From Your Heart
Sunday, September 11th, 2005
Pentecost +17
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Matthew 18:21-35
Where do we begin to talk about forgiveness in the Christian faith?
Do we go back to the Old Testament and begin there, with the multitudes of times that God forgave the children of Israel – sometimes with some prodding from Moses – for wandering not only through the wilderness but also away from Him?
Or do we move forward, and begin with God and King David, who time and time again let his lower instincts get a hold of him, and yet, God still reckoned him a man after God’s own heart even at the end of his life?
Or should we go no further back than John the Baptist, preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins to the people of Israel shortly before Jesus came on the scene?
What about only going so far back as the Crucifixion, with Jesus asking God to forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing?
How many different places in scripture do we find forgiveness? How often is forgiveness the central point of the story, such as in today’s passage?
The events in the story in the text never actually happened … Jesus is again presenting a parable of the Kingdom. See there in verse 23, Jesus says, “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to…” That’s our clue to the fact that Jesus is again painting a picture of what God’s Kingdom is like.
So what do we have? We have a King, and a slave who owes him 150,000 years’ worth of salary. A talent, in some conversion tables, was the equivalent of 15 years’ wages. In short, Jesus wasn’t telling the story in a way that people could actually conceive of it truly happening – REALLY happening – in their context. It’d be as if I owed Governor Warner 4 Billion, 800 Million dollars, roughly. Give or take a few bucks. He was using exaggeration to make the point. The figure is an unreal sum, for an individual.
The central issue quickly becomes the actions and attitudes within the story. The King demands his repayment, the slave falls on his knees begging the King for more time to pay, the King takes compassion on him, and forgives the debt. He doesn’t work out a payment plan, he doesn’t reduce the debt, he voids it, eliminates it completely, erases it entirely.
Now remember, Jesus is painting a picture of the Kingdom for us. People are already assigning roles and names to each character in the story. Folks are listening in, cruising along, they’ve got their pens in hand, with their notebooks, and they’re jotting down the notes as they listen to the story.
The King, of course, is God.
Check.
The slave who owes him more than can even be imagined is … me.
Check.
Fearing the wrath of God for the debt owed, is DEFINITELY me.
Check.
Begging for time to pay it off, that’s gotta be me as well.
Check.
The King forgiving the debt? THAT debt?!
Wow.
If that’s what God is like, then yeah!
Check! I want that !
Unfortunately for us, the parable doesn’t end there. We follow the slave who has just had this huge weight lifted off his shoulders out of the palace, where he runs into another man who owes HIM twenty bucks.
We’d like to think that, having just experienced a once-in-a-lifetime releasing from an obligation that was going to be impossible to repay any other way, the man may have gained some perspective, may still be glowing from the magnanimity, the graciousness and generosity of the King, and would react almost instinctively in the same manner in which he had just been treated.
Not so.
What we have instead is someone who responds from a point of total disconnect with what he’s just lived through. He seemingly received the forgiveness, and then left the palace with the weight lifted, but his actions betray his heart, and show that what tears he may have shed were crocodile tears, never truly sincere.
So we come to the shadowside of the parable. The part that always makes me uncomfortable, because I don’t – I simply do not enjoy reading of the wrath of God.
Listeners at the time would be be-bopping along, checking off the items as they heard and identified them, and then they’d get to this part.
Slave runs into other slave who owes him money.
Check. Yeah, I can think of a couple of people who owe me.
Maybe not money, but certainly an apology.
Slave beats the one who owes him a couple of bucks and has him thrown in jail.
Oops.
Would I really do that?
What are we talking about?
Forgiveness. What are we talking about forgiving? Anything. Everything. Whatever.
There’s no qualifier. The parable mentions money, but the enduring truth in the story is the action, the attitude of forgiveness. And we find that, though this first slave received forgiveness from HIS master, he didn’t understand the concept, even having been the recipient of it.
Understanding the concept means that we are able to grasp the significance, the impact, the difference it has and will make in our lives and pass that on.
You see, forgiveness is not something that we just receive; it is something we extend as well. It is part of what we DO as Christians. It is not something we keep track of, either. That was the whole purpose of the parable. Not to tell us that we are to forgive … to a point, beyond that, we are not responsible for continuing to forgive. It is, again, an example of a counterintuitive aspect of the Gospel, something that doesn’t mesh with how the world works.
Here’s the thing. We need to decide, and it is the most important decision we will ever make. We have Kingdom behavior on the one hand, and what the world tells us to do on the other, and we are always going to be faced with the question ‘which will I choose?’
We can sit in relative comfort in this sanctuary and talk about it and listen to the issue being discussed, and nod in agreement with the ‘correct’ or ‘biblical’ answer, but what happens when we leave the room? When we walk out of the building and are confronted with:
A woman who climbs behind the wheel of her car drunk and slams into another car, killing an entire family?
