Lesson on Faith from The Lord’s Model Prayer
Releasing Faith
“Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Matthew 6:12
November 2, 2003
Intro:
A. [Forgiving Your Spouse, Citation: Glenn E. Schaeffer, Christian Reader ("Kids of the Kingdom" September/October 1997)]
During a children’s sermon one Sunday morning, I held up an ugly-looking summer shirt that I wore occasionally around the house. I explained to the children that someone said the shirt was ugly and should be thrown away.
"This really hurt me," I explained. "I’m having trouble forgiving the person who said those mean things. Do you think I should forgive that person?" I asked the children. Immediately, my six-year-old daughter, Alicia, raised her hand. "Yes, you should," she said without hesitation. "But why? The person hurt my feelings," I responded.
To which Alicia wisely answered, "Because you’re married to her."
1. Often, forgiveness is a very difficult thing.
2. It is especially difficult in our families.
3. And, evidently, it can be more difficult for us Hoosiers…
B. [Resentful Husband Retreats, Citation: Chicago Herald Examiner (11-17-1930)]
There was a story in a 1930 edition of the Chicago Herald Examiner about a husband and a wife. The headline read: "Man Spites His Wife by Staying Blindfolded in Bed Seven Years." The story said:
The strange story of Harry Havens of Indiana, who went to bed—and stayed there—for seven years with a blindfold over his eyes because he was peeved at his wife, was revealed here today when he decided to get out of bed. Havens was the kind of husband who liked to help around the house—hang pictures, wipe the dishes, and such. His wife scolded him for the way he was performing one of these tasks, and he resented it. He is reported to have said: "All right. If that’s the way you feel, I’m going to bed. I’m going to stay there the rest of my life. And I don’t want to see you or anyone else again." His last remark explains the blindfold. He got up, he explained, when the bed started to feel uncomfortable after seven years.
C. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, He told them to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
1. Jesus taught many times on the subject of forgiveness.
2. On one occasion Peter asked how many times he should forgive someone.
3. It is recorded for us beginning Matthew 18:21…
I. Forgiveness and Grace
Matthew 18:21-27 (NIV), Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he 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 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.
A. Peter came and asked Jesus how often he should forgive a brother who sinned against him.
1. I suppose Peter was simply trying to pick a good number, a godly number.
2. He was being generous.
3. The rabbinical teaching of his day was that they should forgive three times.
4. So Peter was being generous and trying to exceed the rabbinical teaching and asks if he should forgive his brother up to seven times.
B. But Jesus responded in a similar way to what Peter asked the question.
1. The NIV looks like it says 77 times.
2. The KJV says 70 X 7
3. And the NIV footnote says 70 X 7
4. But if you look back at verse 21 in the NIV it actually does say 70 seven times.
5. Whatever the Greek actually means here, it is clear that Jesus is simply trying to answer in a similar way to what Peter asked the question.
6. Jesus was not teaching that there was 77 times or 490 times that we should forgive someone, but that we should continually continue to forgive.
C. Jesus sensed Peter’s inability to comprehend this idea and so He told a story about a king who wanted to settle account with his servants.
1. Jesus said that the king had a certain man who owed him 10,000 talents (or millions of dollars the NIV footnote says) and the king wanted to settle up with the man.
2. Since the man was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children be sold into slavery and everything that he had be sold to repay the debt.
3. The man fell on his knees and begged for more time and insisted that he would pay back what he owed.
4. The king took pity on the man and cancelled (forgave) his debt and let him go.
D. Now of course there is a heavenly meaning to this story because Jesus said in verse 23 that “the kingdom of God” is like this story.
1. So it is clear that the king in the story is God and the man who owed millions of dollars is us.
2. We owe a debt that we cannot repay.
3. We owe far more that we can pay.
4. The wages of sin is death and eternity in hell.
5. And we have all sinned.
6. But the King died in order to cancel (or forgive) the debt.
7. When we came to Christ, we fell on our knees and begged for mercy and he forgave us!
8. Do we truly understand what kind of debt that we have been forgiven?
9. Do we truly understand the millions of dollars that we owe?
10. Do we truly understand the extent of the debt that has been cancelled on our account?
11. Do we truly understand just how much has been forgiven?
12. The man in Jesus’ story did not…
II. Forgiveness and Freedom
Matthew 18:28-35 (NIV), "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. 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. 35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
A. The man in this story did not understand the debt that had been forgiven on his account.
1. The man had been forgiven 10,000 talents (or millions of dollars as the NIV footnote says) and no sooner had he been forgiven his debt that he went out and found another man who owed him a hundred denarii (or a few dollars as the NIV footnote says) and began choking him and demanding his money.
2. Can you imagine being forgiven a million dollar debt and barely escaping slavery for himself and his wife and his children and turning around and choking a guy who owed him a few dollars?
