This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience
with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of
that servant forgave him the debt.
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, send us your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to
all of us that we may hear well. Amen.
I.
We are reluctant to forgive people.
We
sinners don’t find it easy to forgive people. We are reluctant to forgive
people. Last week, in our gospel reading we were reading about Jesus’ advice to
his disciples about how they should go about reconciling with people.
And in
today’s reading, we read: 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?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven
times.” In other words, Jesus is saying to the person, forgive the person,
and don’t stop. Don’t count. Just keep forgiving, again and again.
Now
this is the topic of our whole reading today. Jesus is talking about forgiving
other people. And this topic comes up in the Lord’s Prayer, where it says: Forgive
us our sins [or trespasses], as we forgive those who sin [or trespass]
against us. And so as Peter looks at his own capacity to forgive—maybe
he’s prepared to forgive seven times at a stretch—but Jesus sets the bar much
higher: seventy-seven times. Jesus shows us his great capacity to forgive, but
our great weakness to forgive. We do not have this capacity in ourselves to
forgive, it must come to us from Jesus. Without Jesus, we can’t forgive.
In our
reading today, we read about a king who forgives a servant’s debt. But once the
servant refuses to forgive his fellow servant, Jesus even issues a very strict
and very harsh warning at the end of the reading: We read: Then the master
summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt
because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow
servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the
jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do
to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.
These
are very harsh and very sharp words indeed from Jesus. When we refuse to
forgive others, we become hardened to God’s forgiveness. Jesus even threatens
us with hell here, because our debt is endless, and we can never, ever pay God
off.
But
this brings us to the second part of our sermon, where we learn about
II.
The forgiveness of sins.
Jesus
says: The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle
accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who
owed him ten thousand talents. 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. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with
me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that
servant released him and forgave him the debt.
Now
this is a tremendous passage which gives us some powerful comfort. Look at what
the master does in this passage. There is a debt, which the servant can’t pay,
which is ten thousand talents. A talent was about 20 years wages for a
labourer. A labourer’s yearly wage in Australia can be around $50,000 or
so—times that by 20 is ten billion dollars in today’s money. And this
man’s not a wealthy man—he is just a servant. This is an impossible debt to pay
off. Even selling himself and his wife and family into slavery is not even
going to pay off the debt.
But
the master forgives him the debt. And get this—not only is the man released of
his debt, but he doesn’t receive any punishment for it. The master could have
forgiven him the debt, but then put him in jail so that he won’t do it again.
No—he does nothing of the sort. The man is free from guilt, and he is free from
punishment.
Now, have
you ever heard of people speak about a thing called “karma”? The idea of karma
has its origins in Hinduism, and this is where people are always judging people
when things go badly for them, and they say: “it must be their karma. They must
have deserved it”. Karma is a terrible idea, and it turns people into such
hateful people. If the teaching of karma had its own statue in town, I would
suggest that we would daily go and throw some tomatoes, or mud, or dung at it,
so that it topples over! Some people say: “You made your bed, now you sleep in
it.” Some people also say: “He got his come-uppance.” “What goes around comes around”,
and this kind of thing.
Now
God is not like this at all. Sure, sometimes it happens that our sin has
earthly consequences. But when we turn to God, we know that any earthly
consequences of our sins will just melt away once we have died. And earthly
consequences are not a sign of God’s curse, or his punishment. This may be our cross
to bear, but it isn’t our punishment. For example, someone may become a
Christian in gaol, and they will still have to serve out their sentence, but
they know that their sin is forgiven by God. St Paul says: There is no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
When
Jesus died on the cross for you, he took upon himself your guilt, your debt,
but he also took upon himself your punishment. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, we read: For
our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin. This means that even
though Jesus had no sin, and was completely and totally sinless, he took all of
your sin upon himself, and died for it, just as if he were the worst
sinner on earth. But then in Galatians 3:13, it says: Christ redeemed us
from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. So Jesus didn’t just
become sin for us, but he also became a curse for us. Becoming a
curse means he took on himself the punishment. So you can see that Jesus
didn’t die for us in such a way that he forgives us, but still punishes us.
