Well, thank you very much for your welcome, Paul. It's good to be with you again.
We actually came in October, sort of incognito, as a family with my wife and other two children.
! Lovely to be with you again tonight.
We're in Matthew 18, page 823 and 824 of the Bibles in your hands.
As we come to God's Word, let's come to Him in prayer.
Our Heavenly Father, we praise and thank you for your Son, the Lord Jesus.
We ask now that you would help us to listen to Him, that we might walk in Him as the way,
that we might trust Him as the truth, that we might receive Him as the life.
We ask this in His precious name. Amen.
Amen.
It was in a church in Munich that I saw Him, a balding, heavyset man in a grey overcoat,
a brown felt cap clutched between His hands.
People were filing out of the basement room where I'd just spoken.
It was 1947, and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.
And that's when I saw Him, working His way forward against the others.
One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown cap.
The next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its 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 centre of the floor,
the shame of walking naked past this man.
I could see my sister's frail form in front of me,
ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin.
Betsy, how thin you looked.
Betsy and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home
during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
This man had been a guard at Ravensbrück concentration camp where we were sent.
You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk, he was saying.
I was a guard in 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, his hand came out.
Will you forgive me?
And I stood there.
I who sins had every day to be forgiven.
And I could not.
Betsy had died in that place.
Could he erase her slow, terrible death simply by asking?
It could not 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 have 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.
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 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 if you don't recognize it, that is an extract from Corrie Ten Boom's autobiography,
The Hiding Place.
I don't know how you react when you hear that story.
My instinct is to be full of admiration, but to think there is no way that I would ever be able to do what she did.
Forgive a man implicated in my sister's death.
And yet, as Corrie makes clear, forgiveness isn't an act only for super saints.
No, for Jesus, it's basic Christianity.
And nowhere is that clearer than in tonight's passage from Matthew 18.
It's a chapter all about relationships in God's kingdom, how we get on together in church.
Earlier in the chapter, Jesus highlighted three qualities that should mark our relationships with one another.
Humility, that we view ourselves simply as children.
Love, seeing each other as children too, and therefore protecting and caring for one another.
And then accountability.
Again, the family language of brothers and sisters challenging one another in unrepented sin.
And here, in tonight's verses, Jesus adds a fourth quality to his sketch of healthy church culture.
Maybe forgiveness.
Peter is the one who raises the issue, presumably off the back of what Jesus has just been saying about church discipline.
Verse 21, he says, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him?
As many as seven times.
Actually being very generous.
The rabbis of the day taught that it was necessary to forgive just three times.
But for Jesus, even seven times isn't enough.
Verse 22, I do not say to you seven times, but 77 times.
Or it could be 70 times seven.
By which he really means stop counting and just get on with forgiving.
Now, it may be that some of us feel that's actually quite an easy command.
We don't think of ourselves as the sort of people who hold grudges.
What's the big deal?
Which is probably a sign that we're not really doing the first half of this chapter
and properly getting involved in one another's lives.
You see, if we are seeking to do church life together as family,
sharing our lives and our homes and our hearts,
then because we remain sinners, there will be times when we clash,
when we rub each other up the wrong way.
When we sin.
And when we're sinned against.
And presumably that's why Jesus concludes his teaching on kingdom relationships
with this need for forgiveness.
But equally, there'll be others of us, perhaps the more honest,
for whom this feels like a very hard teaching.
We've been sinned against deeply and repeatedly by others.
And the thought of forgiving them is just too painful to contemplate.
Well, Jesus understands that,
and he's not in the business of laying burdens on us
and then leaving it to us to carry those burdens.
And in the story that follows,
he not only underlines how essential forgiveness is in his kingdom,
he also points to the one place that can move and empower such forgiveness.
It's a story of two halves.
Each teaches a simple truth.
First half, forgiveness is the heart of all true Christianity.
Let's remind ourselves how Jesus begins his story.
Verse 22, sorry, 23.
Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king
who wished to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents.
And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold
with his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made.
So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him,
have patience with me and I will pay you everything.
And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him
and forgave him the debt.
10,000 talents.
10,000 is the largest numeral in ancient Greece.
There isn't a bigger number than that.
And a talent you'll see from the footnote
was the equivalent of 20 years living wage.
So we can do the maths and say it's the equivalent of around 3.5 billion pounds today.
