Apostles Creed #11

Introduction:

Canyon, let’s pretend that your soccer team made it to state and it was the final minutes of the game and Levi is on the line but he repeatedly makes mistakes that should put you ahead and it’s his fault that you guys aren’t blowing the other team out. But, by a miracle, your team barely squeaks out a win and you guys get that coveted trophy as state champs. Would you still be willing to let Levi hold the trophy even though he blew it? Of course you would. Why? Not because he preformed perfectly, as a matter of fact he may have made things harder, but he gets to hold the trophy because he’s a part of your team.

Well, as we look at the Apostle’s Creed again today, we find ourselves coming to the statement, “I believe…in the forgiveness of sins…” Now, this phrase was not apart of the creed originally. However, in the year 303 AD Emperor Diocletian ordered that the property of Christians was to be seized, their books were to be burned, and their churches were to be destroyed. All of the Christian leaders were put in prison and only those who offered sacrifices to the Roman idols would be freed. It is said that countless Christians came out and made sacrifices. This act was one of them renouncing their baptisms and those who went along with it recieved the title of “the traitors” (Myers, The Apostles Creed, 113).

Now, fast forward to the end of the time of persecution and many of the traitors came back to the Church as though nothing had ever happened. This resulted in a serious conflict among the believers as they wondered if these people should be welcomed back in or not.

Well, the controversy ended with a group known as the Donatist, who were those who said they shouldn’t be welcomed back in, leaving and starting their own group. But for the rest of the Church, they asked themselves, “What is it that makes you a follower of Christ? And what can you do if you have strayed from Christ’s path? Is the Christian community a church of the pure or can struggling, weak, uncertain souls find a place among us?” (ibid, 114-115).

It was here that they came to articulate that they believe in the forgiveness of sins.

With the history behind this significant statement understood, let’s look to the Bible for a bit to see how they came to this understanding of forgiveness and how it impacts us today. Matthew 18:23-35

Matthew 18:23–35 NKJV

23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

As we read this story, we find that there is apparently a guy who owes his king ten thousand talents. This would be the equivalent to 60,000 days or 200 years of work at that time. To put it simply, this man owed an unbelievable amount of money and what does his master say should be done? Well, this man and all of his family, his wife and children, will be sold off into slavery. Just imagine how this guy would feel! He was a servant of the king and now, because of him, his poor wife and children will all be sold off into slavery. But what does this king do as this man begs him? It says that the king had compassion on him.

Now, the word compassion in Greek is “Splachnon” which refers to the intestines. Now that might sound weird, but we still speak that way today when we tell people that we love them with all of our hearts. I actually think that speaking in reference to the intestines would be better, though a little weird, because that is where we often feel deep emotion. You might see your crush and get butterflies, you get scared and feel a knot in your stomach, you might look at a little baby crying for you and feel pity in your stomach. Well, this is what the king had for this guy. His heart was broken for this man, so he does the unthinkable and totally forgives him of everything.

So this man walks away freely, but while he is walking he finds a guy who apparently owes him a hundred denarii which is about 100 days of work worth of money. And you would think that he would forgive him, but that’s not what he does. Instead, he chokes the man, threatens him and through him into prison over this debt.

Well, apparently someone tells the king and the king is blown away by this man’s arrogance so when he hears this, he delivers this unforgiving servant up to be tortured until his unbelievably high debt is paid off. And Jesus says, Matthew 18:35 “35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

Now, the point of this story is clear. If we are believers, God has forgiven us of an unbelievable amount of sin that we could never pay off. And if that’s the case, how could we ever dare to hold a grudge over anyone for what they do to us? The answer to that is that we have unforgiving hearts because we don’t think that God really had to forgive us of a lot. Notice also that this man is known as a servant of the king. So his life is to honor, serve and represent the king. So, by being so harsh to this man who owed him money, he represented his gracious and forgiving king as though he were cruel and evil. Do we represent our King well? Do we remember how much He has forgiven and what is cost Him to do that? If we do, then we should be quick to forgive others who have wronged us.

Another passage that we could learn from is James 1:26

James 1:26 NKJV

26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.

Now, if we aren’t careful, we might just read this and think James is saying, “Man, if your Christianity can’t make you watch your mouth, then you ain’t got it.” But that’s not all that he’s saying here. What James wants us to be sure to kill in ourselves is the temptation to blind our hearts to exactly how sinful we are. He’s warning us of being hypocrites who think we’ve got it all figured out. And the way that these people make themselves seem more righteous is by slandering others who have fallen.

As believers, we should never build ourselves upon the failures of others. Rather, we should make sure that all of our boasting is in the solid work that Christ did for our forgiveness.

So, what does this all mean for us today?

It means that the local church isn’t a perfect place, but it’s a place where forgiveness is known and shown to others.

It means that we who have been forgiven of our sins, should show that same forgiveness to people who wrong us. We shouldn’t be grudge bearers. Notice, Jesus doesn’t say that the pour man didn’t owe the guy anything. He owed him 3.5 months worth of work’s money! But compared to the amount that the servant owed the King, it doesn’t look like much, does it?

You may have been genuinely wronged by someone in your life, and it may have had serious impacts on you and no one is saying that it doesn’t matter. But what we are saying is that compared to how much we’ve sinned against God, we should find strength to forgive only as we consider the gospel.

3. It means that we should share the good news that others can be forgiven.