In the Name
of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Grace
and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord
and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (2011)
Christian
Forgiveness is Unlimited
Matthew
18:21-35 (ESV)
Then Peter came up and said to him,
"Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" [22] Jesus said to him,
"I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
[23] "Therefore the kingdom of heaven
may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. [24]
When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand
talents. [25] And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold,
with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. [26] So
the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I
will pay you everything.' [27] And out of pity for him, the master of that
servant released him and forgave him the debt. [28] But when that same servant
went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,
and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' [29] So his
fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I
will pay you.' [30] He refused and went
and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. [31] When his fellow
servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went
and reported to their master all that had taken place. [32] Then his master
summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I
forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. [33] And should not you have had mercy on
your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' [34] And in anger his master
delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. [35] So also my
heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother
from your heart."
As
our nation remembers those who perished in that terrible terrorist attack in
Truth
is our corrupted nature thinks it is unmanly not to avenge an injury. In fact, we
regard it as cowardly not to retaliate a wrong. Often, the desire for revenge
knows no limit. We see much of this attitude in the brothers of Joseph in the
Old Testament Reading for today. Joseph’s brothers, who lived as vengeful men,
couldn’t accept their brother’s forgiveness because they were not forgiving. Even
though Joseph, ever since revealing himself to them, had lavished them with
love and kindness, his brothers did not trust his forgiveness; they were
certain that as soon as their father Jacob died, Joseph would extract his
revenge. The desire to revenge enslaves the vengeful to violence much as it did
to Montressor in the Edgar Allen Poe story; A
Cask of Amontillado.
Montressor, a local nobleman, had suffered the
brunt of Fortunato’s insult, another local nobleman. Seething with anger,
Montressor, plots revenge. Befriending Fortunato, Montressor gives the
impression that all is forgiven. In time Montressor lures Fortunato into his
wine cellar by inviting him to partake from a cask of a most excellent wine;
Amontillado. Once Fortunato is under the influence of the wine, Montressor
chains him to the cellar wall and then encloses the cellar in brick and mortar,
sealing Fortunato in his grave while he is still alive. Montressor’ hatred,
which chocked off all forgiveness, is on full display as he tells Fortunato
that his murder was only justice for his crime. No on can insults Montressor
with impunity. Montressor took the life of another human being simply because
his feelings were hurt.
Our desire for revenge, regardless of its
application, is just like Montressor’s; filled with hate and desiring
retribution. However, in our anger and desire for revenge we become Fortunato
and Satan becomes our Montressor; chaining us to the walls of hell while sealing
us in his cellar of torment for eternity.
As I said earlier, it is not easy to forgive. In
fact, it’s contrary to our natural inclination not to repay evil with evil or
to avenge an injury. However, when we are called by Christ to a life of faith,
we are called to be different. One who has been given the gift of faith is a
person who has been given the greatest gift one could possibly receive; you
have been called to be a Christian, a brother or sister to our Lord, Jesus
Christ.
A Christian is one who has been enlightened with
the truth that in Christ Jesus we have received the greatest of God’s blessings,
the forgiveness of sin. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God opens our
hearts and minds to the truth that we are sinful and without hope, and yet
through the blessing of the Gospel, He is merciful to grant us His pardon.
Enlightened by the power of the Holy Spirit, a
Christian understands that sin leads to eternal death and forgiveness leads to
eternal life. Sin separates us from God, it sets us in opposition to God and
His holy will, it makes us spiritual rebels, polluting
our hearts, defiling our conscience, and debasing our will. Having been made
aware of the spiritual and moral depravity corrupting our nature by sin, we can
then see what tremendous havoc sin has caused in the earth. Sin has caused and
is still causing unspeakable suffering and evil. Sin is the foundation of every
crime. The longer we live, the more this truth becomes apparent. There is
therefore no greater blessing than to receive the full and free pardon of our
sins through God’s mercy in Christ Jesus, for it brings peace, comfort, and
joy. It produces a new life and brings us into fellowship with God. Knowing
that we are forgiven by God for our many sins, a Christian is also merciful,
kind, forgiving, and full of love.
