A Difficult Day to Go to Church Matthew 18:21-35 The text for today s sermon is Matthew 18: Hear the word:

Transcription

1 A Difficult Day to Go to Church Matthew 18:21-35 The text for today s sermon is Matthew 18: Hear the word: 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times? 22 Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since 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 At this the servant fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything. 27 The servant s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. 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 it back. 30 But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged 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. 33 Shouldn t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. What is the first thought that runs through your mind when I give the date December 7? My guess is that most of us immediately think of the words Pearl Harbor the day that will live in infamy. When I hear the date December 7, I think of Pearl Harbor, but the depth of emotion that wells up within me is far less than those of you here this morning who can remember the events of that day. Yes, it was another fourteen years after Pearl Harbor that I came into this world. December 7 was the beginning of a horrible war that many of you in the congregation lived through. You may have to correct me, but I am not sure there is anyone left in this church that actually fought in World War Two.

2 There is another date that all of us who are over twenty-five years old will remember with great sadness September 11, Oh, how the world has changed since two airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center, one smashed into the Pentagon, and another was taken down by passengers before it could be used for horrible destruction. I am sure that most of us are aware that today is September 11 the fifteenth anniversary of yet another infamous day. And I wonder how we are doing in the forgiveness department, especially since the war that began on that day is still ongoing as terrorist continue their attacks on innocent men, women and children. The date 9-11 is difficult for our country. And in the light of the teachings of our Lord Jesus September 11 is difficult for Christians. The day after September 11, 2001, noted preacher and teacher William Willimon saw a couple being interviewed on the news. They were standing on the street, before the wreckage at ground zero, obviously in great grief. Their cherished daughter had perished in the rubble. Through tears, they shared their grief with the reporter. The reporter, stammering, said to them, Well, I know that you will be able to go to your place of worship this weekend and maybe there you ll find some consolation in your faith... And the grieving mother replied, No, we won t be going to our place of worship this weekend because we re Christians, and we know what Jesus commands about forgiveness, and frankly, we re just not yet ready for that. It ll be some time before we ll want to be with Jesus. I appreciate the honesty of that mother. And I am confident that if we are Christians who take Jesus seriously there are times when we may feel the same way. When the terrorist strikes, or the madman starts shooting at police, or the unqualified policeman shoots the driver of a car who he believes may have a gun, or when we are victimized, our initial response may be anything but Christian. Remember the words of Jesus to Peter, No Peter, you are not to forgive seven times but seventy times seven. Forgiveness is not easy. When one is deeply hurt, or a loved one is deeply hurt by the actions of another, forgiveness becomes a great religious word, but the problem is when we try to move the word from our vocabulary into our hearts and souls. This is something that only God can do. And if you get nothing else out of this sermon, know this: the ability to forgive is only achieved by God s grace, and it is achieved for our benefit. You see, the inability to forgive will only make a person bitter. C. S. Lewis would tell us that forgiveness does not excuse the unjust or hostile actions of another person. But it does deliver us from the consequences of holding a grudge. I am not completely naive. I know there are some who exhibit such hostility toward us that they become a danger, and actions must be taken to protect society from these folks, but without forgiveness we will be a bitter folk ourselves. Yes, forgiveness is a means of grace. It is the grace of God to heal our brokenness and our bitterness. One anonymous person hit the nail on the head when he said, An unforgiving heart is an acid which can do more damage to the clay pot that holds it than to anything on which the acid may be thrown.

3 It is probably legend, but when Leonardo da Vinci was working on his painting, "the Last Supper," he became angry with a certain man. Losing his temper, he lashed out at the man with bitter words and threats. Returning to his canvas, he attempted to work on the face of Jesus, but was unable to do so. Finally, he put down his brush, sought out the man, and asked his forgiveness. The man accepted his apology and then da Vinci was able to return to his canvas and finish painting the face of Jesus. Legend or not, there is a truth that we cannot know Jesus unless we are willing to forgive. For an unforgiving heart will pump sour blood through our veins. One psychologist writes, That unless we are able to at least work on forgiving the person who hurt us, even the person who does not deserve our forgiveness, there will be no mental health. Forgiveness is not easy. And yet, not forgiving can take a greater toll on us than the person who has offended us. Following Jesus conversation with Peter on how many times a brother should be forgiven, Jesus tells a story: The man owed a whole lot of money. As a matter of fact, my flawed logic has figured out that he owed the equivalent of 3.6 billion dollars. A denarius was a day s wage for a common worker. A common worker can make about $60 a day. One talent equaled about 6,000 denari. Therefore, to calculate the value of one talent, you multiply $60 a day times 6,000 and you get $360,000. The servant owed 10,000 talents, or in our economy 3.6 billion dollars. Surely I figured something wrong, but the bottom line was that this servant owed the king a whole lot of money. It only goes to reason that if a servant owed a king 3.6 billion dollars, he should not be surprised to get a summons to appear in the king s chambers and that he needed to bring his check book. So, when he got the letter from the king, I don t think he said, A letter from the king... I wonder why he is writing me? There was no doubt. So the servant traveled across the country side to the palace, and he climbed the forty steps toward the massive stone columns into the magnificent foyer. He was escorted through the great hall and into the King s chambers. There he quietly stood, shaking in his boots, until the king made his appearance. The servant bowed in silence, knowing he was in big trouble, for the register in his check book showed a balance of $ The king sat on his throne and an aide turned the huge ledger to the page where the servant s name appeared in the upper right corner. The king looked at the bottom line and said, Servant, it says here that you owe me a whole lot of money. Yes, sir. As a matter of fact, you owe me 3.6 billion dollars. Yes, sir, your majesty. I don t believe you understand. I want my money now. Yes, sir, uh, no sir. I mean, I don t have 3.6 billion dollars; all I have at my disposal is $

