Well, for the rest of us, I'm going to ask Brian to come up.
Brian Vickers has been with us a number of times.
Is this your third visit, Brian?
He's ignoring me.
I'll say it's his third visit anyway.
He can correct me.
You're fifth.
It's not.
I made a big impression on you, obviously.
Gosh.
Really?
Really.
Wow.
Anyway, five times.
So that's good to have Brian with us.
Brian is going to be teaching our New Testament 2 module this coming week.
So that's everything from Acts through to Revelation.
Monday night is an open night, which means it's free.
So you can come along and join in from 7 to 10 p.m.
There's a break in between.
And you can come along and listen to Brian and get a taster for yourself to hear and to
see what it's all about.
It might be a good way.
And who knows?
You might come back again.
But it's good to have Brian with us.
He's going to be speaking this morning.
So, Brian, thank you so much for coming.
And again, to have Denise and Jamie with us as well.
It's lovely to have you all here today.
Thank you so much.
Well, it is good to be back.
And it is five times, by the way.
I promise.
It's five.
I don't know why I would say it's less than that.
It is five.
And we started, I think, in 2013-ish, something, 14.
I don't know.
And so it's really great to come back.
And I know so many of you, some of you I don't know.
Hope to get to know you today.
Okay?
Johnny had asked me to preach.
A couple of weeks ago, he texted me and asked me to preach from a parable, maybe Matthew 18.
So I was surprised when I showed up this morning to find I'm preaching from Genesis, what is it, 37 to 50,
which I guess I can do.
Just have to adjust a little bit.
So now I'm going to preach from Matthew 18 because that's what Johnny told me to do,
regardless of what it says in your bulletin.
And so what I'm going to do today is I'm going to read the parable.
It's the parable of the unforgiving or unmerciful servant.
But what I'm going to do is I'm going to read a little bit of it and then talk about it and then read a little bit.
It's in three parts.
But rather than read the whole thing from beginning to end, I think what I'll do is read a little bit and then, you know,
let's go through it three sections at a time.
But before I stop, before I stop, okay, one more time.
Before I start, when we were driving to church this morning, we came by, we were going around the corner,
and I saw a flashing sign.
I had an arrow on it, and it said, slow, go slow.
And the arrow was flashing, and it had, I guess, an Irish word.
I think it's mall or something like that.
I probably didn't say that right.
It looks like mall, M-A-L-L.
I'm sure it means slow, right?
So what do you do when you see that sign, especially if you're not familiar, right?
What would you do if you're driving down a lane and you see a sign like that?
If you see a sign that says slow and it has a curved line on it, it's unlikely that you're going to floor it
and go as fast as you can, right?
What are you going to do?
You're going to slow.
Why?
Yeah, you have to take it easy because that sign is warning you, right?
That's what signs do.
So yesterday we were down at, I think it's Myrtleville, and oddly there were people swimming yesterday.
If you're from where we're from, we go as far south as we can to a place where the sand is so hot you can't stand on it,
and then we'll get in the ocean, but not yesterday, right?
So there's people in the ocean.
But let's pretend we're at Myrtleville, and you came down to go swimming.
And I was down there, and you were getting ready to go in, and I said to you, well, no, no, no, no, don't go in
because not only are the tides really bad, there's a chemical in the water that will surely kill you if you get in there.
And let's pretend you knew me and had a reason to trust me.
I'm not just some stranger telling you what to do.
What would you do?
Well, you probably, I would guess, you wouldn't go in, right?
You would, because I would warn you, right?
Now, the surprising thing is if you would look at me and say, I don't care, and just ran straight into the water.
But I would be warning you, and the idea was through the warning I would save your life
because that's what warnings do.
And they do that in the Bible, too.
Right?
So, I mean, God uses warnings to save His people, so His people will persevere, so His people will continue on.
Right?
But we all believe that God uses things, right?
So God uses, say, preaching for people to come to faith.
We all believe that.
Right?
God uses prayer.
Right?
God uses evangelism.
We believe all those things.
But sometimes we don't think about how God also uses in the Bible warnings so that His people will continue on in the faith.
And keep all that in mind for when we get to the end of this parable where there's a verse that can be a little bit tricky.
Right?
So, at the beginning of this parable, in chapter 18 of Matthew, just to give you a little bit of background, it's really important.
And in chapter 18, Jesus is speaking specifically to His disciples about what it looks like to be His disciples.
Right?
He's teaching them.
This is what, if you're one of my followers, in the community of my followers, this is what you should be like.
So, it's really specific teaching to His disciples about who they should be.
They should be like children towards one another.
They need to be careful and thoughtful and kind and not be stumbling blocks to other people.
And He tells them what to do if they have a problem in the church with somebody who is sinning but they won't repent.
