Jesus lived a life that is more people-centered than task-oriented. He did finished his task, but He was known more for His compassion, mercy and grace.
This month, we’re going to look at His teachings about forgiveness - a message which very necessary today - at the personal level, in the family, as well as national level.
READ Matt 18:21-35
Has forgiveness becomes something we claim but fail to proclaim in our living?
If we are honest, there are times when we find ourselves behaving like that unforgiving servant. We are pleased with the idea of a forgiving God - we being the recipients - but when it requires us to change our lives, and be the forgiving ones, it is not that easy.
( 1 ) FORGIVE BECAUSE YOU’RE FORGIVEN
The thing that stands out from the words of Jesus and His story is this - forgiveness is EXPECTED from us. Nothing was mentioned about the debt - how did it happened, or why... What was stressed was that we are to forgive BECAUSE WE ARE FORGIVEN!
This EXPECTATION was there because of something that happened before - someone has forgiven us. This first experience we had is important, because my forgiving others flows from there.
This parable is a picture of us. Jesus is here holding up a mirror for us to see ourselves - we are the ’servant’ who has been forgiven - forgiven much - a staggering amount (about $10million) of money - and God is that great King who has forgiven us.
At first the king ordered that justice be carried out and that the man, his wife and children, and all that he had be sold, as was possible in those days. Even then it would be far, far short of the amount of this debt.
In desperation the man makes an impossible promise. He falls on his knees and says to the king, "Have patience, sir, and I will pay you everything." Now he could never do that. If he worked all his lifetime, and his family also, he would never be able to pay $10million.
But in desperation he cries out, and the king’s heart is moved by the man’s impossible situation, and, out of pity toward him, he forgives him - at staggering cost to himself. Allowing it to go unpaid, he is impoverishing his treasury - it means, actually that this king assumed the debt himself. It is not a small matter.
We are this ’servant’ - we owe God a staggering amount we couldn’t pay. Yet one day we heard from the King, "Forgiven, in Christ’s Name!" The debt was wiped away. In one moment it was gone. We were freed from the burden. Completely freed!
AND WHEN THIS MAN WENT OUT, he met a man who owed him $20 - who said exactly the same words the first man had said just a few moments before, "Have patience with me and I’ll pay you everything," - but he was thrown into prison.
And that’s who we are, when we refuse to forgive another. No matter how bad it may appear to us, no matter how hurt we are by what someone has done to us, in comparison to what God has forgiven us, it is like comparing $20 to $10 million of debt.
What Jesus is saying here is this: Our experience of forgiveness should change us into forgiving people. As the king said to this servant, "You wicked servant! Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?"
This expectation is there because it is reasonable; it is possible. Because this vast and staggering debt against us has been wiped out by the grace of God, we have the capability of forgiving also.
When the Scriptures tell us to forgive others, it is given always in the context of our receiving from God His forgiveness. There is a direct connection between forgiving others and being forgiven. Therefore, in the Lord’s Prayer we pray, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
The EXPECTATION was there because this servant was FIRST forgiven. God’s forgiveness for us ENABLES us to forgive. If you can’t forgive, then the reason is you’ve yet to FULLY COMPREHEND & EXPERIENCE the forgiveness of God.
We may not be able to expect that from someone who is not a Christian.
The same reason why we are told to love our enemies - we love because He first loves us! We must first receive from God His forgiveness, His grace, and then we’ll find the ability to forgive others and love them. The resource comes from Him.
Now to what extent?
( 2 ) FORGIVE WITHOUT LIMITS (JUST AS WE NEED HIS FORGIVENESS)
And these two scenarios occurs simultaneously in our lives today...
(1) the servant receiving forgiveness, and (2) the servant giving forgiveness.
Forgiveness from the King - we aren’t perfect - we did not stop sinning the moment we came to know Christ. 1 John 1:8 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (In fact, by claiming that you did not sin, you’re sinning!)
And so not a day goes by that we do not stand in desperate need of the forgiving grace of the King. Each time we come to Him, again and again, He cancels our debt. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Since we are perpetually in need of His forgiveness, then our attitude should be this:
"I’m always prepared to forgive!"
Matt 18:21 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?"
Peter came asking the question, and then suggested probably with pride - 7 times? This is being very kind, because according to Jewish tradition, one is expected to forgive 3 times. Why?
