NTC: Forgiveness

I heard this illustration of a football team huddling for a play. The team would huddle up and figure out a play to run. They would communicate it well so that everyone heard and understood it, then they did something strange. Instead of running the play, they would run off the field and sit on the bench. They would stay off the field until the other team had run a play, then they would run out and huddle up again to discuss the next play that they should run. Then they would run off the field again.

Pastor Francis Chan compared this to how the people of the church too often gathers on Sunday to praise, to pray, and to proclaim the truths of the faith, but all too often we run out of the game instead of running the play.

My prayer for us today is that we don’t just talk about what the life of a disciple looks like, but instead take this challenge as an opportunity to live the disciples’ life.

Pray

We are beginning the 6th of the 9 week long New Testament Challenge. In this series, we are 1. striving to read or listen to the New Testament together. WE are striving to attend every Sunday service to hear a message on one of the 9 main themes of the NT. We are seeking to hear from God and 4th, we have committed to obeying any call of God we might receive during this series.

I’m glad you are here because I believe that God wants to say something to someone today.

This week in the New Testament Challenge, we read a few of Paul’s letters to first churches. We read his letters to the churches in Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae. These letters were written to real people facing real issues in their church. They were facing issues that were driving their churches apart.

They were facing real problems of how to live out their faith in their lives, while struggling with how to treat one another when they are lied to, persecuted, hungry, taken advantage of, and in poverty.

To Galatia, he told them about how they are free to live Godly lives by God’s grace, that we aren’t justified by obedience to the law.

To Ephesus, Paul explains how the experience of God’s grace creates in us real changes in the way we live. These changes aren’t made to earn God’s love, but rather because we have God’s love at work in us, he reorients our lives around his way of doing things.

TO the church in Philippi, Paul, while in prison, reminded the church to be unified as servants, as Jesus was in emptying himself on the cross.

and to the church in Colossae, Paul taught them to be on the look out for false teachers. That as God’s people we were to leave our lives of sin behind and live in a godly way, following Christ, loving Jesus and loving one another.

Paul wrote these letters to help and encourage the church, that’s you and I, to live out our relationship with Jesus, not just talk about it. But they were having a hard time doing that, that’s why he wrote to encourage or correct them when all they were doing was huddling up and never running the play.

I mean, I’m a preacher, you know I love to talk…but our faith was meant to be lived…love was meant to be loved.

One of the things that prevents people from living the life we were all created to live, the one thing we all have in common is what we are going to talk about today, the challenge to forgiveness.

Forgiveness, or the lack of forgiveness, is something we all deal with…or struggle with.

EXAMPLES: spouse, parents, neighbor, employer, classmate, stranger, sibling, an employee, fellow church member, or even your pastor

WE think that what they did was so bad we can’t possibly forgive them. Or maybe it’s the flip-side, that some of us think that what we did back then was so bad, God will never forgive me. But both of these are a lie.

Forgiveness is the release, on the part of the creditor or offended party, of any expectation that a debt will be repaid or that an offender will receive punishment for an offense.

Forgiveness does not…say the behavior was ok.

Forgiveness does not…say I’ll let you do it again.

Forgiveness does not…say the offender won’t face any consequences

Forgiveness does not…say, unless the forgiver is God, that God won’t punish

Forgiveness does not…say it never happened.

When I forgive, i’m saying, going forward I won’t hold you accountable for what you have done in the past.

It doesn’t change the past…it changes the future.

It’s hard and for many of us, forgiveness is one of the most difficult things about the Christian faith.

But we aren’t the only ones who struggle with it, the early church did, even the apostles did. That’s the source of our text today.

If you brought your bible, I’d invite you to open your bible to the gospel of Matthew. Picking up in chapter 18, verse 21 we find Peter asking Jesus about this very issue. We are going to spend all day right here.

While you are turning there, I’d like to say something to those of you who are here today and don’t really follow Jesus. You wouldn’t not consider yourself a Jesus follower. This forgiveness thing won’t make sense to you. It’s part of the way we understand God works in our lives. But if you don’t believe God works in our world, if you don’t believe that you can be forgiven of your past, then by all means, when you are offended or wronged, you should seek revenge. That’s how the world works and if you don’t take part, the whole system will break down.

But if you call yourself a Christian, if you hold to the forgiveness of God through Jesus's death and resurrection, then hear these words of Jesus.

Matthew 18:21–22 NIV84

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

What brought up such a problem for Peter?

Just previously, Jesus was teaching that if a brother sins against you, that you should say something. If he doesn't listen to you, then take someone with you. If he doesn’t listen to you both, tell the whole church…and if he still doesn’t get it…well treat him as you would an outsider.

