Sermon Illustration

Do you consider yourself among “the forgiven”? British Nurse Edith Cavell was executed in 1915. German authorities claimed she had assisted Allied soldiers in escaping from Belgium to the Netherlands, a neutral country. This First World War witnessed the deaths of 9.7 million combatants during its duration. So what makes Nurse Cavell stand out? It was the spirit in which she died. True she had allowed the hospital under her control to be used by the underground. But the execution of a civilian nurse was not within the rules of war. Nevertheless, just before her death, she breathed these words, “Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness toward anyone.” Could you have been that forgiving? Perhaps you are struggling just to forgive some neighbor, coworker, or family member who has barely slighted you. Although forgiveness is tough, we must not forget the words of Christ: “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your F...

How beautiful and yet how rare is forgiveness! Christ taught His disciples to forgive their enemies, and in this respect as in all others, He is our great example. He said amid the agonies of the crucifixion, “Father forgive them.” A deaf mute being asked, “What is forgiveness?” took a pencil and wrote, “It is the odor which a flower yields when trampled upon,” and Sir William Jones has given us the following extract from the Persian poet Sadi— The sandal-tree perfumes when riven The axe that laid it low; Let man, who hopes to be forgiven, Forgive and bless his foe.

A little boy being asked what forgiveness is, gave the beautiful answer: “It is the odor that flowers breathe when they are trampled upon.” Philip the Good, when some of his courtiers would have persuaded him to punish a prelate who had used him ill, he declined, saying, “It is a fine thing to have revenge in one’s power; but it is a finer thing not to use it.”

There is a story of an incorrigible soldier who had been punished so often for so many offenses, without avail, that his commanding officer despaired of the man’s amendment. Again he was under arrest, and the officer spoke hopelessly of him, asking what more could be done to save him from his own undoing. A fellow-officer suggested, “Try forgiving him.” The man was brought in and asked what he had to say for himself. He replied: “Nothing, except that I’m very sorry.” “Well,” said the officer, “we have decided to forgive you.” The man stood dazed for a moment and then burst into tears, saluted, and went out to become the best and bravest soldier in the command.

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye”—(Col. 3:13) Before Louis XII became King of France he suffered great indignities and cruelties at the hand of his cousin Charles VIII. He was slandered, thrown into prison, kept in chains and constant fear of death. When he succeeded his cousin to the throne, however, his close friends and advisers urged him to seek revenge for all these shameful atrocities. But Louis XII would not hear to any of the suggestions of these whisperers in his court. Instead they were amazed to see him preparing a list of all the names of men who had been guilty of crimes against himself. Behind each name they noticed he was placing a red cross. His enemies, hearing of this list and the red cross placed behind each name by the king himself, were filled with dread alarm. They thought that the sign of a cross meant they were thereby sentenced to death on the gallows. One a...

Paul, in describing the forgiveness of God produced through Jesus Christ, uses this remarkable figure: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us,” It is like taking an indictment in court, and tearing it up and throwing it away. It is like taking a title-deed of a man’s possession, a paper on which is written evidence that is fatal to his claim, and blotting it, or burning it. It is like taking away proof against a man which may lead to his injury.

Two men who had been friends and companions in their youth met in the police court, the one on the magistrate’s bench, the other in the prisoner’s dock. The case was tried and the prisoner was found guilty. Would the judge, in consideration of their friendship years before, forbear to pass judgment? No, he must fulfill his duty, justice must be done, the law of the land obeyed. He gave out the sentence—fourteen days’ hard labor or a fine of $500. The condemned man had nothing to pay, so the prison cell was before him. But as soon as he had pronounced the sentence the judge rose from the bench, threw aside his magistrate’s robes, and stepping down to the dock, stood beside the prisoner, paid his fine for him, and then said, “Now, John, you are coming home with me to supper.” It is just so with the sinner. God cannot overlook sin. Justice must be done, and the sentence pronounced, but Christ Himself pays the debt and the sinner is free.

