Forgiveness & Grace are God's Way, But Are They Ours? (Matt.18.21-35)

 

I tell you what, thank God God’s forgiveness and grace isn’t anything like ours. Is anyone else relieved by that?

Human forgiveness falls short. If we look through history, we can see the affects of unforgiveness on our society. It’s dangerous. Wars, famines and many atrocities have all been caused due to a lack of grace and forgiveness.

We’re obsessed with people getting what they deserve. You pays your money, and you takes your choice.

What if I told you that it’s not as simple as that? What if I told you that’s not the way the kingdom of God works?

If anything I think we’re more vengeful than God ever has been. I think we project our vengefulness, our characteristics onto God.

But what do I mean?

Many people present the Bible as a black and white thing, these are the people who are saved, these are the people who’re not, and it’s convenient isn’t it, that the people who aren’t saved are always the ones who don’t look like us? Who think differently or look different, or have a different faith.

The reformation is a good example, if you’re a papist, according to protestants, you’re going to hell, and vice versa.  

Human forgiveness is nothing, in comparison to God’s. This parable sets out what God’s forgiveness is like.

Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive. As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy-seven times.”   

Remember last week the Gospel reading was all about what to do if a member of the church sins against another? First you speak to them privately, then you take two witnesses, finally you tell the whole church. There’s a process, we don’t just chuck them out, even if they deserve it.

Even if they’ve lit the wrong altar candle, or misplaced the tea urn, or horror of horrors, moved the flower guild’s vases.

There’s a process. It’s compassionate, trying to solve the issue with the least embarrassment to all parties.

You don’t excuse their behaviour, there are still consequences, but fundamentally you look out for the good of the person who’s offended you.

Peter replies about this today, but what if they keep sinning? What then?

Jesus answers simply. Always. Always forgive them. What a tough lesson.

As we’ve seen in last week’s passage forgiveness isn’t about excusing the behaviour. Sin has consequences. Relationships are broken by it. Forgiveness is not excusing their behaviour, but looking past it, and reconciling to that person. Or being willing to let it go.

That’s what grace is, it’s fundamentally not getting what we deserve, not being given what we deserve, being given abundant forgiveness. God forgives us. That’s what God does.

Jesus goes on to explain why we should forgive others who’ve wronged us. Because we ourselves have been forgiven.

Christian life isn’t about getting what we deserve. Put in the right amount of hours, say and believe the right things, and you’re in the club. No. Christian life is about grace. Believing in God’s grace.

God gives us what we don’t deserve, eternal life, forgiveness.

We should forgive others because God has forgiven us. In relation to what God has done our forgiveness is nothing.

Jesus uses the parable to show this.

A thousand talents was an inconceivable amount to owe back then. A talent was worth about fifteen years wages as a labourer, to pay that off would take about 150,000 years, almost as long as my student loan.

The master because he’s merciful sees that this is all just a giant mess. He sees that he’s desperate and despite the enormous debt, he writes it off. Just like that. No strings attached. I wish the bank would have the same attitude about my credit card! Chance would be a fine thing.

But then what did this slave do with the grace he’d been given? He’d been gifted?

He went out, assaulted someone who owed him money, and with no mercy at all, threw them into prison. This debt was tiny in comparison to what he had been forgiven. It was like the bank writing off your mortgage (wishful thinking eh?) and us beating someone up because they owed us a tenner.

Even though the master had mercy on him, even though his own huge debt was written off, he fails to see the grace given to him. His greed and lack of empathy and compassion is what condemns him. His inability to forgive. He is the complete opposite to his master.

The point Jesus is making is that God has forgiven us so much, and loves us so much that we should forgive in return. We should have a grace filled and forgiving attitude in life.

What’s important in Matthew is that the forgiveness we will receive is based on the forgiveness we give.

We are forgiven, you are forgiven, beyond what we deserve, the least we can try to do is live a little gracefully and try to forgive and reconcile those who have wronged us.

It’s not easy to forgive someone when they’ve done us harm. There are people in my life that I have not forgiven. I don’t think this passage is saying that we’ll go to hell or be tortured if we don’t forgive our neighbour.

I think the question is, what do we do with the forgiveness we’ve been given. Do we squander it? Demanding an eye for an eye. Demanding we get back what we put in.

Or do we remember that we are debtors, and even though someone has wronged us, do we still have compassion and grace in our hearts for them?

We may not be able to forgive, but are we grabbing them by the throat in our hearts?

God’s grace is the opposite to everything we know, it’s not earned, it isn’t rationed, it’s not by appointment only, or behind a paywall.

It’s given freely. Christ gives himself freely to us on the cross.  So we should give freely to others. Amen.