Transcript

Forgiven People Forgive

Matthew 18:21-35
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Pastor Randy Smith

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The boy who goes silent once dad walks into the room. The young lady who feels the compulsion to leave her church. The husband who doesn't enjoy being home. The woman who says I hope I never see her again. The irritability, the anger, the resentment, the bitterness, the vengeance, the hurt, the heavy burden, the grudge, the guilt. All the personal pain causing friendships lost, struggles with authority, distance in existing relationships. These situations are all too common. Often they are the result of a soul that has been wounded by another.

We live in a sinful world. Even our dearest loved ones will hurt us at times. We have all been there before. We personally have experienced the pain: the broken promise of a spouse, the child who refuses to give respect, the teacher that embarrassed you publicly, the handshake that was not honored by a business partner, the deceptive salesman, the cutting remark from a neighbor or the trusted friend who spoke behind your back. I suppose there are many ways to deal with the sting inflicted by another, but most of them result in the dark attitudes and actions that I just mentioned. Possibly that describes some of you this morning. Is the pain inflicted from another on your mind?

Today I would like to share with you God's remedy for dealing with past hurts. It has been the called the trait that most imitates God. It is a term that all of you have heard before. It promises freedom. This morning we will talk about forgiveness.

We will start off with the situation then move to the illustration provided by our Lord. That will be followed by an explanation of the illustration. And just before we partake of the Lord's Table we will conclude with the application.

1. THE SITUATION

First the situation.

Jesus had just finished outlining the principles for church discipline. God wants a holy church. God wants a loving body that cares for people when they sin and put themselves in a position of danger. So God has established three steps in verses 15-17 when witnessing an unrepentant and public sin of another brother or sister in Christ. The goal is not punishment but restoration; forgiveness and reconciliation.

But what about personal issues? What about situations when you alone are the one that was offended regardless of whether or not the one who inflicted the hurt is a Christian? The goal is the same, forgiveness and reconciliation.

The rabbis in Jesus' time also applied a three-step procedure for offenses of a personal nature. They taught that if someone sins against you personally, you are to forgive them the first time. If they sin again, you forgive them a second and even a third time. But by the time they sin against you four times you have freedom to take matters into your own hands. This would have been the school of thought in which the disciples from their youth were educated.

So in verse 21 we read that Peter approached Jesus and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Peter in thinking that he was being more than merciful took the rabbinic number, doubled it, and added one for good measure. While probably patting himself on the back, Peter suggested that seven times was the limit to forgive someone. Our Lord's response no doubt caught him by surprise.

Verse 22, "Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven'" (cf. Lk. 17:4). Don't think that Jesus is providing a number. It is not that you keep track of another's offenses until they reach 490 and then decide to write them off! The point is, 1 Corinthians 13:5, love keeps no record of wrongs. The point is forgiveness is to be uncalculated and unlimited.

What? But you don't know how he hurt me! You don't understand how many times I have already forgiven her! He has never asked for my forgiveness! She will walk all over me if I do that! I did nothing wrong, there is no way I'll… STOP!

2. THE ILLUSTRATION

Our Lord expected this response so He provides an illustration, our second point. See if you can pick up on the spiritual application. The story goes like this…

Verse 23, "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves." A king in antiquity would have servants under him. Often he would give them money to accomplish a specific task for his kingdom. On a day of reckoning, these individuals were called in and expected to give an account of the king's funds (cf. Mt. 25:14-30).

Verse 24, "When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him." Most commentators assume this was most likely a tax collector for few would have access to this vast sum of money. And the sum of money was indeed significant - 10,000 talents according to the text. To put it in comparison, 3,000 talents was the gold donated by David to build the Temple (1 Chron. 29:4). According to historical recorded in Josephus, the highest amount of talents recorded was 8,000. In today's money this figure is estimated in the billions. We are talking an astronomical amount. We are talking an amount that would have been impossible to repay.

Verse 25, "But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made." This action was probably intended more out of punishment because whatever the king gained on the open market would have been a fraction of the amount this man squandered. Nevertheless, the king sought to recoup as many of his losses as possible.

