Poster Archive : MARCH 2008
Message: It's good to say sorry
Bible Verse: James 5:16 Confess your sins to one another , and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
Who should say sorry in the story of this little girl?
One day, a strange man working for the government drove up to a little girl's home in the bush and took her away from her family. As she cried out to hug her Dad goodbye - who was too sick to resist the official - she was yanked away. She never saw her Daddy again.
The 1996 Bringing Them Home report was full of painful stories like this one about Aboriginal children. After its release, Christian leaders from all the denominations publicly lead the way and said "sorry." Of course they did. Christians, of all people, know that healing comes with confession, repentance and forgiveness.
It makes sense to say sorry when you know you did something wrong. "But hang on, it wasn't you or me who took that girl from her family. That was someone from another generation!"
The Bible, however, takes a different view. When men like Daniel and Nehemiah sought healing from God for their nation, they began by confessing the sins of the present generation and the generation before.
Sorry is a short word, but it's hard to say. Doing two things will help that little word to come out more easily.
The first is to see things from God's point of view. God cares if children get removed from their parents. It's a sin against God to abuse or neglect somebody - especially children.
The second is even more powerful. Meditate on the fact that, for Christians, Jesus has already taken all the punishment for sin on the cross. We can let down our guard and say "sorry" to someone, when we know there's no judgement from God to fear.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, we pray that you'd heal all broken relationships in Australia by teaching all of us how to say "sorry" to each other. AMEN