Apostles' Creed: Forgiveness of Sins // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Aug 10 2025

In my house we often call laundry, "the never ending chore". With five people who are prone to get dirty, it seems never more than a day goes by before we need to start a new load or fold another pile. If the question is, "when is the laundry chore done?" The answer will be something like, "when we stop needing to wear clothes!" Jesus once said, "be prepared to forgive seven times a day!" (Luke 17:4). That doesn't mean the eighth time you're now free to hold a grudge. The number 7 in the Biblical mind means "whole, complete". So essentially Jesus is saying, "Keep forgiving until there stop being wrongs to forgive." Forgiveness can feel like the never-ending spiritual chore.Yet there is a different way to think about forgiveness: not as a chore, but as a perfect act of God for all of humanity's wrongs. When we forgive one another, it doesn't come from some special strength we muster on our own. It's simply believing that God's divine act of forgiveness is at the heartbeat of the cosmos. In the words of one ancient creed, "we believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins." Best understood, Christian life is not a list of chores, but a belief to hold on to.