Message
“Forgiven and Forgiving" – Lord’s Prayer Series
A sermon on Matthew 18:21-35
Has it ever struck you how often the disciple Peter over-estimates his ability to understand the ways of the Lord? Just think about it for a moment.
Who stepped out of the boat to walk to the Lord, only to sink into the sea? Peter.
To whom did Jesus say, `Get behind me Satan'? Peter.
Who said he would never deny Christ? Peter.
On so many occasions Peter just assumes far too much.
Let’s read about another time when Peter just gets it all wrong
Matthew 18:21-35
Why is Peter sure that seven times a day is enough.
Well the spiritual leaders of Israel would not forgive a man when he came back a fourth time for forgiveness. So he goes to seven, nearly double. After all if you forgive too much people are just going to walk all over you, aren’t they.
But Jesus comes and He ups the anti … not seven times, but seventy seven times. Or, as your Bible footnote points out, it could also be translated “seventy times seven” which is 490 times. Either way the essence of Jesus’ answer is clear.
In Jesus’ worldview you can never forgive too often.
Which is hard isn’t it. Because the first thing we think is Yes BUT
Yes, BUT If someone is so bad that they sin against you 77 times a day … shouldn’t you try and straighten them out a bit first?
Yes BUT a person can’t be serious about their faith if they sin against you so much?
Yes BUT wouldn’t it be better to be tough and not forgive until they showed signs of change?
Yes, BUT if someone has sinned against you … don’t they have obligations as well?
Yes, BUT aren’t I just setting myself up to be continually hurt if I always forgive?
Yes, that might be what you think. BUT remember what we say in the Lord’s Prayer.
Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors (Mt.6:12)
And, just to be sure that we get it, Jesus in the same context gives us the reason why we should forgive.-
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Mt.6:14-15)
How many times shall I forgive my brother? This is not a simple academic question. It is a question that gets to the very heart of our understanding of the grace of the Lord in our own lives. It is also a question that has significant implications for our prayer life. Because
If we can’t forgive … something about our relationship to the Father is wrong.
How does Jesus show us this? It starts with a man who has an almost infinite debt … in monetary terms it is a debt of 10, 000 talents.
Is that a lot of money? Well a labourer, like a grape-picker, received 1 denarii for a day's work. It took 6000 denarii to make 1 talent … which means this servant has a debt of 60million denarii, or 60million days of work. That is about 165 000 years of non stop work. The payment for this huge debt is impossible.
But this is a parable. So the issue here is not about money – the issue here is the magnitude of our debt of sin.
Let’s think about it this way. Imagine 1 sin = 1 point. No matter how big or little that sin is. Now let’s conservatively say that we commit … what? … 5 sins a day. Is that a good guess Expand
Now let’s say the sin count starts for when you are 10 (even though many of our kids already have a good count) and we live to 80.
The sin total is 5x365x70
= 127,750 sin points
Now we start seeing a bit of a reality – and the reality only keeps getting bigger.
We are born in sin … that is how we start this life.
Our minds are tuned to sinning … we keep looking in its direction.
We are always tempted by it … everyday.
We often surrender to it … everyday.
We don’t often think about it this way but we have an infinite debt of sin.
This is not an exaggeration – this is the reality of sin in our lives. But the saddest fact of all is that this sin is directed against God. Every time we sin its as if we are throwing sand into the face of God and saying, “Your ways are not good enough for me. I have chosen to follow an alternative answer”.
How does our heavenly Father respond to this infinite debt of sin?
He sends His Son to pay the debt.
He punishes His Son on our behalf.
He forgives.
We are the ones who incurred the debt.
We are the miserable sinners who gave up perfection for the sake of a piece of fruit.
We were enticed by the prince of darkness.
Yet God takes the necessary steps to keep hold of us and forgive our debt through Christ.
As God forgives he also makes a two-fold promise.
Firstly God promises that He will not remember those things which He has forgiven. He will not continue to bring them before us. He will not continue to treat us as sinners. Rather He sees us as we are in Christ; perfect, redeemed, righteous and holy. That is what justification is all about. Just as if I had never sinned, nor been a sinner.
Secondly God promises to accept us as we are. We are the struggling redeemed … yet God accepts us. For we are not just sinners, we are sinners who have received the riches of God's grace through the blood of Christ. God does not see us as people who have an infinite debt of sin. Rather, God sees us as holy, righteous and blameless. Believers who have been forgiven through the blood of Christ.
So, when it comes to the parable, God the Father is the master who forgave that huge debt. The servant has been shown an infinite amount of grace ... but look at what the servant does with that grace.
