Forgive Us Our Debts As We Forgive Our Debtors

Forgiveness, Debts, and the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to.

St. Matthew, the 18th chapter. 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.

Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had in payment to be made.

So the servant fell on his knees imploring him, have patience with me and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him, forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.

And seizing him, he began to choke him saying, pay what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me and I will pay you. He refused. And he went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.

When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed. And when they went and reported to their master all that had taken place, then his master summoned him and said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

And should you not have had mercy on your fellow servants as I had 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.

This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen. So forgiveness. This is a sketchy thing in our way of thinking. We've got to be careful with that forgiveness thing. What should we do if somebody comes to us and asks us to forgive them and then does the same thing over again and then over again?

Where do we draw the line exactly? Well, that's the question, the presenting question in our gospel text today. Here's what it says. Peter came up to Jesus and he said, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him?

And you can almost see him kind of thinking that he's really going to be generous here when he says as many as seven times. Seven times. I mean, that sounds really generous. I mean, at some point you got to cut a person off because I mean, after all, if they were really serious about amending their lives, I mean, they'd get their act together and they wouldn't keep doing the same thing.

But the thing is, is that if you're honest with yourself and if I'm honest with myself, seven times? If Jesus cut you off at seven times when you sinned against him, where would you be right now? Where would I be?

The Measure of Sin and the Need for Mercy

And so note here, Jesus basically takes his answer and he multiplies it by a huge factor. He says, I don't say to you seven times, but 70 times. Seven, this ginormous number. And the reason for it that he gives is quite simple.

It's a matter of perspective. I would remind you that you and I, we have something terribly in common. We were all born sinners. We all have fallen short of the glory of God. We all have earned the wrath of God.

And when it comes to the number of trespasses you and I have committed against God and against each other, well, if we were to tally that number up, we'd be in trouble. The psalmist says, oh Lord, if you kept a record of wrongs, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness. Therefore you are feared. And so Jesus tells this parable. It's a parable of perspective, if you would. Because over and again, we sinners we're cranky people. We don't get along well with others.

And as a result of it, we foolishly often exert our rights, our prerogative, our perspective, our turf that needs to be protected. Especially in the area of forgiveness. But in light of the fact that we have been forgiven much, consider then this parable.

It's foolish to think this way. Christ says, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. Make no mistake about it, Jesus is that king. So when he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him 10 ,000.

Talents.

Talent is a measurement of weight. Roughly 100 pounds. 10 ,000 talents of gold? Every time I preach on this text, I scratch my head and say, how is it possible that a single human being could rack up a debt that huge?

There are nations today on planet earth whose national debt doesn't even come close to this. It's such a big number that it well, I think in comparison, the US national debt may be below this. At least when you consider inflation over the past 2 ,000 years.

But see, that's the point. That's your sin and mine. You do recognize that the scriptures are clear. That we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, strength. With everything that is within us.

And that every second, every nanosecond that clicks off in chronos time, where we do not love God with all that is within us. That all that we are, that we are sinning. Think of it this way. If you were to have a meter, and on the one side is the green side.

And you're in the clear. You're okay. You're not sinning. And on the other side is the red side where you are sinning. That every moment of our life, our needle's on the red side. There isn't a moment of our lives where we measure up.

Not one. That's how it's possible for us to rack up a debt of this magnitude. Christ is the King. You're the fellow who's racked up the 10 ,000 talent debt. And the text says, since he could not pay. And you can't pay for your sin.

I can't pay for it. What did he do? His master ordered him to be sold his wife and his children, all that he had. And payment to be made. Debtor's prison has long ago been outlawed as a method of dealing with somebody who owes a debt.

Because after all, how do you pay a debt when you're in prison? The servant fell on his knees. The posture of prayer. And he implored his master saying, have patience with me. I'll pay you everything.

No you won't.

How does one go about paying a debt like this? You going to earn this debt back by playing the horses? I don't think so. In fact, this guy's not going to be able to pay the interest payments. He's in a lot of trouble.

And he knows it. But listen to this King. What do we learn about him? Out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. And brothers and sisters, Christ does that for you as well.

Out of pity for you. Out of love for you. Out of love and pity for me. He has canceled that debt. But he didn't just write it off the books. He ended up paying it himself. Every one of your sins, when you think of it as a debt, that debt has been paid by Christ.

In fact, I'd like to point out that in one version of the Lord's Prayer, rather than saying, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. There are some translations where it reads, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

And so note, our debt is paid in full. Christ has had pity on each and every one of us. And he's forgiven that great debt that we owe to God. But here's where the turn gets weird. When that same servant then went out, he found his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.

