The Unforgiving Servant

Welcome

Intro

Last week we covered the steps to Forgiveness and restoration between church family members.

This is the way I want you to understand the Church Community. The people surrounding you are your brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact I remember coming into the church and all the elderly people were known a Brother or Sister So and So.

We don’t tend to look at the church community that way. We tend to have an attitude that the church is a building and this is just somewhere we attend until something more attractive shows up or we get offended. Then we go looking for something else.

Here’s the problem with looking for something else. Every church family has the same struggles the only difference is the wrapping that surrounds the gift.

A church family is a gift…..or at least it should be…….

Today we are wrapping up chapter 18 which holds a teaching from Jesus that started with a question over who was the greatest in the Kindom of Heaven…. This lead Jesus to teach his disciples some valuable Kingdom Principles…

Kindom Citizens are to be

Humble like Children

Slow to get Offended

In Search of Lost Sheep

Careful in Accusation and Quick in Restoration

Proactive and Supportive to Church Disipline and Leadership

This leads to a Question:

Again I begin a Sermon with “OH Peter!”

Pray

Body

Matthew 18:21–35 CSB

21 Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?” 22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven. 23 “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him. 25 Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. 26 “At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan. 28 “That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’ 29 “At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he wasn’t willing. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. 31 When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. 32 Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”

Peter thinks he finally gets it and has come up with the right answer.

You see the Pharissees taught that you must forgive 3 times.

So Peter uses Fisherman math doubles the number and adds 1.

In his mind he is being more than Generous………

This the problem when your belief is that Forgiveness is something that has to be earned or deserved….

That restitution must be paid……..

Seven Hail Marys and a bag of sugar……..

But Jesus once again let’s Peter and us all in on a little secret……

We Do Not Have It All Figured Out!

Matthew 18:22 CSB

22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.

Now I know some of you are doing that math and calculating how many times you have to for give. But your missing the point.

Jesus is playing off of Peters words to show that God wants us to work in the realm of unlimited forgiveness……

Jesus has invited us into the realm of Kingdom Thinking and Kingdom Action…….

This means that we participate in the forgiveness that we have been shown.

When a person who has sinned against us responds to counsel/confrontation and repents we are to forgive every time.

But what if they keep making the same mistake?

Here is a valuable point you need to understand.....

You don’t own forgiveness!

In the body of Christ, forgiveness is not something we control and hand out to one another as we see fit

Forgiveness is exclusively offered by the Lord on His terms, and we merely represent Him in the process of restoring lost sheep

We don’t get to determine when someone deserves forgiveness, because that choice belongs to Jesus alone

Jesus says every time someone comes to repentance after having sinned or caused offense, we are to extend forgiveness to that person and restore them.

Who are we to think that we get to set the standards for restoration.

Now this does not mean we don’t use wisdom and provide Biblical Guidance for that person to see them grow from their sin.

Now I want to take a moment to ask you something…..

Who here has mastered the ability to only commit a sin once?

So what is a Sin?

An immoral act considered to be a trangression against diving law

2. and act regarded as a serious or regrettable fault, offense, or omission.

In Bible this word is used to describe missing the mark…….

Here lies the problem in a church community there are as many marks to miss as there are people…….

Jesus tells us that in this world there is going to be offense……

So what do we do with offense we Cast it off……

Learning to forgive without condition is not just doing something nice for someone else it is actually the best thing for yourself.

Chuck Swindoll once said:

"Every time an offense occurs, forgive. Every single time. If you do not, you will never be happily married. If you do not, you will never find a church you'll be content with. If you do not, you will never find a group you can get along with. You'll never be able to work for any company. You're just going to spend your entire existence looking for and expecting perfection but never finding it. That's not a happy way to live. Nor is it realistic." 

Now let’s look at this parable……

Jesus opens the parable in v.23 by saying “for this reason”, meaning here’s the reason why I expect you to show such unconditional mercy 

And in the parable we have a king settling a debt with a slave

Indentured servants (slaves) lived and worked in a master’s home, and on occasion a master might extend credit to a slave

The slave would be granted additional provisions or materials beyond the value of their work

These loans had to be repaid through additional hours of work or by some other means 

Matthew 18:23-25

Matthew 18:23–25 CSB

23 “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him. 25 Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.

This is not slavery in American History….

This is

Indentured servants (slaves) lived and worked in a master’s home, and on occasion a master might extend credit to a slave

The slave would be granted additional provisions or materials beyond the value of their work

These loans had to be repaid through additional hours of work or by some other means 

In this example, the king has allowed a particular slave to amass an unbelievably huge debt

A talent was a measure of weight equal to about 75 pounds

So 10,000 talents of silver was a debt of 750,000 lbs of silver, which would be worth $195,000,000 today

Could you imagine the look on your spouse’s face when they open the credit card bill and see a balance of $195M?

Matthew 18:26 CSB

26 “At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.’

I will do anything give me more time.

So what does the King do….

Matthew 18:27 CSB

27 Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.

Wow that’s life changing and this slave should be a new man….

So what does He do?

Matthew 18:28–30 CSB

28 “That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’ 29 “At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he wasn’t willing. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.

He responds by going after someone who owes him about 3 months wages……

He has no concept of the Measure at which he has been forgiven.

The most major key to having the ability to forgive others is a solid understanding of what Jesus has allowed you to be forgiven of……..

Let’s look ath the response…..

Matthew 18:31–35 CSB

31 When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. 32 Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”

Where are you at in the area of Forgiveness?

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