Abundant Forgiveness
Sermon Notes 13th September
Matthew 18:21-35 by Geoff Vidal
“Abundant forgiveness”
In the Gospel reading two Sunday’s ago, we were told of Jesus asking his disciples, “who do you say I am?” Peter says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God”. Jesus says, “Top marks Peter, go to the head of the class”. Actually, Matthew told us that Jesus actually answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon! .... you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it”.
Chapter 18 of Matthew is all about how to be “church”. I read in the Parish Newsletter that Desiree said last week, “running through the chapter is a persistent concern for right relationship: how we live with the vulnerable, how we seek those who are lost, how broken relationships might be restored, and how Christ is present when a community gathers to do that difficult work”. A great observation.
Last week, the Gospel focused on how to resolve conflicts and this week, in this last half of Chapter 18, the focus is on the issue of forgiveness. Matthew connects these together to show that there is a relationship between the need for reconciliation and the need for forgiveness. True reconciliation comes through forgiveness, not merely, through excusing others. It means giving up our rightful resentment, not merely agreeing to regard others as innocent, whether they are guilty or not. Implicit in Matthew’s connection of these passages is the crucial spiritual lesson that true reconciliation means being totally at peace with those who had caused the now-resolved problem.
These instructions are given to Peter; now the rock who is to lead the church and they are instructions for all in the Church to follow. We understand that Peter was often in strife for being impulsive, but he didn’t always “jump in quickly”. This story in Matthew today tells of his thoughtfulness and his attempt to do the right thing.
He wonders just how forgiving he has to be. Peter knew enough of Jesus’ teachings to see that the call to genuinely forgive makes the old standards inadequate. The rabbis taught forgiving two or three times might be possible. So, Peter tests his insight by asking Jesus whether forgiving seven times is enough. To Peter's credit, he is suggesting more than double what the Rabbis thought was reasonable. But he is still thinking in terms of measurable mercy (some sort of mercy score), not the unlimited love that God has for each of us. Jesus' reply: “77 (or 7 times 70)”, tells us that there is no end to forgiveness in God’s kingdom.
Peter is actually making at least two really big mistakes.
First, although he is sure that his brother is going to sin against him, Peter doesn’t seem to acknowledge that it is very likely that he too will sin against his brother. Secondly, Peter is asking for limits. He is still thinking of measurable mercy, not unlimited grace. Jesus and the Father that he has come to make known don’t work like that. There is simply no limit to God’s love and generosity and forgiveness.
So, Jesus tells a parable about two men who owe debts (one debt is huge and one debt is small) to really stress this point that there is no limit to God’s forgiveness and generosity.
Jesus is making the point that our response to knowing that God is extravagantly forgiving should be to do the same. We should be genuinely forgiving people too.
The first debt was ten thousand talents. A single talent (a year’s wages) was the largest unit of money known to the people that Jesus was speaking to and ten thousand was the largest number known. So, ten thousand talents is what we would say is billions of dollars. It would have been impossible for any slave or servant to ever have such a huge debt. Also, there would never be time to pay it back.
Jesus is clearly exaggerating so that we remember this story.
In the normal way expected, the king sets out to get back what is owed to him. But then, strangely, and quite wonderfully, he cancels the incredible debt “out of pity for him”. Following laws was very important. There is no reason for this cancelling of the debt apart from a really deeply felt sense of compassion for the man in such a huge mess.
Jesus’ parable then moves on and tells us that this servant who has just been forgiven and cleared of billions of dollars debt goes away and runs into a fellow servant who owes him a pretty small debt (maybe a day’s wage). He carries on in a terrible way to get back this small debt owed to him. He behaves outrageously!
It would have been easy for the second servant to pay back this little amount if he was given some time to do so. But the inability and unwillingness of the forgiven servant to be patient and show the same forgiveness that had been shown to him by the king is now powerfully highlighted. He does exactly the opposite!
While the forgiveness of the king was based upon compassion, the forgiven servant resorts to violence: “he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him”.
The other servants saw what had happened and were greatly distressed. They went and reported to the king all that had taken place. The king casts out the unforgiving servant, into the hands of the torturers.
So, what’s the message for us? It is not “Hey! We had better forgive others or God will get us!”
Our God of love abundantly forgives. That is our takeaway message; “God generously forgives”. It’s really very sad when someone thinks that God could not forgive them.
We are not able to earn God's forgiveness. But we are called to be people who share forgiveness because we care for others as fellow humans regardless of skin colour or ability or education.
Care of others extends to care of our land. Looking after our land is, in effect, looking after our neighbours as we know that we are called to do.
It is the care for neighbours; the genuineness of the forgiveness offered, not merely the act of excusing something that that concerns Jesus. But, how can we do more than just try to live out the call to forgiveness? How can we possibly guarantee that our forgiveness will be from the heart?
The most terrible place to be locked up is in the prison of your own unforgiving heart.
A person who does not forgive others is showing that they have never really experienced or understood God's forgiveness.
It’s not helpful when someone says “I forgive but I will not forget”. I remember hearing a person who had been terribly treated say “I forgive and every day I need to remember to forget”.
God is a God of grace. Like the king in the story, God has compassion on our human failures. And, like the king, God acts even more graciously than we could ever expect. The servant who owed an impossible debt and asked for more time to pay what he owed was shown compassion and the debt was graciously forgiven!
When we experience such grace, truly, we are transformed in gratitude.
If God’s grace has affected our lives, we will live differently in relation to others. This transformation through the experience of grace is not something worked out mechanically or mathematically. Rather it comes “from the heart”.
All people who are really living in the Kingdom of God both experience and want to share the love of God in its forgiveness and compassion.
May we strive for that.