No—he forgives us, he cancels our debt, and he sets us free, and doesn’t punish
us. Our debt is on Jesus, and our punishment is on Jesus.
We
also read about this in Isaiah 53 in the Old Testament. It says: He was
pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities; upon him was
the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. When
Jesus died, he completely wiped away our transgressions, our iniquities.
He brings us peace and healing. But he also takes the punishment,
he is pierced, he is crushed,
upon him is the chastisement, and he is wounded.
So
this is a really wonderful, comforting word of God for us. It means that in the
reading, there is no need any more for the servant to be sold. And we learn
this from other readings in the bible too. When the prodigal son returns to his
father, he doesn’t have to pay back all the money he squandered. He is received
back with open arms! His father doesn’t flog his son, or belt him, or lecture
him, but there is only joy, only celebrating! When then shepherd leaves the 99
sheep in the field and goes and finds his lost sheep, he comes home and
celebrates. He doesn’t chain the sheep up and break its legs so that he doesn’t
run off again! There is no punishment, there is only celebration.
In John chapter 8, we read about a woman who is caught in the act of adultery.
All the people want to shame her, and even stone her to death. But Jesus says: Let
him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And
then, they all left. And Jesus didn’t then punish her himself, and put a ball
and chain around her foot. He said: Neither do I condemn you; go, and from
now on sin no more.
This
is the real heart of our reading, that when the master forgives his servants
debt, he also releases him from any punishment, or retribution.
There is a big red stamp that comes down on this servant’s account, that says:
PAID IN FULL. And the same goes for us. Jesus has died for you, and over the
list, the account of your sins and debts to God, there is a big red stamp made
with his holy precious blood that says: PAID IN FULL. And paid means “paid”. In
Isaiah, we read where an angel comes to the prophet with a burning coal and
says: Behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away, and your
sin atoned for.
Now,
we come to our third part of our reading, which is about
III.
Forgiving others.
We read: 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.’ So his fellow
servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay
you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.
Here we see the servant has been freed
from his debt, but now that he is let off the hook, he thinks to
himself, “That was a close call! I better make sure that I never have to
go through all that again.” A debt of hundred denarii is a very small
debt compared with the 10,000 talents.
In Matthew 6:14, we read about the
Lord’s Prayer: For if you forgive others their trespasses, you heavenly
Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. So what does
this mean? It means, that if you forgive others, it means that you have a
wonderful comfort and assurance that your sins are forgiven in heaven. But we
might think: Hang on… aren’t we forgiven freely, by grace, without our works?
Yes, you’re right. Forgiving others doesn’t earn you forgiveness with
God. God doesn’t forgive you because of your works in general, or even because
you have forgiven other people. He forgives you completely and totally
freely, without any conditions whatsoever, out of pure grace,
because His Son has died for you, and because He has promised it.
That’s it. But he wants to encourage you to forgive other people, so that when
you do forgive others, this can be a little sign for you, a confirmation and an
assurance, that your sins are forgiven by God. So Jesus says in Luke 6:37: Forgive,
and you will be forgiven. Jesus wants to encourage us when someone has
wronged us to forgive them, and when we do this, we know that this forgiveness
that we pass on to them came to us from God. St John says: We love because
he first loved us.
Now, at the end of the parable, Jesus
says: And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should
pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if
you do not forgive your brother from your heart.
Now, I don’t know about you, but those
words really cut me to the heart: from your heart. You have trouble
forgiving people, don’t you? You say: “Forgive and forget”, but you know deep
down that you don’t forget. In Jeremiah 31:34 God says: I will forgive their
iniquities and remember their sin no more. How can we completely forget the
wrongs that people have done to us?
Let me explain something here. In
English, “remembering” and “forgetting” often means something that we do in our
heads, or in our minds. It has to do with our memories. But in Hebrew, remembering
means something that you do. So for example, when Joseph was in prison,
he interpreted the dreams of two men. One man was released from prison and went
to work for Pharoah, and Joseph said: Remember me, when it is well
with you, and do me the kindness to mention me to Pharoah, and so get me out of
this house. Remember here, doesn’t mean that the man should simply think
about Joseph in prison, but he means that he should actually go and say
something to Pharoah. Another example is in 1 Samuel, where it talks about the
prophet’s Samuel’s parents, Elkanah and Hannah, who had wanted a child for many
years. We read: Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered here.