And so, again, what He's doing specifically is He's teaching them what it looks like to be His followers.
Right?
If you're a follower of Jesus, this is what life should look like for you.
And that's where, and the parable's right in the middle of that.
And so, He tells this parable because Peter comes up, this is in verse 21, Peter comes up and says to Jesus,
Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?
Up to seven times?
Now, it could be that Peter had heard, like there was maybe a tradition that Peter had heard about and knew about.
But it doesn't really matter, right, whether there was.
So the idea is that Peter comes up and asks Jesus a simple question, and that is, how many times do I have to forgive before I can stop forgiving?
Right?
Is there a time, is there a number I can get to, like, you know, that's five, six, one more.
And then I can sort of jump all over this person.
Right?
So He's got some idea that there's a limit.
Right?
That's all we need to know about.
Right?
Why Peter thought this doesn't really matter.
But He has some idea that there's some limit.
You get to some point, right, there's a ceiling, and you reach that, and then you don't have to forgive anymore.
And what does Jesus say?
Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
And some translations will say seventy times seven.
So what Jesus is doing here is He's giving Peter a number that is exaggerated.
Simply to say this.
When you're talking about forgiveness, you can't put a number on it.
And so that's why He says seventy times seven, or seventy-seven times.
It's just an infinite number of times.
Again, because what He's trying to say to Peter is, look, you're off to a bad start here when talking about forgiveness,
because you're immediately thinking in terms of how much forgiveness.
And so He completely kind of reroutes him.
And then you would think He'd be done.
And then Jesus does what He always does.
He starts to tell a story.
It's really common for Jesus.
People will ask Him a question, and He'll say,
well, you know, the kingdom of heaven is like this.
And it'll be the way He answers a story.
And so one of the things, why that matters for us,
is a lot of times we think about telling a story, right,
when you say something, or like if you're teaching, right,
or you're just sharing something with somebody,
you'll say, hey, you know, it's like this.
And then you'll tell a story to make what you said clearer.
Jesus does that sometimes, but a lot of times Jesus just teaches in a story.
And I think that's what He does here.
So Jesus tells Peter and the disciples this story, right?
And remember, how many times do I have to forgive?
Seven times.
And Jesus says, no, no number.
You can't put a number on it.
And then He says, therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king
who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
As he began the settlement,
a man who owed him 10,000 bags of gold was brought to him.
Since he was not able to pay,
the master had ordered that he and his wife and his children
and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
At this, the servant fell on his knees before him.
Be patient with me, he begged,
and I will pay back everything.
The servant's master took pity on him,
canceled the debt, and let him go.
So we'll stop right there just for now.
So Jesus tells us, okay, this parable is all about the kingdom of heaven.
This is about the kingdom that Jesus is bringing.
This is what life looks like in the kingdom.
And so he tells this story, right?
We have this king, and in the story,
in the story, the king,
the king has the power to forgive sins.
And that's all we need to think about, right?
It's not, that's the big thing here.
That's the one thing that Jesus is emphasizing here with this king
is he has the power to start to forgive debt.
And so the guy comes up, and if you have a,
I have an NIV, I'm reading from the NIV,
and he's selling these accounts.
He says he owes 10,000 bags of gold.
Now, you might have a different translation
that says maybe 10,000 talents.
Does anybody have that in their translation, talents, right?
Or maybe you've heard of that.
And so talent is just,
a talent is just a weight, right?
It's a measurement.
It's not like money.
And so if you had, imagine a scale, right?
And in the first century,
if you had this,
things would be measured according to a talent.
So a talent, which would be a certain amount of weight
on one side,
and if you had gold coins,
you put them on the other,
and then you know how much the gold coins are worth, right?
Because it would weigh out against this weight
called a talent.
And so the idea here, though, is
you have this servant,
and he owes 10,000 bags of gold.
Now, that is an impossible amount.
Right?
And I think Jesus knows this,
and I think everybody listening to this story would know this.
This is an impossible amount.
Now, that causes some people to say,
well, how could a servant have that much debt?
Well, it doesn't matter,
because he's a person in a story, right?
And so it doesn't really matter
how he could get 10,000 bags of gold in debt.
The thing is, is he has an impossible debt.
That's the point.
Right?
And so Jesus just uses this gigantic number
to make it already sound impossible.
Right?
So he's just exaggerating.
It's like,
so I have a way of doing this.
Everything to me is either
a countable amount,
or it's a million.
Everything to me is a million.
Right?
I mean, I've told you a million times.
Right?
It costs like a million dollars.
If I can't afford something,
it costs a million.
And that's just the,
that's the number I use.
It's just,
it's my way of saying,
I'm not very good at math,
and it's a lot of money.
