September 13, 2026 Sermon -- Pastor Paula Canby [Matthew 18:21-35]

Our gospel for today is found in the 18th chapter of Matthew, beginning at the 21st verse.

Then Peter came and said to him, Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive?

As many as seven times?

Jesus said to him, Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy-seven times.

For this season, for this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.

When he began the reckoning, one who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him.

And as he could not pay, the Lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions and payment to be made.

So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.

And out of pity for him, the Lord of that slave released him and forgave the debt.

But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii and seized him by the throat and he said, Pay what you owe.

Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me, and I will pay you.

But he refused.

Then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt.

When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.

Then his lord summoned him and said to him, You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave as I had mercy on you?

And in anger his Lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt.

So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brothers or sisters from your heart.

The gospel of the Lord.

Do you remember anything?

What did we talk about?

Go ahead.

Forgiving people, yes.

And how many times did Jesus say that we should forgive people?

A lot, you're right.

77 times is what he told us, isn't it?

And that's a lot of times, isn't it?

Yeah.

Is that always easy?

No, it's not always easy to forgive people if they hurt us.

But somehow we need to figure out a way to do that, don't we?

Because Jesus tells us to love each other, doesn't he?

And that's not always easy either, is it?

Especially if somebody's not been nice to us or does something that hurt us.

But we can figure out how to love each other, can't we?

Thank you.

I'm glad to hear you say that because there's different ways to love people, aren't there?

Yeah.

We don't always have to be their best friend.

But we need to s at least say hello.

But we don't have to do more than that if it's someone that's hurt us or been not been nice to us.

But we do need to be friendly, don't we?

And that's what Jesus says.

And I know each and every one of you tries to do that, don't you?

We don't hit other people because they did something to us, even though we might want to sometimes.

But that's what we're learning in Sunday school, and that's what we're learning when we have a relationship with Jesus.

Because Jesus is important in our lives, isn't he?

Yep, he really is, and that's a wonderful gift that God's given us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So let's pray.

For these young people, protect them, take care of them, help them to learn that you love them very, very much, and you're you are taking care of them and supporting them.

And help them to look to you when they have troubles because you are with them.

Take care of their families, help them in school to be able to be the best students that they can be.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Okay, I brought you some things to play with while you're listening for the rest of the service.

These are kind of interesting because you can make them into all kinds of different shapes.

Do you have one of those already?

Oh you have one too at home?

Oh, she does.

Okay, good.

Well see, I thought maybe you could sit and play with that while you're listening for the rest of the service.

There's a couple other things in there too.

Help yourself and then you can go back to your seats.

Thanks for coming up.

You can have oh, you got a car?

Oh, good for you.

Good for you.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Redeemer, we have the tremendous privilege of serving you in your kingdom.

We pray that we will always strive to bring honor to you.

Amen.

So there's an English proverb that says, faults are thick where love is thin.

But God demonstrates to a greater extent the opposite.

Faults are thin where love is thick.

Another way to think about this section in chapter 14 of Romans.

It's tough to praise God if you're busy passing judgment on another.

This passage continues the theme of Paul giving instructions on how to live in a fallen world.

Remember, Paul started out in chapter 12 telling us to give ourselves to Christ as living sacrifices through the renewing and the transformation of our hearts, our minds, and our souls.

By the power of the Holy Spirit.

The last two weeks in our Romans reading, we've heard about love.

So this week, Paul talks about the relationship among people, especially those people who find themselves on opposing sides of two particular issues.

Kind of prevalent in our world today, isn't it?

Whether or not it is appropriate to eat certain foods, is what Paul's talking about.

And the second is whether certain days deserve special honor and attention more than others.

That's what we deal with too, isn't it?

The Apostle Paul, thus quick to inform Christians in Rome and consequently in every place about the dangers of falling and failing to live as a family.

It does not matter if a person is weak or strong in faith.

The main thing is to remember that we're all human.

When all is said and done is about believing in God and responding to God's call with our lives.

When we are justified by God, we are able and expected to welcome others in spite of their condition, their background, their sexuality, their nationality, or their race or their color.

Remember, God forgives, therefore, we forgive others also.

And just as the children heard, seventy-seven times.

But that's not easy.

But that's what God asks us to do.

Paul tells Christians that each one of us should be ready to extend hospitality to others.

Remember Nelson Mandela's, and maybe you've never heard about this because I preached about it a couple of weeks ago, but not here.

The term Umbuntu, which comes from Africa.

Nelson Mandela talks about it and gives an example.

And it comes from Desmond Tutu, who was the archbishop of the Episcopal Church in South Africa.

What a man.

Today, like the church in Rome, our world is operating under the same political system of the weak and the strong.

That means some are excluded, shunned, and at times silenced.

Some, regardless of their faith, tend to look down on the uneducated, the poor, those living in areas challenged by violence, and all kinds of other things.

Especially in these circumstances, the Apostle Paul's teaching is for people to live as God would have us live, by honoring and appreciating the humanity of each other.

As we read this part of Romans, we are called to put ourselves in the place of ancient Jews and Gentiles and to recognize the changes that are necessary to be a hospitable church doing away with the tribal mentality.

In psychological, theological, political, and cultural ways, today's world is characterized by hostility between races, nationalities, and people who think differently than we do.

Paul says in verse four, who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?

Have you ever stopped to think about if some if you categorize people as insiders and outsiders?

Where there are categories, there's no unity.

Love, hospitality, appreciation of others.

It's not always easy, and it's not always the natural thing that we do because we live in a fallen world.

We are sinners.

Sometimes we really have to work at it.

But the entire Nuke Testament is about love.

And Paul talks about that in Romans.

So when we read 14 Romans chapter 14, 1 to 12, it seems to reiterate and interpret Romans chapter 8, 31 to 39.

Romans 14 · chapter mention Romans 8 · chapter mention

Listen.

We then, what then are we to say about these things?

If God is for us, who is against us?

He who did not withhold his own son, but gave him up for all of us.

Will he not with him also give us everything else?

Who will bring any charge against God's elect?

It is God who justifies.

Who is to condemn?

It's Jesus Christ, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for each and every one of us, who will separate us from the love of Christ?

Will hardship or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all day long.

We are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

I hope you all believe that.

And I'm sure that you've heard that before, especially at a funeral.

Once again, Paul emphasizes the transformed mind, heart, and soul, and reminds all readers that a transformed mind is always open to others.

A spiritually renewed mind does not put a stumbling block in another's Christian formation and growth in God.

Rather, a transformed mind becomes a resource for discipleship, spiritual growth, and just plain caring for each other.

When the church fails to be a sacred space for unity and appreciation for diversity, the entire secular world suffers.

Because we are the model.

This is what God asks us to do.

We need spiritually renewed minds and hearts in our world today.

With a renewed mind comes the fruits of righteousness, peace, love, joy, reconciliation.

Romans 14, 19 is the summation of this letter.

Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Amen.