Friday, September 23, 2016

"The Gesture of Forgiveness"



He was an outstanding United States Senator. This Christian leader was seated at the Head Table because he was the keynote speaker at this conference.

Oh no! The server for the Head Table suddenly fumbled the cake and lemon sauce dessert she was balancing. The dessert hit the shoulder of the guest-of-honor and spread a wide smear of lemon sauce down his coat, tie and shirt, and landed in his lap. Immediately, he grabbed a dinner knife and attempted to lift the goopy mess off his clothes. The server ran and returned with towels to salvage the situation.

Was she embarrassed? Was she in pain? The senator kept repeating, “It’s OK. It’ll be alright.”  I don’t think it helped.

After the mess was cleaned up, still red-faced, the server turned to go. The senator reached to her with both hands, drew her to him and gently kissed her cheek. She smiled, stood tall and left having regained her composure. He erased a painful memory by a gesture of forgiveness. That gentle act of acceptance on the part of the senator probably made a greater impression on that audience than his twenty-minute speech.

Colossians 1:13-14, “He has rescued us from the power of distress and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.”

Blessings,

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