haran. There is nothing to indicate that Haran was particularly different from any other city of the time; people were likely worshiping all kinds of gods. There were sun gods, moon gods, fertility gods, rain gods, etc. But somehow the One True Living God manages to get Abraham’s attention and orders Abraham to get up out of his comfort zone and move his family and everything he owns to an unknown location. What’s even more amazing is that Abraham obeys. v. 7 “Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring. So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.”

Sounds great, right? But wait! As the story continues in Genesis 12, famine hits the land and Abraham and his family go down to Egypt, where there is food. But because Abraham’s wife Sarai is very beautiful and because Abraham is a coward, he tells everyone that Sarai is his sister. Sarai winds up in the Pharaoh’s harem and Abraham winds up greatly enriched. (Sarai must have been gorgeous!) God has to intervene by sending plagues on Pharaoh’s household. Pharaoh rapidly realizes there is something wrong, learns the truth, and sends Abraham and Sarai away.

How does this story demonstrate God’s forgiving grace? Abraham’s actions were not appropriate for a servant of the Living God; yet, God protected Sarai, enriched Abraham, and delivered them all from Pharaoh without any harm coming to them. This story illustrates the fact that many times God is far kinder to us than we deserve. Just like Abraham, we finagle and manipulate and attempt to gain advantages, little realizing the danger into which we are putting ourselves. It is only because God is rich in mercy and forgives us that we do not suffer all of the consequences of our poor judgment.

APPLICATION: How many times have you become angry or annoyed at someone for making a really stupid decision? Did you forgive them, or are you still angry? If God can forgive you when you make mistakes, what right do you have to hang onto a grudge against someone else?

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for your love, your mercy, and your grace! Help us to forgive others as you have already forgiven us. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

“Well! Forgive him! You must be kidding! You have no idea what he did to me!” How many times have we heard these words or some just like them? Taking offense is very easy; forgiveness is very difficult. For the next month, we are going to look at how God views forgiveness, what He has to say about it in His Word and how we can find satisfactory ways of forgiving.

Strict speaking, if God hadn’t acted in forgiveness over and over, none of us would be here! God created man and gave him a beautiful and fruitful place to live, but there were restrictions. “Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17

We could all ask questions. Why did God put both those trees in that garden if He didn’t want man to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil? Was this a set – up? God did not create puppets; He created people with free will who could therefore make choices. And we know the story. Adam and Eve proceeded to eat the forbidden fruit and suffer the consequences. Adam and Eve were driven out of paradise.

“Humph!” you say. “This doesn’t sound like forgiveness to me!” Well, consider the alternative: God couldn’t allow Adam and Eve to remain there and to possibly eat the fruit of the tree of eternal life and live forever in rebellion. Rather than vaporizing Adam and Eve, God made provisions for them and allowed them to start over. Ever since the Garden of Eden, God has been giving people second chances.

Unfortunately, people rebelled and many of them became very wicked, so wicked that God felt it necessary to put people to the test. “This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.” Genesis 6:9

God told Noah to do something that sounded absolutely outrageous! Noah was sitting in a land – locked country, but God told Noah to begin building a huge boat that would accommodate all kinds of animals. Building the ark took nearly 100 years, during which time you can bet the neighbors were having all kinds of fun at Noah’s expense.
“Crazy Noah! He’s some kind of religious nut! How can there possibly be a flood that will wipe out everything and everybody!” All the time Noah was making arrangements, the neighbors were continuing to jeer. If there had been zoning ordinances in those days, they would have tried to get Noah shut down. But Noah was not crazy and the flood came. Noah and his family and selected animals were safe in the ark and survived the floods.

Were Noah and his family perfect? No. They were ordinary people who worshiped God. And God forgave their sins and saved them.

“Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.” Genesis 8:20-22

“Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, “Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth—every living thing that came out of the ark. And I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures: Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. And whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:8 – 16 God made an everlasting covenant, not only with men but even with every living creature of every kind on the earth.

“Ha!” you say, “you are just retelling fairy tales!” Not really. The flood is a well – documented happening, not only in the Bible but also in non – Biblical sources as well. And there have been many documented accounts of the Ark actually having been seen on Mount Ararat in Armenia. The point is this: If God as the holy and all – powerful Creator of the Universe can forgive, so can we. We will continue to look at God as the Ultimate Forgiver.

PRAYER: Lord, we are battered and bruised! We are weary and heart – sick at insults and slights. Help us to learn how to forgive as you have forgiven us. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.