FREE TO SET OTHERS FREE Matt 18:21-35
In our look through the Bible the one that we find is most like other humans is Peter. On many occasions, his desire to be spiritually tough and dependable surpassed his depth of his commitment. He often is shown as one who is weak spiritually than the other disciples. How would you like to be known as the one in this church who is weak spiritually? In our scripture today, we see Peter asking a question about forgiveness. One of the laws he had grown up with is that you need to forgive a person at least three times for an offence. Peter thought as he asked this question that if he went to seven he would be doing better than others of his time. Do you ever think you go beyond what is required and are a little better than those around you? As Peter waited for Jesus’ answer he might have been thinking, “He will probably pat me on the back and say you have really done good in this thought.” He was surprised at the answer he was to receive. We want to look at three elements of forgiveness today.
1. FORGIVENESS IS revealing. “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked him, "Lord, how often do I have to forgive a believer who wrongs me? Seven times?" Jesus answered him, "I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy times seven.”
A. Forgiveness is not easy. If we are to forgive, it means we must be willing to wipe clean the wrong doing a person who has done to us and set them free. It means to go beyond the problem and to love that person as though they had done nothing wrong. We must remember that is God’s forgiveness to us is. “One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick. Suddenly, my daughter spoke up from her relaxed position in her seat. "Dad, I’m thinking of something." This announcement usually meant she had been pondering some fact for a while, and was now ready to expound all that her six-year-old mind had discovered. I was eager to hear. "What are you thinking?" I asked. "The rain," she began, "is like sin, and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away." After the chill bumps raced up my arms, I was able to respond. "That’s really good, Aspen." Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little girl take this revelation? So I asked... "Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?" Aspen didn’t hesitate one moment with her answer: "We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us." I will always remember this whenever I turn my wipers on. In order to see the rainbow, you must first endure the rain!” God is pure and holy way beyond what our minds can even imagine and yet He offers us forgiveness freely. What keeps you from forgiving?
B. God’s grace is shown in this story as Jesus states “the kingdom of heaven is like...” Jesus gave a staggering debt this man owed. In our money today, it might be equal to 12 million dollars. Jesus was making a point that our debt to God is totally, completely and beyond the reach of ever being repaid. This man realized that the king’s demand would mean he would loose everything including his family. He fell down before the king and asked for patience so he would have time to pay what he owed. We see the forgiveness of God in that this king not only had patience but cancelled the debt completely with no strings attached.
C. WE SEE THAT THIS FORGIVENESS WAS NOT BASED ON THE MAN HUMBLING HIMSELF AND NOT ON HIS ABILITY TO PAY THE DEBT.
What a great act of goodness this king freed this man of his debt by paying for it himself. It was no longer in the books and the man was completely free of ever having to pay it back. He was free to live with not having to think about this debt ever again. Jesus is telling Peter and us that when we stand before God there is no way we can pay for our debt of sin. Here is shown God’s limitless grace and our total unhappiness with out it.
Why do we have a problem with forgiveness when God makes it so clear? Forgiveness reveals where we are in Christ.
2. FORGIVENESS IS challenging. 25-30 “Because he could not pay off the debt, the master ordered him, his wife, his children, and all that he had to be sold to pay off the account. Then the servant fell at his master’s feet and said, ’Be patient with me, and I will repay everything.” "The master felt sorry for his servant, freed him, and canceled his debt. But when that servant went away, he found a servant who owed him hundreds of dollars. He grabbed the servant he found and began to choke him. ’Pay what you owe!’ he said. "Then that other servant fell at his feet and begged him, ’Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ But he refused. Instead, he turned away and had that servant put into prison until he would repay what he owed.
A. we see here the human nature of man in contrast to the nature of god. This man left the king’s presence to out in the streets a free man never to have think again about the debt he owed. Now he was out with his own kind. Why is it so easy for him to forget the grace and mercy he was shown? He met a man who owed him some $20. You who know your math have figured out that it was five hundred times less than what he owed the king. He demanded that he be paid immediately. This poor man also begged for mercy that he would be given time to repay the debt. The forgiven man showed no mercy and had the man thrown in jail until the debt could be paid.
