Forgiven or Saved
Are you
forgiven or are you saved? There is a difference.
A fifty eight
year old man sat in the chair and watched as his father pass away in front of
his eyes. He had been called to his father’s death bed by his older brother
just a few days earlier. The father passed away very quickly. So much so that
the son never quite realized when it happened until his older brother said the,
‘Oxygen machine has stopped. Dad is dead’. The younger son wept. He recalled
the last few days and what had taken place.
He had told
his brother that was would call his father to let know that he was on his way
home; so the younger son called his father and told him the good news that he
was coming home to visit with him. And he said to his father, ‘Don’t you die on
me before I get there!’ And his father said ‘Don’t worry son, I’ll wait for
you.’ So the son made preparations to fly home as soon as he could. On the
flight he recalls thinking ‘Can I tell him? Should I tell him? Will I be able
to tell him?’ These were questions that bothered the son and had burdened him
for over 40 years. Each time the son wanted to tell him he could never bring
himself to do so. Now he had one last opportunity to tell his father what he
had done and to ask his forgiveness.
His father
was a butcher by trade but always wanted to be his own boss. He hated working
‘for the man’. He wanted to ‘be’ the man. He had told his son that when he was
younger he wanted to open up a coffee and donut shop. This was long before
Starbucks and Tim Horton’s were even thought of but mother had never approved
and never supported him so he continued to work for others but he never stopped
dreaming. His next dream was to have his own grocery store. Another dream that
mother didn’t approve of. But this time his dream was realized around the time
the son turned 17 years of age. And just as before Mama didn’t support him and
did her own thing. She had a boarding house to take care of. The older brother,
well he was too old to work in the grocery store. He was off doing his own
thing and the younger sister was just too young. So it was left to the younger
son to help out with Daddy’s dream.
At first
this was a real cool thing because the son learned a lot about running a
grocery store, the produce counter and most of all how to cut beef which his
father taught him how to do. But it was left to the son to run the till while
the father served the customers their beef and other things. Mother would come
once a week to get her groceries but she would never pay for them. So father
had to put it down and charge it to the account of the store. Of course this
took away from the profits and at the same time the son was becoming angry
because he had to work all the time after school and on weekends and he never
got a chance to enjoy himself with his new girlfriend that he had. Plus Papa
didn’t pay wages. So the son took it upon himself to put away a little bit of
change from the customers and didn’t ring it in. After all Papa wouldn’t miss a
few coins here and there. But the coins soon turned into dollars because it was
easier to hide the dollars than the heavy coins in his pocket. The son didn’t
think much of it. He thought it would be ok. Daddy was doing a great business
at the store. After a while business wasn’t as good as it had been and the
profits were no longer there. Soon it wasn’t long until Papa lost the business.
The youngest son was now on his own. He was now about 19 years old and off
doing his own thing. So for over forty years he had carried a burden of his stealing
money from his father and could never bring himself to tell his father what he
had done for fear of losing his love.
Now as he
sat in the room and his father had passed away he recalls the encounter that
had taken place the day before. He had come in and said ‘Hi’ to his father,
walked over to the bed, hugged him and kissed him and began to joke with him as
he did every week on the phone. He always liked making his father laugh and he
said, ‘Dad I have to tell you something.’ And he proceeded to lay out what he
had done and the burden he had been carrying for forty years and he asked his
father to forgive him. His father put his arms around his neck and drew him
closer to his chest. He was surprised what the father said in return.
‘Son, I
forgave you forty years ago, I knew something was going on when I was balancing
the books. Your mother’s expenses were accounted for but the till just didn’t
seem to fit right with the business we were having. So I knew you were
pocketing some money and I forgave you then.’ Immediately the burden from the
son was lifted from off his shoulders. And the son asked the father ‘why didn’t
you say something to me, or stop me? Why did you let me go on?’ And he said
‘Because I loved you son and I knew you’d have to learn for yourself the
lesson.’ And the son said ‘I tried to tell you many, many times but I couldn’t
do it because I thought you would stop loving me.’ And the father said ‘I could
never stop loving you. You’re my son. I loved you then and I love you now.’ And
the son cried and wept in his father’s arms and he felt as if he was born
again. The burden was gone, and he once again felt close to his father. And now
his father was gone and he would never get to hear his voice or feel his arms
around his neck again.
Friends,
that’s exactly the relationship the Father has with all of his children. He
forgave the whole world of their transgressions even before the transgressions
happened. Christianity says that we are saved because of the blood of the Lamb
at the cross and that’s true. However being saved and being forgiven are two
different things. We were forgiven before we were even created. For the
scripture tells us that he was the Lamb slain before the foundations of the
world. God saw the beginning and the end and laid out a plan to save us but he
forgave us of our transgressions even before we were saved. Being saved is
coming to the realization of what we have done and coming before God with a
broken and contrite heart. The debt was paid for at the cross. We enjoy the
benefit, each in his own time as we come to the realization of it. Just as the
father had forgiven his son forty years prior, the son had carried the burden
on his own shoulders and was released from the burden when he confessed it to
his father and asked for forgiveness. So to it is with us, with the Father in
heaven. The Father has forgiven every one of us and we carry the burden of our
sins until we come before him. When we do, we literally save ourselves because
we remove from ourselves that burden. We no longer have the guilt and the shame
upon our shoulders. We are basically washed clean and become a new man. And
that’s what being saved is about. By becoming a new man, we are renewed.
So if
someone asks you if you are forgiven, you can say ‘I sure am!’ If they ask you
are you saved? You will have to ponder that question for yourselves because
that is dependent upon you. And yes if you’re wondering that younger son was
me. And I sure miss my Dad, but I’m so grateful to know that I’ve been
forgiven. Forgiven is what Father has done, salvation is what you do.