Strathalbyn Church of Christ

Today I imagine a lot of people would be in the position of owing money to a finance company or bank, and some, due to unforseen circumstances, such as Covid 19, would be wondering how on earth they can meet the expected payments.

Jesus told his disciples a parable (Matthew l8: 21-35) in which we hear of a man who must have felt like this because he had incurred a staggering debt.

In this message we will think about this story or parable Jesus told because he wants us to learn a most important lesson for our Christian lives.

The story was triggered by a question voiced by Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples. The answer he heard from Jesus was, I think, more than he expected! “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"

‘Reading between the lines’, did Peter find it hard to forgive?

Do we? C.S. Lewis once said, ‘Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea - until they have something to forgive!’

A woman who was telling her friend about an argument she’d had with her husband, commented, ‘Oh, how I hate it; every time we have an argument, he gets historical.’ The friend replied, ‘You mean hysterical’. ‘No’, she insisted, ‘I mean historical. Every time we argue, he drags up the past and holds it against me!'.

“Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"

The Rabbis of Jesus’ day thought that three times was enough to forgive. Here Peter was considering up to seven times! But what was Jesus’ perspective? “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven."

In Genesis 4:24 a man called Lamech says he will be “avenged seventy-sevenfold."

Jesus’ unlimited forgiveness he expects of his disciple contrasts sharply with Lamech’s unlimited revenge!

“Seventy times seven," then means in effect - go on and on forgiving, that is, constantly. Why? Because God’s forgiveness is like that; and so because we are in his family, then we are to mirror our Father’s attitude.

I came across a story of Corrie Ten Boom that graphically illustrates this. It is taken from her book ‘I’m still learning to forgive.’

During the second World War, the German army had invaded Holland and took over the country. The Germans began to search out all the Jews so they could be taken away and killed.

There were some Christian families in Holland who risked their lives to hide Jewish people. One such family was the Ten Booms.

However, they were eventually found out and the two sisters, Corrie and Betsy, were sent off to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp in Germany.

Because of the very harsh treatment of the guards in the camp, Betsy died during her time there. Corrie could have allowed hatred and resentment for the Germans to fill her heart, but because she was a Christian, she was prepared to forgive them for what had happened to her sister and herself.

After WW 2, in l947, Corrie went from Holland to speak in churches all over Germany. Her message was that God forgives our past. When we repent, when we confess our sins, God casts them into the deepest ocean. “Thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." Micah 7:19. They are gone!

As the people were leaving the church after a meeting in which Corrie was speaking, a man started walking forward to speak to Corrie.

Suddenly Corrie recognised the man as one of the cruel guards who had been at Ravensbruck. Now he was standing in front of her with his hand thrust out. ‘A fine message, sister! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea.’

Corrie, who had spoken so easily about forgiveness, fumbled in her pocket-book rather than take his hand to shake it.

‘You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk; I was a guard in there, but since that time I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did in there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well.’

Again he held out his hand - ‘sister, will you forgive me?’

She stood there and struggled. She didn’t feel any forgiveness, but realised we must make up our mind that we will forgive, obeying Jesus, whether we want to or not. ‘Jesus help me. I can lift my hand, I can do that much; you supply the feeling.’

Woodenly, she lifted her hand. As she did a healing warmth flooded her.

‘I forgive you, brother, with all my heart.’ She had never known God’s love so closely as she did then.

Jesus told Peter a parable to illustrate his teaching. “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven."

The parable is in Matthew l8:23-35, but let me summarise it.

There was a certain debtor who owed his king a phenomenal debt. This debtor asks the king for mercy. Against all expectation the king freely released him and forgave the debt, the whole lot!

That is a picture of the great grace of God towards us who quite frankly are unable to repay what we owe him. God says “I release you from your debt”. That is at the heart of the meaning of the cross, the crucifixion of the Son of God.

That is at the heart of the purpose of the Son of God dying on the cross for us! Do you know, and have you received this grace and mercy?

What did the man do? You would expect him to be merciful to his fellow-servant, you would expect him to show something of the gracious, merciful generosity which he himself had been shown. That’s what you would expect him to do - but no, he mercilessly exacted the last cent from a fellow-servant who owed him a comparatively insignificant debt. Had he been brooding resentfully on this fellow-servant’s unpaid debt?

What was the king’s reaction, estimate of this man?

