Forgiveness

 

FORGIVENESS

… based on Matthew 18:21-35

I want you to close your eyes, & think of the person who has hurt you the most. … Visualize them. … Remember what they did … how it affected you, or offended someone you love.  Let’s be honest, you really don’t like this person, do you? … Just thinking about them raises your blood pressure.

Okay, now imagine yourself totally forgiving them.  You’ve completely wiped the slate clean.  And then you run into them at Offbeet Bakery & there’s no animosity on your part whatsoever.  Your even happy to see them. 

And then they turn around & do the exact same thing again to you.

Upset & angry you get in your car & drive up Artist Drive to my house, 

& pulling in my drive you see me working in the yard.  You stomp over & blurt out … “Rande, as a follower of Jesus, if ______ keeps on sinning against me, 

how many times do I have to forgive him/her? 2? 3? 4? … 7 times?”

And, in one sense, you’re kind of proud of yourself by being so generous in throwing out those #’s.  Now I can only imagine the look on your face if I told you, “No, not 7 times but 490 times.” … Okay, open your eyes.

And this real-life theological issue is what we’re going to be pondering this morning.  

Forgiveness … because true forgiveness is what we’re commanded to do.

Listen now to Good News, as recorded by Matthew, to us who have gathered here for worship.  Within our hearing comes the Word of the Lord.

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him?  Seven times?”

“No, not seven times,” answered Jesus, but seventy times seven, because the Kingdom of heaven is like this.  Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants’ accounts.  He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.  The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt.  The servant fell on his knees before the king.  ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay you everything!’  The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.

“Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars.  He grabbed him and started choking him.  ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he said.  His fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’  But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt.  When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything.  So he called the servant in.  ‘You worthless slave!’ he said.  ‘I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to.  You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.’  The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount.”

And Jesus concluded, “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” 

(Matthew 18:21-35)

Jesus said, “Heaven & earth will pass away, 

but my words will never pass away.” (Mark 13:31)

May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen

Wow!  That’s a powerful parable, isn’t it?  Let me read you another short passage of Scripture.  And, once again, this is Jesus who is speaking.

“You can be sure that on the Judgment Day you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken.  Your words will be used to judge you – to declare you either innocent or guilty.” (Matthew 12:36-37)

Holy smokes … think about that … our own words will be used to judge us! … Now most of us have a double standard when it comes to that concept.  We’re pretty good at holding other people accountable for what they say.  But we’re a little lax when it comes to our own words.  We’re forgiving with our comments.  “Well, that was just said in the heat of the moment.  

Of course, I didn’t really mean it.  You shouldn’t take me so literally.”

But there’s coming a day when God’s going to pull out the tape of all our conversations!  And that’s kind of an embarrassing thought for me, 

because there are times in which my words go contrary to my beliefs,

& sadly, my Christian commitment.  And that’s actually seen in several ways.

The 1st is that I sometimes speak without really thinking about what I’m saying.  

In other words, I simply say what I’ve stored up here; talking by rote.

That was clearly brought home to me when I was a young boy.  

My Mom had taught me 2 prayers:

God is great.  God is good.  Let us thank Him for our food.

By His hand we all are fed.  Give us now our daily bread.  Amen

&

Now I lay me down to sleep.  I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

Thy love stay with me through the night. 

And bless me with the morning light.  Amen

I had them down pat, & was ready to recite 

either one of them on a moment’s notice.

One day, as we sat down to eat our evening meal, Mom asked, “Rande, 

will you pray the blessing?”  “Sure!” I confidently replied, “I can do that.”

I bowed my head, “Now I lay me down to sleep ….”

Right then, even as a young boy, I recognized that God wasn’t too impressed with my “personal” conversation with Him.  

I obviously wasn’t thinking about what I was saying.

Now, almost every Sunday we pray, all together, the Lord’s Prayer.

Do we mean those words that we pray? …

Or should I ask, do we even think about the words that we’re saying/praying?  (We can almost rattle it off in our sleep, can’t we?)

There’s 1 phrase that’s particularly frightening to me.