Right?
I can,
it's a few dollars,
I get that.
If it's more than a few dollars,
then it's a million.
And that's what Jesus is doing here.
So this guy owes,
he owes more than he could ever pay back.
And it doesn't matter how he,
how he got this much debt.
That's not even a question.
Right?
Because he's just a guy in a story.
And Jesus is trying to make a point.
Since he's not able to pay,
the master ordered that he,
and his wife,
and his children,
and all that he had,
be sold to repay the debt.
So this guy is hopeless, right?
Because what,
if this is an impossible amount,
and this guy's going to be sold,
his wife's going to be sold,
just to pay back the debt,
he's got no hope.
That's,
that's the idea, right?
He's standing before this king,
he owes this king
an impossible amount of money,
there's no way for him to pay it back,
and now he's about to lose everything.
And then the servant, though,
fell on his knees before the king,
and said,
be patient with me,
I will pay back everything.
Now,
if you think about it,
when's that going to be?
He's not going to be able to do it.
But he,
he does the only thing he can do
before the king.
He has no other,
no other option.
So he,
he begs for mercy.
And that's,
and the king,
it says,
the servant,
right,
the servant's master
took pity on him
and canceled the debt,
let him go.
Right?
That's it.
All free.
So in the,
in the parable,
as we'll see,
the king sort of stands for God.
And we'll,
this makes really,
really clear at the end.
But the idea here is just this one point,
is that the,
the master,
or if you,
if you're,
if your translation has king or master,
the idea is,
this king can completely forgive the debt,
the servant cannot pay back the debt,
he is completely beholden to the king
and the king's mercy,
that's it.
It's not really teaching,
it's not really teaching,
if you just beg enough,
finally God will forgive your sins.
Right?
Because it's,
it's not really that,
about that.
It's just about,
this is the only option this guy has.
Right?
It's just this king.
The king doesn't do everything that God does.
God doesn't do everything the king does.
It's just one point
where the king is being compared
to what God is like,
and that is,
able to forgive.
And that's it.
Right?
It's just that one,
sort of narrow focus.
That's what's happening here.
The king is able to forgive.
And he forgives this guy
after the guy says,
after the guy just begs for mercy.
He fell on his knees and begs.
And he canceled the debt and let him go.
All right,
so that's the end of the first part.
And that's what it looks like
when grace outweighs debt.
Right?
That's it.
When grace outweighs debt,
when grace weighs more than debt,
that's what it looks like.
And so this guy,
life has changed pretty radically.
You think,
until the next part.
So then he goes out,
and when the servant went out,
he found one of his fellow servants,
who owed him 100 silver coins.
Now,
that's not very much by comparison.
Right?
Not at all.
In fact,
if you want to just,
I'll give you a little bit of math,
because I had my daughter check it.
So I'm pretty sure this is right.
Essentially,
what the servant owed the king
is about
170,000 years wages.
I'm not,
I mean,
I checked this,
and my daughter checked it.
She's really good at math.
I'm no good,
but we checked it.
Right?
So there's a coin in those days
called a denarii,
and that's about one day's wages.
And it would equal up to get
10,000 bags of gold,
or the 10,000 talents.
It would,
you would have to work like
170,000 years.
This isn't impossible.
Nobody could ever pay this amount back.
Right?
So that's how much he owed the king.
170,000 years of wages.
Right?
Now, again,
the idea is impossible amount.
That's all.
Right?
You don't have to think,
well, how could he get that much debt?
Why did he have this much debt?
Was he doing something on the side
that was causing him to get?
No,
there's none of those sort of questions.
But when you come to the next part,
it's a lot of debt,
but it's really manageable,
and you can understand it.
Especially in comparison.
And that's the idea.
Right?
The idea is,
in the first section of the parable,
you have an amount
that you can't even imagine.
It is beyond imagining.
And in the second one,
you have a number that is
well within your imagination.
And you can completely grasp
and understand how much that is.
And that's why.
Because they're contrasted
with each other
in a very extreme way.
And so,
the guy comes,
he comes out
and he sees a fellow servant
who owes him
a hundred silver coins.
That's it.
Which would be,
more or less,
if this matters,
it would be more or less,
plus or minus,
a little bit,
four months of wages.
Which is a lot.
But nowhere near
170,000 years of wages.
Right?
So it could be done.
And so,
what you would expect,
right,
if you had never heard
this story before,
I'm sure you've all
heard this story before.
If you'd never heard
this story before,
what would you expect
this guy to do?
When he runs into this guy
who comes up and says,
hey,
I know I owe you,
you know,
I know I owe you,
what,
how much is it again?
A hundred silver coins.
You would expect him
to say what?
