Luaine told me the story of the time she and her sister Barbara were sitting at the table doing their homework. Mother, was helping Barbara with her algebra. She was going over and over some of the problems but Barbara just wasn’t getting it.
It was obvious that Mother was getting more and more frustrated. Finally she said, “Okay, that’s it! Let’s start at the beginning. Two plus two equals four.” Luaine and Barbara stared at their mother, and then started to giggle. Then Betty began to giggle until they all were laughing so hard it took a while to get back to their homework.
On the cross Jesus said, “Let’s start at the beginning: Why are you here; why do you live a Christian life; why look forward to heaven? It’s only because of the cross and resurrection of Jesus.
“There’s a new paradigm. God’s grace trumps everything else you’ve ever thought or learned.” You cannot earn, buy or trade something for your salvation. You must accept God’s gift and forgiveness.
Next week is Palm Sunday and then Easter. Why did Jesus die on the cross? In order to offer forgiveness to all people. We know this and gladly accept His forgiveness and gift of salvation.
But sometimes we refuse to forgive in kind. Listen, because we have been forgiven so much, God expects us to also be willing to forgive. In fact Jesus said,
Matthew 6:14-15, 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
The Apostle Peter was pretty sure that he understood the math of the Kingdom of God. Matthew 18:21, Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Peter and we are very much alike—we want to put limits on forgiveness. We think there are just some things that cannot be forgiven.
Lamesa, Texan, Don Nut, said that the secret to he and his wife’s 50 years of marriage is that they never went to bed without settling any differences between them. He conceded, though, there have been times when he went 10 days without sleep.
Peter was being extra generous. Jewish rabbi’s taught that a person must forgive someone three time. But if the person offended you a forth time, forget it. He had used up all his grace. Boy, if my wife held to that policy I’d be dead in the water.
So Peter doubled that and added one more for good measure. He was boasting to Jesus about how great a guy he was. “Lord, I’m willing to forgive up to 7 times more than the rabbi’s require.”
But Jesus said, “Let’s go back to the beginning, Peter. Let me explain God’s kingdom math.
So Jesus replied in Matthew 18:22, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” “Peter, as long as there are any limitations on forgiveness, you do not understand the message of the Kingdom of God; you do not understand the depth and width of your own forgiveness.”
Then Jesus told a story to illustrate the depth of God’s forgiveness (read vv. 23-27).
Matthew 18:23 – 27, 23“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he was 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. 26“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.”
Take note that Jesus begins with these words: “The kingdom of heaven is like…” This is what God’s kingdom is about—forgiveness. It is the message of the cross. If you are a believer you’re in the kingdom, and you need to understand forgiveness.
A king wants to settle accounts with his servants. These were not houseboys, but men with great responsibilities. One of the men owed the king 10,000 talents—don’t think in terms of thousands, or millions, but in billions of dollars.
To give you an idea of the enormity of 10,000 talents, the entire annual revenue of the wealthy province of Galilee at this time was only 300 talents. We immediately see that the debt was an impossible amount to repay.
The king ordered him, his wife and children to be sold to partially repay the debt (though all of them together wouldn’t have brought even one talent).
Jesus is taking us back to the beginning—2 plus 2 equals four. He’s using hyperbole to make His point. He wants us to understand the utter hopelessness of our spiritual, and therefore, eternal situation.
If it were not for God’s grace, kindness and forgiveness, our situation would be just like this servant’s, hopeless.
If any man needed grace and forgiveness, this man did. And he did what any of us would have done—he fell on his knees gasping out a seemingly futile appeal, “Be patient with me and I’ll pay back everything.”
Even as he said it he knew it was impossible. There was no way in the world to repay that kind of debt. Then the king did a surprising thing. He took pity on the man and, though the man didn’t deserve forgiveness, cancelled his debt, and let him go.
There are two stories here: The servant is you and me. This is the story of us and our impossible to repay sin-debt. But it is also the story of the sovereignty of a loving and gracious God.
