THE SPIRIT OF FORGIVENESS
BY A SHOW OF HANDS, WHO WOULD LIKE TO TELL ME WHAT EASTER IS REALLY ABOUT? HOW ABOUT FORGIVENESS?
Matt 6:9 15 (Scripture text)
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
We need to have the love of Christ, so that we may not succumb to an unforgiving spirit.
How often do we feel that we have been dealt with unjustly, that things have been said concerning us that were untrue, and that we have been set in a false light before others? When we are thus tried, we need to keep strict guard over our spirit and our words.
Don’t rehearse and nurse the hurts. That’s reliving the event again & again in your mind.
Illustration; A women who’s husband had died years earlier had stopped by her Pastors office one day. She had been crying inside for 2 long painful years. As she talked, she related everything that had happened up to the time of her husband’s death --- everything! She knew every detail. Finally she opened her purse and took out a sheet of paper and read to him the words of her Dr. He had explained to her the cause of her husband’s death. After she had read the note and after prayer and tears, the pastor said, "I want you to do something for me. I want you to tear up that piece of paper and throw it away. It’s time you stopped rehearsing and nursing your hurt!" Later on as she was leaving church one day she simply said to him "Thanks".
Let us not think that unless those who have injured us confess their wrongs, we are justified in withholding from them our forgiveness. We should not accumulate our grievances, holding them to our hearts until the one we think guilty has humbled his heart by repentance and confession. This is his part no doubt, and the thing he must do in order to clear his soul from sin he has committed. But with him we have nothing to do in this matter, and should only seek to stand before God in the way he would have us, that our prayers be not hindered. We are to have a spirit of pity, of compassion toward those who have trespassed against us, whether or not they confess their faults. If they fail to repent and make confession, their sins will stand registered in the books above to confront them in the day of judgment; but if they say, "I repent," then our duty is plain; we are freely to forgive from the heart their trespasses against us as we have the hope of forgiveness by our heavenly father.
This sermon this morning is possibly the most important of all of the sermons that I have ever given, because if you and I don’t get this forgiveness thing down, then we miss the gospel. Grace, the gospel, the very heart of God; they are all wrapped up in forgiveness. There is no greater text in all of Scripture that opens the heart of God, that opens the heart of forgiveness to you and me, than the one we are looking at today.
I would invite you to open your Bibles to Matthew’s gospel, the eighteenth chapter.
A parable told by Jesus concerning this matter goes like this, as recorded in Matt 18:23 34;
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. (Matt. 18:35)
This is a story about a king and his servant. The king has loaned his servant some money, and now he’s decided to call in the loan. It is pay-back time. Now servant A is the servant we first meet. He has run up an incredible tab. Ten thousand talents. That is the equivalent today of about 12 million dollars; about 150,000 years worth of salary for a common day laborer back in the first century. The point of the parable is that this is such a vast sum, that it is a total impossibility to pay it back. We are told that in verse 25. The servant is unable to pay. So, the king in order to cut his loses, orders that the servant and his wife and his children are all to be sold into slavery, and then the servant’s entire estate be given to Auctioneers. At least the king can salvage a little bit of money out of this deal.
In verse 26, desperate, the servant begins to beg for mercy. He is trying to buy some time. He is hoping that the king will cut him some slack. So, he pleads literally for his very life. And then the most unexpected, unbelievable thing happens in verse 27. The king doesn’t just buy him some time. He doesn’t just cut him some slack. He totally forgives the debt. He cancels it in its entirety. Suddenly the servant, his wife, children, and estate are off the auction block. The loan is paid off. They are completely free.
Now, put yourself in that servant’s shoes for just a moment. How would you be feeling at that moment? How do you think you would leave there? When your driving and somebody lets you in traffic, aren’t you more likely then to let another person in? You see, that is the problem with this servant. After all of that forgiveness, he leaves as if nothing has happened.
Enter servant B. Servant “B” owes servant “A”. He owes him 100 denarii we are told; the equivalent today of $1.80. And right like out of a scene from "The Godfather", servant “A”, black shirt white tie, puts down his violin case and starts choking servant “B” and says, ’I am going to break your kneecaps unless you pay up.’ Servant “B” begs for mercy, using the exact same words that servant “A” used with the king. But this time there is no mercy; instead, he has servant “B” thrown into debtor’s prison until he can work off the debt. Wow!!!
But there are always other eyes watching. And we are told that some of the other servants observe what servant “A” does to servant “B”. They get royally ticked off, and so they squeal to the king. And for the second time servant “A” is called onto the king’s carpet. Whereas before the king had changed from loan shark to Mr. Softie, this time his pity has changed to anger, and he lowers the boom on servant “A”. Servant “A” winds up in prison.
The story is over for servants “A” and “B”. But it’s not over for you and I. In verse 35 Jesus says, ’Unless you and I forgive our brothers and sisters from the heart, we are going wind up just like servant “A”.’