Based upon a misunderstanding of a text in the prophet Amos, in which Amos repeatedly uses the formula - Amos 1:3 This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath]. Verse 6 – Gaza, verse 9 – Tyre, verse 11 – Edom and so on. God brings judgment upon such-and-such a city. Thus they taught that God himself never forgave more than three times.
Peter has gone the extra mile when he says ’up to 7 times’. But Jesus surprised him.
Matt 18:22 "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."
"Don’t assume that you can count how many times you offer forgiveness and then be done with it!" We are expected to forgive, again and again - it’s a commitment that is to be sustained every day of our lives. It is not a single action, feeling or thought. Forgiveness is a way of life!
Peter asks how generous he should be, and talks about ’limits’. He’s thinking about quantity, while Jesus was talking about quality - offer limitless forgiveness. WHY? Because this is what God is like. This is what we need from God too!
How many times do you need God forgive you? Do the same with others.
We are to be forgiving of others in the same way that we would want God to be forgiving to us when we sin.
It’s great to know that each time I come to Him, God will forgive me. It feels as if some great burden has been lifted from my shoulder and I feel whole again. It’s scary to find out that God only forgives me 77 times, and it ends there!
God will forgive us when we sin even if we commit the same sin every time. Just as God does not place limits on the forgiveness He extends to us, we cannot expect to place limits on each other.
Jesus says, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." (Luke 6:36)
Matt 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."
( 3 ) FORGIVE AND BE BLESSED
Matt 18:35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
This is but a further amplification of what our Lord is saying in the Sermon on the Mount. Matt 6:14-15 "14 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."
Often misunderstood - as if God will bless you on the basis of works - "Unless you forgive others, I won’t forgive you." - a distorted understanding of the passage.
The Sermon on the Mount is addressed to believers - having experienced God’s forgiveness, they have the ability and capacity to forgive. But if they choose to go back to the ground of justice, then God will let you experience precisely that - you’re not going to feel freed from your guilt. You’ll not taste the joy of forgiveness from God! What you have will be resentment, bitterness, hatred, and envy. There is no peace. Isn’t this very true in our experience?
Forgiveness is not just a release of the offender, it is also a release for the offended!
Testimony of a pastor: "This man had done an injustice to me, a very evil thing as I saw it. It hurt me greatly. But the trouble was, he was living about three thousand miles from me. If he had lived next door where I could have done something about it - thrown my garbage over his fence, or something like that - it would have helped. But he was three thousand miles away and did not even know how I felt about him. The bitterness I had did not bother him in the least - but, oh, how it bothered me. It ate at me constantly. I could not forget it. It was always recurring. At every mention of his name I could feel the acid eating in my own heart until, fortunately, reading the Scriptures I ran across certain verses that deal with this matter, and I realized that the problem was not with him but with me. In grace I was enabled to put it away and forgive him, to write to him and tell him so, and forget it. Immediately there was peace brought again to my own heart. Jesus says that if you do not do this, this torture will go on for as many years as you refuse to forgive. It will never stop."
When you forgive, you’re releasing everything that weighs you down and will find the joy and freedom in Christ.
Conclusion:
If there is a grudge, look at this ’mirror’ that Jesus has given us - this parable. You’ll see yourself in it. Few things have happened:
1. You’ve forgotten that you owed a greater debt and someone has forgiven you
2. You’ve forgotten that you have the ability and capacity to forgive others because you’re experienced God’s grace
3. You’ve forgotten that you’re in desperate need of God’s forgiveness everyday. There is no limit to forgiving others, because we need that from God ourselves.
4. You’re locking yourself up in resentment and bitterness.
It is difficult both to be forgiven (for some) and forgiving others. It takes time and involves struggle.
Sister Helen Prejean, in her book Dead Man Walking, tells the story of Lloyd LeBlanc, a Roman Catholic layman, whose son was murdered. When he arrived in the field with the sheriff’s deputies to identify his son, LeBlanc immediately knelt by his boy’s body and prayed the Lord’s Prayer. When he came to the words: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us," he realized the depth of the commitment he was making. "Whoever did this, I must forgive them," he later told Prejean. Though it has been difficult not to be overcome by bitterness and feelings of revenge that well up from time to time, LeBlanc said that each day, for the rest of his life, forgiveness must be prayed for and struggled for and won.
But the Lord will help us! When you truly experience His forgiveness, you’ll be able to forgive. Jesus has never called us to do anything that cannot be done.
