2. Unmerciful Servant Series

God has every right to judge us according to that debt and to demand repayment for our sins. And guess what the repayment would be: death.

Rom. 6:23 (NIV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For all of us, a day is coming when we will be called to account for our life and to somehow “settle accounts” with our King, God Almighty. The only way for us to be able to stand on that day is to take care of things NOW, by doing what the servant did: plead for mercy from God. Once you understand that you are in a hopeless debt toward God, with no way you could repay it – the only other option is to plead for mercy and ask for forgiveness of that debt.

The amazing thing is that God IS merciful. He does not treat us as our sins deserve, but has provided a way for our debts to Him to be erased. The one and only way he has provided is through the death of Jesus, and the shedding of His blood as a substitute for you and me.

Once we really get it through our head what Jesus did for us, and how God has forgiven us for everything we did that actually necessitated the execution of his beloved Son, we start to understand how much more we’ve been forgiven than God is asking us to forgive others.

People definitely can be hurtful. Some of us here today have been hurt very deeply and repeatedly by other people. But God instructs us to think of those hurts, those debts, as a small debt when compared to what God has forgiven us and set us free from.

CONCLUSION:

The parable of the unmerciful servant, as well as the other teachings of Jesus on forgiveness, make it clear there is no room in the Kingdom of God for unforgiving, unmerciful, bitter people. God requires of us that we forgive those who offend us.

And so I ask you, is there anyone you need to forgive? Is there someone you’ve been thinking about the whole time I’ve been talking. Forgiveness is your choice to let go of that hurt, to not allow yourself permission to go over it again in your mind. It is the choice to remember all that you’ve been forgiven, and to re-present the mercy and forgiveness of God with those who hurt you.

In just a moment we are going to remember the sacrifice of Jesus as we partake of the Lord’s Supper together.

• It is a time for all those who follow Jesus to remember the debt you owed God because of your sin, and the incredible, amazing grace that he showers upon all who come to him asking for mercy.

• It is a time to celebrate that though we owed him a debt we could not pay, he paid the debt he did not owe.

• But it is also a time to search our own hearts for any place that unforgiveness or bitterness is hiding out – and to give that over to Him to cast into the deepest sea.

• It is a time to confess our inability to forgive and to ask God to empower us to not just say the words, but to ACTUALLY forgive.

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Pray silently (no music).

• When music starts, ushers serve elements to people in chairs.

• After everyone is served, I’ll come to the front and we’ll partake together.