"Forgiven To Forgive" (Matthew 18:21-35)

"Forgiven To Forgive"

(Matthew 18:21-35)

Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

Matthew 18:21-35

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

"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 ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, 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. 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 him the debt. But 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.' 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 would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

INTRODUCTION:

Maybe you've heard about Jim and Joe, two old codgers both in their mid 70's. They lived next door to each other as boys and grew up together. They became best friends. They went to Church together. They played together on the High School baseball and football teams. They roomed together in college. They double dated together. These two guys were inseparable. They even wound up working for the same company. At 25, they both finally met the women of their dreams. And they got married on the same day, in the same Church because the girls of their dreams were sisters.

No one had ever seen two men or two families that were closer than these two. At age 30, a new housing development opened in their community, and they built homes next to each other. They continued going to church together, working and playing together. For 35 years, they were absolutely inseparable.

Then one Sunday, people in the church were all a buzz. You see, Jim came in with his family and sat in their usual place but when Joe and his family came in, they sat on the opposite side of the church. Everybody instantly knew something was wrong but nobody knew what. From that time on, the relationship between this two was as cold as cold could be. They were barely civil to each other. Jim built a six foot privacy fence between his house and Joe's. Not to be out done, Joe built one 8 feet tall.

The only time the sisters and the kids could see each other was when the two men were at work. No more weekend family outings. No laughter and joy. The friendship that had grown for sixty-five years had suddenly soured.

Then one day, ten years later, Joe had a heart attack. He wound up in the hospital and the doctors weren't too sure about his recovery and told him and his family that he should get things in order. The pastor heard and called Jim. He knew of their long time friendship and their falling out. Jim was reluctant but he went to the hospital. Joe Was surprised when Jim walked into the room. But was even more surprised when Jim said: "Joe, I don't even remember why we got mad at each other. But whatever it was, if it was my fault, I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Joe sat there for a minute just staring at Joe. Then he said, "I don't reckon I remember what it was either. And since I'm fixin' to die, I guess I ought to forgive you and ask your forgiveness also."

Jim beamed and stuck out his hand Joe took it and the two men shook hands. Everybody in the room sighed in relief, then Joe said, "Of course, you know that if I survive this thing all bets are off."

Sounds just like the character in this parable doesn't it? What an ungrateful slob. My first reaction to Joe and the turkey in this parable is to slap them silly. How dare they act that way? How dare they not forgive? Because, WE ALL NEED FORGIVENESS.

I. WE ALL NEED FORGIVENESS:

A. That's the First thing I want to talk about. WE ALL NEED FORGIVENESS. The Scriptural witness is that we "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). Jesus knew that, that's why He came. Peter knew it, too, long before Paul ever wrote those words. That's one of the reasons why Peter came to Jesus and asked, "How many times should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?"

You may not know it, but Peter was being very magnanimous. You see, the Pharisees taught you only had to forgive someone three times. So, Peter really stretches things here. (It shows he was paying attention and growing in both faith and understanding.) But it wasn't enough. Jesus says, "No, Peter, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Or as some translate: "seventy times seven." Both numbers were used to symbolize the idea of an infinite number of times.

So, basically what Jesus tells Peter is: "No, Peter, not seven times but an infinite number of times because that's how often God is willing to forgive you." And then Jesus tells this parable about an Extravagant King and the unforgiving servant. A parable that shows the magnitude of God's Grace. For, you see, the king represents God. The debt forgiven translates to about 10 million dollars in today's market. An extravagant gift. And the debt owed to the forgiven servant by the unforgiven debtor was about $20.

This parable points to the rich and extravagant grace of God. And it condemns any miserly grace on the part of any one of us who have experienced the extravagance of God's grace and forgiveness.

B. We know what it's like to need forgiveness. We all need forgiveness. We all need that extravagance of God in our lives. We all have those things that we have done or things we have left undone that haunt us. We're all like Ziggy in the comics.

Maybe you saw Ziggy this week. He says: "...the only time it seems I manage to pack up my troubles . . . is when I take them with me on a guilt trip!!" (1)

We can associate with Ziggy because we all have that same kind of guilt. We all need forgiveness. And the Good News is that we HAVE been forgiven. The extravagance of the King is for us. Our debt has been canceled. Our sin has been forgiven. Our debt of sin was so large that we never could have found freedom except through the extravagant generosity and grace of God through Christ. We all need forgiveness. And the Good news is that we HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN. And as a consequence of that forgiveness, WE ALL NEED TO FORGIVE.

II. WE ALL NEED TO FORGIVE:

A. That's the second thing I want to talk about: WE ALL NEED TO FORGIVE. Why? We forgive because that's what Jesus taught. That's what this parable is about. That's what the line in the Lord's Prayer is all about. "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." That's what turning the other cheek is all about. Jesus taught us to be as forgiving as He is forgiving. We all need to forgive because that's what Jesus taught.

B. But that's not all. We forgive because it is healing. You've probably heard the wonderful little poem by Edwin Markham about forgiveness: He drew a circle that shut me out,

Rebel, heretic, a thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win --

We drew a circle that took him in.

What most people don't know is that Markham wrote those words at a very hard time in his life. His banker, a man he had trusted as his friend, had stolen all of his savings. Markham was so bitter that when he tried to write again, he found he was dry as a rock. One day he was sitting at his desk doodling, not writing poetry but thinking of the man who had wronged him. Markham later testified that the Holy Spirit convinced him that he needed to forgive this man. He did. He poured out his resentment to God and asked God to cleanse his life and give him the power and the grace needed to forgive. And that was when the miracle occurred. The resentment was gone. And the poetry flowed. It was in that moment of healing that he wrote this famous poem. We all need to forgive because forgiveness is healing.