Hey, listen,
seriously,
I don't care.
You're not going to believe it.
I just had
10,000 bags of gold
forgiven.
We'll just let this
slide for now.
Right?
Or at the very least,
maybe he would say
something like,
you know what,
just get it to me
next week.
Right?
Which would still be weird,
but anything,
you would expect anything
other than what
happens next.
Just because,
just the difference.
Having been forgiven
all this debt
and now,
faced with a friend
who does owe him,
there's no doubt,
right?
There's no question about it.
The guy does owe him
something.
It's not,
does he owe,
it's not as though
he owes him nothing.
He doesn't legitimately
owe him something.
Right?
So the guy could say,
well,
you know,
you can pay me a little bit
now,
a little bit later,
but really,
I think that everybody
would expect him to say,
listen,
I don't even want to
talk about that right now.
I just basically
had my whole life
saved just now.
So we'll talk about
this thing later.
Because you just can't
compare the two things.
But what does the guy do?
Well,
he's kind of an extreme guy.
Before he says anything,
he goes straight
to choking.
That's his number one,
that's his first response.
And then he starts saying,
give me what you owe,
right?
So this is the guy's response.
He sees the guy
who owes him money.
He's just had
an impossible amount
forgiven.
He sees the guy
who owes him money
and he does what?
He just goes straight
for choking.
No discussion,
no sort of negotiation,
no payment plan,
just choking.
That's his answer.
And he starts yelling at him,
pay back what you owe me.
And then you think,
okay,
we're up to a bad start.
But then in the story,
Jesus has the guy,
the other servant,
say something that should
sound really familiar.
His fellow servant
fell to his knees
and begged him,
be patient with me
and I will pay it back.
What does that sound like?
It's exactly what this man
had said to the king earlier.
Exact line.
Be patient with me
and I will pay it back.
So again,
if you imagine
just for a moment
that you hadn't heard
this story before,
you might think,
okay,
that's going to click
in this guy's mind,
right?
He's going to get it.
He's going to hear that
and say,
oh,
you know what,
maybe I should stop
with all the choking
and ease up on that
a little bit
and maybe be patient
with this guy
and remember
that I just had
more money
than I could ever
pay back forgiven.
Yeah,
maybe I should rethink
what I'm doing here.
You know,
because he hears
his own words,
the very words
that he had spoken
to the king
that resulted in him
being forgiven
of all of his debt,
he hears right back
to him
just moments later.
And then in verse 30,
but he refused.
Instead,
he went off
and had the man
thrown in prison
until he could
pay the debt.
Right?
So,
the very thing
that he was,
not just he,
he was threatened
with that,
his wife,
his family,
all of his,
everybody,
he and his family
were all threatened
with that very thing
earlier
because of what
he owed the king
and it was all
forgiven him.
And then he goes out,
he meets his servant,
his buddy,
who's also a servant
and who owes him
an amount,
it's a lot,
but he can pay it back.
And what does he do?
Same punishment.
The same punishment
that he was threatened
with before,
he now,
not just threatened,
he has it done.
So,
there has been
zero effect
in this guy's life,
right?
I mean,
that's where the parable
is going.
There is no effect
whatsoever
in the forgiveness
that this guy received.
None.
It hasn't even made
a dent.
And the fact that,
and then,
that's even,
that's highlighted
by the fact
that he runs
into a situation
that's exactly
like the situation
he was just in.
So,
he's not like
the king at all.
He has none
of the same characteristics.
Even when put
in the exact
same situation,
except with this difference,
he owed an impossible amount.
His friend owed him
an amount
that could be paid back.
And he shows
no reflection
whatsoever
of the king.
So,
when we read this story,
when you read a story
like this,
it's really easy
for us,
and I do this a lot,
it's really easy
to come to this guy
and think,
oh,
that guy's awful.
And he is,
right?
There's really no,
like,
well,
you know,
he's kind of bad,
but he's probably
of some good qualities.
This guy has no
good qualities,
as far as we know.
None.
But again,
remember,
he's just a guy
in a story.
He's not like a,
not like he has
a whole personality,
right?
He's just a guy
in a story,
and this is what he does.
He owes money,
he gets forgiven,
then he chokes people
who owes,
that's his whole life.
Doesn't do anything
other than that.
But it's easy to read
the story and think,
oh,
that guy,
I can't wait
until he gets
what's coming to him.
Right?
I mean,
anybody,
or is it just me?
Am I the only person
who reads the story
and thinks,
I cannot wait
for the next part
when we get to find out
what happens to this guy?
Well,
there's a good reason
we do that,
but we should probably
slow down a little bit
when we see characters
like this in the Bible.
