Matthew 18:21-25

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.

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.

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.

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.