Forgiveness

Matthew 5:1-12
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Isaiah 2:3-4
2 Now it will come about that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
3 And many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
So that He may teach us about His ways,
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go out from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 And He will judge between the nations,
And will mediate for many peoples;
And they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives.
Nation will not lift up a sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.

The solution to the problem can never be the problem itself

“Peacekeeping is different from peacemaking.
Peacekeeping covers and endorses injustice for the sake of protecting corrupt people and power structures.
Peacemaking uncovers and dismantles unjust systems and brings corrupt people to justice for the sake of costly shalom.”
--Matt Tebbe

“Nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation.”
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

“It’s a sacred, everyday kind of liturgy. It wakes us up to what is real. Which is really all that following Jesus really is. It’s “waking up” to the reality that all things are being made new and it starts with us.”
--Jon Huckins

“Forgiveness does not undermine or subvert justice. It creates the possibility for real justice to happen. It casts out the toxic residue of resentment and the desire for revenge. It frees us from the inside out. “
--Shane Claiborne

“It is easy to honor a true prophet with words. We can talk about what he did and how he changed America, and that is fine. But the real question is, "What am I doing?"...In my mind, he would not be terribly impressed with our mere words and our lip service. He would say that you honor, love, and respect me by picking up where I left off.”
--Bernice A. King

Matthew 18:21-22
21 Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times.