And yeah,
we don't have to say,
we don't have to condone,
obviously,
what they're doing,
but we should slow down
a little bit
and just ask ourselves,
is there maybe
a little bit of a mirror here?
Not that you've ever
choked somebody
who owed you money
or anything like that.
But it's easy,
especially in the Gospels,
right?
It's easy when you're
reading the Gospels
to kind of immediately
side with like
the good guys,
right?
Like the woman
who washes Jesus' feet.
Right?
Obviously,
she's good.
Right?
Or when people come up
and they clearly believe
in Jesus
and trust in Jesus.
And we should,
right?
We immediately
kind of side with them.
But then like
the Pharisees show up
and we're like,
oh,
these Pharisees are awful.
Now,
they are awful.
But we have a way
of like,
they're awful.
Obviously,
I would be different.
Right?
Or when the disciples
do something
that is,
they make a mistake.
And they make
plenty of mistakes.
But we kind of
look at when they
make mistakes
and think,
oh,
those guys.
Those guys are dummies.
Right?
I never would have
made that mistake.
Right?
I would have taken
Jesus to Jerusalem
in three seconds
to die
if it had been me.
Right?
So,
you know what I'm talking about?
Remember this story?
He tells Peter
and the disciples,
I'm going down
to Jerusalem
and Peter says,
no,
you're not.
Right?
Which is not
the right answer.
But,
I mean,
can you imagine
saying,
that sounds like
a great plan
for you to go die.
Let's put you
on a cart
and get you there
as fast as we can.
But we tend to look
at when people
do wrong things
and we should,
they're there for us
to see
that they're doing
wrong things
and to hear
that they're doing
wrong things.
But at the same time,
we do need to,
like,
turn the word
around like a mirror.
Do I need to see
what's happening?
No.
Okay.
Just wanted to make sure.
It is like a mirror
that we need
to be able to see.
You know what?
Maybe I don't choke people.
Maybe I'm not
as extreme as this guy.
But I can remember
times where
I have not
extended forgiveness
to people.
I can remember
times when
I knew ahead of time
I was already
having an argument
with that person
in my mind
before I got there.
I knew ahead of time
what that guy
was going to say to me
because I know
what he's like.
And in my mind
I'm thinking
what that discussion
is going to be like
and I'm already upset
thinking about
a discussion
that's only happened
in my imagination.
And then when I get
to wherever I'm going
I see that person
I'm already like
upset with them
over something
that just took place
in my imagination.
And so I need
to read this story
and look at this guy
and think,
you know what?
You know who can
be unforgiving?
Me.
You know who's
been forgiven
an impossible amount
more than I could
have ever owed
that would have
taken all eternity
and I could never
have paid it back
in all eternity?
And then I hold
things over against
other people
you know who's
done that?
Me.
So again
we don't have to
look at this guy
and try to make
excuses for him
right?
That's not the
alternative
like well
you know
maybe he's
had a bad day
or maybe this guy
nothing like that
so we don't
have to make
excuses for him
we do need to
recognize that he
is a wicked
person
but we also
need to think
yeah you know
what?
I can be
unforgiving too
especially
you know
when I think
about what's
been forgiven
what I've
been forgiven
and so now
we come to
the third
part of the
story
and this
is what it
looks like
this is what
it looks like
when debt
is weighed
right?
This is the
full weight
of debt
this is what
it looks like
and the guy
comes back
so he has
this friend
put into prison
other servants
saw what happened
they go straight
to the king
and they went
and told their
master everything
that had happened
then you come
to verse 32
then the
master called
the servant
in
you wicked
servant
now in some
ways we're
done
we're done
it's like
he's already
passed judgment
on him
you wicked
servant
I cancelled
all that debt
of yours
because you
begged me
shouldn't you
have had mercy
on your fellow
servant
just as I
had on you
in anger
his master
handed him
over to the
jailers
to be
tortured
until he
should pay
back
all that
he owed
right so
here he is
standing before
the king
again
and what's
the king's
basis
for judging
him
the king's
basis
for judging
in the first
part
right the king's
basis for judging
the guy was
the debt
that he owed
yeah
what's the basis
for him judging
him now
it's simple
it's the basis
upon which
the king dealt
with him the
first time
with which
right
in the first
time the king
forgave him
all of his
debt
and now that
becomes
that becomes
the basis
that becomes
the foundation
for how the
king judges
this guy
the second
time
and he says
I forgave
all of your
debt
because you
begged me
and again
like I said
before
it's really
important
this parable
Jesus is not
not at all
teaching that
if you just
beg God
enough he will
finally forgive
your sons
right
because remember
the point
of connection
with God
in this
is just
the
he's able
and powerful
and merciful
to forgive
that's it
it's not
teaching everything
the bible
has to teach
about what
forgiveness
looks like
or if you
just beg
enough
you get
forgiven
right
so that's
it's got
this one
thing
Jesus
after this
one thing
not all
the things
but the
idea here
the idea
here is
the guy
had his
debt
forgiven
because he
asked to
be forgiven
just like
his friend
had asked
him
to be
patient
with him
so he's
being judged
on what
he's being judged
on this basis
that he doesn't
at all
reflect his
king at
all
right
there's
he has
no
there's
no sort
of
no way
to recognize
him
there's
