Forgiveness by Grace

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So how much is ten thousand talents and how much is one hundred denarii?

Well one talent is the equivalent of 6,000 denarii. Therefore, doing the math – it takes sixty million denarii to equal ten thousand talents. To put that in todays money ten thousand talents could be as little as three hundred million dollars or as much as forty eight billion dollars depending on how we calculate the exchange rate and the cost of living in the last 2,000 years.

And no servant at the time of Jesus or a worker today could ever hope to accumulate that amount of wealth. At the time of Jesus and today it would be impossible to achieve. Therefore – impossible to repay!

These numbers should give us a very clear idea of how much debt the King canceled on behalf of the wicked servant. Let me say it again – impossible to repay.

Now how much is one hundred denarii? Well it works out to about one dollar – or in Canadian money about $0.73

Forgiveness by Grace

When I read this gospel lesson there some things that come to mind. Like how much we offend God and how great our sinfulness and disobedience is. And yet in spite of our sinfulness God loves us more than any of us can imagine. It is a love beyond our understanding.

And God’s forgiveness of sinful human beings is a gift of grace working through us – and that – also is beyond our understanding.

And because of God’s unimaginable love for us – he is willing to forgive us because of our faith in his one and only Son – Jesus Christ.

Since we can never repay God for our sinfulness – sometime - I am humbled almost to the point of despair. It should drive us to our knees in fear and trembling and a deep profound sense of thankfulness.

Because God forgives our debt of 48 Billion dollars – we like wise must forgive the $1.00 debt owed to us. And I know that some of the things we do to others and what others do to us are vile and terrible. 

Nevertheless - we must forgive them. And do it with words from our heart as well as our head. Forgiving others is not an option. It is a command. This is what Jesus said in the gospel reading this morning;

“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 handed 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 or sister from your heart.”

“Unless you forgive your brother or sister” this is an imperative phrase which means that it cannot be avoided and it is like a command.

And what do we say in the LORD’s Prayer;

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

We say “as we forgive” – we don’t say; “as we might forgive or as we want to forgive. It is a command to forgive.

This wicked servant will be tortured forever because it is impossible for him to ever repay his debt to the King.

And when we forgive someone, it ought to remind us of our own sinfulness – are own shortcoming. 

Those many times we have hurt someone either physically or emotionally. But there is at times a bit of a qualification. Particularly in the police environment or in a war. In these scenarios issues of forgiveness are hard and in your face. But it doesn’t negate the command to forgive. Even if we can’t forgive at that time we can do so later.

All of us have hurt someone – we all make mistakes. Sometime we all think more about ourselves than others. We all need to be forgiven and we need to forgive. We are all short of God’s glorious standards for us. In Romans 3: 23-24a Paul reminds of our shortcoming and our reliance on Jesus Christ. We read; “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

And as Jesus said - when we finally get around to forgiving someone - we must do it honestly from the heart. Holding that hurt and anger and revenge inside will hurt our spirit and it will make us angry - resentful and despondent – it may take the joy of life out of us. In Psalm 32: 3-4 the Psalmist acknowledges that confessing his sin to God gives him relief;

"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy on me;

my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer."

"Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”

And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

So do not let the sun go down on your anger and your sleep will be restful.

Remember – we all make mistakes so we must forgive others because God forgave us.

Our ability to forgive is because of God’s gift of grace in us.

Grace

Grace in the Oxford dictionary means - among other things;

· Elegance of movement,

· Polite goodwill toward others,

· Attractive qualities or behaviour,

· A prayer of thanks before a meal.

But divine grace – God’s grace - has a more comprehensive meaning than that of the dictionary. It is tied to a gift of God’s favour. It is tied to Jesus’s death on the cross. It is tied to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit – and it is tied to how believers respond.

These are some Biblical and Christian definitions of grace;

· It is the undeserved favour of God in providing salvation for those deserving punishment instead of divine favour;

· It is the saving activity of God which is manifest in the gift of God’s Son dying on the cross in the place of sinners like each of us;

· It is God’s goodness shown to and bestowed unto those who do not deserve God’s goodness;

And it is God’s sovereign will to be gracious and merciful to whom he chooses. In Exodus 33: 19 God says to Moses; “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion”. There is nothing in our lives that is hidden from God. He can see into our hearts and knows if we are deserving of his gifts of mercy and grace. God chooses us. As sinful humans we would never choose God. So be thankful that God chooses each of us.

Explain consequences of the speeder;

· Ticket and Judge to dismiss.

· Charged with criminal code offence and judge dismisses.

Grace is a many splendored thing for which we are all undeserving.

The ultimate expression of God’s grace is how Jesus willingly let himself be tortured and then suffered an excruciating death on a wooden cross for sinners like you and me.

And in that ultimate act of selfless love - God could forgive us. Jesus paid the impossible debt which we could never repay. He paid the debt with his blood – only innocent blood of the new covenant could pay the debt – there was no other way.

Paul says in Hebrews 9:22; “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Paul was saying that only the blood of Jesus – the blood that confirmed the New Covenant - could forgive human sin.

Think of it this way - we are cleansed – that is, washed head to toe - by the precious blood of Jesus.

One other observation from today’s gospel.

Peter asks Jesus if he should forgive his brother seven time. And Jesus relies with seventy time seven times which is 490. It is not stated in the Scriptures but I wondered if the 490 means the 49 years in reference to the year of jubilee from Leviticus 25.

In it God tells Moses to tell the people that in every seventh year they are to allow the land to rest. Then after the seventh time of letting the land rest the next year is a Jubilee year. Leviticus 25: 8-10 describes the 49 years and the year of Jubilee;

“Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property… The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you;…”

It was God’s plan to sanctify the land and the people. To make the land holy for the people of Israel - who were suppose to be holy. Therefore, “Every in the fiftieth year, all leased or mortgaged lands were to be returned to their original owners, and all slaves and bonded laborers were to be set free..” (Bible Commentary by the Tow Project) 

The land and the people were forgiven.

Unforgiveness is like a disease of the heart. It can never be cured. But it can be treated with love and God’s grace working through us.

Forgiveness along with love and mercy should flow through us from Jesus to others. Unto other family – other friends and anyone else who has hurt us or who we have hurt. We must pass our forgiveness to others as the circumstances dictate.

In todays world there are a lot of people who need to hear and experience these gifts of grace. Love – mercy – forgiveness.

And from the last verse of the Bible;

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen

AMEN

Come LORD Jesus

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