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Then Peter came up and said to Jesus, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” … “And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. (Matthew 18:21-22, 33-35)
How often are the words “I forgive you” found in your mouth?
One of the works of the Scriptures and the Church is to not only change your heart, but also change your language. In fact, it seems to be easier to change the language in order to begin to change your heart.
So, if you’re not in the habit yet, let these three words, “I forgive you,” start to creep into your language just a little bit more.
Luther encourages to change our language in other instances, too.
Every time something good happens to you or others we say, “God be praised” or “Thanks be to God.”
Every time something bad happens to you or others we say, “Lord, have mercy,” or “God help us.”
So what would begin to happen or what would continue to happen if we started saying, “I forgive you,” more often.
We would begin to be reminded that this is something Christians do. They forgive!
We would begin to be reminded that this is something that we have received! We are forgiven!
We would begin to be reminded that the biggest problem we have in this life is sin – because you don’t say “I forgive you” to a mistake, or to an error, or to a misunderstanding, you say it to someone who has sinned against you.
And we would also be letting others know not only that they have sinned against us, that they have hurt us, and that they have the power (for lack of a better term) to do it again and we’re begging them to try hard not do.
It would come as no surprise to you, or even any non-Christian, that you would hear from this pulpit that Christian forgive others, and that’s chiefly what this parable is about So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. (vs. 35)
But before Jesus gets to that part of the story, and before you get reminded again that Christians forgive, Jesus wants to tell you the first part of the story.
Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. (23-24)
This is an unimaginable debt. A talent is a monetary unit worth about 20 years of wages for a laborer. He owed 10,000. If this man paid the king everything he earned, it would take him 200,000 years to pay it in full.
You thought student loans were bad.
The amount is one point. And I hope you recognize the point. Every sin of thought, word, and deed because you have broken the law, hurt the things that belong to the king.
Your bill is unimaginable.
The second point that’s brought is found in the words “settle accounts.”
You don’t settle accounts with someone if you own the stuff. You only settle accounts if you have been charged with managing the stuff.
Nothing belongs to you. Mine, mine, mine should not be found on your lips.
God gave you your body and your soul, your family, your talents, your mind, your strength, your family, children.
God created all things for Adam and Eve and then gave them the garden to manage and they broke everything. They owed God now.
Then we inherited that debt. Then we added to that the debt every time we broke one of the Ten Commandments because in that God laid down for us how we ought be managing our souls, bodies, possessions, and other peoples souls, bodies, and possessions.
We cannot pay the debt. This man could not possibly pay and yet the day will come when the accounts are settled and the debt must be paid. What is the price is who we are.
The man quite ridiculously tries to bargain
Have patience with me and I will pay you everything. (vs. 26)
And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgive him the debt. (vs. 27)
This is the Scriptures language. This is the Christian’s story.
The King showed us His favor.
The King had compassion on us and didn’t demand justice, but showed mercy.
Colossians 2 says it this way, [God made you were dead] alive with Christ, having forgiven all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Col. 2:14)
There’s two pictures this nailing it to the cross gives.
The first is that of a bill having a huge nail put through it. It’s no longer legible. It’s cancelled. We might rip it up or shred it.
It’s the body of Jesus, and the blood of Jesus, and the nail covering our bill, our massive bill, with His massive payment.
The other picture is that of an official record of payment being nailed up for all to see. Like when you pay the final portion of a loan, you get official notification that it’s been paid.
This picture would have us see the title of Christ that was hammered above on the cross. “The King of the Jews.” This, though it was put up in a mocking tone, was true. And it indicated that He has authority as a King to do what He has doing, paying for the sin of the world.
You can forgive your brother, but you can’t pay for all their sins. Jesus is King.
He can and He did!
Now the parable will end with the man who has been forgiven demanding payment from someone who owed him. And the point is clear: this is ridiculous.
Based on the amount owed in comparison.
Based on the mercy the King showed.
The Christian must forgive. You must forgive.
You must recognize you are a fellow-servant and not the King or the Judge.
You can also recognize that God has set up positions of judgment for crimes: police and judges, etc.
We must forgive. God has commanded it.
God has also promised that if we forgive, our heavenly Father will forgive us (Matt. 6:14)
We are motivated as Christians not to have hate or strife or bitterness toward others.
We are motivated to treat others as we ourselves would want to be treated.
We are motivated by a recognitions of our own debt and guilt.
We are motivated as God works in us as we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
And above all, as our Lord has commanded that we must forgive from our heart, we forgive with the help of the Spirit who keeps giving us a new heart, a clean heart.
Our forgiveness will not be perfect, but it should be beginning.
Our forgiveness here will not be complete, but we should constantly be starting it.
Our forgiveness will not be from a completely pure heart here, but it can start springing forth from our mouths a little more often as we speak the way our Lord has taught us to speak. Amen.