B. what does god’s forgiveness demand of us? He wants us to show the same love and mercy He gives to us. It would be certain justice that these two men pay their debts. The mercy of God looks at the debtor and not the debt. Mercy takes out justice in God’s plan for humankind. How we treat, others should be as God treats us. How is God treating you right now? Is there anyone who needs you to forgive them? Have you been forgiven by God so you can forgive others? Is there someone who has come to your mind that you have not forgiven? Will you stand here before God and in faith forgive that person and set them free? Will you go to them as soon as possible and set them free? That is why I say forgiveness is challenging.
The Pearl
David Morse an American missionary to India became great friends there with the pearl diver, Rambhau. Many an evening he spent in Rambhau’s cabin reading to him from the Bible, and explaining to him God’s way of salvation. Rambhau enjoyed listening to the Word of God, but whenever the missionary tried to get Rambhau to accept Christ as his Savior, he would shake his head and reply, "Your Christian way to heaven is too easy for me! I cannot accept it. If ever I should find admittance to heaven in that manner, I would feel like a pauper there like a beggar who has been let in out of pity. I may be proud, but I want to deserve, I want to earn my place in heaven and so I am going to work for it." Nothing the missionary could say seemed to have any effect on Rambhau’s decision, and so quite a few years slipped by. One evening, however, the missionary heard a knock on his door, and on going to open it, he found Rambhau there. "Come in, dear friend," said Morse. "No," said the pearl diver. "I want you to come with me to my house, Sahib, for a short time I have something to show you. Please do not say ’No’." "Of course I’ll come," replied the missionary. As they neared his house, Rambhau said: "In a week’s time I start working for my place in heaven; I am leaving for Delhi and I am going there on my knees." "Man, you are crazy! Its nine hundred miles to Delhi, and the skin will break on your knees, and you will have blood-poisoning or leprosy before you get to Bombay." "No, I must get to Delhi," affirmed Rambhau, "and the immortals will reward me for it! The suffering will be sweet for it will purchase heaven for me!" "Rambhau, my friend you can’t. How can I bear you to do it when Jesus Christ has suffered and died to purchase heaven for you?" But the old man could not be moved. "You are my dearest friend on earth, Sahib Morse. Through all these years, you have stood by me in sickness, in want you have been sometimes my only friend. But even you cannot turn me from my desire to purchase eternal bliss I must go to Delhi!" Inside the hut, Morse was seated in the very chair Rambhau had specially built for him where on so many occasions he had read to him the Bible. Rambhau left the room to return soon with a small but heavy English strongbox. "I have had this box for years," said he, "and I keep only one thing in it. Now I will tell you about it, Sahib Morse. I once had a son." "A son! Why, Rambhau, you have never before said a word about him!" "No, Sahib, I couldn’t." Even as he spoke, the diver’s eyes were moistened. "Now I must tell you, for soon I will leave, and who knows whether I shall ever return? My son was a diver too. He was the best pearl diver on the coasts of India. He had the swiftest dive, the keenest eye, the strongest arm, the longest breath of any man who ever sought for pearls. What joy he brought to me! Most pearls, as you know, have some defect or blemish only the expert can discern, but my boy always dreamed of finding the ’perfect’ pearl one beyond all that was ever found. One day he found it! But even when he saw it, he had been under water too long. That pearl cost him his life, for he died soon after." The old pearl diver bowed his head. For a moment, his whole body shook, but there was no sound. "All these years," he continued, "I have kept this pearl but now I am going, not to return, and to you, my best friend I am giving my pearl." The old man worked the combination on the strongbox and drew from it a carefully wrapped package. Gently opening the cotton, he picked up a mammoth pearl and placed it in the hand of the missionary. It was one of the largest pearls ever found off the coast of India, and glowed with a luster and brilliance never seen in cultured pearls. It would have brought a fabulous sum in any market. For a