Title: “forgiven people forgive” October 3, 2021
Text: Matt 18:21-35
Subject: Why do we forgive?
Complement: because we too are forgiven.
Big idea: Forgiven people forgive.
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Introduction –
September 30, 2021 (Thursday) marks the first “National Day for Truth and Reconciliation” in Canada.
The day honours the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities.
Public commemoration is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
The creation of this federal statutory holiday was through legislative amendments made by Parliament on June 3, 2021. Both the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day take place on September 30.
Orange Shirt Day honours the children who survived residential schools and remembers those who did not.
“Wear orange”
The Mission of the “TRC” is to preserve the record of these human rights abuses, to promote research and enhance education around the legacy of residential schools.
**Our goal is to honour Survivors and to foster reconciliation and healing on the foundation of truth telling.
• Why did such abuse happen?
• Where did the arrogance come from?
It proves once again that there is something fundamentally flawed in humanity.
Bible calls it sin...
As for democracy itself – yes, it's also flawed.
(theologian/pastor) (Detroit)
R Niebuhr once said, "Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary." - Reinhold Niebuhr.
Fallenness/sinful nature means... We can't get away from the need for forgiveness in a fallen world.
***to enjoy healthy, Rewarding relationships will require forgiveness!
...this “discipline of forgiveness” touches everything:
• from our jobs
• to our friendships,
• from our marriages,
• self - to our own conscience.
We know that we do wrong and that we need forgiveness from others.
Unpacking the parable :
Peter comes to Jesus with a question...I assume someone had offended or wronged Peter!
Jewish thought said forgive someone up to 3X’s - after that you could seek revenge.
Peter suggested 7X’s!!!
The question prompts a story from Jesus - a parable…powerful stories which leave us with a High-def message.
Situation: A Man Has A Debt That He Cannot Possibly Pay.
23 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 "The servant fell on his knees before him. `Be patient with me,' he begged, `and I will pay back everything.'
27 The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. (!)
*** notice – Jesus is talking about the nature of the kingdom!
Huge debt – $10,000,000 (or more)
• the Master had Pity/compassion
• He Cancelled the debt.
• Have you ever tried this?
Accountants do this all the time.
• “bad debt” (write it off”)
• The company absorbs the loss...
• Often there is no sense of appreciation at all – just relief(!) (they can afford it...)
there's no indiction in the parable that this servant showed any degree of gratitude.
***You and I are people who owe this great debt to God!
Do we realize this?
We Sinned/we sin... ? found Guilty ? sentenced? Jesus takes our place ? we are set free - freedom ? we have gratitude? and Joy? therefore, we extend forgiveness.
God is our creator & Father – we are made “in his image”
Genesis tells the story of our creation and rebellion
• Our judge
• Our redeemer
• Our great reconciler
• Wants us all back home with him
Complication: The Forgiven One Fails To Show Forgiveness(!)
28 "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. `Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
29 "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, `Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
30 "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
• this is a much more Modest debt – quite payable...
100 denarii - days wages = today 100 days x $100 = $10,000
• It's a shocking contrast – we see no pity here – no compassion.
• He chokes the man...threatens him
• No time – no 30 days notice... no payment plan
• Throw him in jail right now! (debtors prison)
• ...in the ancient world Slaves were sold for minimum of 500 denarii.
*Jesus is holding up a mirror to all of us!!! Not a mirror to look at our hair - but a mirror to look at our heart!
How many times do we act like this? Please don’t think you’re off the hook...We all fail to connect our blessing with how we treat other people.
Resolution? (the accounts are settled) //The auditor arrives!
32 "Then the master called the servant in. `You wicked servant,' he said, `I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
…God desires mercy from us.!!
***this parable doesn’t have a happy ending!!!
It gets very, very serious...
It's not merely an interesting story – it's now a life & death story
**Jesus says *how we respond to wrongs – with forgiveness or unforgiveness - will determine our eternal destiny!
Verse 35
• This doesn’t diminish the grace of God.
• It doesn’t move us over into salvation by works
• It simply states the obvious – a person forgiven by God – who truly gets God’s extravagant grace – we likewise show extravagant grace.
**This is costly grace... because the cross, is costly grace
God choose to be a God of mercy toward us...you and me. Justice alone – without mercy - would send us to our death. In mercy Jesus went to the cross - so we could live.
God is a God of mercy!!!
This is a “core characteristic of the kingdom of God.”
Verse 23 – “The kingdom of heaven is like...”
Jesus is teaching about kingdom values! (we need to live this here & now)
Jesus is teaching about the nature of God - God’s mercy and God’s judgment!
Here Are 3 Problems Affecting All Relationships:
1. Problem no. 1 - We live in a fallen world – where we will get hurt and we will hurt others!
(it just happens)
A wrong occurs ? “a person experiences a violation of their sense of fairness – a person is wronged by omission or commission...This is experienced as a (loss) – self-esteem, possessions, or expectations. ***when this wrong occurs we (naturally) protect ourselves and turn against the other person – sometimes in anger...seeking revenge... or we become passive-aggressive. If left unchecked, a general distrust settles in and relationships become dysfunctional or broken.
