Matthew 18:21-35
Forgiven to Forgive
Trinity 22
November 12, 2017
Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID
The Lord Christ spoke this Gospel reading today in answer to St. Peter after He had committed to Peter the loosing and binding keys. When St. Peter asked Him how often he should forgive his neighbor he is asking how often he should use these keys that Jesus had bestowed to the church. Is seven times enough? Jesus answered him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” At the same time, Jesus concluded his parable with the summary that if we do not forgive our neighbor, our heavenly Father will deal with us the same way as the king deals with his servant. To ask, how often should I forgive my brother, is in fact to ask, how often should I be forgiven. A defining mark of living here and now in the kingdom of heaven is that of repentance and forgiveness. In fact, when we are urged to live a life of repentance and forgiveness, of sorrow over our sin and faith that Jesus takes that sin away, we are simply being urged to live a Christian life.
This is a very comforting Gospel reading because it contains the forgiveness of sins. But it is also a frightening verdict for a hardened heart, especially one that has heard and received God’s forgivingness but refuses to be merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful. What God wants to have in His kingdom is that no one lets himself become so angry and so bitter that he cannot forgive his neighbor. Even if he angers over and over and over again, we are to abandon our right and freely forgiven him everything.
To further explain what this looks like, Jesus spoke a parable. First, the king sets the servant free from all his debt. He had begged the king for patience, stating that he would repay it all, which is just flat out ridiculous. This man had a debt that could never be repaid, even if he and his family were sold. But the king has pity on the man and forgives not just part, but all of it. He doesn’t just lessen the debt so that it is payable, the king wipes it completely out.
This is a picture of how God deals with His people. Our sinfulness has piled up a debt that is completely unable to paid and fulfilled. God certainly isn’t obliged to forgive you because of you. He has every right to look at your sin and demand that you make up for it, even knowing full well that it would impossible. In our opening verses in Divine Service IV that we use today, which also serves as the antiphon, the bookends, of the Introit, “If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared” (Psalm 130:3-4). You could work your entire life and never do it. In a literal sense, there is no human way possible to pay for your sin. Not all the blood of your life, nor your family, nor in all the world could cover one man’s sins.
But Jesus can and He does. He’s not only man, He is also God. He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Upon the cross, He redeemed you, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won you from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death” (SC 2nd Article meaning). Not only has Jesus done this for you He has set up a kingdom in which there is grace, which will never cease, where you are forgiven everything as often as you sin. God gives Himself completely to you, becomes your gracious Lord, and serves you with all that He has.
God desires to forgive, not to punish. He is compassionate and merciful. But that does not mean that punishment will not take place. We live in a time where evil continues to rear its ugly head. Mass shootings, murder of innocents in the womb, political controversy. Offense is given often, and it is taken even more often. God desires that His people would turn to Him in repentance and in faith receive the forgiveness of Christ for the evil and the sin of thought, word, and deed. But when this does not happen, there is a prison sentence waiting.
The servant who refused to forgive was condemned. He was condemned for taking the forgiveness of the king, freely given and received, and then abusing it. He uses his forgiveness as a license to continue sinning, which is nothing else than spitting in the face of the king. This is the same warning that St. Paul gives in Romans (6:15-16), “Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” The one who refused to confess his sin, who persists in his sin and therefore rejects God’s forgiveness has a bleak future.
This is a stark warning, and it should make us squirm. Justice will be dealt out one way or the other. Either it is on Christ, or it is on you. Either Christ pays off your debt upon the cross, or you spend an eternity in the prison of hell paying off that which can never be paid off. Either Christ has mercy on you and you have mercy on others, or you will not receive mercy.
And so St. Paul says in our Epistle, “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:11. By becoming a man, Jesus actually lived out that righteousness. He life is actually lived out through us as His Spirit regenerates and moves us to follow His example. The thoughts, words, and deeds that are produced in a person who possesses the righteousness of Christ actually regenerates a person who thinks, speaks and does what it right.
So we ask why then the servant in the parable did not want to forgive, why he refused. Why did he go and demand that his fellow servant pay him the small amount that was owed and not be merciful as his king was merciful to him? Maybe a better question is, then, why do you act this way?
If you want to live in God’s kingdom, you must forgive. It is not optional for a Christian. The blessing of forgiveness is the defining gift of the Church. Nowhere and nothing else can offer this heavenly blessing. Make no mistake, forgiveness is not acceptance of sin. It is not saying that the sin doesn’t matter or that it is ok if it continues. Sin is never ok, and once confessed and forgiven it should stop. Call sin what it is, “evil” and “sinful”, and whenever there is repentance, exercise your God given right and you forgive that sin. If you want to remain with the world and follow the world’s ways and the world’s standard of justice, then there you will stay.
Our ability, therefore, and more so, our willingness to forgive a neighbor is grounded on Christ’s mercy toward us. Are you struggling with the weight of sin? Come to Christ the King and receive His forgiveness. Are you struggling with forgiving others? Come to Christ the King and receive His forgiveness. The result of this is rather simple: Christ continues to forgive you when you sin, therefore you ought to forgive those who sin against you as often as they sin. He has cancelled your debt that the you may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness” (SC 2nd Article meaning). Because of Christ, your sins are forgiven. Now, go and do likewise. In the name of the Father and of + the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.