3. This other man actually did the same thing he did: he fell on his knees and begged for more time to pay back what he owed.
4. But the first man refused to give him more time and demanded the full extent of the law and had him thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
B. And don’t forget that Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like this!
1. There is a spiritual side to this.
2. How often does Satan tempt us to respond the same way this man did?
3. In spite of the fact that we have been forgiven a tremendous debt we still turn around and refuse to forgive the small debt that our neighbor owes us.
4. How can we who have been to the foot of the cross and had this tremendous debt that we owed God cancelled, not do the same for the petty little amount that others owe us?
5. And please notice what this unforgiveness does…
a. Notice that unforgiveness keeps the other person in bondage (the second man was still in jail at the end of the story).
b. Verse 34 tells us that unforgiveness causes spiritual and physical suffering.
c. And verse 34 also tells us that unforgiveness makes our master angry—who wants God angry with us?
C. So, do you see that forgiveness brings freedom?
1. Do you see that accepting and giving forgiveness brings freedom?
2. Accepting forgiveness from Christ brings freedom from the debt that we owe!
a. Accepting forgiveness from Christ brings freedom that takes the world off our shoulders.
b. Accepting forgiveness from Christ allows us to stand up strong without the burden of the debt of guilt on our shoulders!
3. Extending forgiveness grants freedom to others!
a. Extending forgiveness grants freedom from guilt to others!
b. Extending forgiveness grants freedom from petty debts to others!
c. Extending forgiveness grants us freedom from suffering as well!
d. Extending forgiveness is a win, win situation!
e. Extending forgiveness grants freedom to everyone where as unforgiveness brings bondage and suffering to everyone.
D. [Martin Luther King, Jr., on Lincoln, Citation: Martin Luther King, Jr., A Knock at Midnight, edited by Clayborne Carson and Peter Holloran (Warner Books, 1998) p.154]
In his sermon "Loving Your Enemies," Martin Luther King, Jr., said:
When Abraham Lincoln was running for president of the United States, there was a man who ran all around the country talking about Lincoln. He said a lot of unkind things. And sometimes he would get to the point that he would even talk about his looks, saying, "You don’t want a tall, lanky, ignorant man like this as the president of the United States." …
Finally, one day Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States.… Then came the time for him to choose a secretary of war. He looked across the nation, and decided to choose a man by the name of Mr. Stanton. And when Abraham Lincoln stood around his advisors and mentioned this fact, they said to him: "Mr. Lincoln, are you a fool? Do you know what Mr. Stanton has been saying about you? Do you know what he as done, tried to do to you? Do you know that he has tried to defeat you on every hand? Do you know that, Mr. Lincoln? Did you read all of those derogatory statements that he made about you?"
Abraham Lincoln stood before the advisors around him and said: "Oh yeah. I know about it; I read about it; I’ve heard him myself. But after looking over the country, I find that he is the best man for the job."
Mr. Stanton did become secretary of war; and…later, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And if you go to Washington, you will discover that one of the greatest words or statements ever made about Abraham Lincoln was by this man Stanton. As Abraham Lincoln came to the end of his life, Stanton stood up and said: "Now he belongs to the ages." And he made a beautiful statement concerning the character and the stature of this man.
If Abraham Lincoln had hated Stanton, if Abraham Lincoln had answered everything Stanton said, Abraham Lincoln would not have transformed and redeemed Stanton. Stanton would have gone to his grave hating Lincoln, and Lincoln would have gone to his grave hating Stanton. But through the power of love Abraham Lincoln was able to redeem Stanton.
E. Extending forgiveness brings freedom!
III. Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Matthew 18:15-22 (NIV), "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ’every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18 "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
A. Now we MUST see how Jesus tied this all together.
1. When Jesus told this story it was in response to Peter’s question about how many times we should forgive.
2. And when Peter asked the question about how many times to forgive a brother, it was in response to Jesus giving this teaching on reconciliation.
B. Now let us examine Jesus’ teaching on reconciliation in light of Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness…
1. First Jesus said if your brother sins against you, you should go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.
a. First we see that it is the offended party that should go to the other and not the one who was in the wrong.
b. We don’t wait for them to be convicted and come to us and ask for forgiveness, we go to them.
c. And notice that we got to them and not to anyone else.
d. Going to someone else is called gossip.
e. We go straight to the party that has offended us.
2. Second we notice that Jesus said that if he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
a. You see the intent here is not to put the so-and-so in his place; the intent is to get your brother right with God.
b. We go with an attitude of love seeking forgiveness, freedom, and reconciliation.
c. We go with the intent of releasing everyone from bondage and suffering.
d. [Jack Hayford, “Living the Spirit Formed Life,” Regal Publishing, Ventura CA, 2001. pp 220-221]
When we go to another for reconciliation, we must be certain we are not doing so in an attempt to justify ourselves. If someone has a difference of opinion or other problem with us, regardless of whose fault it is, God will not allow us to make any charge against that person. Christ desires that we be willing to go the extra mile and assume the role of reconciler—just as He did for us in reconciling us to the Father.