A hundred denarii, that's about a month's wages. So he seized him and began to choke him. This is an ugly scene. This is one where today people would be filming it with their camera on their cell phones and the guy's going, pay me what you owe me.

It's just terrible and it's ugly. So this fellow servant fell down and he pleaded with him, have patience with me, I will pay you. Those are the exact same words that he used when he was begging and pleading for his life.

Have patience, I'll pay you everything. But in this case, his fellow servant easily would have been able to pay him back a month's worth of wages. You can work out terms on that that are acceptable for both parties.

But he refused. He refused. He had no pity at all. He went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. And when his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed. And they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.

Do you think it's an accident, a coincidence that Christ teaches us to pray, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us? And note here, it doesn't say forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who ask to be forgiven.

No, it says as we forgive those who trespass against us. And we're going to take a look at a cross reference that I think is going to help us out here. So his master summoned him and said, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

I had mercy. I canceled the bazillion dollar debt. And you should not have had mercy on your fellow servant as I have had mercy on you. And you'll note then, the Gospel is front and center in the mind of every Christian.

What is our disposition towards others? Look at the great debt that Christ has forgiven you of your sin. And now consider then, consider that it is appropriate, appropriate beyond all reason, that having been forgiven such a great debt, that you then would freely forgive anyone who trespassed against you.

But this fellow didn't. He was shown mercy and rather than show mercy, he showed mercilessness, which is not befitting of a Christian. We love because he first loved us, the Scripture says. I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you? So 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.

You see, there is no place for grudges within the Kingdom of God. The forgiven forgive. And yes, we forgive those who ask to be forgiven and we also do not hold against them their sins, those who do not even ask to be forgiven.

Stephen, Joseph, and Forgiving Those Who Do Not Repent

Now I know that second one seems like it might sound wrong, but the reality is that this is so exemplified for us in the Bible. With the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Stephen. In the book of Acts chapter 6, it says this regarding Stephen.

Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. He was not an apostle, but the apostles had laid his hands on him. He was one of the first deacons of the Christian church.

And he was performing great signs and wonders in the name of Jesus. And the text goes on to say that some of those who belonged to the Synagogue of the Freedmen, as it was called, and of the Cyrenians, and of those of the Alexandrians, and those from Cilician Asia, they rose up and they disputed with Stephen.

They disputed with him. The verse 10 says, they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. They couldn't defeat him in a debate. They knew that what he was saying was right according to the Scriptures, and they could not figure out how to beat him in an argument.

And worse, the guy was performing signs and wonders in the name of Jesus himself. Well, what often happens when somebody does that is that those who are enemies of Christ make themselves enemies of the one who is preaching Christ.

And so here was their solution. They began secretly. They instigated men who said, we have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. They started slandering him and bringing false charges against him.

The text goes on to say, they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council. And they set up false witnesses who said, this man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and against the Torah.

We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us. And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw Stephen's face. And they saw that it was like the face of an angel.

What should Stephen do in this situation? This whole trial is rigged and left unchallenged. He's going to be stoned to death. What's he going to do? These guys are slandering him. He has rights, you know.

Well, let's consider what this first deacon and first martyr of the Christian church did. So the high priest, chapter 7 says, said, are these things true? Are they so? And he knows full well they're not.

Because they had instigated people to be false witnesses. So he's just putting on a pretense. And he's the high priest. The religious leader. So Stephen now made his defense. And consider what he says in line of our Old Testament text.

Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia. Before he lived in Haran. And God said to him, go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.

And then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no inheritance in it.

Not even a foot's length. But he promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him. Though he had no child. God spoke to this effect that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others who would enslave them and afflict them for 400 years.

But I will judge the nation that they serve, said God. After that, they shall come out and worship me in this place. And so he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day.

And Isaac became the father of Jacob. And Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. But God was with him. So he was sold as a slave, but God was with him.

That's all that mattered. God was with him. And God rescued him out of all of his afflictions. And God gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

Now there came a famine throughout all of Egypt and Canaan and great affliction. And our fathers could find no food. Isn't it fascinating how Stephen, in his defense, gives us one of the greatest summaries of the Old Testament in all of Scripture.

And he takes us back through and traces out important themes for us. And this is his defense. When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on the first visit. And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

And Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. How is that possible? His brothers sold him into slavery. Sold him into Egypt. Everybody knows that when somebody does that, you make sure that they get what's coming to them.