“You wicked servant!” He doesn’t mince words! He calls a spade a spade, he tells him what he should have done -

“I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?" Matt l8:332,33

Well? Yes!

The application is pretty obvious, isn’t it?

It’s not good enough to claim to be forgiven by God only then to be unforgiving to a brother or sister. That is what could be called ‘cheap grace’.

God’s grace is to change our lives and attitudes. Any resentment or unforgiving spirit is to be repented of in the light of God’s grace and mercy to us in freeing us from a debt that we could never pay to God.

Because we are forgiven, we are to forgive. Our gratitude to God will be shown in our extending forgiveness to others, and our accepting their penitence, as God accepts ours.

Jesus concluded his parable to Peter and the disciples by saying “And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers (Greek ‘torturers’), till he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to everyone of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." Matt 18:34,35

But isn’t God willing to forgive us whatever we do?

Yes, but God’s forgiveness can only be received by those who repent. Resentment and unforgiveness of others can block us from receiving and enjoying God’s forgiveness. We are to open up our hands to receive God’s forgiveness that he wants to give us, but we can’t open up our hands so long as we are clenching them in anger and resentment and unforgiveness against a brother or sister.

Perhaps at this point it can be helpful and important that we remember the following part of the Lord’s Prayer - “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Matt 6:12

If we, as Christians sin and don’t get that forgiven, it will affect our fellowship with the Lord. It can affect our joy in prayer and worship and desire to share Jesus.

In the Lord’s prayer, Christians are encouraged to ask their Father for forgiveness. Such forgiveness, cleansing, helps to keep our fellowship with the Lord pure and sweet and clean.

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Matt 6:12

Robert Louis Stevenson apparently led his family in prayer every day and always finished with the Lord’s prayer.

However, one morning during this prayer time he got up and walked out of the room.

His wife went out to him and asked him ‘what’s wrong, Robert?’

‘I’m not fit to pray that prayer today’ he replied.

‘why not?’ He then told her about a resentment, a malice that had been brooding in his heart. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."

After teaching his disciples this prayer, Jesus then added these words -“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Matt 6: l4,l5

‘But’, we might be thinking, ‘what about God’s free grace?’

This is not about our conversion.

This prayer (the Lord’s Prayer), is not a prayer for the unbeliever, but for the Christian, for the believer.

Do we expect God our Father to go on wiping out our debts if we don’t wipe out others’ debts? If he were to forgive me each day my debts, and I was not forgiving of others, he would in effect be encouraging me to go on behaving like that, and he is not that kind of Father; he doesn’t indulge my sin, he doesn’t want to destroy my character.

Rather, he wants me (and you) to grow up to be more like himself, and that includes wanting us to be forgiving as he is forgiving.

Perhaps an unforgiving person won’t appreciate forgiveness even if he gets it?

General Oglethorpe was a civil servant whom John Wesley approached on behalf of a convict, to plead for him.

Oglethorpe said to Wesley, ‘I never forgive’. John Wesley quietly said to him: ‘Then I hope, sir, that you never sin’.

I came across a story of a pastor who went to a woman he knew who was not speaking to another woman in the church, and said, ‘Can’t you forgive her what she did?’

She said, ‘I have done. I’m not speaking to her anymore but I have forgiven her.’

The pastor replied ‘You haven’t forgiven her. Don’t call that forgiveness.’

Forgiveness is to try and re-establish relationships where possible.

Brothers and sisters, what if we find it very difficult to forgive?

I believe we can pray to our Father to help us to forgive. We can tell him: ‘Father, I confess my unforgiveness; have mercy on me and help me. I’m struggling, help me to forgive even though part of me doesn’t want to.’

That, I believe, is the sort of prayer God will answer because I believe that forgiveness is according to his will. “If we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” 1John 5:l4

Let me end by focusing us back onto the cross of Christ.

I’m told the word “forgive” in the Hebrew language means to remit a debt and to pay it. The same word does for both.

How can the pure good holy God who cannot bear sin, forgive my debts, your debts? - by paying them for me, for you!

Written across our debts is ‘paid’, ‘paid’ - ‘with my blood’ signed “Jesus”. Yes, every act of God’s forgiveness is because of the blood of Jesus. That’s the cost to God of our forgiveness.

"……….I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?" Matt 18:32,33

The Christian life is born in forgiveness, and it is to characterise us all the way through our Christian lives.

The forgiveness of God is life-changing.

Series: Matthew

Topics: #Matthew