Understand that people often perceive a situation as the opposite of how it really is; this will help you to act as Christ commands. For example, if you have been offended, you may be completely unaware of the viewpoint of the person who has hurt you. To the other person, it will often seem as though he or she was the one violated and that you are at fault.
The effects of sin and Satan’s discord in our lives makes us all terribly vulnerable to natural misunderstandings, and we need to learn this point of human understanding. We must acknowledge it in order to open up the reconciling process. Then, when we become willing to go to others (recognizing that their attitudes toward us are likely based on something they perceive as being our fault), when we accept the burden of the misunderstanding (as Jesus did to bring peace between God and man), a real release will be realized.
3. In Jesus’ teaching, only if the person does not listen, do you take another person along on a subsequent visit.
4. Only if the person doesn’t listen to the second group do you take it to the church.
5. But Jesus is saying that it is our responsibility to go to our offending brother and clear things up in a spirit of love, forgiveness, freedom, and reconciliation.
6. Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV), "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
7. Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV), For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
8. Matthew 18:35 (NIV), "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
9. Mark 11:25 (NIV), And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
10.And Paul said in Colossians 3:13 (NIV), Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
11.[Jack Hayford, “Living the Spirit Formed Life,” Regal Publishing, Ventura CA, 2001. pp 221-222]
Let’s learn to accept the responsibility for whatever dispute has breached our relationships with others. Restored relationships are possible when in Christlike manner, we live out the meaning of this lesson: Forgive me as I forgive others.
Naturally, there may be times when the most loving, scriptural stand we can take is to confront others with their wrongdoing. Jesus did so, and the Holy Spirit will show us when we are to do so. But the spirit of forgiveness never does this in a self-defensive way; rather, it operates in a spirit of reconciliation.
This Kingdom order of forgiveness will not always be easy.
By nature we all prefer to be in the driver’s seat, so to speak, and the ministry of reconciliation always puts us at the mercy of the other person’s responses instead. But this is exactly where Jesus put Himself when He laid down His life to make forgiveness available to us. Though God hasn’t called us to be someone’s doormat, we are called to learn Christ’s pathway to dominion. To do so is to see that this Kingdom path to power is in the spirit of the Lamb, never in one of self-defense.
There is no greater step upward in faith than the one we take when we learn to forgive—and do it. Forgiveness blesses people who need our love and acceptance, and it releases us to bright horizons of joy, health, and dynamic faith in prayer.
Conclusion:
A. [Holocaust Victim Forgives Captor, Citation: Corrie Ten Boom, Tramp for the Lord (Berkley, 1978), pp. 53-55]
Corrie Ten Boom and her family secretly housed Jews in their home during WW II. Their "illegal" activity was discovered, and Corrie and her sister Bessie were sent to the German death camp, Ravensbruck. There Corrie would watch many, including her sister, die.
After the war she returned to Germany to declare the grace of Christ.
It was 1947, and I’d come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. It was the truth that they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I liked to think that that’s where forgiven sins were thrown.
"When we confess our sins," I said, "God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever. And even though I cannot find a Scripture for it, I believe God then places a sign out there that says, ’NO FISHING ALLOWED.’"
The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a cap with skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush—the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were! That place was Ravensbruck, and the man who was making his way forward had been a guard—one of the most cruel guards.
Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: "A fine message, Fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!" And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course—how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women? But I remembered him. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.
"You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he was saying. "I was a guard there." No, he did not remember me. "But since that time," he went on, "I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein,"—again the hand came out—"will you forgive me?"
And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven—and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place. Could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? It could have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.
For I had to do it—I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. "If you do not forgive men their trespasses," Jesus says, "neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart.
But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling." And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust out my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.
"I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!" For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did then. But even then, I realized it was not my love. I had tried, and did not have the power. It was the power of the Holy Spirit.
B. Forgive our debts as we also as we also have forgiven our debtors.
C. Do you see the releasing power of forgiveness?
1. Do you see that holding onto grudges actually harms us physically as well as spiritually?
2. Do you see that holding onto grudges is bondage?
3. Do you see the freedom in forgiveness?
4. Do you see the releasing power of forgiveness?
5. Father, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
D. How do we get the power to forgive? At the foot of the cross!
1. We must stay at the foot of the cross so that we never forget the greatness of the debt we owe!
2. We must stay at the foot of the cross so that we can experience the releasing power of forgiveness.