But Joseph forgave them. You see, in our Old Testament text, it's fascinating. When Israel, when Jacob finally died, his brothers who sold him into slavery, they were afraid. They were terrified that Joseph would hate them and pay them back for the evil that they had done to him.

But see, that's the thing about we Christians. We do not repay evil for evil. Just like Christ did not repay the evil done to him on the cross with evil. But through that evil, he worked the greatest good for all of us so that we can be forgiven.

And what did Joseph's brothers do? They sent a message to Joseph saying, your father gave this command before he died. Say to Joseph, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin because they did evil to you.

Please forgive the transgression of the servants of God, your father. But Joseph wept when they spoke to him. And his brothers came and they fell down before him and said, behold, we are your slaves. And Joseph said to them, do not fear.

For am I in the place of God? As for you, what you meant for evil against me, God meant for good. And to bring it about that many should be kept alive as they are today. And so brothers and sisters, consider that.

Our great sins have been forgiven by Christ. And the evil that we concocted against him, we are all culpable. We are all guilty of the death of the Son of God. And the evil that we worked against Christ, Christ has worked for our salvation so that many will live rather than perish.

And so you'll note, Stephen in his defense in the face of slanderous accusations that if he's found guilty of would result in his death, he invokes the same history. This same story. And it says that on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh because they were forgiven.

Joseph sent and summoned Jacob and his father and all his kindred, 75 persons in all, and Jacob went down into Egypt and there he died and our fathers and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor and Shechem.

Stephen’s Martyrdom and Christ Standing at the Father’s Right Hand

But this isn't all that Stephen says in his defense. No, he takes us through this wonderful history of the people of Israel. A wonderful and beautiful retelling in synopsis form, almost like footnotes, almost like, well, what do they call those things?

Cliff notes. It's like the cliff notes version of the Old Testament itself. But watch where he goes here. Rather than defend himself, he then calls his accusers to repentance. Here's what it says. Starting at verse 51 of Acts chapter 7.

Stephen says, you stiff-necked people. You're uncircumcised in your heart and in your ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did. So do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?

And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one, whom you have now betrayed and you have murdered. You who received the Torah as delivered by angels, but you did not keep it.

And so you'll note, rather than try to defend himself, at this point Stephen can see that the gig is up. And what does he do? He makes one last appeal, to convict them of their sins so that they would recognize their need for the forgiveness that is in Christ, who is the righteous one.

And he reminds them of their guilt as it relates to Jesus' death. Well, the story then goes on to say, when they heard these things, they were enraged and they ground their teeth at him. It's a weird thing to say, ground your teeth at him.

What does that look like? Alright, so you ground your teeth at him. But Stephen full of the Holy Spirit then gazed into heaven and he saw the glory of God, and listen to what the text says, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

This isn't a throwaway detail. This is a huge detail. It's huge. You see, because what do we confess in the Creed? That Christ ascended into heaven and he sits at the right hand of the Father. He sits.

But Jesus here is standing. His first martyr. The first man who was called to lay down his life, did not assert his rights, could see through what was going on and didn't say, wow, this is all a bunch of flim flam and a scam.

He reminded them of the great salvation history and the mighty acts of God culminating in the righteous one, Jesus Christ, whom they crucified and murdered, but who rose from the dead, ascended into heaven.

But the Creed says, sits at the right hand of the Father. But here's what it says. He saw Jesus standing. Jesus stood. He couldn't be sitting for this one. He had to stand. Behold, I see heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

So they cried out with a loud voice and they stopped their ears and they rushed together at him and then they cast him out of the city and they stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul, Saul of Tarsus.

This is the one who will go on to become the Apostle Paul. But as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice. And listen to what he prayed.

Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. They weren't asking for his forgiveness. They hadn't even repented. But by him saying, Lord, don't hold this sin against them, it's clear.

Not even Stephen held this sin against them. It's sobering when you think about it. It's dangerous when you think about it. If I forgive that person, they're likely to... Yeah, I know. But see, it's a matter of perspective.

You have been forgiven 10 ,000 talents of sin. And anybody who sins against you, it's a paltry mere pennies. So heed the words of Christ. Have mercy on your fellow servants, even if they're murdering you, even if they're impenitent, even if they're slandering you, even if they are persecuting you.

Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. So we forgive everybody because we are forgiven so richly. This is most certainly true. So Lord, help us. Teach us. Through your Holy Spirit, grant to us that we may forgive as we are forgiven.

In the name of Jesus,.

Amen.

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