no way
to recognize
him
in light
of his
king
he doesn't
look like
him
he doesn't
act
like him
he doesn't
talk
like him
nothing
he's not
like him
at all
which then
raises a
question
right
raises a
question
about
not the
king
but this
guy
and he
says to
him
shouldn't
you have
had mercy
just as
I had
on you
and of
course the
answer would
be
yes
just as
you received
you should
give
in
anger
his
master
turned
over to
the
jailers
to be
tortured
until he
should pay
back all
his
when's that
going to
be
never
right
because it's
already we
started that's
where we
started right
it's an
impossible
amount
and so
that's where
it ends
if it
ended
there
anyway
we'd be
we just
would have
a really
we have
a really
thoughtful
story
about how
we should
be forgiving
right
because we've
been forgiven
and if it
ended there
we'd have a lot
to think about
a lot to talk
about
but Jesus
doesn't end
it there
though
sometimes we
might wish
that he
had
because he
goes on to
make a
comment at
the end
where he
makes it
really really
clear what
he's been
talking about
and this
comment
is
can be
kind of
troubling
because he
turns to his
disciples
and says
this is how
my heavenly
father will
treat each
of you
unless you
forgive your
brother or
sister from
the heart
right and
that's sort
of the part
we wish
maybe Jesus
had just
kept to
himself
right or
before we
could just
be like
well yeah
I need
to be
more
forgiving
it'd be
better to
be more
forgiving
it's better
to be
forgiving
I've been
forgiven a lot
I should
be more
forgiving
and that's
kind of how
we would
deal with
it and
that'd be
okay
though we
could always
let ourselves
off the
hook
right if
you're me
I'm like
well I'm
mostly
forgiving
right I
mean some
people more
you know it's
easier to
forgive some
people than
others
but Jesus
sort of takes
that conversation
out of the
way for a
moment and
just says it
plainly
right this is
how my heavenly
father will
treat each one
of you unless
you forgive your
brother or sister
from the
heart
now
when Matthew
wrote his
gospel and he
includes this
parable right he
would have he
would have assumed
that this would
not be the first
time people heard
Jesus say something
like this
this is the third
time Jesus has
said almost this
very thing or
something similar
in Matthew and
the first time he
says it he says
it in a place
that's really
familiar and that
is in the
Sermon on the
Mount I'll just
read it for you
it's back in
Matthew chapter
five
it's lost it
actually
oh sorry sorry
I meant to say
six that's my
thought six
six fourteen
for if you
forgive other
people when they
sin against you
your heavenly
father will also
forgive you but
if you do not
forgive other
sins your heavenly
father will not
forgive your
sins that's very
very similar sort
of similar idea
right and then
just right before
that by the way
in the in the
Lord's Prayer
forgive us our
debts as we also
forgive our debtors
right forgive us
and so you have
this idea it's
already there in
Matthew this idea
that the people of
God will be
forgiving if not
they're not
forgiven
so it sort of
sounds like this
right that God
forgives you as
long as you will
forgive somebody
else or that he
forgives you and
then says okay I've
forgiven you now
you're kind of on a
probation period and I'm
just going to see how
you do right now you
might immediately think
no that's not how it
works right that
makes sense but that's
kind of how it sounds
is that yeah okay we're
forgiven and now God
and God's like God
unconditionally forgives
us and then says all
right now I got my eye
on you and the first
time you mess up and
don't forgive somebody
you're out you're done
it could sound like
that I don't think
that's what it's doing
but it could sound
that way so let's
just think about it
for a moment
number one Jesus is
again teaching his
disciples what it
looks like or what
how they should be
what it looks like for
them to be his
disciples and his
disciples should be
forgiving just as he
is forgiving
so this is again so
he's not just
teaching everything
that could be said
about forgiveness
that's what he's
really after is he's
shaping and forming
them to be his
disciples that they
would be forgiving
others just as they
have been forgiven and
this is a sign that they
are his true his true
followers
the other thing to do
as we're looking at this
parable is just to
consider right is that
forgiveness from God
forgiveness for God is
for is for a debt that
we could never have
paid back and that
Jesus's death on the
cross is what has paid
for our sins and that
Jesus is speaking here to
people who are forgiven
yet he warns them and he
warns us right because
it's not just a story about
a warning to the
disciples right it'd be a
warning to us too but it's
spoken to people who are
his children to people who
are already his disciples
right Matthew is writing
this to to Christians
to people who are
confessing Jesus as Lord
so what's so what's
happening here so the
what I think is happening
here is Jesus is giving
them a warning so they
will understand the
necessity of forgiveness
the importance of
forgiveness and not
treat it as like icing on
the cake and in doing so
Jesus will save them he
will keep them he will
keep them this way by
warning them just like
earlier I was talking
about what warnings do
right so God preserves his
people and he does this
partially not only the way
but one of the ways God
preserves us is by warning
us about what happens if we
don't act and we aren't
like his children the
idea being that the true
people of God will hear
this and think I need to
take forgiveness seriously
I can't sort of mess around
