Trinity 22 22 October 2017 As We Have Been Forgiven, We Forgive Matthew 18:23-35 by Rev. Michael G. Lilienthal Hymn: O Faithful God, Thanks Be to Thee, ELH #522 Let us pray: O dear God and Father, enter not into judgment with us, for in your sight no man living shall be justified. Neither count us among sinners, because we are so ungrateful for all your unspeakable goodness to body and soul, and because we daily and frequently stray and sin more than we know and are able to understand. Consider not how good or evil we are, but remember your infinite mercy granted to us in Christ, your dear Son. Forgive also all our enemies, and all who offend and wrong us, as we also forgive them from the heart. They do themselves greater hurt by provoking you in harming us. Since we are not benefited by their downfall, we would rather see them happy with us. Grant them your mercy, in Jesus name. Amen. Dear forgiven servants of God, How often do we pray, Forgive us our trespasses? At least once a day, possibly more. And how many of those times do we speed through the next half of that petition: asweforgivethosewhotrespassagainstus? Sometimes, when I come to that petition, it seems easier not to think about it, to just pray it and get it out there and then move on. I think it makes us nervous to think that in some sense the forgiveness we receive is dependent upon the forgiveness we give. We might start thinking of that one person that we haven t forgiven. And then our heart tries to balance two thoughts: 1) I haven t forgiven him, so how can I expect to be forgiven; 2) I really don t want to forgive him for what he did. Martin Luther wrote, regarding this, in the Large Catechism: For just as we daily sin much against God, and yet He forgives everything through grace, so we, too, must ever forgive our
2 As We Have Been Forgiven, We Forgive neighbor who does us injury, violence, and wrong, shows malice toward us, etc. If, therefore, you do not forgive, then do not think that God forgives you; but if you forgive, you have this consolation and assurance, that you are forgiven in heaven, not on account of your forgiving, for God forgives freely and without condition, out of pure grace, because He has so promised, as the Gospel teaches, but in order that He may set this up for our confirmation and assurance for a sign alongside of the promise which accords with this prayer. 1 Point number one in this is that we ought to see how graciously and fully and freely we have been forgiven God gives us his grace at no cost to ourselves! Therefore this petition does not mean, Forgive us our trespasses, but only if and when we forgive those who trespass against us. Instead, it means, Forgive us our trespasses, because you have promised to do so in Christ! Point number two in this is that, seeing how we have been forgiven, we may also see how that gives us the ability to forgive others. Learn this from the Gospel for today: Matthew 18:23-35 23 For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle them, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Because the man was not able to pay the debt, his master ordered that he be sold, along with his wife, children, and all that he owned to repay the debt. 26 Then the servant fell down on his knees in front of him, saying, Master, be patient with me, and I will pay you everything! 27 The master of that servant had pity on him, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began choking him, saying, Pay me what you owe! 29 So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, saying, Be patient with me, and I will pay you back! 30 But he refused. Instead he went off and threw the man into prison until he could pay back what he owed. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were very distressed. They went and reported to their master everything that had taken place. 1 LC III.94-96, Concordia Triglotta (St. Louis: CPH, 1921), 725.
Matthew 18:23-35 3 32 Then his master called him in and said to him, You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt when you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you? 34 His master was angry and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay back everything he owed. 35 This is what my heavenly Father will also do to you unless each one of you forgives his brother from his heart. These are your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us in the truth. Your Word is truth. Amen. I. Keep in Mind How You Have Been Forgiven Take the second half of this parable first: a man goes out and finds a coworker who owes him one hundred denarii that is, probably about $7,000 or $8,000. Now, according to the eighth commandment and Luther s Small Catechism, We should fear and love God, so that we do not lie about, betray or slander our neighbor, but excuse him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything. 2 Let s assume the best of this man, therefore perhaps his coworker had been avoiding him, perhaps it had been months, or years, since the money had been loaned. And besides, the man had just had a close call with money his own debts were coming due, and the close call had scared him. He needed his money. When he started choking his coworker, that was certainly an extreme measure, but we can understand it. It was a lot of money, and the first man needed it. His fellow servant begged, Be patient with me, and I will pay you back! Presumably, he had heard this over and over again, so many times. He was sick of 2 ELH p. 31.
4 As We Have Been Forgiven, We Forgive hearing these empty words, and he wanted to be repaid! So, he refused. Instead, he went off and threw the man into prison until he could pay back what he owed. Again, before we judge this harsh servant too severely, let s put ourselves in his shoes: he was owed a lot of money, and he was surely afraid that he might not have enough to pay off all his debts. Think of Peter, too, who asked Jesus the question that prompted the parable: Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? As many as seven times? (Matt. 18:21). We tend to think of that a typical Peter misunderstanding, and we laugh Of course forgiveness should be more than that! But think of your own experience. Think of when someone sins against you repeatedly even with the same sin, over and over and over again. How likely are you to forgive that person after each successive sin? Maybe the first time it s easier, because you re a Christian, but then that person sins against you again. I think for most of us, it really only takes twice before we re far less likely to forgive. Remember that old saying, Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. We take that to heart, so that as soon as someone sins against us a second time, we have to really struggle to forgive him. There was a movie released recently, called Silence. It tells the story of Christian missionaries to Japan, and the heavy persecution experienced there. One particular character, who apostatized denied the faith came to the priest asking forgiveness. The priest granted it. But later on in the film, that character denied the faith again and this time it caused direct pain and suffering to the priest. When the character returned to confess his sin of apostasy again, the priest was more reluctant, but he did grant him
Matthew 18:23-35 5 forgiveness. This pattern repeated a number of times in the film, and each time the priest grew more and more reluctant, but forgave the man over and over again. Certainly, he doubted the man s sincerity. He could almost be certain that the man would betray him again and cause him more grief. But each time he forgave him. Why? Because that was what he was called to do. The perspective of the servant in this parable changes when we see the first half. This man owed his master ten thousand talents. If one hundred denarii are worth over $7,000, then ten thousand talents is equivalent to more than $4 billion. Of course a mere servant would never be able to pay such an absurdly massive sum of money. The merciless punishment that would come on this man was that he be sold, along with his wife, children, and all that he owned to repay the debt. Every facet of this man s life was forfeit. However, like the coworker that this servant would encounter, he fell down on his knees in front of him, saying, Master, be patient with me, and I will pay you everything! What s funny about this is that it would be impossible to pay that amount of ten thousand talents. The master would be foolish to give the servant such a chance. What s wonderful about it, though, is that the master, rather than give a chance to make a futile effort at paying the debt, had pity on him, released him, and forgave the debt.