But Jesus is really just saying, this guy is a gazillion pounds in debt.
Which is what makes the man's request in verse 26 so ludicrous, isn't it?
Have patience with me and I will pay you everything.
Everything.
I mean, even before the Bank of England put up interest rates,
there's no way that he could keep up with the interest,
let alone start to pay off the capital.
In fact, the only thing more ludicrous than this man's request
is his master's response.
Verse 27,
And out of pity for him,
the master of that servant released him
and forgave him the debt.
To forgive a gazillion pound debt,
this man wanted a patient master.
What he got was a ludicrously generous master.
And that, of course, is Jesus' point.
You and I are in debt to God.
I mean, if I sin against you,
if I steal, I don't know, 10 pounds,
well, I can make up for that.
I can pay you back.
But to sin against an infinite being
is an infinite offense.
And you and I have sinned against God,
not just once or twice,
but all the time.
Every second that I fail to love God
with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength,
I am adding to that mountain of debt.
And I have absolutely no way
of paying it off.
Not a year of faithful church attendance,
not a decade of sacrificial good works,
not a lifetime of nonstop worship
could repay
my rejection of my loving creator.
Some of us here will know
the horrible feeling
of being in financial debt.
The bills mounting up,
the demands arriving.
The burden of it dominates
every waking moment.
But financial debt pales
beside the reality of our debt to God.
That debt is far greater
and infinitely more serious
in its consequences,
as verse 25 hints.
And yet here is the wonder.
If we belong to Jesus,
God has canceled it all,
every last penny.
And this side of the cross,
we know how much that cost God.
As Peter himself put it later,
you know that it was not
with perishable things
that you were redeemed
from your empty way of life,
but with the precious blood
of Christ,
chosen before the creation
of the world,
yet revealed
in these last times
for your sake.
An infinite debt
requires an infinite payment.
An infinite life
is of infinite value.
So when God the Son
willingly gives up his life
for us,
the offering of his life
exactly matches
our infinite need.
See, the gospel is even more wonderful,
actually, than this story.
For our king doesn't just
cancel our debt,
he pays it himself
by the gift of his Son.
That's why,
unlike any
religion or philosophy,
the heart of Christianity
is forgiveness.
If you are someone
looking into Christian things,
trying to work out
whether this is for you.
Well, the place to start
is with this question
of forgiveness.
For forgiveness.
forgiveness.
What do you think God makes
of the way that you've lived
your life?
Of the way you've treated
your loved ones?
Of the way you've treated him?
What does your conscience
say to you
about your moral state?
And if you don't come to Jesus
for forgiveness,
where else are you going to find it?
And for those of us
who are Christian believers,
well, really,
the extent to which we understand
what value God has done for us
in forgiving our sins
is the measure of our progress
as disciples.
As Jesus puts it elsewhere,
if we think we've been forgiven
only a little,
we'll love
only a little.
But if we know
that we have been forgiven much,
then we will love much.
Someone once compared
the Christian life
to one of those old cutters,
those big sailing ships
that used to bring the tea
round the Cape
from India,
nice and fresh,
as quickly as possible.
The reason they could put up
so much sail
to catch the wind
and go so fast
was because they had
so much heavy ballast
down in the bottom
of the ship
to stop it from being
blown over.
And the only way
that we will catch
the hurricane
of God's love for us
in Christ
is if we have a deep
and abiding sense
of our own sin
and how much
we have been forgiven.
It's why,
I mean,
I don't know if Paul
does this every time,
but I presume he does.
At the start of the service
as he was leading us in prayer,
he led us in confession
of our sins to God.
I used to think
that was a bit of a gloomy way
to start a service
with confession.
You know,
haven't I already
been forgiven?
Aren't I already
fully justified
the moment that I
trust in Christ?
Well,
yes.
But though forgiven,
I remain a sinner
and therefore
a debtor.
Only no longer
a debtor to God's law,
obliged to try
and do the impossible
and earn forgiveness
by my obedience.
But a debtor
to mercy alone.
And weekly,
in fact,
daily,
remembering
and meditating
on that gospel dynamic
of my sin
and God's forgiveness
is as much
the way on
with Jesus
as it is the way
into Jesus.
Which brings us
to the second half
of Jesus' story
and his second point.