And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. When it says, the Lord
remembered her, it means he actually did something for her and made her
pregnant. Another example is in the Lord’s Supper, when Jesus says: Do this
in remembrance of me. It doesn’t mean that we simply think about Jesus in
our heads while we eat nothing but ordinary bread and wine with our mouths.
Remembering here means doing something: it means eating his body and
drinking his blood in remembrance of him. Or what about the thief on the cross?
He says: Remember me when you come into your heaven. He doesn’t mean think
about me, when you’re in heaven and I’m in hell. He means, bring me to
heaven with you! In English too, sometimes we talk like this, like if
someone has a wedding anniversary. If a man doesn’t do anything, his wife will
say: “Um… did you forget something today?” And he’ll say, “Yes, I remembered.”
But that’s not good enough! He has to do something: he has to congratulate her,
kiss her, give her a card, chocolate, breakfast in bed, flowers, or whatever
else people do on their wedding anniversary. Remembering the anniversary
means doing something.
So when it says that God will not remember
our sins, it doesn’t mean that he has a bad memory. It means that he
won’t do anything about them. He won’t act on them, he won’t punish
us for them. Psalm 103 says: He does not deal with us according to
our sins. And so, we might have bad memories about something that
someone did to us, but forgiving them from our hearts doesn’t mean that we
suddenly have memory loss, but it means that we don’t act on it,
we don’t punish them for it, we don’t think up ways to make their
lives miserable so that we feel better.
Luther says this really well in the
Small Catechism: We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would
not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy
of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He
would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve
nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to
those who sin against us.
Do you see those words: “gladly do
good”? God gives us everything we need every day. He gives us our daily bread.
But when we sin, he still gives us our daily bread, and doesn’t hold it back
from us. Now we Christians also do good to those people who are good to us, but
we are also called to forgive and do good to our enemies and those who hate us
and those who have sinned against us and hurt us. Sometimes this takes strength
that we feel we don’t have, but Jesus will provide it for you when you ask him.
Think about a person who has hurt you
deeply—Jesus died them just as he died for you. It’s not Jesus’ desire to
punish him—it is yours?
When we receive absolution, and the
forgiveness of sins, this absolution begins to take effect in our life.
And as it takes effect, hatred begins to melt away. We are saved by
faith alone, without any works of ours. But then this faith, like a tree, grows
up and begins to produce all kinds of fruits. When Jesus was on the cross, he
prayed: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. The
first Christian martyr, Stephen, when he was being stoned to death, said: Lord,
do not hold this sin against them. In other words: don’t punish them for
this, he prays. And what happened? Well, one of the men there was Paul, and the
Lord didn’t hold his sin against him, but appeared to him on the road to Damascus,
converted him, changed his heart, and then he wrote the most wonderful books in
the bible which teach us about how God doesn’t hold our sins against us, just
as Stephen prayed.
Now who has hurt you personally? Or who
are the persecutors of Christianity? There are many people at the moment who
have a lot of hate-speech to say about Christians. Why don’t we pray for them,
and for their forgiveness? Have you ever prayed about the members of ISIS who
have killed many Christians in Iraq, and even crucified two-year-olds on soccer
ovals? Those people need our prayers for forgiveness too.
Even when we come together as a church,
one of the first things we do as a church is pray for forgiveness. Our whole life-blood
as Christians is the forgiveness of sins. When we receive the Lord’s Supper, we
drink Christ’s blood for the forgiveness of sins. We receive
forgiveness, and our whole mission as Christians is to forgive others.
Let’s pray that Jesus may help us in this and inspire and change our hearts, so
that we may forgive those who have sinned against us. Amen.
Lord Jesus, thank you for cancelling
our debt to us, and taking on yourself our guilt and our punishment. Let this
forgiveness sink in to our hearts and inspire everything that we do, so that we
may spread this forgiveness to others. Amen.
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