“Lord, forgive us our trespasses (debts, sins, wrongs), as we forgive

(in the same manner) those who trespass (our debtors, those who have sinned against us, those who have done us wrong).” (Matthew 6:12)

Wow!  Think about the conditions we’re making with God in regards to His forgiving us our sins. … Have you ever pondered that? … Do we actually mean what we’re saying in that prayer?

What did Jesus say? …

“Rande, on the Judgment Day you will have to give an account 

of every useless word you have ever spoken” … 

which includes, regrettably, even some of my prayers.

A 2nd way that our words judge us is a result of the fact that English is an expressive language.  What I mean by that is if I say, “I’m sorry,” that means … “I’m sorry.”  But if I say, “WELL SORRY,” that means … “I’m not sorry!”  If I say. “please forgive me,” that means … “please forgive me.”  

But if I say, “well, forgive me,” that means … “please don’t forgive me.”

Jesus said, “Your words will be used to judge you.” 

That statement truly convicts me.

I want to talk about forgiveness this morning, 

& there are 2 aspects to forgiveness that we need to understand.

1st of all, as followers of Jesus we are to forgive others.  

That’s not an option.  That’s not something that we have a choice about.  

We have to do it. It’s a command.

Paul writes …

“Forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else.  You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you.” 

(Colossians 3:13)

That’s stated in the most forceful language possible.  It’s a command.  There’s no other way to interpret that.

To not do that is to sin, & to sin means that we need God’s forgiveness, 

which we can’t get because we’ve asked Him to forgive us in the same manner that we forgive others.  You understand … it becomes a vicious cycle.

Do you see why it’s absolutely essential to forgive others? …

Peter’s helpful here, because we see ourselves clearly in his question … “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me,

how many times do I have to forgive?”

Now Peter has asked a wonderful, practical question, 

& in doing so, he shows us his heart.

1st of all, he sets the scene … “if my brother keeps on sinning against me.”

Now this isn’t a theological exercise about some nameless or faceless person.  This is someone he knows … “my brother.”  And the verb that Peter uses, (αμαρτησει) “keeps on sinning,” indicates that this isn’t a one-time occurrence.  (Remember that person you were thinking about at the beginning of this message?)  Peter asks,

“What’s the maximum number of times I have to forgive that guy?”)

You see, for Peter it’s an obligation.  Jewish teaching stated that a person was only required to forgive someone 3 times.  So, Peter is being extremely generous when he suggests the ultimate # … 7.  That’s twice the required amount + 1.  Peter must have been so proud of himself.

He expected to hear Jesus praise him.  “Atta boy, Peter, you got it!”

But let’s be honest … there’s not a possibility that any of us are going to forgive somebody 7 times for doing us in.  There’s not the slightest chance.  And besides, we’d do just what Peter would’ve done, we’d keep track 

… 1-2-3-4-5-6-7.  And when we’re keeping track, we’re not really forgiving,

because we’re waiting for the 8th time … so, we can really zap them!

How many times must we forgive? … 

And the answer that Jesus gives is … forgive as many times as God has forgiven you!  I am to forgive as many times as God has forgiven me.

Well, you’ve got to be kidding!  You can’t be serious.  

It’s easy for God to forgive … He’s God!

Well, if we think it’s easy for God to forgive us …

we better stop & ponder that for a moment …

& go back to the Cross & sit there for a while.

It cost God the death of His Son to forgive us.  

And the call to the follower of Jesus is infinite forgiveness.  490 & counting!

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Christian forgiveness is tough, but it’s what separates us from those who play only lip service to their faith.  It’s what following Jesus is all about.

Over the years I’ve witnessed or read about this taking place in very real & concrete ways.  One of the most powerful demonstrations of carrying out Jesus’ command is found in a San Luis, CA newspaper article that I’ve had in my files for many years now.  Let me read it to you.

“Bob & Golden Bristol drove 2,000 miles to forgive the man serving a life sentence for raping & murdering their daughter.  They plan to meet him tonight in the chapel of the CA Men’s Colony in an extraordinary service conducted by Charles ‘Tex’ Watson, a member of the Charles Manson cult serving a life sentence for his part in the Sharon Tate murders.  Watson, who has completed a training course to be an assistant chaplain helped set up the meeting between the Dearborn, MI couple & Michael Keeyes at the CA Men’s Colony.  Mrs. Bristol said she is nervous but determined to go through with it.  ‘I can’t let Michael down,’ she said.  ‘He’s looking forward to it.  

