Jules finished a beautiful rendition of “Amazing Grace” and then introduced me on stage.
I bowed my head, silently prayed,Father God, work through me today. Touch their hearts and give me the wordsyou want me to speak,and then stepped out from behind the stage.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Seth.” I smiled, stepping up to the podium and thanking Jules. “I’m so honored to fill in for Pastor Jake.”
They clapped.
“Today, I wanted to talk to you about?—”
The lights turned on, and my gaze went right to the back row, locking in on Ella.
She’d come.
Teach her about forgiveness.God’s quiet yet steady voice called to me.
I clutched the notecards in my hand on my sermon about perseverance in trials. I hadn’t prepared a sermon about forgiveness, but I set them on the podium and prayed God would give me the words.
“Forgiveness,” I said, changing tactics.
Ella sat stiffly, her arms crossed as she peered at me from the very last row.
“Forgiveness,” I said, “might be the hardest command Jesus ever gave.”
Murmurs rustled. A few heads tilted.
“It sounds poetic to forgive your enemy. But if you’ve everreallybeen wronged… If you’ve ever lost someone, if you’ve ever screamed into a pillow at two a.m. because your world cracked in half—then you know. Sometimes forgiveness feels impossible.”
I paused, unsure where all that had come from and also, at the same time, knowing it had come from God.
“But Jesus didn’t preach forgiveness from a place of comfort. He preached it from a cross. As Roman spikesheld Him in place, while blood pooled at His feet, He looked at the men who mocked Him—and said,‘Father, forgive them.’Not before the pain. Not when it was easy. In the very middle of it.”
Ella’s eyes went wide as the congregation clapped their agreement.
“Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting. It doesn’t mean excusing. It meansreleasing—so the bitterness doesn’t take your heart hostage. So you can live again,” I said, feeling the Holy Spirit fully working through me with every word I spoke.
A hush settled over the pews.
I then looked directly at Ella.
“Some of us might be angry at the person who hurt us. Some of us might be angry atGod.” My voice softened. “But maybe we’re just crushed under the weight of grief we weren’t meant to carry alone.”
Her eyes welled with tears, but she didn’t blink.
“God isn’t offended by your anger. He wants your honesty. He’s big enough to hold your rage…and gentle enough to heal the part of you that still bleeds.”
The words continued to pour out of me without forethought and with complete trust in God.
“Forgiveness isn’t for the one who hurt you. It’s foryou. And it’s not something you do alone—it’s something Jesus helps you do. Because He’s already forgiven the worst in us.”
More clapping.
“So if your heart is heavy, come lay it down. If you’re mad at God, then tell Him. He can take it. And when you’re ready… LetHimstart the healing.”
The music began softly behind me.
“If you want to recommit to Jesus today, or if you want to follow Him for the first time, then come on up to the altar so we can pray for you.”
I held my breath, praying with every cell in my body that Ella would stand up and walk to the front.