here not because I need to
earn my forgiveness not
because God is like got me
on a short leash and he's
sort of forgiven me is like
like you're forgiven for now
but maybe later you won't be
forgiven the idea is the
idea is that the people of
God will hear this and be
forgiving because they
understand what their
heavenly father has done
for them and they will
also understand what he is
like and I want to suggest
to you is when you're
reading through the New
Testament and you see
warnings that's exactly what
the warnings are meant to
do it is God's gracious way
of keeping you to keep you
to continue on to persevere
God does that and he does
it through warnings just like
the way God saves you through
people preaching the gospel
and not apart from it right
just like the way God saves
people through evangelism just
like the way God works through
prayer it's not as though God
is not you know it's not as
though God is is thinking well
you know I would say that guy
if I could just get somebody to
speak to that guy otherwise I
can't save him of course God
can but God has chosen to do
what God has chosen to call us to
himself through the preaching of
the word through the gospel and
what I would say is the warnings
do a similar thing God has
chosen to if you will get our
attention in these warnings so
that we will continue on living
like his people now ultimately of
course yeah we need to say this
ultimately of course if somebody
would prove to never be
forgiving then it would reflect
back on whether or not they were
actually ever a believer in the
first place but if you think
about this think about again
again Jesus is not rebuking his
disciples here he's exhorting
them he's not sort of lecturing
them he's not mad at them he's
not angry at them he's not even
angry at Peter he's just answering
Peter's question so he's exhorting
them to live like those who have
been forgiven and his expectation
is this that people who have been
forgiven will hear this story and
respond in the right way and think
yeah yeah I've been forgiven
everything and yet I hold such
little things over people even
though I've been forgiven all
things and I think that's what
Jesus is meaning to do here right
he's not he's not just threatening
them right Jesus doesn't just
threaten you better forgive or
you're out that is not what's
happening here it's Jesus simply
saying my people will be like their
heavenly father who has forgiven
them everything and I think if we
can read it that way and we can
understand that God graciously gives
us warnings not threats but warnings
then we can receive those and then it
can be more we can take forgiveness
more seriously in terms of living
living together now I do want to be
clear about something about many
things actually sometimes people will
read a text like this about
forgiveness and there are people and
there's maybe people in this room who
you struggle every day to forgive
someone or people who have done
horrible things and sometimes people
who have suffered horrible things at
the hands of others are overly
pressured and all of a sudden the
pressures on them you need to forgive
now of course people need to be
forgiving but we want to be careful
that we don't read a text like this
and if you know or if you if you know
someone or maybe yourself have just
been have suffered just unspeakable
things at the hands of other people
Jesus is not saying to you you better
forgive them as though it's just like
a formula right that's not what's
happening here right so we sometimes
will take people who like horrible
things have happened to and then we'll
pile on top of them this sort of
responsibility that you better forgive
once and for all and finally right now
now not realizing that forgiveness might
be something that people have to come
to over time and maybe many times and
not just once like you just did it I'm
just done right just like everything
else we live by faith and we continue
to live that way and forgiveness is not
just a simple one-time thing and we
want to be careful we want to be
careful you know when people are in
particular situations where forgiveness
is next to impossible feeling we don't
want to make them feel like you know you
you might even be saved
unless you forget because it might be
their lifelong sort of persevering
struggle to do that and we're to walk
alongside them and encourage them not
keep a burden on them and so we want to
be careful we want to be careful when we
take a text like this that we don't sort
of then use it right to that we don't we
don't want to misuse it that's all I'm
trying to say right not with ourselves
not with others right we don't want to
take the edge off of it we do want to
encourage and obviously encourage in all
of us a life of forgiveness where we
look like our heavenly we look like our
heavenly father but you don't want to
take a text like this and then pile it on
as an extra burden on top of somebody who
is already living with maybe more burden
than they can bear
and remember it's God who judges the
heart and it's God who judges forgiveness
and what forgiveness looks like and
forgiveness might sort of look
differently depending on different
situations and so that's one thing the
other thing is Jesus is careful to say
forgive from the heart I think the idea
is that it's a new heart that has been
made new by Jesus's death and
resurrection it's a reminder in this
parable that our lives are a hundred
percent based on grace and so in other
words what it does is Jesus is talking
about forgiveness in a particularly
Christian way he's taking it out of sort