Verse 26, "So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.'" Words of desperation. "I'll do whatever it takes" - although some have estimated it would have taken 150,000 years to repay the debt. Justice was of no use to him. On his knees with his face at the king's feet, the servant cried out for mercy.

Verse 27, "And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt." Amazing! What compassion! This man when he was on the brink of losing it all was released of it all. Punishment averted. Family restored. No need to repay. Completely pardoned. A new lease on life and a new understanding about forgiveness, right?

Verse 28, "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.'" You get the impression that after hugging his wife and kids and counting the remaining pennies in his piggy bank that he suddenly remembered a fellow servant who owed him some money. The amount was significantly different. It was not ten thousand talents, but rather one hundred denarii. It is estimated that six thousand denarii make a talent. A denarii was roughly the average pay for a day's labor.

Despite after just being forgiven for so much, the text says he "seized him" and began to "choke him" and demanded every cent to be paid back.

Verse 29, "So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.'" That should have sounded familiar! That should have jarred his memory to recall his own pardon!

Verse 30, "But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed." The forgiven one who was released of so much found no mercy in his heart to release the one who owed him so little.

The bystanders knew a great injustice was committed. Verse 31, "So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened."

The king was outraged. His response is recorded beginning in 32. "Then summoning him, his lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?' And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him."

3. THE EXPLANATION

So what is the spiritual lesson of this story? Let's go the "the explanation," our third point.

Jesus says in verse 23 that this story can be compared to the "kingdom of heaven." It is a parable, an earthy story told to convey a spiritual lesson. So for starters I think we need to identify the characters from a spiritual perspective. Who is the king? (God). Who is the first servant who could not repay his debt? (You and I). And who is the second servant? (You and I too, when we do not forgive).

Every person has incurred a debt against God because every time we sin, we sin against God. Sin is breaking God's moral law (1 Jn. 3:4). God's justice demands we pay for our violation. You see, the pleasure of sin is deceptive because sin comes with a cost. It has, as the Bible says, "wages" (Rom. 6:23).

And as the first servant accrued an unpayable debt, we too have an unpayable debt before the King of kings because of our sin. Regardless of what we beg to do, we are unable to erase the debt of our sin on our own. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). We deserve hell.

Therefore God in His love and mercy has chosen to erase the debt for us. He sent His innocent Son to the cross to receive the payment that was due us. Jesus bore our sins and the subsequent penalty. Justice was accomplished. Those who believe in Jesus Christ can have forgiveness.

It is no different than that first servant. He owed the king ten thousand talents. Ten thousand is the highest Greek number that can be expressed in a word. Murion where we get "myriads." Beyond calculation. We too owe God a debt that we are unable to repay. We beg for God's mercy. Through our faith forgiveness is granted in Christ. As it says in verse 27, a full release. Complete pardon. This is the Gospel of grace. The free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:23).

So back to our illustration and the main point of this lesson. What does it communicate when I have accepted such an enormous pardon from God and refuse to release another of a small obligation to me? In other words, I sin against a holy God on a daily basis asking forgiveness often for repeated sins and yet I cannot forgive a fellow sinner who happens to sin against me? Again, what does that communicate?

First it communicates complete disregard for God. It is a slap in His face when He offers so much and we refuse to allow it to affect the way we treat others. It is saying, "God I have no desire to be like you." It is also assuming the sins from others against me are more serious than my sins against God. God calls such an attitude in verse 32, "wicked."

Second it communicates ingratitude. "Thanks for spilling Your Son's blood so I can be released from an eternal hell for the sins I often approach in a flippant manner, but don't expect me to be that merciful to another. Don't expect my forgiveness to come at a cost of me needing to forgive others."

Third it communicates that we really do not understand God's forgiveness. The puritan Thomas Watson said, "We need not climb up into heaven to see whether our sins are forgiven: let us look into our hearts, and see if we can forgive others. If we can, we need not doubt but God as forgiven us." For if the forgiveness of God truly gripped our hearts we would delight in extending it to others. Therefore one of the clearest evidences of our forgiveness from God is our desire to forgive others. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions" (cf. Mk. 11:26). We do not earn forgiveness. But as the title of this sermon says, "Forgiven People Forgive." Don't we all know the "Lord's Prayer?" "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Mt. 6:12). As the Beatitude states, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" (Mt. 5:7).