God blesses us way beyond what we deserve. He gives us talents, time, energy, friends, family, children, and life itself. These are all gifts from God to be used for His kingdom.
Still we fall short of what God intends for our lives. We think we know better than He what’s best for us. We sin and break His heart.
And the difficulty of sin is that it doesn’t just place us in a difficult situation—it puts us in an impossible situation apart from God’s mercy. We have an impossible to repay debt.
Then Jesus stands up and says, “Look at the scars in my hands; put your hand in my side where the spear entered; see the place they nailed my feet to the cross.
“I’ve paid the debt for you on that cross. I’ve taken your impossible situation and set you free. The slate is clean—freely, fully, finally, and forever. This is the beginning—we have been forgiven an impossible debt.
In the story the scene now shifts. Now Jesus goes right to the point of the parable. He’s answering the question, “How many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?”
Matthew 18:28 – 35, 28“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
The forgiven servant had a new leash on life, he had been reborn and his life given back to him. You would think he would be the most forgiving person of all.
Instead he does something unbelievable—he disgraced the grace given to him! He refused to forgive a fellow servant who owed him just a trifling amount.
He abused him; he choked him; he demanded repayment. When his fellow servant begged for mercy and forgiveness, he refused, and had him thrown into prison.
This story didn’t really happen. Jesus made it up to make a point. Yet it is one of those stories that makes your blood boil at the injustice and unfairness of it. You want to do something, don’t you! How could he do this after receiving the grace of the king?
That’s exactly the point. How can we not be forgiving when we’ve been forgiven?
Jesus knows that we will be slighted, offended, betrayed, and hurt by others during our life time. He also knows that we are going to react. But how we react is the question.
Forgiveness is not easy and, in fact, is contrary to our sinful human nature. Anger and revenge are easier. But Christ showed us a better way. We have experienced the grace and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we truly understand the depth of our own forgiveness, it is easier to forgive others.
Why? Because comparing what others have done to you with the enormity of what you have been forgiven by God’s is like comparing the Pacific Ocean with a mud puddle. There is no comparison.
“But pastor, you don’t know what he did to me.” “You don’t know what she said.” “You don’t know how my family was affected by what they did.” Let me tell you about a dark day in U.S. history.
On Monday, October 2, 2006, Charles Carl Roberts, 32, barricaded himself and 10 hostages inside the West Nickel Mines School, a one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, PA.
He killed 5 girls, ages 6 to 13, and seriously wounded 5 others before killing himself. I’m sure you remember the response of the Amish community: forgiveness. Their emphasis on forgiving Charles Roberts and his family was widely reported and discussed in the national media. Jack Meyer, a member of the Brethren community living near the Amish in Lancaster County, explained: "I don't think there's anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts." Just hours after the shooting, Amish elders went to the killer’s home and to his parent’s home and extended forgiveness to his wife and parents. One Amish man held Roberts' sobbing father in his arms, reportedly for as long as an hour, to comfort him. Horrified strangers from around the world sent $4.3 million to the Amish community. After paying medical bills they gave the money away to the local emergency services who responded, and set up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter. About 30 members of the Amish community attended Roberts' funeral, and Marie Roberts, the widow of the killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral of one of the victims. Marie Roberts wrote an open letter to her Amish neighbors thanking them for their forgiveness, grace, and mercy. She wrote, "Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. Gifts you've given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you.” Make no mistake: The pain of death is sharp, and it seared the hearts of those Amish mothers and fathers like it does any other parent. Their model for forgiveness was the suffering Jesus who carried His cross without complaint and who, hanging on the cross, extended forgiveness to His tormentors: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Application: Go back to the beginning and remind yourself of your forgiveness by God’s grace. Forgiveness can be treacherously hard. But when we cannot or we refuse to forgive we are disgracing the grace we’ve received from God.
I will add an 8th: Don’t wait too long. Without forgiving we choke off our own joy; we kill our own soul. People carrying hate and resentment can invest themselves so deeply in that resentment that they gradually define themselves in terms of it.