We've learned
what it means
is,
if you like to pray,
forgive us
our trespasses.
Now Jesus
will teach us
what it means
to pray
as we forgive
those
who trespass
against us.
Forgiveness
is the heart
of all true
Christianity.
Therefore,
forgiveness
is the test
of all true
Christianity.
That's the point
of his second
half
of the story.
Forgiveness
is the test
of all true
Christianity.
You see,
even as we are
cheering
and applauding
the king's
generosity
in Jesus' story,
we're hit
with the sucker punch.
Verse 28,
for when that
same servant
went out,
having just had
his debt
cancelled,
he found
one of his
fellow servants
who owed him
a hundred denarii.
And seizing him,
he began to
choke him,
saying,
pay what
you owe.
So the TV
cameras are all
lined up outside
the debtor's
court,
the champagne
corks are
popping,
a string of
journalists are
waiting to ask
this chap how
it feels,
to have had
his debt
cancelled,
but he doesn't
even stop to
hug his wife,
because in the
crowd,
he spotted a
familiar face.
Well,
verse 29,
his fellow
servant fell
down and
pleaded with
him,
have patience
with me,
and I will
pay you
back.
Ring any
bells?
Verse 26,
doesn't ring any
bells for this
guy,
though,
no.
He refused
and went
and put him
in prison
until he
should pay
the debt.
Now,
it's worth
noting that
this second
debt is
not
insubstantial.
It's a
hundred denarii,
which apparently
today would be
about ten
thousand
pounds.
I'd
certainly
think
twice
about
writing
off a
ten
thousand
pound
debt.
But
compared to
what he's
just been
forgiven,
and in the
light of the
fact that
this is
another
servant
of the
same
master,
his
behavior
is as
outrageously
bad
as his
master's
was
kind.
And that's
Jesus'
point.
when I
fail to
forgive
another
Christian
from the
heart,
verse
35,
whether
that's
my wife,
or my
parents,
or my
sibling,
or my
previous
church,
or my
minister,
or just
the person
next to
me in
the
pew,
then my
behavior
and attitude
is as
offensive to
God
as this
unforgiving
servant
was to
his
king.
Verse 32,
Then his
master summoned
him and
said to
him,
You
wicked
servant,
I forgave
you all
that debt
because you
pleaded with
me,
and should
not you
have had
mercy on
your fellow
servant as
I had
mercy on
you?
And in
anger,
his master
delivered him
to the
jailers
until he
should pay
all his
debt.
And then
comes Jesus'
terrifying
punchline,
So also
my heavenly
father will
do to
every one
of you
if you
do not
forgive your
brother from
your heart.
It's not
that our
forgiveness of
others earns
God's forgiveness
of us.
No, in the
gospel, just
as in Jesus'
parable,
God's forgiveness
comes first.
But Jesus
is saying that
there is no
such thing
as an
unforgiving
Christian.
Being forgiven
by God
changes a
person.
If we have
been reborn
through the
message of
forgiveness,
we will bear
the fruit of
forgiveness
in our lives.
If we persist
in a refusal
to forgive,
then whatever we
profess to
believe,
we are not
God's children.
any bitterness
in my heart
towards another
Christian,
or indeed
any person
made in
God's image,
here or
elsewhere,
is an
urgent summons
to me to
examine my
heart and
whether I
have really
come to
understand and
trust what
God has done
for me in
Christ.
Here's how
Irish missionary
Amy Carmichael
put it in her
extended prose
poem,
If, based on
1 Corinthians
13.
If I have
not compassion
on my
fellow servant,
even as my
Lord had pity
on me,
then I know
nothing of
Calvary love.
If I know
little of his
pity,
if I know
little of his
hopefulness for
the truly humble
and penitent,
then I know
nothing of
Calvary love.
If I cast
up a
confessed,
repented,
and forsaken
sin against
another,
and allow
my remembrance
of that sin
to colour
my thinking
and feed
my suspicions,
then I know
nothing of
Calvary love.
If I take
offence easily,
if I'm
content to
continue in a
cool unfriendliness,
though friendship
be possible,
then I know
nothing of
Calvary love.
If I say,
yes, I
forgive,
but I cannot
forget,
as though the
God,
who twice a
day washes
all the
sands on
all the
shores of
all the
world,
could not
wash such
memories from
my mind,
then I
know nothing
of Calvary
love.
