The Greatest Power

Build Connection

A man was sitting eating breakfast with his wife one morning when his wife asked, “Do you know what day it is?” Not responding to the question she taps his hand holding his phone he was looking at and says “Do you what day it is?”

With a confused and desperate look on his face he says, “yes.” and shortly heads off to work. Not long into the morning the wife receives a box of chocolates and a little later a dozen roses. That afternoon comes some few more small gifts.

When the man returns home from work he finds his wife had made a nice candle light dinner and was dressed in a eloquent gown where they enjoyed a nice dinner. Afterward, the wife looks at her husband with great affection and whispers in his ear, “Thank you, This was the best groundhog day ever.”

Create Tension

This is a humorous story but it illustrates a powerful lesson.

There are things we should never forget to remember and there are things we should remember to forget!

The things we should forget to remember is what I want to talk with you this morning about. It is what I think is “The Greatest Power” we have as humans.

Provide Solution

One of the most powerful stories in the Bible that shows this power at work is in Genesis. The story starts in chapter 37 and takes up about 20% of Genesis.

It’s a story of a young boy loved by his father and hated by his brothers. We don’t have time to go into great detail about the story but to emphasize the part of the story that deals with the greatest power.

Joseph love loved by his father and destined for great things, God showed him how his whole family would bow before him, even his father. Angry and jealous with him his brother plotted to kill him, but instead, sold him into slavery.

Genesis 37:23–33 (NLT)

23 So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. 24 Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. 25 Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.

26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.

29 Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief. 30 Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I do now?”

31 Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. 32 They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”

33 Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!”

But that’s not the end of the story…

After being sold Joseph rose to second in command of Potiphar’s house. But he again was attached and thrown into prison.

He rose in power in the prison and eventually interpreted some dreams and was eventually elevated to second in command of all of Egypt. There was a famine and his brothers eventually came down to Egypt for food and was presented to Joseph (although they did not know it was Joseph).

We see “The Greatest Power” used by Joseph in dealing with his brothers.

Our Greatest Power doesn’t lie in our power, fame or fortune, but in our ability to Forgive!

Joseph could have exacted justice on his brother by having them killed, but God had a better plan…Salvation.

The Same God who worked in Joseph showing forgiveness to save the dependents of Abraham is Genesis is the Same God who spoke about forgiveness to his disciples.

Matthew 18:21–35 (NLT)

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

Peter asks a question about how many times we should offer forgiveness and Jesus’ wisdom about the subject is unmatched…

After telling Peter to forgive not just 7 times but 70x7, he tells a story how and why that is possible.

To understand how we are to forgive we need to understand what was owed…

A talent was about 75 lbs. so 10,000x75 is 750,000

In gold, that would amount to about $19,000,000,000, ($19 billion)

A talent was more than 15 years wages. about 10-15 Billion…

The point is that he had a debt he could never pay!

The King forgave his debt, all of it, not cents on the dollar, but all of it!

The man who had this great debt paid in full found someone who owed him a days wage, could have been anywhere from $300 to $1,000.

Vs 34 says “Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

Does this mean we can be unforgiving of our sins once they have been forgiven?

Consider this understanding, the debt that had to be paid back was not what was already forgiven but what the servant had not forgiven, ie. The servant who own him money.

Matthew 2. Implications for the Church: Humility and Forgiveness (18:1–35)

Jesus may be teaching that no true disciple could ever act as this servant did; those who do so show that they have not really received forgiveness. Alternately, he may be indicating that

How do we have true forgiveness?

True forgiveness lives in the one who realize that their debt is greater than any debt that is owed to them.

No amount of trespass others do to you will compare to your trespasses before God.

True forgiveness lives in the one who doesn’t seek justice.

God has already paid the price for their forgiveness and is offering it to them, how can we not do the same?

True forgiveness lives in the one who loves the one who transgresses.

Prays for them

Meet’s their genuine needs

Encourage Change

Do you need to go and offer forgiveness to someone?