As soon as he has been released he goes and finds a fellow servant who owes 100 denarii; 100 days wages. And what a spectacle he makes. He is so full of anger that he begins the encounter by grabbing his fellow servant around the neck and choking him. “Pay back what you owe me”.
If you compare the verses 26 and 29 you will notice that the pleas for forgiveness of both men are almost identical. Be patient with me and I will pay you back.
Does this plea refresh the mind of the servant who, moments before used the same words before his master?
Does this servant intend to forgive just as his master had?
Far from it. The one who had so much forgiven is unable to forgive so little.
No wonder those who witnessed this situation are greatly distressed. The text literally says, “They were grieved”. It is a grief which comes when one witnesses injustice.
It would have taken the first servant 165 000yrs to remove his debt.
It would take 3½ months for the second servant to do the same.
The inconsistency in this parable is that one who has been forgiven so much is unable to forgive so little. He didn’t really appreciate the forgiving love of the master. Which means he couldn’t show that same grace to others.
And here we are today. We are people who have been hurt by others … they have sinned against us.
Maybe it was a verbal attack.
Or an emotional attack.
Maybe we have been betrayed.
Or at the receiving end of a deceitful scheme.
Whatever the case it was unwarranted. Unfair. Unnecessary.
What's been your reaction in such a situation?
Do you kick yourself for not retaliating when you had the chance?
Do you remember the insignificant things the person has done to you, and magnify them?
Do you begin to plan your response for any future attacks by that person?
Is that what we do? Or do we take our cue from the Scriptures?
The challenge for us is to be willing to forgive our debtors in the same way that the Lord has forgiven us.
It is a huge call isn’t it, especially when you remember the qualifying words of Jesus. If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. We are forgiving people because God has forgiven us. If we can’t be forgiving people then we have to begin to wonder if we have understood God’s forgiveness to us.
That is what happens in this parable. Very soon this servant will be facing his master - only this time compassion will be far from the master’s heart.
Before the master had pity, now he is angry.
Before the master let the servant go, now he is to be jailed and tortured.
Before the debt was removed, now every part of that debt is expected to be repaid - despite the fact that it will be a never ending job.
Mercy has turned into justice. And why? The servant did not act in a way consistent with the actions that had been shown to him. Clearly the servant was never grateful for the forgiveness he received. Or else he too would have forgiven the sin of those who were in debt to him.
When we pray the prayer, “Forgive us as we also have forgiven others”, we also need to live the prayer. A forgiven person is always a forgiving person. That is the foundation. And what happens when we use this foundation? It’s quite simple really. We forgive in the same way that the Lord forgave us. We follow the pattern set by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
When Christ forgives the sin exists no more. It’s as if there is a clean slate. In Christ we are forgiven and restored. In gratitude our forgiveness to others reflects this approach.
When Christ forgives He treats us as a friend, not as an enemy. He will go to any length to protect and uphold our name. In gratitude our forgiveness to others reflects this approach.
When Christ forgives he doesn’t look for a way to retaliate and even the score. He doesn’t broad over the offence. He forgives and works towards building a stronger relationship with us. In gratitude our forgiveness to others reflects this approach.
True forgiveness is the type of forgiveness which God shows. God does not remember those things for which we have sought forgiveness. He does not treat us as if we still live according to our sinful nature. Our forgiveness toward one another needs to be the same. So when we forgive we are actually making a promise with those who have hurt us; a promise to help them.
But that is not easy … is it.
Our sinful nature lures us away from our responsibilities.
We are easily tempted to find excuses for not forgiving.
We have the tendency to break the promises we make when we give forgiveness.
So the next time you need to forgive, but find it difficult, think of this picture.
See a man, who is the Son of God, walking along the road. He has been beaten so severely that his face is distorted – a man of sorrows from whom people are turning away in disgust.
This man, the King of the universe, has a crown of thorns pressed deeply into His skull. And the blood which is pouring from the punctures mixes with His sweat as he struggles under the burden of a heavy cross.
Now picture yourself going to this man – the man upon whom sin … your sin … has been laid. The man who will know first hand what it means to be crushed under the wrath of God. You go to Him and move the hair from His eyes. He looks at you. With all the compassion, mercy and love He has He says to you, “I am doing this so that you may be forgiven”.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us
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Enable me Lord to forgive in the same way that You Lord have forgiven me.
If that is hard look at what the Son of God has done for you.
For there is forgiveness in action.
And, compared to this act, how insignificant and easy your forgiveness to others should become.
Prayer