So, in
the light of
Calvary love,
what will it
mean for me to
start forgiving
from the
heart?
For some, as I
ask that question,
it will be a
particular sin
and a particular
person that
springs to
mind,
something done
to us or
said about
us that has
left deep scars
of hurt that
we have allowed
to fester into
the gangrene of
bitterness.
For others, it
will be a
particular
relationship here
at church or
with a relative
or spouse.
We're still
civil to each
other, but
there's a
coolness and
distance, because
it's easier to
tiptoe around
each other than
deal with that
wall of
frustration and
criticism and
self-justification.
Well, forgiveness
is not about
pretending that sin
doesn't have
consequences.
If a crime has
taken place, that
needs to be
reported and
dealt with by
the legal
authorities.
If abuse has
happened, I
need to get
myself out of
that situation.
And where trust
has been
destroyed, in a
spouse, in a
church leader,
forgiveness doesn't
necessarily mean
that the marriage
lasts or the
church leader is
reinstated.
And all we can
do if we have
been sinned
against is to
offer forgiveness.
We're not
responsible for
how that offer
is received,
whether reconciliation
is achieved.
But, from this
parable, here are
three marks of
genuine heart
forgiveness.
First, it will
be costly.
Sometimes it will
feel like forgiving
a £10,000 debt.
Being sinned
against gives us
power over another
person.
It gives us a
sense of moral
superiority.
And sometimes we
enjoy that power so
much we don't want
to give it up.
We love the fact
that we can use
that grievance as
leverage against them.
or as an excuse
not to get close
to them.
But to forgive
someone is
consciously to
choose to
cancel that
debt.
To absorb
into ourselves,
if you like,
the cost of
the sin,
rather than
making the
offender pay
and taking it
out on them.
That's what
Jesus did for us
on the cross,
isn't it?
To forgive
someone is to
promise not to
remind them of
their sin as a
means of control.
as a way of
manipulating them
for our purposes.
Yes, we can talk
about the sin as
we seek to learn
from it and grow in
our relationship
together.
And yes, we might
together decide to
go and get help
from a third party
in processing it.
But we won't bring
the offense up to
others and use it
to tear down our
brother and sister.
And we won't dwell
on the offense
ourselves.
Heart forgiveness
will be costly.
Though not as
costly as failing
to forgive.
Second, it will be
continual.
Not seven times,
but 70 times
seven.
The parable
Jesus tells
is not so much
about a one-off
action as an
ongoing attitude.
I go through
life,
through marriage,
through church,
with a bias to
let go of
resentment,
rather than to
hold on to it.
Every time I see
you or think of
you, I am careful
to put to death
bitterness and to
welcome you as a
fellow debtor,
forgiven and
welcomed by Christ.
Yes, that will be
a battle,
particularly where
the hurt has been
deep or the
bitterness long.
But it is a battle
I must keep on
fighting if I have
been forgiven,
by God.
But wonderfully,
it is not a battle
I fight on my own.
For thirdly,
forgiveness will be
Christ in me.
That is, I do not
have in myself the
spiritual or
emotional resources
to forgive like
this.
But Jesus does.
We see his heart
in this parable,
and the king who
cancelled the
gazillion pound
debt, we see it at
the cross as he
prays, Father,
forgive them, and
then gives everything
that that prayer
might be answered.
And when he forgives
us, he also pours
out his spirit into
our hearts to give
us his desire and
strength to forgive.
forgive.
It's a power we can't
imagine, actually,
before we forgive,
when all that fills
our mind is the
other person's sin.
But it's a power we
need to trust, just
like Corrie
Ten Boom did when
she lifted her hand
and prayed, Lord,
you supply the
feeling.
And as we trust
God's promise and
obey his commands,
his compassion will
soften the scab of
bitterness.
It'll soothe the
scar of pain.
It'll overwhelm the
towering barrier of
hatred.
No, it won't turn the
clock back as if the
sin had never
happened.
In God's grace, it
will do something
better.
It will turn the
clock forward.
It will deepen our
appreciation of God's
forgiveness of us and
of his spirit's healing
power.
And where that
forgiveness is
accepted, it won't
just restore the
relationship.
It will enrich and
deepen it.
So who do you need
to forgive tonight?
Or who do you need
to go on forgiving?
Let's pray.