WEBVTT 00:01.200 --> 00:05.100 No one comes to the front door of our home. 00:05.600 --> 00:10.100 Everyone comes our home, goes through the garage and then there's a 00:10.100 --> 00:13.400 garage door that goes into a laundry room. 00:13.800 --> 00:16.400 So you walk into this garage door and to the right 00:16.400 --> 00:18.700 yYou'll see that there's the washer and dryer. 00:19.200 --> 00:22.300 And then there's this little kind of pathway that goes into the 00:22.300 --> 00:24.800 kitchen, which then will take you into the rest of the home. 00:25.800 --> 00:33.000 So when I come home and I'm walking through this door, this little 00:33.000 --> 00:37.200 pathway should be clear, there shouldn't be any obstacles there. 00:37.200 --> 00:42.100 There shouldn't be anything that I could trip on or stumble on but lo 00:42.100 --> 00:47.700 and behold every single time that I come home, there is a congregation 00:47.700 --> 00:51.800 of shoes sitting there in between the way of me, getting to the 00:51.800 --> 00:53.200 kitchen, in the rest of the house. 00:53.300 --> 00:57.200 Lots of shoes, all different sizes, all different colors, all 00:57.200 --> 00:58.200 different shapes. 00:58.600 --> 01:00.800 There are cowboy boots. 01:00.900 --> 01:02.700 There are Crocs there slippers. 01:02.700 --> 01:07.100 There, you name it and there there. There's my son's wrestling shoes 01:07.100 --> 01:08.600 and his rugby shoes. 01:08.700 --> 01:12.700 All these shoes are there are. I don't know how we've come up with so many 01:12.700 --> 01:15.000 shoes and it's a hazard. 01:15.100 --> 01:19.000 It's very difficult to get from the garage door, door into the rest of 01:19.000 --> 01:19.400 the home. 01:19.400 --> 01:22.700 Because you kind of have to maneuver all these shoes that have 01:22.700 --> 01:24.500 gathered here in this spot. 01:25.000 --> 01:27.200 I only have three pairs of shoes. 01:27.600 --> 01:29.100 I have my gym shoes. 01:29.200 --> 01:32.900 I have my dress shoes and I I have this pair of kind of sandals shoes 01:32.900 --> 01:34.000 I wear all the time. 01:34.300 --> 01:37.600 I properly, put them away in the right closet every time. 01:37.800 --> 01:41.100 I don't create hazards for the rest of my family to have to worry 01:41.100 --> 01:42.200 about at all. 01:42.400 --> 01:43.600 It's a huge issue. 01:43.900 --> 01:47.900 The other day I came home, it was late at night, it was dark and I 01:47.900 --> 01:51.300 opened the garage door to go into the laundry room to make my way into 01:51.300 --> 01:52.000 the rest of the house. 01:52.000 --> 01:54.900 Now, I knew that this hazard is there, okay 01:54.900 --> 01:56.300 it's not like it goes away, 01:56.300 --> 02:00.800 it's just constantly there. And so in the dark because I can't get to 02:00.900 --> 02:01.900 the light switch. 02:01.900 --> 02:06.100 I'm taking one of my feet and I'm kind of swishing the the other shoes 02:06.100 --> 02:07.500 away to make a path 02:07.500 --> 02:11.300 so I don't stumble and fall. But I missed one. 02:11.800 --> 02:16.600 It was one of my son's steel-toed work boots and I tripped over it and 02:16.600 --> 02:22.500 stumbled and almost took out my front teeth. What an ordeal. 02:23.200 --> 02:29.800 Well this is what our Lord says, it is impossible to avoid obstacles 02:29.800 --> 02:31.800 that will cause you to stumble. 02:35.000 --> 02:41.700 Now, of course he's not talking about shoes but like shoes sin can 02:41.700 --> 02:43.700 congregate around us. 02:44.300 --> 02:47.000 Sin is something that pops up from here 02:47.000 --> 02:49.700 pops up from there comes all directions. 02:49.700 --> 02:54.600 If you think that you can avoid sin or even avoid the sin of 02:54.600 --> 02:59.800 other people, you're very mistaken. You see, because of the fallen 03:00.000 --> 03:04.100 world in which we live in, we have to deal with sin. 03:04.100 --> 03:05.000 It is there. 03:05.500 --> 03:09.700 And so, all these things, all these obstacles, all these stumbling 03:09.700 --> 03:10.100 blocks that 03:10.100 --> 03:15.700 sin bring about it is difficult and almost impossible to avoid all 03:15.700 --> 03:16.700 these things. 