How did you treat an outsider? Jesus taught us to love people no matter what.

But how often do I have to forgive them Peter asks. He’s like, yea, but when we correct him and he apologizes and comes back and does it all over again. How often do we have to forgive that one?

We need to hear this, cause let’s face it, I can smile at people without forgiving them, amen. I can welcome people without forgiving them. I can be nice without forgiving them. Rock Hall is the town for nice people we know that so you can be nice without forgiving people. Forgiveness isn’t fake.

Jesus says not seven times..I’ve read that in the Jewish culture at this time it was customary to forgive people 3 times. Then after that, you were done with them. They didn’t deserve forgiveness…Jesus says don’t just do a little better than the culture... but seventy seven…some bibles translate it as 7 times 70. Either way, the point is, if you are counting, it’s not forgiveness.

Psalm 103:12 NIV84

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Forgiveness means you stop keeping score.

Because forgiveness is about NOT keeping a list.

Forgiveness is about NOT holding a person accountable.

What does that kind of forgiveness even look like? Jesus told Peter a parable.

Matthew 18:23–25 NIV84

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

A couple of things here. First, the debt that was owed, 10,000 talents. How much is that? Well, it would take a man 20 years to earn 1 talent…so 10,000…that’s more than you could earn in many lifetimes. It’s millions. It’s unimaginable.

This was a huge debt owed. He knew his huge guilt, so he had to be brought in before the king.

Guilt gets in the way of us experiencing forgiveness.

Guilt prevents us from ever coming to the table of forgiveness.

Guilt prevented me from asking God to forgive me…I had made too many mistakes…no, they weren’t mistakes. I did it all on purpose. Many of the offenses to GOd you guilty of you did on purpose too. So, how could I ask God to forgive me? So I spent my several years running from the only one I had wronged and wanted to show me mercy.

Maybe you feel that way too; that what you have done is too big for God to forgive you. That feeling of guilt will keep you from ever experiencing grace. You see God isn’t one who looks to punish, God wants to bless and forgive.

John 3:16–17 NIV84

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

God has done everything necessary for you to receive forgiveness. All we have to do is accept the forgiveness that he is offering.

I don’t know how Peter was wronged. I don’t know how you have been wronged in the past. I do know that what happened in the past can’t be undone any more than a bell can be un-rung. I also know though that forgiveness isn’t about changing the past, forgiveness is about changing the future.

What do I mean? Let’s keep reading.

Matthew 18:26–27 NIV84

“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

This is a common thing right…begging for mercy. Have you been there?

I have.

The king forgave, just like that…because he was merciful. He was extremely merciful.

Time to Celebrate?

How do we celebrate God’s forgiveness?

And just while we would expect the servant to go out and celebrate with his family and tell everyone of the compassion of the king. He does something very different.

Matthew 18:28 NIV84

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

HE was shown mercy, and immediately he went out and found one who owed him money. Instead of telling him about what the king had done, he demanded payment.

Now a denarii was a days wages. So while he was forgiven an amount that he could never repay, he demanded payment from someone that was a manageable amount.

Unable to forgive.

Resentfulness prevents us from being able to offer forgiveness to others.

That’s how resentfulness works. We are due. They owe us. We were wronged. They hurt us.

Matthew 18:29–30 NIV84

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

This is what he deserved right? The servant may not have gotten his money back, but at least the guy didn't get away with not paying his bill.

Isn’t that the way we act too.

Resentful ness kept me from offering forgiveness to my mom. She and my dad divorced and she moved away. I felt rejected by her. the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I remember going to church and pastors preaching about how I need to forgive her. But I couldn’t. She had destroyed my family.

Unforgiveness doesn’t protect us from the pain of the past.

Besides she hadn’t asked for forgiveness. Why would I forgive her when she hadn’t even admitted or apologized for what she had done.

Then when I gave my life to Christ, when I asked him to forgive me for all I had done wrong, I realized that my anger with her, my resentment was creating problems in my relationship with people I loved.

That’s how resentment works in our life.

When we are called on the carpet by the king, we want mercy…but when it’s owed to us, we want our money…our ounce of flesh.

The problem is, when we hold on to unforgiveness for things done in the past, it affects our future.

Look what happens in the story.

Matthew 18:31–35 NIV84

When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Is this your story?

Do you find yourself tortured by unforgiveness?

It may be hard, you may need some help, but letting go is the best thing you can do with your past hurts.

Can’t change the past; but when you forgive, you change the future.

We can’t change what’s happened. But because of we have been forgiven by God, because we are free from our past and given a new life; we can forgive others and be set free from the prison of the past.

Let’s pray

Need to be forgiven

Need to forgive others