Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 18:21-35

The Threat of an Unforgiving Heart

 

/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.

/

/“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.

/

/“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, cancelled the debt and let him go.

/

/“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.

/

/“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.

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 cancelled 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.”/

| “H |

as *Matthew eighteen* been ripped from your Bible?”

The question was actually the title of an article forwarded to members of the church.

The article was offensive and needlessly confrontational.

It failed to help people grapple with the serious problems then confronting the church.

Instead of rebuke the people would have benefited from encouragement through instruction.

Though the question was meant to confront the assumed failure to apply *verses fifteen* through *twenty* to the challenges then facing the congregation it strangely ignored a parable which Jesus recited in that same chapter to clarify our responsibility as children of the Kingdom.

Today I speak to you with a pastor’s heart.

I seek to heal not only the hurt from conflicts immediately past, but I long to see us seize freedom from conflicts long past.

How much of our present behaviour is reactionary?

I wonder how much past hurt influences our lives now?

A teasing remark made about our size when we were in elementary school can have an incredible impact on our perception of who we are now.

An angry statement made by a parent can condemn a child to perpetual questioning of her value in society.

Marriages have crumbled because of thoughtless words spoken or hurtful charges levelled in one moment of rage.

The annals of church history are littered with names of the once powerful who are now set aside because they could not drain the bitter poison seeping from festering wounds suffered at the hands of thoughtless people.

The manner in which we deal with hurtful events from our past affects us physically and emotionally.

Failure to grant forgiveness results in a living hell.

Though years have fled, rejection, verbal wounds and emotional scars can ensure that we never achieve full usefulness in God’s work.

Difficult circumstances from years long past can still make our adrenaline flow and make our pulse rate soar.

I suspect that more than a few of us spend sleepless nights replaying scenes of battles fought in days long past.

Those same bitter experiences can have a detrimental effect on us spiritually.

Recall the warning of the author of Hebrews: /See to it … that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many/ [*Hebrews 12:15*].

The *New Century Version* translates the latter part of that warning with these words: A person like that can ruin many of you.

Unresolved bitterness may well cause trouble and may well defile not only you who hold onto that bitterness, but defile others as well.

Unresolved bitterness is almost always the result of a failure to forgive another, and it destroys individuals, couples, even entire congregations.

For this reason Jesus spoke so often and so passionately about the need to forgive others.

The Parable Jesus Told — The story as Jesus told it is relatively simple, though there are some details which His original hearers would have assumed and which you would not necessarily know.

Let me go over the story one more time with you to ensure that you understand what was said.

Understanding what Jesus said will permit us to draw conclusions which may have immediate application in our own lives.

The king in the story had decided to settle accounts with his servants.

There was no particular reason given for choosing to settle the debts owed to this particular king, but it was within the king’s prerogative to seek settlement of debts whenever he chose.

Among the debts owed the king was one debt which is said in our text to have been ten thousand talents.

That figure doesn’t make much of an impact on us since few of us measure our wealth in talents.

This debt was roughly ten million dollars in silver content.

Obviously purchasing power was much greater then when compared to this present day.

The point is that this servant’s debt was so massive that he could not pay it even if he lived seven lifetimes over and gave all he earned to the king.

Unable to pay, the king ordered that not only the man but also his wife and children all be sold into slavery and the funds from the sale of their persons applied to the man’s debt.

Confronted with this rather forthright solution to personal indebtedness the man prostrated himself before the king and begged.

He pleaded for time to pay the debt, stating that he would pay back everything (a promise which was impossible to keep).

What was clear to the king was that this man was pleading for his family and the king felt compassion for the plight of the man and for his family, so he forgave the debt.

Though the king was owed tens of millions (perhaps hundreds of millions) of dollars, the debt was forgiven.

Incidentally, only governments run up such debts today.

The forgiven servant left the presence of the king, no doubt relieved that he still possessed his freedom.

As he was passing through the streets he happened on a fellow servant who owed him some money.

In fact the amount was about $20,000 Canadian in today’s money.

Forgetting that he had just been forgiven a debt of hundreds of millions of dollars, the first servant demanded immediate payment from his fellow servant.

The text seems to imply that before the hapless fellow even had opportunity to respond the first servant throttled him and demanded immediate payment.

There was no grace in his demand, but rather self-interest and choler.

The second servant fell to his knees and begged for patience, saying that he would pay all that was owed.

However, the first servant refused to be placated and instead threw the second servant into debtors’ prison where he was to remain until the money was forthcoming and the debt paid.

Little happens without the king’s knowledge.

It just so happened that other servants of the king observed all that transpired.

Distressed by the blatant injustice of what they had witnessed from this wheeler-dealer, they told the king.

The king called in the first servant.

The first words the king spoke must have turned that unforgiving man’s blood to ice.

You wicked servant…  The king reviewed for him how that though he had received mercy he was merciless.

As result of his lack of mercy, in response to this blatant injustice, the king turned the debtor servant over to the jailers with instructions that they were to torture him until all moneys were forthcoming.

The parable points to two sides of forgiveness—practical and personal.

By that I mean the parable makes us think of what forgiveness is and what forgiveness will do for us.

You see, the context in which Jesus told the story challenges the manner in which we deal with brothers and the impact our actions have on our relationship with the Father.

Weigh the closing words of *verse thirty-five* as you ponder the impact of this parable.

/This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart/.

The Practical Impact of Jesus’ Story — Wow!

This is heavy truth!

At the very least, my relationship with God is dependent upon my relationship with His people!

There must be more to this forgiveness stuff than I might ever imagine.

What is forgiveness?

As Jesus used the concept of forgiveness in this parable, the word means to send someone away (or to go away yourself) *leaving all claims behind*.

Forgiveness is not an issue of emotions.

It is a deliberate, volitional decision in which you say, “This person is no longer indebted to me.

I surrender all claims against him or her.”  Forgiveness is not the preferred choice of most Christians.

If being a Christian were the only requirement for being a forgiver, then our churches would be filled with loving and forgiving people.

As Jesus told the parable those hearing Him had a specific picture in their minds.

The king called the servant before a court witness in order to forgive him the debt.

Proper documents were prepared in duplicate, one set for the forgiven man and another set for the files of the kingdom.

The documents would each record the name of the man, the name of the king, the amount of the debt, and the statement *Forgiven*! or *Paid in Full*!

First the king would sign the documents and then the debtor would sign the documents.