Richard Knill, in his early zeal which never cooled, seized an opportunity of distributing tracts to the North Devon Local Militia, when the regiment was on the point of being disbanded. The tracts were generally well received, but one man held up the tract and swore at it. Knill reproved him, saying he could not hurt the tract, but he would hurt himself. “Who are you?” cried the man, in anger. “Form a circle round him,” he said to his comrades, “and I will swear at him.” They did so, and the militiaman swore at Knill till he wept with grief. At this the men were ashamed, broke up the circle, and let him go. Many years after, when Knill returned from India, he was preaching in the open air a few miles from the same spot. During his sermon he noticed a tall, gray-headed man, and a young man with him, who seemed to be his son, both of them weeping. At the close they came up to him, and the father asked: “Do you recollect giving tracts to the local militia at Barnstaple some years ago?” “...

Richard Knill, in his early zeal which never cooled, seized an opportunity of distributing tracts to the North Devon Local Militia, when the regiment was on the point of being disbanded. The tracts were generally well received, but one man held up the tract and swore at it. Knill reproved him, saying he could not hurt the tract, but he would hurt himself. “Who are you?” cried the man, in anger. “Form a circle round him,” he said to his comrades, “and I will swear at him.” They did so, and the militiaman swore at Knill till he wept with grief. At this the men were ashamed, broke up the circle, and let him go. Many years after, when Knill returned from India, he was preaching in the open air a few miles from the same spot. During his sermon he noticed a tall, gray-headed man, and a young man with him, who seemed to be his son, both of them weeping. At the close they came up to him, and the father asked: “Do you recollect giving tracts to the local militia at Barnstaple some years ago?” “...

One day a poor girl ventured into the garden of the Queen’s palace, and approached the gardener, telling him that her mother was lying very ill, and that she longed for a flower, such as she had seen in the Queen’s gardens. It was winter time, and the flowers were rare at that season. The child had saved a few pennies and wished to buy a rose for her sick mother. The gardener had no authority to give away the Queen’s flowers, and he said when she offered to pay, “The Queen has no flowers for sale,” and would have sent the poor child away. But the Queen herself just happened to be in the greenhouse, and, unobserved either by the gardener or his little customer, had overheard the conversation. As the child was turning away sorrowful and disappointed, the Queen stepped from behind her flowery screen and addressed the child, saying: “The gardener was quite right, my child, he has no authority to give you the flowers you want, nor does the Queen cultivate flowers for sale; but the Queen has...

Many years ago in Russia a regiment of troops mutinied. They were at some distance from the capital, and were so furious that they murdered their officers, and resolved never to submit to discipline; but the emperor, who was an exceedingly wise and sagacious man, no sooner heard of it than, all alone and unattended, he went into the barracks where the men were drawn up, and, addressing them sternly, said to them: “Soldiers! you have committed such offenses against the law that every one of you deserves to be put to death. There is no hope of any mercy for one of you unless you lay down your arms immediately, and surrender at discretion to me, your emperor.” They did so, there and then. The emperor said at once: “Men, I pardon you; you will be the bravest troops I ever had.” And so they were. Now, this is just what God does with the sinner. The sinner has dared to rebel against God, and God says: “Now, sinner, you have done that which deserves My wrath. Ground your weapons of rebellion....

Governor Stewart, of Missouri, recognized, in a convict he was about to pardon a steamboat mate under whom he served as cabinboy. He said: “I want you to promise that you will never again take a stick of wood and drive a sick boy out of his berth on a stormy night, because some day that boy may be governor, and you may want him to pardon you for another crime. I was that boy. Here is your pardon.”

On Monday, December 8, 1997, tragedy struck Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky. According to Roy Maynard in World magazine, a small group of students, who conducted a daily prayer meeting in a hallway near the administrative offices, finished their morning prayers and were about to head off to classes. Shortly after the final amen, it is alleged that a freshman named Michael, whom the prayer group leader had befriended earlier in the year, opened fire on the students with a .22-caliber automatic. The group's leader, Ben Strong, called out, "Mike, what are you doing?" and walked toward him. After firing ten rounds, Michael finally dropped his gun. Ben Strong walked up and put his arms around the gunman, urging him to calm down. Three students were killed in the shooting spree, and five were wounded, including one paralyzed. In the aftermath of the tragedy, pastors and youth ministers were called in to counsel the students. According to one counselor, "The th...