A man who regularly beats his wife and children?
A man who sells drugs to addicts, and flaunts the law in the process?
Men who regularly declare that the United States is the great Satan, and maneuver and organize a concerted attack in which over 3000 people are killed.
A man with whom you had a disagreement in the midst of what turned out to be a heated meeting, and you ended up raising your voices and stomping out.
A woman who said some things about you that were hurtful and untrue.
A family that you befriended, but who later, for some unexplained reason, pulled away.
What is the Christian’s response to that?
According to Jesus, it is forgiveness. But not forgiveness for forgiveness’ sake alone.
Peter was asking his question from a literal by-the-book legalistic reading of scripture. Jesus turned the law around. In Genesis 4:23-24, the reference is established by which the number is invoked. Lamech is quoted as telling his wives, if one man was killed to avenge Cain, then seventy-seven will be killed to avenge me.
It seems to have established a pattern that is still followed to this day in the middle east. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If you are identified as having perpetrated a terrorist attack on an Israeli, your family’s home will be bulldozed to the ground.
It is a cycle of violence that has been perpetuated for centuries, had been already in Jesus’ time. And Christ is calling us to break the cycle of violence. Because the purpose of forgiveness is to move beyond the event and seek RECONCILIATION.
How we forgive is a direct reflection of how we have perceived God’s forgiveness of our own lives. How we respond is a direct manifestation of how WE respond to God’s calling us to reconciliation to him through Christ.
That is where our heart comes into play.
If we have truly accepted God’s forgiveness in our hearts, it will show in our actions and attitudes towards others. We will seek justice, and not allow injustice to continue. We will seek peace, not war. We will seek harmony, not strife. We will seek reconciliation, not revenge.
What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?
It means that we HAVE TO start here. The pattern of the great commission is just that, the pattern to follow. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
So we start close to home, close to our own hearts, where it is sometimes the hardest. Let’s examine ourselves. Examine our hearts. The Psalmist writes ‘search me, O God, and know my heart’ and that must be our prayer today. God, uncover in me anything that I might have been hiding all these many years, and let me come clean. Give me the courage to speak in love to my brother or sister and seek forgiveness, in order to come to a reconciliation. Because it is only in being reconciled HERE that I will be reconciled with YOU in Heaven.
Let’s pray.
Sunday, September 11th, 2005
Pentecost +17
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Matthew 18:21-35
21 Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ 22Jesus said to im, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 23‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” 27And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” 29Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” 30But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?” 34And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’
Where do we begin to talk about forgiveness in the Christian faith?
Do we go back to the Old Testament and begin there, with the multitudes of times that God forgave the children of Israel – sometimes with some prodding from Moses – for wandering not only through the wilderness but also away from Him?
Or do we move forward, and begin with God and King David, who time and time again let his lower instincts get a hold of him, and yet, God still reckoned him a man after God’s own heart even at the end of his life?
Or should we go no further back than John the Baptist, preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins to the people of Israel shortly before Jesus came on the scene?
What about only going so far back as the Crucifixion, with Jesus asking God to forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing?
How many different places in scripture do we find forgiveness? How often is forgiveness the central point of the story, such as in today’s passage?
The events in the story in the text never actually happened … Jesus is again presenting a parable of the Kingdom. See there in verse 23, Jesus says, “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to…” That’s our clue to the fact that Jesus is again painting a picture of what God’s Kingdom is like.
So what do we have? We have a King, and a slave who owes him 150,000 years’ worth of salary. A talent, in some conversion tables, was the equivalent of 15 years’ wages. In short, Jesus wasn’t telling the story in a way that people could actually conceive of it truly happening – REALLY happening – in their context. It’d be as if I owed Governor Warner 4 Billion, 800 Million dollars, roughly. Give or take a few bucks. He was using exaggeration to make the point. The figure is an unreal sum, for an individual.
The central issue quickly becomes the actions and attitudes within the story. The King demands his repayment, the slave falls on his knees begging the King for more time to pay, the King takes compassion on him, and forgives the debt. He doesn’t work out a payment plan, he doesn’t reduce the debt, he voids it, eliminates it completely, erases it entirely.
Now remember, Jesus is painting a picture of the Kingdom for us. People are already assigning roles and names to each character in the story. Folks are listening in, cruising along, they’ve got their pens in hand, with their notebooks, and they’re jotting down the notes as they listen to the story.
The King, of course, is God.
Check.
The slave who owes him more than can even be imagined is … me.
Check.
Fearing the wrath of God for the debt owed, is DEFINITELY me.
Check.
Begging for time to pay it off, that’s gotta be me as well.
Check.
The King forgiving the debt? THAT debt?!
Wow.
If that’s what God is like, then yeah!