of the realm of the way the world might
talk about forgiveness in terms of I
forgive if right so you know what I mean
so in other words it's easy to forgive
people if we just sort of wait for
somebody to do something then like okay
but there's no like if somebody does
something I'll forgive he is showing us
what he's showing us what it looks like
to be recreated so that we're like our
heavenly father who has forgiven us all
things but I don't think there's some
sort of expectation that like why you
like wake up one morning like ah I
forgive everything that happens all the
time immediately that's not the idea
right because the idea would be we would
continually come back to this text and
read it and read it and read it and read it
not just a one-time fix because remember
Jesus is patient with his disciples I
talked about earlier how they they make
mistakes and it's really clear like we
do but you know one of the things Jesus
says he doesn't give up on them he
continues to teach them even when they
make huge mistakes and the same thing
for you right so you don't want to take
this text and all of a sudden turn it
back on yourself and be sort of defeated
by it so one of the things that happens I
think we see a text like this is we
come forgiveness starts by confessing
ourselves that we're not forgiving
it's not just oh you know woe is me now
there's more burden on me you turn to
God who does what who forgives sins so
step number one if you want to become
and I do if we do if all of us do want
to become more forgiving people step
number one is not just say all right I'm
going to be more forgiving I turn this
into a new work for me and I'm going to
show I'm going to prove that I'm a
Christian because now I'm going to be
more forgiving step number one is to
turn to God and confess you know what
Lord I have not been forgiving towards
this person towards that person or maybe
just in general that's always step one
why because we're turning to the God
who does what forgives so if we want to
become more like our Heavenly Father who
forgives we can never turn from him or
turn away from him we need to turn to
him constantly for forgiveness not just
forgiveness in the past when you got
saved but forgiveness every day because
he's the one who forgives right without
measure without weighing right he will and
if you've been struggling with forgiving
somebody or let's just say somebody over
and over again it's not as though you're
going to come to God and he's like you
know what this is the 50th time you've
prayed to me about that right I've had
enough just get it done that's not how
God is going to treat you God when you
turn to God in prayer he never looks at
you and he's like oh you again you know
we did this yesterday we've been doing
this for five years that's not that's how
we react but not God and so no matter how
much you might feel burdened by just an
inability to maybe forgive or extend
forgiveness to others turn to God with
that because he knows and he's there to do
what to forgive you so that you can be
forgiving
and so the last thing I'll say is this I
mentioned it before for us forgiveness is
continual and it's not perfect as we
continue on in the Christian life right it's
not perfect but we are being perfected in
Jesus and we just have to always count we
just have to always remember I just have
a way right my sins according to God and I
confess Jesus in Jesus this is true that
all of my sins no matter what they are
have been forgiven yet I can hold the
slightest little thing over someone and
not then compare it to and you put it in
the balance you can't even balance them and
so that's what I would want to leave you
with today as I close as you look at this
just just start thinking about all of us
need to start thinking about the fact that
it is the things often not the huge things
but often like daily things let's just
think about daily things not catastrophic
things the little daily things that maybe
we find so difficult to forgive
and put those in light of all the of what
we've been forgiven that is all of our
sins and then to give thanks to God for
his word that directs us back to him
because the thing that I when I was when
I was getting ready for this sermon the
thing that I kept coming back to as I was
looking at it was it kept pointing me back
to my absolute need every day of forgiveness
for before God and from God and that
without God's forgiveness me being a
forgiving person that's not going to
happen because I'm always going to forgive
if somebody kind of does the right thing
if you leave it up to me but God has
freed us God has freed you and God has
freed me that we don't have to wait for
another person to do like the right thing
we can extend forgiveness and you can
extend forgiveness and if they don't act
in the right way immediately and recognize
that you've forgiven them or that you're
treating them different that's okay
because you've been set free from that
you've been set free from having to rely on
how others act or even react to you because
you've been forgiven everything by God and
God no longer looks at you as a center let's
pray together
father I pray that you'll make this word
true in us hope it to be more than just
something we hear and then go about our
business we thank you for how gracious
gracious you are that you direct us and
even warn us and that you do so because you
love us and you want us to continue to grow
and mature in you until the day that we
reach heaven and we understand and realize
full forgiveness forever and we pray this
in Christ's name amen