C. And we forgive because we have been forgiven. You see, in the Kingdom of God, the truth is that you can't receive what you're not willing to give.

Let me show you what I mean. This is the interactive part, as Mark Winter would say. Hold out both hands, like this: hands open, palms up. Now if you are right handed clench that hand into a fist. If you're left handed, clench that hand into a fist. That's the fist you would hit someone with, right? That's the fist you would lead with in a fight. It's the one that would hold the biggest wallop.

That fist represent the Unforgiving Spirit. Nothing can get in. The grudge that you hold, the hurt that you hold, the pain and anger of someone's sin against you is held tightly in that clenched fist. Nothing can get in and nothing can get out.

But the open hand represents the Forgiving Spirit. The open hand has let go of the pain and the grudge and the hurt and the sin. The open hand has let go and is open to receive whatever comes its way. It is open to receive the hand of another. It is open to receive the love and grace and mercy and forgiveness of God. The open hand is open to receive the forgiveness of others.

The clenched fist can never receive forgiveness until it opens and lets go of the hurt and pain. It can never receive forgiveness until it opens and offers forgiveness. We all need to forgive because we have been forgiven. (2)

III. FORGIVENESS CHANGES EVERYTHING:

A. You see, FORGIVENESS CHANGES EVERYTHING.

Forgiveness changes us. Forgiveness changes the situation. Forgiveness changes the other person. Forgiveness changes everything.

There's a man I know, a friend and member of one of our former Churches. He was late coming into the Church. Frank was in his late fifties before he accepted Christ and joined the Church. You see, when he was a young man Frank did some pretty reprehensible things. He was rather rebellious and people said he was headed to prison. He didn't spend any time in prison but by the time he was twenty-five he had spent plenty of time in the County Jail.

God got Frank's attention after a particularly horrible wreck that destroyed his pickup but from which he walked away. Investigators said there was no way he could have or should have survived. But he did, with just minor cuts and scratches.

After the wreck, Frank began to live differently, but for the next thirty years he carried the guilt of his past in his heart and on his shoulders. We met at a funeral. Something I said caught his attention and to everybody's surprise, about three weeks later he showed up at our worship service. The looks and the stares were enough to send him home forever. But he was used to them and stayed.

After the service, he was one of the first ones out the door. This went on for about six weeks. Then one day Frank met me as I was going into the Post Office. I found out later, that he'd been waiting for me. We went and got a cup of coffee and talked. He had lot's of questions. Most of them something like: "Are you sure, preacher? Are you sure? Even somebody like me?"

Two weeks later when I gave the invitation, Frank was down front before I got all the words out of my mouth. He accepted Christ that morning and I baptized him. After the service he walked to the door with me and people came by to welcome him into the Church.

One of the little old ladies of the Church, one of the sweet elderly angels, who was hard of hearing shook his hand and then asked, "And what did you say your name was?"

Frank looked at me, then looked down at her. He straightened his shoulders, stood tall, and with a grin of sheer joy on his face said, "Forgiven, ma'am. My name is Forgiven."

B. Forgiveness changed everything in Frank's life. Forgiveness changed how he looked at himself and at how everyone else looked at Frank. It changed everything.

And that's the point Jesus was making. It was the point that the unforgiving servant in the parable missed. the unforgiving servant had experienced the extravagant generosity and grace of the King. But he didn't appreciate it or understand it because he didn't pass it on. We are forgiven and brought into a right relationship with god through Christ.

We have fallen so short of the glory of God and our debt is so great that there is no way we could pay it. There are not enough prayers that we could pray; there's not enough money in the world that we could give; nor are there enough good deeds that we could do to get us out of debt and make God love us. Nor is there anything that we could do to make God stop loving us.

God loves us and offers us the extravagant generosity and grace of forgiveness through Jesus the Christ, His own Son. Jesus died on the cross not with clenched fists but with open hands. Hands of forgiveness and healing.

God wants us to experience the extravagance of His love and forgiveness. And all God asks is that we share it with others. That we forgive in the same spirit and openness in which we have been forgiven.

CONCLUSION:

We all need forgiveness. And we all need to forgive because forgiveness changes everything. We have been forgiven so that we might forgive others. Last week I said, Love was the one distinctive of the Christian faith. It is, because love always shows itself through forgiveness.

I know you all have heard and probably used the phrase TGIF. Well, I think you should continue to use it but not as we know it. Not as, "Thank God it's Friday." Instead, let it be a reminder of your status with God. Let it remind you to pray, "Thank God I'm Forgiven." And then let that prayer and the forgiveness of God overflow from your and flow onto others as you forgive them. Not seven times or seventy-seven times or even seventy times seven. But forgive with the same infinite forgiving spirit of God through Christ.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

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Bibliography

1. Ziggy, by Tom Wilson, 9/9/99

2. Thanks to a sermon by Bass Mitchell, "On Burying Our Hatchets", for this idea.

Other References Consulted

www.SermonMall.com,

Dynamic Preaching, July/Aug/Sept 1999 Vol XIV, No. 3. (Seven Worlds Publishing, Knoxville, TN)

LectionAid (Software Version), Volume 7, Number 4, 1999 (LectionAid, Inc., Wichita, KS)

Homiletics, September/October 1999, Volume 11, Number 5. (Communications Resources, Inc., Canton, OH)