The Forgiveness of Sins, preached on July 26, 2026

I’m not much of a golf fan, but I’ve been interested in the recent controversy. Have you heard about it? It happened during the second round of the British Open in Southport, England. On the 5th hole, DeChambeau’s drive sailed off the fairway and into knee-high grass, which some say he inadvertently stomped down just a little bit to make room to take his shot, while others say he did all but take a weedwhacker to the grass to make room for his back swing. Regardless of what he did to make it happen, his shot from the knee-high grass was perfect. The ball sailed from the knoll of knee-high grass onto the green, putting DeChambeau in excellent position to save his score after such a wild drive. However, hours later, the rules officials called him, showed DeChambeau a video of him stomping down the grass on the 5th hole, explained to him how his actions violated Rule 8.1a, and what I’d like to tell you happened next is that DeChambeau apologized, admitted that he was wrong, and graciously accepted his two-stroke penalty. That, of course, is not what happened. Instead, he made the officials drive him to the 5th hole where he waved his arms, argued his point, and defended his innocence, which got all the TV attention and held up the tournament for a full 90 minutes. That’s right. Bryson DeChambeau defended his innocence rather than accept his two-stroke penalty, which ended up holding up the golf tournament for a full 90 minutes, and seems to me like one of the most typical moments in sports that I have ever heard of. I have a new friend named Owen Farist. He’s a lawyer and serves as the general counsel for Tip Top Poultry, but on the side, as a hobby, he referees college basketball games. Last week, he was telling a group of us about how, after he referees a game, he often must be escorted from the sports arena to his car by security personnel, and that’s not because so many people are fighting to get his autograph. It’s because it seems that no one in sports wants to be held accountable by a referee, an umpire, or any other sports official, and that trend trickles down from professional sports to college, and all the way down to little league. I once attended my daughter’s basketball game where a father got so angry with the referee that he had to be escorted out of the gym. My wife, Sara, was so embarrassed. I’m just kidding. It wasn’t me. This angry father was escorted out of the gym for yelling at the referee. With him gone, there was peace at the basketball court until the little girl’s grandmother took up the cause, and soon enough, grandma had to be escorted out. I bring all this up because sometimes the world seems like the prison yard in Shawshank Redemption. Do you remember that movie? Early in the film, Andy Dufresne, the main character, introduces himself to the man they call “Red,” but Red already knows about Andy. “You’re the one who murdered his wife,” Red says to him. Andy says, “That might be what people say, but I didn’t do it. I’m innocent.” “You’re going to fit right in here,” Red replies, “because this prison is full of innocent men.” My friends, do we not believe in forgiveness? Do we not believe in the forgiveness of sins? Why, then, are we so practiced in denial? I tell you, so often Scripture provides us the account of normal people, shepherds and fishermen, becoming larger than life, saints of the church, but not because they defend their reputation. The sinners become saints when they confess their sins and dare to believe that they may be forgiven. You might imagine King David, who committed adultery with Bathsheba then tried to cover up the pregnancy by having her husband killed, singing the words of our call to worship: While I kept silence, my body wasted away. But when I confessed, God forgave the guilt of my sin. Do not be like a stubborn mule, determined not to change. For steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Do you trust in the Lord’s grace? Do you know that feeling of tossing and turning, not able to sleep, until you unburden yourself by revealing the truth to almighty God, who meets your confession, not with condemnation, but with compassion? Do you believe in the forgiveness of sins? I can remember it back in high school. I got into an argument with another guy on the baseball team. He was being a jerk. I called him on it. He got mad. The next day I threw a bunch of eggs at his car. Now, what’s so bad about the eggs is that the sun hit the eggs, so the eggs baked onto the car, messed up the paint job, and his father, who not only coached the team but taught science at the high school, wanted to know who covered his son’s car in eggs and damaged the paint job. “Well, I didn’t do it.” “Who would do such a thing?” I kept that act up for a couple days, until I couldn’t take it any longer, for happy are those who do not live in denial, but freely repent. If Bryson DeChambeau believed in forgiveness, would he have acted the way that he did? If we lived in a culture that believed in forgiveness, would we rely on lawyers to work all our mistakes out for us? I’m thankful to have a bunch of friends who are lawyers, and one of them whom I respect tremendously is Chris Harrison. Do you know Chris? He’s a member of our church. His office is on the Square. If you need a good lawyer, call him, but he’ll tell you that half of all the lawsuits in this country could have been prevented with a well-worded apology. “I’m sorry.” “I was wrong.” “It’s my fault. I’ll try to do better. I hope you can forgive me.” Do you believe in the forgiveness of sins? Now, I’ve just confessed to having thrown eggs at someone’s car. I have other sins to confess as well. One of my shortcomings is that, hard as I’ve tried, I’ve failed to fulfill all my commitments lately. Two weeks ago, Gaspar Rodriguez offered to donate two beautiful paintings to the silent auction tonight at Two Birds Taphouse, raising money for our Pantry on Church, but I failed to follow-up, so Linda Spears had to go and pick up the paintings for me. Yet, because I failed, a miracle happened. You see, some weeks ago, Linda Spears, who is our neighbor and one of the most active do-gooders in our community, witnessed a car accident. A young man ran out into the street where he was hit by a car, thrown to the side of the road, and there he lay, motionless. Linda parked her car and rushed to his side. She wasn’t the only one to stop. Others did as well, including the driver who hit the young man. This young man lay motionless on the side of the road while one woman prayed over him, another held his hand, and they all waited with him until police and paramedics arrived, and he was rushed off to the hospital. No one knew whether he’d survive. As you can imagine, this image is one that isn’t easy to forget. Linda worried about the young man, and she tried to track him down. Finally, she heard from the police department that he had died. She told the whole story to Gaspar Rodriguez when she went to pick up the two paintings for tonight’s fund raiser for the Panty on Church. I did not pick them up, so Gaspar called Linda, and Linda retold him this whole story. Because Gaspar is so active in the Marietta school system, it so happened that he knew the young man who had been hit by the car and knew where his mother lived. He offered to take Linda to meet the young man’s mother. The two of them knocked on the door, greeted his mother, and while Linda was expressing her heartfelt condolences, assuring her that in her son’s last moments he was not alone, the young man Linda heard had died walked into the room, on crutches, yes, but alive and well. Thanks be to God. Linda told me all this, and then she said, “It’s amazing the things that happen if you get up off the couch,” and I say, it’s also amazing the things that happen when your pastor never gets around to picking up the paintings himself. Now, I’m not encouraging you to neglect your commitments, but I tell you this story because so often, the real key to winning in life is learning how to lose. Learning how to be imperfect and trusting that God loves us, not because we are perfect, but because we are His. God is not like the father who was disappointed when you didn’t bring home the trophy. No. God is the Father who forgives sins, abounds in grace, and loves you, not when you are at your best, but every time you call out His name. I believe in the forgiveness of sins. I believe that His love is greater than my imperfection. I believe that we are at our best when we abide in His grace and rejoice in His forgiveness. I believe in the forgiveness of sins. Halleluia. Amen.