03:17.200 --> 03:21.900 Well, the stumbling block, for example of a piece of fruit hanging on 03:21.900 --> 03:24.700 a tree that God says, do not eat of it. 03:25.600 --> 03:29.500 The stumbling block of a woman who is bathing in middle of the day 03:29.500 --> 03:34.500 and this man sees her and it's not his wife, but it's a stumbling 03:34.500 --> 03:39.400 block for him. Taking gold and turning it into a calf that you worship 03:39.400 --> 03:44.500 is a stumbling block, or 30 pieces of silver can be a stumbling block. 03:45.300 --> 03:48.900 There are lots of different stumbling blocks. 03:49.300 --> 03:53.500 There are lots of different things that cause us to fall into sin. 03:54.300 --> 03:57.600 Some of those things, we choose to do willingly on our own others, it 03:57.600 --> 03:58.600 just kind of happens. 03:58.600 --> 04:04.400 However, it may be though, you cannot avoid the stumbling blocks and 04:04.400 --> 04:06.600 the obstacles that sins 04:06.600 --> 04:15.800 bring. Jesus says, If your brother sins rebuke him and if he repents 04:15.900 --> 04:20.800 forgive him, if he sins against you seven times in a day and seven 04:20.800 --> 04:22.100 times comes back to you. 04:22.100 --> 04:25.300 And says, I repent forgive him. 04:26.500 --> 04:33.000 So we are to forgive those who are repentant of the things in which 04:33.000 --> 04:38.200 they have done. When there is repentance, there should be forgiveness. 04:38.400 --> 04:39.900 Sounds easy, doesn't it? 04:40.600 --> 04:42.300 But it's not so easy. 04:42.900 --> 04:46.500 In fact Jesus says you know seven times that we could almost translate 04:46.500 --> 04:52.400 this way instead of 7 times multiple times a day. When someone multiple 04:52.400 --> 04:56.600 times a day sins and in comes to you and confesses this and instead of 04:56.600 --> 05:03.900 it multiple times you are to say, you are forgiven. But it is difficult 05:03.900 --> 05:04.600 to do. 05:05.600 --> 05:11.400 Forgiveness is not an easy thing for all kinds of reasons. Maybe we 05:11.400 --> 05:15.900 want Vengeance. Maybe we want them to feel the way we felt when they 05:15.900 --> 05:20.400 sinned against us. Maybe we want revenge. Maybe we want to make sure 05:20.600 --> 05:24.400 that they endure some consequences for what they have done. 05:24.900 --> 05:28.500 Lots of reasons why we may withhold forgiveness or it might be 05:28.500 --> 05:30.200 difficult to forgive. 05:31.300 --> 05:33.900 But Jesus says forgive. 05:35.900 --> 05:40.900 I was asked to work with a pastor and a principal who had been in this 05:41.000 --> 05:46.700 feud this conflict for very long period of time. And as is my process, 05:46.700 --> 05:51.400 I met with them individually first, heard their stories and then 05:51.500 --> 05:55.700 coached, and encouraged and guided them to identify how they had 05:55.700 --> 05:59.600 sinned against the other party. So that they could confess it 06:00.000 --> 06:04.700 of it and forgiveness could be spoken to them. And then once you go 06:04.700 --> 06:07.900 through that process, then I get them together for a mediation. So 06:07.900 --> 06:10.600 principal and the pastor get together. 06:10.700 --> 06:14.200 I'm there mediating this conversation between the two of them. 06:15.000 --> 06:19.700 The principal does a very nice job of confessing his sin. 06:20.200 --> 06:23.800 He was very specific about the sins that he had committed against the 06:23.800 --> 06:29.000 pastor and he was very had contrition about it and he was 06:30.000 --> 06:36.200 repentant of this. And when he got done confessing his sins, I turned to 06:36.200 --> 06:40.800 the pastor and I said pastor is there anything you'd like to say to 06:40.800 --> 06:43.700 principal and he said, no, I'm good. 06:47.700 --> 06:51.400 So I tried another stab at it and I said well Pastor is there 06:51.600 --> 06:55.700 sure there is there anything at all that you would like to say to the 06:55.700 --> 07:01.100 principal? And he shrugged his shoulders and said no, I said I'm good. 07:01.900 --> 07:06.300 And then I tried using I think an underused counseling technique 07:06.500 --> 07:11.100 silence and I just sat there for a moment and looked at him, try not 07:11.100 --> 07:15.700 to stare him down but trying to give him another chance to be able to 07:15.700 --> 07:16.700 say something. 