6 As We Have Been Forgiven, We Forgive What does forgiveness mean? One theologian wrote that forgiveness eschews all moral arithmetic and the keeping of any record. 3 That means that forgiveness scratches out all the math, crosses out all the numbers, turns them all into zeros, and then burns the book that keeps track of what a person owes. That is what the master did for the man. He canceled the debt. So what should that man have done for his fellow servant, who owed him such an inconsequential sum of money? Shouldn t he have been overjoyed at what he had received and so done the same? But rather than forgive, he carried out the inhumane punishment. He got his just desserts. His master heard about his cruelty and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay everything he owed. When do you suppose that is? The man would never pay back his massive debt. But by demonstrating that he was only concerned with himself, the servant proved that he had not really received the mercy of his master. This is the different perspective that should have been had. Rather than think about what he deserved, the man should have thought about what he had received. The same goes for us. When we are confronted with a difficult case of forgiveness, when we think that to forgive a person is too difficult, let us think about what we have received: God took all of our sins the eternal damnation we deserved because of our sin against him (all our infinite sins!) and he laid them on his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus on the cross even said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what 3 Gibbs 934.
Matthew 18:23-35 7 they are doing (Luke 23:34). Paying for the whole world s sins on the cross, he even paid for the sins of killing him. Can you doubt that by his death, your sins are forgiven! II. That Forgiveness Empowers You to Forgive As a disciple, I first stand in the flow of forgiveness that begins with God in Christ and comes to me and then, second, by the power of the Gospel, that same forgiveness flows out from me to another who needs my clemency. 4 Jesus words come true in us: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive (John 7:37-39). It is the world s way of thinking, that Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Sure, the world may be willing to forgive once, perchance by reason of sheer will twice, but to forgive repeatedly, and what is more, unconditionally, that is something only believers can do. True, divine forgiveness, means no strings attached. The problem with Peter s original question, How many times must I forgive my brother? is that it permits and looks for an out. If there s a number set, then we can watch for that number. But for us to consider forgiving infinitely, and unconditionally: that seems impossible. We must always be ready to forgive and yes, it is an agonizing, painful thing, sometimes done through gritted teeth indeed it is impossible apart from grace. 4 Ibid., 939.
8 As We Have Been Forgiven, We Forgive Seeing how we have been forgiven, this empowers us to forgive. St. John wrote, We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). St. Paul wrote, Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:5). And what attitude was that of Jesus? Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even death on a cross (Phil. 2:6-8). See, rather than be concerned with his own welfare, Jesus gave it all up, suffered even the torments of hell, just to give forgiveness to us. St. Paul confessed, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20). After Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples, he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whenever you forgive people s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven (John 20:22-23). Because of Jesus forgiveness, we are made able to forgive. Because all our debt is paid, we are freed so that we may forgive the debts of others. No, it s not always easy frequently it is impossible for us. But thankfully, it is not up to us: it is God s mercy in Christ that gives us the strength to forgive. To forgive is intrinsically a painful activity. To forgive is to give up on your own justice. To forgive is to forsake your need to be repaid. Think of what God s forgiveness looked like the forgiveness of God looks like his Son, pinned naked and bloody on two pieces
Matthew 18:23-35 9 of wood for all the world to mock and deride, even as God himself forsakes him. So of course our forgiveness will hurt. Frequently we won t feel like forgiving. Sometimes, perhaps slowly, our emotions will agree with the act of forgiveness but more frequently our emotions will need to be brought along kicking and screaming. What Jesus asks us to do in this lesson is to learn to forgive. When you pray the Lord s Prayer, let it remind you to speak that sentence to your brother: I forgive you. When people apologize to us, we usually say, It s okay. That s not really the same thing. It s okay means that I don t really mind; that it s not that serious. That s not true! I forgive you means that your sin was a truly horrible sin, but it is no longer counted against you. I forgive you means so much more. I forgive you is pure grace and salvation. Learn to say, I forgive you more often. Not just seven times, but seventy times seven times which is to say, don t even try counting. We are able to do so because God no longer counts our sins, or how often he forgives them. We have the unimaginable blessing of being able to pray that Lord s Prayer daily, Forgive us our trespasses, knowing that God forgives them all, every day. We are able in our worship services to come every time before God, confessing our sins, and to hear the Pastor say every time, I forgive you. This is free forgiveness we have received, and by the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us because we have been forgiven, we are able to forgive others. Amen.