The striking and dramatic parable in the Gospel
Reading for today shines God’s light upon the sin of un-forgiveness. The
parable shows the faithfulness of God in showing mercy and reminds us that we
too should emulate His mercy and love towards other.
The evangelist Luke quotes the Lord, saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27 ESV). The Apostle John declares, “This commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21 ESV). It is easy to sing praises to God with our mouth, to profess our love and loyalty to Him with our lips; but to live a Christ like life in word and deed toward our fellow man is not so easy a task. In fact, it is most difficult. Nothing is more difficult than dealing with one who has injured you—that is, to forgive them, to pray for them, and to do good to them. However, there is an answer to our dilemma; God’s mercy and love, His forgiveness and goodness to us; this enables us to love our neighbor as our self.
The merciful treatment given us by our Lord inspires us to do likewise. Our Savior included in His Prayer not only the petition “forgive us our trespasses,” but He also added “as we forgive those who trespass against us.” To ignore this second petition to forgive others makes us stand before God as hypocrites.
There is no example clearer of our Lord’s merciful treatment of sinners than of His pardoning those who killed Him. His prayer, uttered from the Cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34 ESV) is a wonderful testimony of His love for mankind. In these words our Lord is saying to His heavenly Father, “I am giving my life for their forgiveness, please, Father, give them what I have won for them.” Thus in these words we hear our Lord’s final response to Peter’s question of today’s Gospel Reading “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” when He said, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” A Christians Forgiveness is truly Unlimited.
When we hear our Lord from the Cross asking His Father to forgive His executioners, our Lord Jesus is pronouncing God’s objective forgiveness declared upon all people through the vicarious atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ, upon the Altar of the Cross. We know there was no effort or evidence on the part of His executioners to repent and seek the Lord’s forgiveness and reconciliation, yet He begs for their forgiveness. Such is the pardon given for all mankind today. Through His Son’s death on the cross, God declares the world forgiven; objectively. Through the blood of Jesus, God’s only Son, God cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7 ESV). This means all sins, even those we don’t recognize. Thus the very blood of Jesus is the never-ending well of forgiveness from which God cleanses our sins. However, the apostle John also tells us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10 ESV).
If we confess our sins, He will forgive us. This is subjective forgiveness; forgiveness applied to the sinner. Only those, who by the motivational power of the Holy Spirit, repent of their sins; recognizing sin as a separation from God, who grieve of their rebellious sin, who honestly admit their sin, who receive Christ’s atoning sacrificial work as sin-cleansing, and who strive to amend their sinful ways, only these benefit from God’s objectively-declared forgiveness.
What is the benefit of this objective and subjective forgiveness; the wonderful God-given gifts of salvation and eternal life which come from a reconciled relationship with God and our fellow man? Moreover, reconciliation with God and man brings relief from the long, smothering burden of guilt, shame, and sorrow.
The conclusion to the parable of the Gospel Reading for today illustrates the fatality of an unforgiving spirit. The unforgiving man or woman rejects the benefits of God’s forgiveness. The penalty for the hardened, unmerciful heart is that it is unfit to receive God’s mercy and, therefore, it is doomed to eternal damnation. The penalty fits the crime. May we who have received the forgiving mercy of God always refrain from being an unmerciful servant.
Often we pray for a general conversion of the world to Christianity. We support this prayer by supporting the proclamation of the Gospel and living lives led by the Gospel. The world sees the Church and our Lord Jesus through our lives. As they witness our kindness, love, and mercy they cannot help but see Christ on the Cross and His wonderful transforming power to change sinners into noble members of His family, saving them from the final penalty of sin; eternal damnation. In a world filled with sinners whose faults and weaknesses will led them astray, we have a continual opportunity to exhibit a Christ like, compassionate spirit, ready and willing to forgive while seeking the good will of all mankind.
Let us therefore
leave this house of prayer this morning, filled with the Holy Spirit, and
manifest the love of Christ in us by lavishing it on others. Let us gladly and
willingly follow the exhortation of
May the peace
of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. Amen.