4 The king said, Well, what are we going to do about this? Then he turned to his aide and said, We can get some of my money back by selling his wife and children and then placing him in the debtor s prison. When the servant heard this he fell to his knees, he put his hands folded to his chin, and when the king turned to face him, the servant prayed to him, Oh, please, please, your majesty have patience with me. Give me a little more time. Can you hear the king laughing? The servant had $128.49, and he wanted more time to pay back 3.6 billion. The servant did not need a little time. What he needed was 165,000 years to work off the debt, assuming the king was not charging interest. The good and wise king had pity on his servant, and with his strong hand ripped out the page in the ledger with this servant s name on it; he folded it and tore it into shreds. He smiled and with a huge, deep belly shaking laugh he exclaimed to his servant, Your debt is forgiven. Go in peace. You talk about a weight being lifted. This guy just had Mt. Everest taken off his shoulders. He did not walk out of the king s chambers, but he floated. Out of the chambers, down the grand hallway, into the foyer, through the massive pillars, then over the steps, until he saw someone who owed him $6,000 and he came crashing down. The man received a wonderful gift from the king, but he did not receive the gift which the king intended to give. The man owed this servant about four month s wages, a significant amount of money to a working man. He approached this man who owed him and grabbed him by the throat, and said in a greedy tone, Hey, you owe me $6,000, and I want my money. This man could not pay, so the one who was forgiven 3.6 billion had another man thrown into a debtor s prison over a $6,000 debt. You get the obvious contrast. The crowd who witnessed the attack on the poor man did not like what they saw, so they went to tell the king. They said, Your majesty, you will not believe what just happened outside the palace gates. And the king responded, Really, well, the two of us need to have another conversation. The king summoned the servant back into his presence. So the servant walked back up the steps, through the massive columns, and into the magnificent foyer. He was escorted down the grand hall into the king s chambers. There he stood until the king made his appearance. The servant dutifully bowed before the king and the king said, Weren t you here just a little while ago? Yes, sir, I was. Well, if I remember correctly, I told you I wanted the money you owed me. Yes, sir, that is correct. You got down on your knees and begged for mercy. Do you remember what I did? I ripped the ledger sheet out of the book and told you to go in peace. Now what is this I hear about what you did when you left this place? By the time you got out the door of my palace you

5 seized a man who owed you 6,000 bucks, after I had forgiven you 3.6 billion. Did you seize someone for 6,000 bucks and then them throw him in jail? Is that right? Umm.., that is correct, sir. Well, said the king, I have news for you. You know that jail cell where your buddy sits? That happens to be a suite for two. Now, you go join your buddy in that cell. You stay there until you pay me the 3.6 billion dollars. Following the telling of the parable Jesus said, This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart. And I cannot help but believe part of what Jesus is teaching is that in being handed over to be tortured unless we forgive has something to do with the torture of living with a bitter and unforgiving heart. Forgiving others, no matter their offense, is one teaching of our faith that separates us from other faiths. We are even to forgive our enemies. Why? Because God has forgiven us. God gave His only Son in order that we might be forgiven. We in turn are to forgive those who have transgressed against us. Do you know why September 11 is particularly difficult for Christians? The couple who said they would not be in worship after September 11 because they knew Jesus would require forgiveness out of them was making one of the most honest professions of faith that I can imagine. Forgiveness is hard. Forgiveness cost God His Son. Have you prayed that God will give you the grace to forgive? True forgiveness is a gift that we can only know through God s grace. If someone has hurt you, deeply hurt you, forgiveness IS possible only if you offer your hurt to God. When Bill Clinton met Nelson Mandela for the first time, he had a question on his mind. He said, "When you were released from prison, Mr. Mandela, I woke my daughter at three o'clock in the morning. I wanted her to see this historic event." Then President Clinton zeroed in on his question: "As you marched from the cellblock across the yard to the gate of the prison, the camera focused in on your face. I have never seen such anger, and even hatred, in any man as was expressed on your face at that time. That's not the Nelson Mandela I know today. What was that about?" Mandela answered, "I'm surprised that you saw that, and I regret that the cameras caught my anger. As I walked across the courtyard that day I thought to myself, 'They've taken everything from me that matters. My cause is dead. My family is gone. My friends have been killed. Now they're releasing me, but there's nothing left for me out there.' And I hated them for what they had taken from me. Then, I sensed an inner voice saying to me, 'Nelson! For twentyseven years you were their prisoner, but you were always a free man! Don't allow them to make you into a free man, only to turn you into their prisoner!'" Mandela was right. We must forgive, not only because of what anger and resentment will do to us, but because forgiveness comes from the heart of God. We cannot excuse the evil actions of others, but we forgive because of the immensity of God s forgiveness on our behalf. So this is a difficult day. And this is a difficult command. What it requires of us is nothing less than a new heart filled with God s love. Will you pray for that new heart today?