moment, the missionary was speechless and gazed with awe. "Rambhau! What a pearl!" "That pearl, Sahib, is perfect," replied the Indian quietly. The missionary looked up quickly with a new thought: Was not this the very opportunity and occasion he had prayed for to make Rambhau understand the value of Christ’s sacrifice? So he said, designedly, "Rambhau, this is a wonderful pearl, an amazing pearl. Let me buy it. I would give you ten thousand dollars for it." "Sahib! What do you mean?" "Well, I will give you fifteen thousand dollars for it, or if it takes more I will work for it." "Sahib," said Rambhau, stiffening his whole body, "this pearl is beyond price. No man in the entire world has money enough to pay what this pearl is worth to me. On the market, a million dollars could not buy it. I will not sell it to you. You may only have it as a gift." "No, Rambhau, I cannot accept that. As much as I want the pearl, I cannot accept it that way. Perhaps I am proud, but that is too easy. I must pay for it, or work for it." The old pearl diver was stunned. "You don’t understand at all, Sahib. Don’t you see? My only son gave his life to get this pearl, and I wouldn’t sell it for any money. Its worth is in the life-blood of my son. I cannot sell this but I can give it to you. Just accept it in token of the love I bear you." The missionary was choked, and for a moment could not speak. Then he gripped the hand of the old man. "Rambhau," he said in a low voice, "don’t you see? My words are just what you have been saying to God all the time." The diver looked long and searchingly at the missionary, and slowly, slowly he began to understand. "God is offering you salvation as a free gift," said the missionary. "It is so great and priceless that no man on earth can buy it. Millions of dollars are too little. No man on earth could earn it. His life would be millions of years too short. No man is good enough to deserve it. It cost God the life-blood of His only Son to make the entrance for you into heaven. In a million years, in a hundred pilgrimages, you could not earn that entrance. All you can do is to accept it, as a token of God’s love for you a sinner. "Rambhau, of course I will accept the pearl in deep humility, praying God that I may be worthy of your love. Rambhau, won’t you accept God’s great gift of heaven, too, in deep humility, knowing it cost Him the death of His Son to offer it to you?" Great tears were now rolling down the cheeks of the old man. The veil was beginning to lift. "Sahib, I see it now. I have believed in the doctrine of Jesus for the last two years, but I could not believe that His salvation was free. Now I understand. Some things are too priceless to be bought or earned. Sahib, I will accept His salvation!"
3. fORGIVENESS sets us free, yes free indeed.
A. as we forgive, it sets free the one who is forgiven and is what god does for us through Jesus Christ. All of us have offended God with our sin. We are all guilty and have broken the law He wants us to live by. The Bible is very clear in telling us that god is angry with the wicked every day. It is through Christ alone that God’s wrath and anger can be dealt with. There is no other name given among men where by we can be saved.
B. What happens when we fail to forgive someone who wrongs us? We put that one under a dark cloud of slavery to us. It keeps us from enjoying the peace of God. If we are in Christ, we are to be like Christ who even said, “Forgive them for they know what they are doing.” If we fail to forgive, we cannot be pleasing to God and become an ugly person in spirit and attitude. We will fail being what Christ desires for us to be. I cannot judge to say it will keep you out of heaven but I can say you will be making is almost impossible for the person who lives unforgiven by you to be able to accept the forgiveness of God. Would you want to live forever in heaven with a person who holds a grudge against you?
C. how great it is when we forgive someone and set them free. We have a new relationship with a person that we have been separated from before. In the church, we are surrounded by people who really know how to love. When forgiven people meet, it is the best fellowship that can be enjoyed this side of heaven.
This whole message is about forgiveness. That forgiveness was first given to us by God to set us free from our sin and become a part of the family of God. When we are set free, it is our privilege to forgive others and set them free. Are you free and are you setting others free?