This is a parable about us and our relationship with God, and our relationship to each other in terms of forgiveness. And oh, how God has forgiven the debt that you and I have run up! Far greater than 12 million dollars. Our sin has run up a tab whose result is eternal death, infinite separation from God. Those are the consequences to the debt that you and I owe. If you and I could be crucified 12 million times, it would not even scratch the surface of paying off the interest on that debt, let alone even touching the principle. Yet God, in his immeasurable love and grace, has canceled it through the life, death, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has totally forgiven that debt in its entirety. Not only that, but you and I come out on the other side, with the gift of eternal life.
God really does have this obsessive thing about forgiveness. So much so, that he mandates it in this text for the Christian. He orders it. And just like any other mandate in Scripture, forgiveness is primarily mandated for our own good. Because God knows. He knows that you and I will never really be healed; we will never really move toward wholeness; we will never really get on with our lives until we are able to let go of the resentment; until we can give up gaining revenge . . . and forgive.
God mandates it, Christ orders it, and the Holy Spirit empowers it. The mistake you and I make a lot of the time is we look at who the person is who has wronged us, and we look at what they have done to us.
No matter how much we have been wounded, we are not to cherish our grievances and sympathize with ourselves over our injuries, but as we hope to be pardoned for our offenses against God, so must we pardon those who have done wrong to us. Christ taught us to pray; "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," and added, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive your trespasses."
C.S. Lewis once wrote; as I stood there that morning to preach on forgiveness. In my own life, I find that to be such a struggle. Thirteen years ago a dear friend of mine tried to torpedo my ministry. I suspected as much. I confronted him on it, and he confessed that that was exactly what he was doing; and he asked my forgiveness. I said to him, "I forgive you." To this very day, every day, I am still trying to forgive him.
We are not to talk of our wounds and bruises and wallow in them, but to bring them to Him who is the mighty and successful Healer of all our sorrows. Christ has suffered, and he identifies his interests with those of his suffering children; and if our life is hid with Christ in God, Jesus will bear our grief’s; for it is he that is wounded in the person of his saints, and he who injures one of Christ=s little ones, brings upon himself the charge of injuring the Lord Jesus. Oh, if we did but realize this truth as we should, how careful would we be in what we say of others, the spirit we cherish, and the actions we perform. When we are reviled, the temptation to revile in return is strong, but in doing this we show ourselves as bad as the reviler himself. When we are tempted to revile, send up a silent prayer to God that he will give you his grace, and keep your tongue in silence, that your lips may speak no guile.
There is a universal longing, a hunger in every human soul for forgiveness; both to be able to give it, and to receive it. In one of his stories, Ernest Hemingway tells about a young man who wrongs his father and he runs away from home to the city of Madrid. Out of great love for his son, the father takes out an ad in the Madrid newspaper, ’Paco, meet me Hotel Montana, 12 noon Tuesday. All is forgiven. Papa.’ Now Paco is a rather common name in Spain, and so when the father gets to the hotel, he finds eight hundred young men waiting for their fathers.
We long for forgiveness: to be able to forgive and to be forgiven. If that is so, then why is it so hard to forgive? It wasn’t any easier for the first followers of Jesus. Not even for the apostles. It’s a dog eat dog world out there. Not a dog forgive dog world.
God has so loved the world that he has given his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.(John 3:16)
Christ has borne our sins, forgiven our trespasses. He bore "our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.(Isa 53:5) Then will any of Gods children to whom he has forgiven so much, act as did this merciless servant unto his fellow-servant? (As recorded in the parable we had just read) Will the youth for whom Christ has died, be anything but pitiful? Will they cherish anything but the meekness and lowliness of Christ? Will they not from the heart forgive those who trespass against them? Will you not, if any one has done you wrong, and is too proud and stubborn to say to you "I repent," go to the offender and say, "I love you for Christ=s sake, and I forgive you the injury you have done me"? Jesus will witness and approve of this deed, of love; and as you do to others, it shall be done again to you.
Our worship cannot be acceptable to God if our hearts are filled with bitterness toward our brethren, or to those not of our faith. Jesus has given us an example that we should follow in his steps, and manifest compassion and love and good-will toward all. Let us cultivate a kind spirit, a spirit of forbearance, and tender, pitying love toward those, who, when under temptation, have done us grievous wrongs. If possible, let us heal these wounds, and close the door of temptation by removing every barrier the wrong-doer has erected between himself and us. Humble your heart before God, and come close to the one who would deal unjustly with you, and it may be that the difficulty may all be healed. The Lord delights to bestow his blessings upon those who will honor him, who will acknowledge his mercy, and show that they appreciate his love to them by manifesting the same gracious characteristic to those around them.
Recently we have been hearing about children bringing guns to school and shooting up the schools and killing both teachers and fellow students as a source of revenge. Often we hear about teenagers taking the lives of their parents because of strict discipline. Oh may the youth be able to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us." Let us pray.