Chris Carrier of Coral Gables, Florida, was abducted when he was 10 years old. His kidnapper, angry with the boy's family, burned him with cigarettes, stabbed him numerous times with an ice pick, then shot him in the head and left him to die in the Everglades. Remarkably, the boy survived, though he lost sight in one eye. No one was ever arrested. Recently, a man confessed to the crime. Carrier, now a youth minister, went to see him. He found David McAllister, a 77-year-old ex-convict, frail and blind, living in a North Miami Beach nursing home. Carrier began visiting often, reading to McAllister from the Bible and praying with him. His ministry opened the door for McAllister to make a profession of faith. No arrest is forthcoming; after twenty-two years, the statute of limitations on the crime is long past. In Christian Reader (Jan/Feb 98), Carrier says, "While many people can't understand how I could forgive David McAllister, from my point of view I couldn't no...

John D. Rockefeller built the great Standard Oil Empire. Not surprisingly, Rockefeller was a man who demanded high performance from his company executives. One day, one of those executives made a two million-dollar mistake. Word of the man's enormous error quickly spread throughout the executive offices, and the other men began to make themselves scarce. Afraid of Rockefeller's reaction, they didn’t even want to cross his path. One man didn't have any choice, however, since he had an appointment with the boss. So he straightened his shoulders and tightened his belt and walked into Rockefeller's office. As he approached the oil monarch's desk, Rockefeller looked up from the piece of paper on which he was writing. "I guess you've heard about the two million dollar mistake our friend made," he said abruptly. "Yes," the executive said, expecting Rockefeller to explode. "Well, I've been sitting here listing all of our friend...

Leonardo da Vinci painted the fresco "The Last Supper" in a church in Milan. Two very interesting stories are associated with this painting. At the time that Leonardo da Vinci painted "The Last Supper," he had an enemy who was a fellow painter. da Vinci had had a bitter argument with this man and despised him. When da Vinci painted the face of Judas Iscariot at the table with Jesus, he used the face of his enemy so that it would be present for ages as the man who betrayed Jesus. He took delight while painting this picture in knowing that others would actually notice the face of his enemy on Judas. As he worked on the faces of the other disciples, he often tried to paint the face of Jesus, but couldn't make any progress. da Vinci felt frustrated and confused. In time he realized what was wrong. His hatred for the other painter was holding him back from finishing the face of Jesus. Only after making peace with his fellow painter and repainting the face of Juda...

In Reader's Digest, a contributor told of an Aunt Ruby and Uncle Arnie who had adopted a baby boy after five years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive. To their surprise, a short time after the adoption, Aunt Ruby discovered she was pregnant, and she later gave birth to a boy. One day when the two boys were eight and nine years old, the teller of the story was visiting Aunt Ruby, and a woman in the neighborhood came to visit. Observing the children at play, the woman asked, "Which boy is yours, Ruby?" "Both of them," Aunt Ruby replied. The caller persisted. "But I mean, which one is adopted?" Aunt Ruby did not hesitate. In her finest hour, she looked straight at her guest and replied, "I've forgotten." When we are adopted as God's children, we quickly come to cherish our heavenly Father's forgetfulness. For he chooses to forget our sins, to forget our wayward past, and to give us the full rights of sons or daughters. ...

A cartoon in the New Yorker magazine showed an exasperated father saying to his prodigal son, "This is the fourth time we've killed the fatted calf." God does that over and over in our lifetime.

A successful Irish boxer was converted and became a preacher. He happened to be in a new town setting up his evangelistic tent when a couple of tough thugs noticed what he was doing. Knowing nothing of his background, they made a few insulting remarks. The Irishman merely turned and looked at them. Pressing his luck, one of the bullies took a swing and struck a glancing blow on one side of the ex-boxer's face. He shook it off and said nothing as he turned the other cheek. The fellow took another glancing blow on the other side. At that point the preacher swiftly took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and announced, "The Lord gave me not further instructions." Whop!

Next fall, when you see geese heading north for the winter, flying along in V formation, you might be interested in knowing what science has discovered about why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a V- formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. (Christians who share a common direction and a sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier, because they are travelling on the thrust of one another). Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. (If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are going). When the lead goose gets tired, he rotated back in the wing and anoth...