Matthew Ch18v21-35

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,

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 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,

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,

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

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

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

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