Matthew
18.21-35
Do
you sometimes find it tricky living or working with other people? People
say and do things that irritate us. We say and do things that upset other
people.
Even
when we try hard, we can get it wrong.
I
remember admiring someone’s little grandchild. I said,
‘What
a handsome little boy!’ The grandmother said,
‘She’s
a girl.’
If
we are going to be able to live and work with other people, we need to be
able to forgive one another.
Peter
asks Jesus the question –How many times must I forgive someone?
Peter
suggests seven times.
The
Rabbis taught we must forgive three times.
Someone
might keep a list:
1.
You contradicted me.
2.
You criticized my relatives.
3.
You left the bench in a mess.
I
forgave you three times.
Then
-you ate all the chocolate biscuits.
That’s
it!
You’ve
had your three.
I
don’t have to forgive you four times.
Our
relationship is now over: good-bye.
Peter
suggests forgiving seven times.
He’s
generous; he doubles the number and adds one more!
How
does Jesus respond?
Jesus
says, ‘Not seven times but seventy times seven!’
That’s
four hundred and ninety times!
Does
Jesus imagine anyone is going to keep a list?
Forgot
my birthday 488.
Made
a rude comment about my hair cut 489.
Gave
me the burnt chop 490.
I
don’t think so.
What
is Jesus saying?
Is
Jesus saying we must keep on forgiving?
It’s
a big ask.
It’s
not easy.
Can
we do it?
Jesus
tells a parable about forgiveness.
A
king decided to check on his servants’ accounts. He found one servant
owed him 10,000 talents. A talent is 6,000 denarii. A denarius is a
day’s pay.
If
a day’s pay is $100, the servant owed him $600,000,000!
Haven’t
we been hearing this sort of story recently?
How
much does ‘
Lombard
’ owe investors?
The
king ordered him to sell up and be sold as a slave with his family to pay
the debt.
The
servant begs for time.
How
does the king respond?
‘The
king had compassion for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.’
This
king is a very generous!
So
then what happened?
The
servant met one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii, $10, 000.
The
fellow servant begged for time.
He
threw him into jail.
When
the king heard about it, he was angry and sent the first servant to jail
until he should pay back the whole amount.
When
Margaret and I looked at this parable, we thought it had the feeling of a
morality play. Let’s have a look at it.
I
will be the king. Margaret will be the first servant, …….. the second
servant.
King
You owe me millions!
You must pay it back!
I will sell you up!
First
servant
I can’t!
I haven’t got the money!
Please give me time!
King
I feel sorry for you.
I forgive you your debt.
First
servant
You owe me thousands!
You must pay it back!
Second
servant I can’t!
I haven’t got the money!
Please give me time!
First
servant
I’m throwing you into jail
until you can pay me!
King
I am very angry!
You are going to jail
until you can pay me!
What
is God saying to you in this parable?
I
invite you to have a word with your neighbour about it.
…………………..
What
does God have for us?
In
Semetic culture, numbers are exaggerated to make a point.
The
thrust of the story is the king forgives the first servant an unbelievable
sum.
Can
we forgive someone over and over?
I
think the king in the parable is God.
The
parable tells us God is compassionate.
God
forgives us again and again and again, forever.
We
have said and done hurtful things.
We
are sorry.
We
have tried to make amends.
We
can still lie awake feeling badly about ourselves.
I
can think about something I said when I was a boy and groan aloud.
The
parable is saying:
God
loves us.
God
forgives us.
We
can move on.
Can
we forgive someone over and over?
When
we know we are forgiven,
we
have the spirit we need to forgive someone else.
When
we know we are loved,
we
have the spirit we need to love someone else.
We
can live and work alongside one-another
because
we can forgive one-another.
Margaret
has been thinking about forgiveness.
Elements
of the story:
1.
It is clearly healthy for us to forgive.
It
is not healthy for us to hold on to resentments.
When
we don’t forgive we can become bitter and twisted.
Forgiving
benefits the forgiver as much as the person forgiven.
2.
Forgiveness is concerned with restoring the relationship.
When
we don’t forgive someone, there is a barrier between us.
When
we forgive someone, our relationship can have a new beginning.
What
about if someone continues to treat us badly?
Does
this mean we must continue to let someone hurt us?
I
remember a woman speaking of her friend saying,
‘She’s
an absolute saint, what she puts up with from that husband of hers!’
Is
it God’s purpose for us to forgive someone who hurts us again and again?
I
don’t think so.
At
the heart of the parable is a sense of justice and injustice.
The
first servant treated the second servant badly.
The
other servants were upset and told the king.
The
king was angry.
He
finished up punishing the first servant.
Jesus
concludes, ‘That is how my father in heaven will treat every one of you
unless you forgive your brother from your heart.’
Jesus
invites us into a life of forgiving
and being forgiven, loving and being loved.
If
in our loving and forgiving we are not being loved and forgiven,
it
is unjust and unfair.
If
the love is not passed on and returned , God is angry.
In
a moment we will eat and drink together,
sharing
that generous compassion of God,
enjoying
God’s warm love for us all.
I
had a very loving grandmother.
At
Christmas the family would gather.
On
Christmas Day we would all sit around the table.
There
were some tensions between different members of the family.
My
grandmother would stand and say,
Be present at our table Lord,
Be here and everywhere
adored.
These mercies bless and grant
that we
May feast in paradise with
thee.
She
gathered the family into her warm heart, into the warm heart of God.
And
around the table there were smiles.
So
around this table, there are smiles.