Mr. Watson told me everything was ready & not to worry.’

Keeyes has asked that 25 of his fellow inmates be allowed to attend when the Bristols, a devoutly religious couple, give their message of forgiveness.  

‘I wanted to inform those who don’t know that people like the Bristols exist,’ Keeyes said through another minister who helped arrange the meeting.

When he sentenced Keeyes, San Diego Superior Court Judge Ross Tharp called him ‘cunning, calculating, & callous – the most vicious killer I have encountered in my career.’

Mr. & Mrs. Bristol have corresponded with Keeyes for several years through an intermediary, the Rev. Joe Mason, director of the Prison Mission Association in Riverside, CA.  

They met with the minister on Thursday in Riverside 

& talked with Watson by telephone Wednesday night.

24-year-old Diane Bristol had been selling children’s books door-to-door when she was found raped & strangled in San Diego‘s North Park area.  

‘Our 1st reaction was unbelievable shock,’ said Bristol, a Ford Motor Co. worker.  ‘It was such an ugly, heinous crime.  We despised the way in which Diane had been brutally handled & strangled.  It tore us apart.’

But during the time between Diane’s murder & Keeyes arrest, Mrs. Bristol said the couple turned from hatred for the killer to prayer for his soul.”

That’s exactly what God has called us to do.  

And, without The Holy Spirit, it can’t be done.

 Pastor Bruce Larson tells the true story of a Catholic priest living in the Philippines, who carried a secret burden of a past sin.  He committed this sin 

many years earlier while attending seminary.  Although he repented of it, 

he still suffered from years of remorse.  He had no peace, no inner joy, 

& no sense of God’s forgiveness.  It was a weight that he constantly carried.

There was a woman in his parish who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Jesus & He with her.  

The priest, however, was skeptical of her claims.  So, he decided to test her.

He said to her, “You say you actually speak directly with Jesus in your visions.  Let me ask you a favor.  The next time you have one of these visions, I want you to ask Him what sin your priest committed while he was in seminary.”  The woman agreed & went home.

When she returned a few days later, the priest asked, 

“Well, did Jesus visit you in your dreams?”

“Yes, He did,” she replied.

“And did you ask Him what sin I committed in seminary?”

“Yes.”

“Well, what did He say?”

“He said … ‘I don’t remember.’”

I love that story.  My friends, God forgives & forgets our sins 

when we sincerely repent of them.  The slate is wiped clean. (Job 14:16-17)

“Happy (blessed) are those whose wrongs are forgiven, 

whose sins are pardoned!

Happy (blessed) is the person whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!” 

(Romans 4:7-8)

“God forgave us all our sins;

 he canceled the unfavorable record of our debts.” (Colossians 2:13-14)

“As far as the east is from the west, 

so far does he remove our sins from us.” (The Psalms 103:12)

That’s how God relates to us … & that’s how we must treat one another.

It’s what being a follower of Jesus is all about.

There’s no other way to interpret His words …

“forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Our worldly nature resists forgiveness.  We want justice … an eye for an eye. (Deuteronomy 19:21) We want them to pay for what they’ve done to us.

It’s so easy to dismiss Peter’s question, but he was being brutally honest … 

how many times do we have to forgive someone?

Peter was really attempting to be generous in his desire to follow the Lord … 7 times!  Who of us would ever forgive someone 7 times?

“Not 7 times,” answered Jesus, “but 70 x 7” … in other words, as many times as God forgives us.  This, when we stop & think about it, is countless times daily.

Can you think of anyone, who in the last week, month, year(s), 

needs to be forgiven by you for something that they did?

“Lord, forgive me my trespasses (debts, sins, wrongs), (in the same manner) as I forgive those who trespass, sin against me.”

My friends, now is the time to do that.  Jesus commands you to forgive them.  Not to do it is a sin.  Look at the cross.  Think of what it cost Jesus to forgive you.  I invite you to silently pray right now. 

MARANA THA