I remember once hearing about the lady that heard the Gospel and refused to receive Jesus. When asked why she said, "Because if I receive His forgiveness I will have to forgive my sister." That's right!

And what if I refuse to forgive? I think it is summed up in that little phrase hidden away in verse 34, "handed him over to the torturers."

Naturally we think of hell. If a forgiving spirit marks the children of God, an unforgiving spirit will mark the children of the devil. When we sin, when we, verse 33, refuse to extend mercy as God extends mercy, verse 34, "[God is] moved with anger." Unforgiveness that we express toward others when they sin against us now becomes our sin against God. James 2:13, "For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy."

But I believe there is another meaning for "torturers" that is less noticeable and often overlooked. Lou Priolo in his book The Complete Husband said, "I personally believe these torturers are the mental, emotional, physiological and relational consequences associated with bitterness… Insomnia, fear, anxiety, depression, broken fellowship with God and man, unanswered prayer, as well as dozens of psychosomatically-induced illnesses have been associated with bitterness (cf. Heb. 12:15)" (p. 111-112). It is all that nasty stuff that I discussed in the introduction. Pride keeps us from forgiving, but the grudge comes at a great expense.

For the longest time my father and I didn't have the greatest relationship. I still remember the day a few years after I gave my life to Christ talking to him about forgiveness. I read to him the very passage that we are studying today from Matthew 18. I asked his forgiveness for all the times I refused to submit to his authority and told him that I had forgiven him for all the things he did to me. Instantly the burden from both of us was removed. As I have heard so many times from others, the weight was lifted.

One saint of yesteryear said, "Revenge indeed seems often sweet to men, but oh, it is only sugared poison, only sweetened gall. Forgiving enduring love alone is sweet and blissful and enjoys peace and the consciousness of God's favor. By forgiving it gives away and annihilates the injury. It treats the injurer as if he had not injured and therefore feels no more the smart and sting that he had inflicted" (William Arnot, The Parables of our Lord, 1884).

That is why the mark of a true Christian, verse 35, is one that forgives from the heart. Based on the forgiveness I have received, I extend it to others. Ephesians 4:31 and 32, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (cf. Col. 3:13).

I am not saying the need to forgive others is easy. Remember the disciples' response when Jesus told them the need to forgive like Him from Luke 17? They said, "Increase our faith!" (Lk. 17:5). True forgiveness is only possible through God's grace.

4. THE APPLICATION

Time restricts me from giving specific application as we move to the fourth point, so I will provide some application of this material from a biblical story. I suppose there are many places we can turn. We all know of Jesus (Lk. 23:34) and Stephen (Ac. 7:60) who prayed for the forgiveness of those murdering them. There are many examples from the life of David (1 Sa. 24; 1 Sa 25, 2 Sam 19). But I would like to go back even further in time to the book of Genesis.

There was a man named Joseph who was favored by his father and despised by his brothers. Out of sheer jealousy and hatred they threw him into a cistern and sold him as a slave. Years of pain and suffering went by until the day in God's providence he was promoted to the prime minister of Egypt.

Due to a famine in the land his brothers who rejected one of their own were forced to come to Egypt to buy grain. Joseph was reunited with the very men who despised his life and now was endowed with the power to do to them as he wished.

Fear overran these men knowing full well what they deserved. They said, "What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!" (Gen. 50:15). Their message to Joseph said the following: "Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong" (Gen. 50:17). But how did Joseph respond? The Bible says he wept (Gen. 50:17) and replied, "'Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.' So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them" (Gen. 50:19-21).

Do you have a forgiving spirit to all who hurt you even when the other party does not ask for it, even when the other party refuses to reconcile? If not, start now! Maybe you need to as soon as possible schedule a visit, make a phone call or write a letter. How much longer do you wish to displease God and received the continued wrath of the "torturers?" Let go of your right to revenge. Heal past wounds. Restore your relationship with God and humans by acting like God and forgiving.