07:18.300 --> 07:19.400 And he didn't. 07:20.400 --> 07:24.000 So I thought well I'll try one more way of doing this. So I said pastor 07:24.300 --> 07:30.400 your principal just confessed sins that he has committed against you. 07:31.600 --> 07:34.100 He is repentant of these sins. 07:36.100 --> 07:41.100 As his Pastor, do you have anything that you would like to say to him? 07:45.400 --> 07:49.200 Well, he kind of sat up really straight in the chair 07:49.800 --> 07:56.300 puffed up his chest and he said, well, I guess I do. You know, it's a 07:56.300 --> 07:59.600 good thing that you finally admit that you are a sinner because after 07:59.600 --> 08:03.600 all you have sinned a lot and you have sinned against me, you 08:03.600 --> 08:08.500 si9n against my family and he went on and on and on. He vomited all 08:08.500 --> 08:10.300 kinds of words out. 08:10.400 --> 08:14.400 He was confessing sins that the principal himself hadn't even confessed 08:14.400 --> 08:16.300 about himself. And all this 08:16.300 --> 08:21.800 vomiting of words came out of his mouth but you know, not one, not 08:21.800 --> 08:24.100 even one of those words 08:25.500 --> 08:27.100 was a word of forgiveness. 08:28.700 --> 08:30.400 Not a one. 08:31.900 --> 08:39.299 You see, I think one of the biggest stumbling blocks is unforgiveness. 08:40.200 --> 08:44.800 It's when we refuse to forgive someone, who is repentant and who has 08:44.800 --> 08:48.200 confessed, and this pastor was in that category. 08:48.600 --> 08:52.400 So when Jesus says it's impossible to avoid obstacles, that will cause 08:52.400 --> 08:55.100 you to stumble he then goes on and says this. 08:55.100 --> 08:59.800 But whoa, or I would be okay with him and saying, cursed be. 09:00.000 --> 09:05.100 But we'll stick with whoa, but woe to that person through whom these 09:05.100 --> 09:07.500 stumbling blocks these obstacles 09:07.500 --> 09:12.500 come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a 09:12.500 --> 09:16.400 millstone tied around his neck for than him to cause one of these 09:16.400 --> 09:19.200 little ones to sin, so watch yourselves. 09:22.700 --> 09:23.900 Even the disciples 09:23.900 --> 09:25.000 it's interesting 09:25.600 --> 09:29.300 when Jesus tells them the importance of forgiveness, you almost get 09:29.300 --> 09:35.200 the impression that they find that it's difficult for themselves to do 09:35.200 --> 09:36.600 this forgiving thing. 09:37.800 --> 09:40.800 Add to our faith, increase our faith. 09:41.600 --> 09:48.300 But you see it's not about your strength, it's not about your ability. 09:48.300 --> 09:54.300 It's not about your power to be able to forgive. It is about the 09:54.300 --> 09:57.700 strength and the promises of God. 09:58.400 --> 10:03.900 Those promises that are fulfilled in Christ that you forgive a 10:03.900 --> 10:05.300 repentant person. 10:07.300 --> 10:09.700 Do not be that stumbling block. 10:09.700 --> 10:13.900 You see the pastor was a stumbling block. He was a stumbling block and 10:13.900 --> 10:18.100 he got in the way of this person who had confessed and wanted to 10:18.100 --> 10:21.100 receive forgiveness and the pastor refused to do it. 10:21.100 --> 10:23.700 He became the stumbling block, you see. 10:24.400 --> 10:28.300 And sometimes we may end up in that situation where we just don't want 10:28.300 --> 10:32.100 to forgive or refuse to forgive and then we become the stumbling 10:32.100 --> 10:32.800 block. 10:34.200 --> 10:39.300 But do not be the stumbling block that refuses to forgive a repentant 10:39.300 --> 10:41.300 person of their sins. 10:41.700 --> 10:46.000 If you are, if you become that person, we should wrap weights around 10:46.000 --> 10:49.600 you and throw you into the fountain in front of the library and all 10:49.600 --> 10:50.400 stand around 10:50.400 --> 10:51.300 and watch you die 10:51.300 --> 10:52.700 a miserable death. 10:55.400 --> 11:04.200 No instead you speak forgiveness, you speak it clearly and you speak 11:04.200 --> 11:11.800 it often and you assure the repentant sinner that their sins are 11:11.800 --> 11:12.900 forgiven. 11:14.800 --> 11:16.900 By the rock of their salvation 11:17.700 --> 11:19.000 Jesus Christ. 11:19.700 --> 11:20.200 Amen.