The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 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.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

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

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
                                                                                                                                              
Matthew 18

****************************************************************************************************

How much should I forgive someone?

Peter’s question is not strange. It’s valid isn’t it? It’s a question that pops into our heads at a bunch of different times:

 ·        When your husband leaves the shaving snibbles around the sink…again.
·         When your kids leave a mess of the toy room…again.
·         When your coworker is late to work…again.
·         When your pastor messes up the dates on the calendar…again.

How many times is too many times? How many time is too much? How many times is no good for you and no good for the one who sins against you?

Peter thought he had it figured out. He thought it was simple. “Lord, how many times? Seven times?”

Jesus’ answer is flooring:

 “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

 In other words; “There is no limit!”

And immediately, our sinful natures start protesting, “No limit! That’s insane. Jesus must not know how many times this person has done this sin against me. He must not be taking into account just how big of a sin it is. He must not understand just how mean this person is to me when he does it.”

And…anticipating our protests 2000 years before they happened…Jesus goes right into a parable about forgiveness. Unlimited forgiveness.
 

I. God’s Unlimited Forgiveness.

Jesus tells about a king who is ready to settle accounts. He’s obviously loaned out money to a number of different people and now it’s time to check and see where everyone is at in paying their loans back.

If you’ve ever owed anyone money, you immediately know what it feels like to be one of these debtors. If you have owed or do owe a credit card company, a student loan, a mortgage, or your brother-in-law for that $20 bucks he spotted you at Wendy’s last weekend, you know debt can be a severely stressful thing.

One of the men owed him ten thousand bags of gold. If you do the conversion and take inflation into account, that’s about $4 billion dollars.

In other words, this wasn’t chump change. In fact, here it’s more than probably all of us could put together in a lifetime. In fact, it would take 100,000 people in Raleigh to put their entire $40,000 yearly salary into one big pot to make the payment. Or you could try and win the Powerball…in just about every state for a whole year to make up for it.

This guy has no chance, does he? The amount of money he owes is ludicrous! It’s insane. It’s impossible to payback.

So the master begins the collection process. “He ordered that his wife and children and everything he owned be sold to pay back his debt.” Not that it would come all that close to paying it back. In fact, he could have gotten Operation Repo and the Lizard Lick Towing guys to go get everything the man had and I’m sure the billion dollars wouldn’t have had a dent in it!

So the man does all he can figure to do. He grovels. The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’

You ever been on your knees asking for forgiveness from another person? It’s not a very dignified position. It’s humbling. It’s humiliating. It’s desperate.

That’s exactly where this guy is at. All he can do is plead for mercy.

And the master? You might expect him to throw him in prison out of anger. He had a legal right! You might expect him to make the man and his family permanent slaves. You might expect him to at least set up a payment plan.

He does none of the above.

The master took pity on him, cancelled the debt, and let the man go.

$4,000,000,000 CANCELLED.

Could you do that? If you won the lottery and the state said, “I’m sorry but we will be unable to pay you a single dollar of what you’ve won," would you sit down at the computer and carefully construct an email that says, “I understand. No worries.”

Not so much.

Understand this amount of forgiveness is unheard of. It’s incredible. It’s amazing.

It’s GODLIKE.

Brothers and sisters, that is the point. We don’t owe God for a monetary loan. We owe God for our sins. Every time we have ever sinned against him we owe God a payment of eternal death. Every sin = death. The wages of sin is death! (Romans 6:13)

Consider then how insurmountable your debt is. You can only, quite possibly, pay for one sin. Do you have more than one sin? Do you have more than two sins? Do you have more sins than you could possibly count?

Like 4 billion dollars worthy of sins?

Me too. It almost makes me want to fall to the ground on my knees. Cause all I can do is plead for God’s mercy.

If you feel the same way, understand this: God is more merciful than the king in the story. For the sake of Jesus, for the sake of the cross, for the sake of his love and mercy, God forgives you. Wholly. Completely. Fully.

And there isn’t a payment plan: “Do some good this next week to make up for that one sin AND do so without borrowing out for more sins and then we’re good.” Jesus completely and absolutely ransomed you from sin. His death paid back the Father for every last one of your sins.

Colossians 2:13 “When we were dead in our sins, God made us alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.”

II. Your Unlimited Forgiveness.

This forgiveness is amazing. And, if we truly grasp what God has done for us, it definitely should affect the way we forgive others.

Just like you’d expect that $4 billion dollar man to be affected. You’d expect him to leave that king’s throne room with a smile plastered on his face. Jumping up and down for joy. Hugging everyone that he met.

Not so much.

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

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt."

 Are you a little bit disturbed? The man just went from $4 billion in the red to even. This guy owes him a couple hundred bucks and he verbally threatens him, physically abuses him, and refuses to forgive him?

Show of hands. Does anyone think he is in the right?

The master didn’t think it was fair either. When he found out, look at what happens: 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed."

And maybe you’re thinking, “Good. He got what he deserved. If he wasn’t willing to forgive a measly amount, after he had been forgiven a ludicrously, large amount, then he deserves to have his debt back over his own head!”

You’re right. Now takes your words and apply them to yourself as you hear the point to Jesus’ parable:

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Brothers and sisters, forgive with an unlimited forgiveness, because God forgives you with an unlimited forgiveness.

Forgive your spouse. Forgive your kids. Forgive your parents. Forgive your friends. Forgive your coworkers. Forgive your enemies. Forgive your fellow church members. Forgive all of these people – each and every sin against you, because God has forgiven you for each and every sin against him.

Can you do that this week?
Can you get rid of your anger and frustration with someone who sinned against you?
Can you find a friend and verbally forgive them?

It may sound hard. Don’t do what the man in the parable did. Don’t consider what they owe you…what they did to you…how they sinned against you. If you do that, you’ll react just like he did. You’ll be frustrated and upset all over again.

Instead, look at the debt you’ve been forgiven. Like the man should have done by dwelling in God’s unlimited forgiveness. Re-examine God’s love for you. Watch your feelings of anger disappear. And feel the joy of God’s unlimited forgiveness.

Brothers and sisters, what a joy to know that God’s unlimited forgiveness is so big that not only will it cover over your sins against God, but it will provide you with the means of forgiving those who sin against you.

Amen.