Ripples of Forgiveness
/Scripture
…. yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of their killing him. (Acts 7:57-60, 8:1 NIVUK)
Ripples of Forgiveness
When I’m walking my regular trail around the lake on the edge of town, I often pass kids near the edge throwing rocks in the water. I’m still enough of a kid that rocks and pebbles near water make me want to try and skip them across the surface or at least create some ripples in the water.
The other day I was thinking about words of forgiveness being ripple creators. When Jesus asked the Father to forgive his executioners those words went out to the benefit of many who still may not realize it. On a recent morning, I was meditating on Stephen’s execution as a youthful Saul, later to become Paul, stood approving the violence.
His cries to the Father to forgive his executioners were heard by a young man who would become one of the great spokespersons for Jesus in all of history. His words rippled out and years later the more mature but more actively violent Saul was brought to a halt and transformed by the love of God in the face of Jesus.
Perhaps one of the ripples of Stephen’s call for forgiveness led to the redemption of one of his fierce opponents. Perhaps our words of forgiveness can ripple into the ponds of our lives to bring healing and redemption as well.
A Prayer for Today
Loving God whose character is to love and forgive, thank you that we are beneficiaries of that in abundance – help us to recognize it in our daily lives. Help us to use our words to create ripples of forgiveness and reconciliation if we choose to use our voices in that way. Forgive us for the ripples we create that produce anger and chaos. Make us beautiful pebbles you are skipping across life’s waters to produce love and forgiveness …. For Jesus’ sake.
