LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 80

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80

CONVENTION BIBLE STUDIES

her so suddenly die all because of the mistake of some nurse
must have been almost unbearable!
They went to the hospital, asking to see the nurse . But the
administration resisted and would not allow them to see her .
The parents left the hospital in tears . Before they reached their
car, someone ran out to them and pressed a note in their hands,
saying, “Don’t tell anyone I gave you this .” Then the stranger
ran back to the hospital . The note included the name and home
address of the nurse .
That evening, the parents walked up to the nurse’s front
door and knocked . As soon as the nurse answered, she recognized the couple and began to cry, saying, “I’m so sorry, they
won’t let me talk to you .” And she started to shut the door .
The husband stuck his foot in the door . “Please wait . We
know that you can’t talk to us . But won’t you listen to what
we have to say to you?” How could she refuse his request?
She killed their baby! So she paused .
The mother began: “For years, we waited for God to
answer our prayers . Finally, after we had given up hope, I
became pregnant and gave birth to our beautiful baby girl .
We don’t know why Kristy had to be taken away so soon
 .  .  .” The mother broke down and cried .
The father continued: “We don’t know why our daughter had to die so young . But we understand that you gave her
medicine that contributed to her death . My wife and I were
holding each other last night grieving over our loss . And then
we thought about you . We realize that you love babies and
that’s why you work in the nursery . We know that you didn’t
want to hurt Kristy, and so we thought you must be feeling
pretty awful too . So we came just to tell you we forgive you,
because God forgives us through Jesus Christ .”
The nurse wept uncontrollably at hearing this news . She
knew she didn’t deserve this couple’s forgiveness . She knew
that she couldn’t bring back their child with any amount of
financial settlement . She knew that she could do nothing to
earn favor with this family . To her the gift was free, but for
the couple who gave it, it was very costly .
That’s what forgiveness is, my friends . It is a gift . You do
not deserve God’s gift . You can’t buy His gift . You can do
nothing to earn any part of it . To you the gift is free, but for
the One who gives it, it is very costly . This gift cost our heavenly Father the blood of His one and only Son .
You will meet this nurse . You see, when this couple came
to her door, she didn’t know Jesus . But when she received

2010 Convention Proceedings

their gift, she also learned how much God loves her and she
received God’s gift . She is your sister in Christ, and you will
spend eternity with her .
Fellow beggars, as you consider all that you have done to
offend God and others, remember Jesus’ promises to you:
“You are forgiven” and “I am with you always .” Christ is
present in our conflicts to confront sinful behavior and offer
His free gift of forgiveness .
Receive God’s gift . But remember that the gift is not
offered so that you may hoard it for yourself . It is not given
for you to set on a shelf to admire or to put it away in a closet .
The gift is meant to be shared .
Receive God’s forgiveness . And then forgive, as the Lord
has forgiven you .
We pray .
Heavenly Father, how can we ever thank You for giving
us Your Son for the forgiveness of our sins? We praise You
for Your infinite love . And yet, in spite of all You have done
for us, we sometimes fail to forgive as You have forgiven us .
How easily we allow anger to dwell within us! How quickly
we nurse grudges into bitterness! Forgive us, Lord, for our
shallow thankfulness . Help us remember that in our Baptism,
through Your Word, and in Your Holy Supper You forgive
our sins . Fill us with Your Holy Spirit that we may have divine
power to do what we cannot do on our own . With Paul, we
are bold to proclaim, “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me .” Amen, Lord Jesus, make it so . Amen .

Endnotes
1 . Rosamond E . Herklots, 1905–87, alt . (Oxford
University Press); “Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive,”
© Oxford University Press . Used by permission: LSB
Hymn License  .NET, no . 100013024 .
2 . Gene has given me permission to share this story .
3 . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are
taken from the ESV Bible® (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers .
Used by permission . All rights reserved .
4 . See Michael E . McCullough, PhD, Steven J . Sandage,
MS, Everett L . Worthington Jr ., PhD, To Forgive Is
Human (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1997) .
5 . Names and certain details have been changed to protect
confidences .