Examples Of Hurts/Wrongs:
a. Intentional & pre-meditated evil (murder/slander)
b. Negligence (ex. drunk driving)/stupidity (!)
c. Accidents (I didn’t know the road was so slippery...)
d. Unintentional hurt (I didn’t mean to say that...)
e. Revenge...
2. Problem no. 2 - Revenge smells sweet/feels good;
“I’ll fix your wagon.”
“I’m going to teach you a lesson you won’t forget”!
3. Problem no. 3 - Forgiveness isn't natural!
it's essential to let God's grace take root in our hearts.
Otherwise we'll get stuck in the emotional and spiritual bitterness, hatred, and revenge
**and that will ruin our lives. ( and eternity)**
**...unforgiveness will produce anger...anxiety...bitterness... and Loneliness – and that’s a horrible recipe.
If that’s not enough – read again v 35 (this is how God will treat each of you!)
*** Forgiveness doesn’t “condone” the action.You pay the price of someone else’s wrong. Forgiveness is never free – someone always pays. And forgiveness doesn’t remove the consequences.
In 2015 a 21 year old kid walked into a church and started shooting...
9 African Americans were killed during a Bible study (!) at the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Emmanuel church is one of the oldest black churches in the USA, and a long-standing center for civil rights.
The murdered included...
o senior pastor,
o state senator, Clementa Pinckney
Police arrested Dylann Roof in N. Carolina; 21-year-old white supremacist
...the Families of Charleston shooting victims said to the shooter, Dylann Roof:
“We forgive you.”
“You took something really precious from me. I will never talk to her again,”
the daughter of 70-year-old Ethel Lance, one of nine people killed.
“But I forgive you and have mercy on your soul. You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people. I forgive you.”
Felecia Sanders, mother of the youngest victim, 26-year-old daughter, also spoke.“Every fiber in my body hurts and I will never be the same but I forgive you, and my family forgives you,”
** the foundation that Christians have for forgiving others is the cross.That’s where we received forgiveness.
*What sin against us could be greater than our sin against God?
None.
The Gospel is all about the gift of forgiveness from God to undeserving sinners.
I hope you understand this – and I hope you realize the implications of this for relationships –
“forgiven people forgive”
APPLICATION:
You might be thinking... Forgiveness looks and feels pretty risky. Forgiveness sounds like one of those spiritual things - but doesn't work too well for those of us who live in the real world.
Dr Grant Mullen;
***When you don’t forgive someone - you remain a prisoner to the pain and hurt they caused you.
Forgiveness is giving up your right to hold someone accountable for their sin against you. P. 243 (Mullen).
It doesn’t mean you’re letting them off the hook. It means that you’re setting yourself free from the pain and anger that has connected you to them for so long.
And you’re being obedient to God.
• Forgiveness brings God’s healing into the wounded places of your heart.
• Freedom doesn’t come until you have reached a place of true forgiveness.
• After this, trust can begin to be rebuilt over time.
Forgiveness is a spiritual event that happens between you and God.
Forgiveness is a choice and a discipline we make because of the cross.
**when we look at the cross – we see our own sin & depravity – and it's costliness
Forgiven people forgive.
We also need to forgive ourselves... Mullen, p 244.
**Forgiveness isn’t trust and it isn’t yet reconciliation - but it's the first step...
Notice v 35
35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Forgiven people forgive
Now… *How would you like God to treat you??
James 2:13 says “judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful”…
Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32 says "Forgive each other - just as God in Christ forgave you."
Does this mean we turn a blind eye to everything?
No.
**Forgiveness doesn’t remove all the consequences of a wrong.
Even with God... though he will forgive us - there are often consequences that remain.
***This is the beauty of the gospel - The cross maintains justice and shows mercy!!!
This is what the kingdom of heaven is like… if you are part of God’s kingdom - you will practice its values -and forgiveness is at its core.
“Forgiven people forgive.”
Summary ...
(1) Forgiveness is a decision (will not emotion), enabled by the cross and the grace of God.
(2) forgiveness includes letting go of vengeance –
Forgiveness means giving that up .
God is judge; we're not...we don't try to get even – and that never works.
(3) Wish them well – being able to bless them.
you begin to wish the person well. – likely a process (depends on the amount of hurt)
You see them as a fallen creature who needs grace, just like you.
You hope that their life and their relationship with God goes well.
(4) Often a process not a simple event.
Conclusion ... lets conclude on a lighter note...
Dave lives in Joe Batts Arm(!) and works as an umpire in a summer baseball league. One day he was pulled over by a police officer for going too fast.
Dave (the umpire) tried to reason his way out of a ticket.
The police officer said not a chance ... “you can go to traffic court.”
The next summer Dave was the umpire for the weekly game ... when the policeman came to bat.
The police officer says...
"So, how'd the thing with the ticket go?"
Dave, "You'd better swing at everything."!!! (Ha ha)