Check! I want that !
Unfortunately for us, the parable doesn’t end there. We follow the slave who has just had this huge weight lifted off his shoulders out of the palace, where he runs into another man who owes HIM twenty bucks.
We’d like to think that, having just experienced a once-in-a-lifetime releasing from an obligation that was going to be impossible to repay any other way, the man may have gained some perspective, may still be glowing from the magnanimity, the graciousness and generosity of the King, and would react almost instinctively in the same manner in which he had just been treated.
Not so.
What we have instead is someone who responds from a point of total disconnect with what he’s just lived through. He seemingly received the forgiveness, and then left the palace with the weight lifted, but his actions betray his heart, and show that what tears he may have shed were crocodile tears, never truly sincere.
So we come to the shadowside of the parable. The part that always makes me uncomfortable, because I don’t – I simply do not enjoy reading of the wrath of God.
Listeners at the time would be be-bopping along, checking off the items as they heard and identified them, and then they’d get to this part.
Slave runs into other slave who owes him money.
Check. Yeah, I can think of a couple of people who owe me.
Maybe not money, but certainly an apology.
Slave beats the one who owes him a couple of bucks and has him thrown in jail.
Oops.
Would I really do that?
What are we talking about?
Forgiveness. What are we talking about forgiving? Anything. Everything. Whatever.
There’s no qualifier. The parable mentions money, but the enduring truth in the story is the action, the attitude of forgiveness. And we find that, though this first slave received forgiveness from HIS master, he didn’t understand the concept, even having been the recipient of it.
Understanding the concept means that we are able to grasp the significance, the impact, the difference it has and will make in our lives and pass that on.
You see, forgiveness is not something that we just receive; it is something we extend as well. It is part of what we DO as Christians. It is not something we keep track of, either. That was the whole purpose of the parable. Not to tell us that we are to forgive … to a point, beyond that, we are not responsible for continuing to forgive. It is, again, an example of a counterintuitive aspect of the Gospel, something that doesn’t mesh with how the world works.
Here’s the thing. We need to decide, and it is the most important decision we will ever make. We have Kingdom behavior on the one hand, and what the world tells us to do on the other, and we are always going to be faced with the question ‘which will I choose?’
We can sit in relative comfort in this sanctuary and talk about it and listen to the issue being discussed, and nod in agreement with the ‘correct’ or ‘biblical’ answer, but what happens when we leave the room? When we walk out of the building and are confronted with:
A woman who climbs behind the wheel of her car drunk and slams into another car, killing an entire family?
A man who regularly beats his wife and children?
A man who sells drugs to addicts, and flaunts the law in the process?
Men who regularly declare that the United States is the great Satan, and maneuver and organize a concerted attack in which over 3000 people are killed.
A man with whom you had a disagreement in the midst of what turned out to be a heated meeting, and you ended up raising your voices and stomping out.
A woman who said some things about you that were hurtful and untrue.
A family that you befriended, but who later, for some unexplained reason, pulled away.
What is the Christian’s response to that?
According to Jesus, it is forgiveness. But not forgiveness for forgiveness’ sake alone.
Peter was asking his question from a literal by-the-book legalistic reading of scripture. Jesus turned the law around. In Genesis 4:23-24, the reference is established by which the number is invoked. Lamech is quoted as telling his wives, if one man was killed to avenge Cain, then seventy-seven will be killed to avenge me.
It seems to have established a pattern that is still followed to this day in the middle east. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If you are identified as having perpetrated a terrorist attack on an Israeli, your family’s home will be bulldozed to the ground.
It is a cycle of violence that has been perpetuated for centuries, had been already in Jesus’ time. And Christ is calling us to break the cycle of violence. Because the purpose of forgiveness is to move beyond the event and seek RECONCILIATION.
How we forgive is a direct reflection of how we have perceived God’s forgiveness of our own lives. How we respond is a direct manifestation of how WE respond to God’s calling us to reconciliation to him through Christ.
That is where our heart comes into play.
If we have truly accepted God’s forgiveness in our hearts, it will show in our actions and attitudes towards others. We will seek justice, and not allow injustice to continue. We will seek peace, not war. We will seek harmony, not strife. We will seek reconciliation, not revenge.
What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?
It means that we HAVE TO start here. The pattern of the great commission is just that, the pattern to follow. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
So we start close to home, close to our own hearts, where it is sometimes the hardest. Let’s examine ourselves. Examine our hearts. The Psalmist writes ‘search me, O God, and know my heart’ and that must be our prayer today. God, uncover in me anything that I might have been hiding all these many years, and let me come clean. Give me the courage to speak in love to my brother or sister and seek forgiveness, in order to come to a reconciliation. Because it is only in being reconciled HERE that I will be reconciled with YOU in Heaven.
Let’s pray.
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