Just Six More Times and Counting!…
Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
We’re like Peter, aren’t we?
“OK! I’ll let this one go… BUT this is the LAST time!” I’m sure many of us would’ve praised Peter for his thoughtfulness and effort be a “good” disciple. Although, he doesn’t give specifics on the sin, he does set the boundary toward friends and family (brother).
Like most of our words, we have turned this word (forgiveness) into pabulum so that we can swallow it more easily. The truth is that the work of RELATIONSHIP is challenging and tough in most areas of life.
Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? (Luke 6:41-42). We would much rather deal with specs (like versus love… forget versus forgive… proof versus faith… good versus righteous), than deal with our own logs that stand in the way of real relationships.
Forgiveness is one of those logs! We spend a great deal of time, like Peter, defining it so as to turn a Redwood tree into toothpick, so that we might be more able to meet its requirements and at the same time deny the true pain and hurt we are suffering.
IT’S NOT EASY and IT’S ALWAYS PAINFUL!
What does forgiveness look like? Jesus gave us a strong picture…
Matthew 18:23-27 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
It’s a TWO way street! A king with accounts to settled…
Not JUST a family affair! Master versus slave…
Not a little sin! One who owed him ten thousand talents… (Strong’s Concordance says one talent could’ve easily weighed about 100 pounds and a talent of gold, about 200 pounds – depending on the times and place)
Perfectly LEGAL to ask for payment, whether payment could be made or not! He did not have the means to repay…
There CHOICE was in the hands of the slave to sin, but the consequences of being caught in sin is the CHOICE of the master! His lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. (Did you notice how sin effected EVERYONE in his family? So much for “It didn’t hurt anyone!”)
And now for the HARDEST of all parts! The king’s choice…
Forgiveness, on the part of the “king”, the one sinned against, requires compassion… release of punishment… wiping out the debt…
Will we JUDGE the king? The spec in his eye was should’ve, would’ve could’ve. Obviously he was in the position to “fix” the problem. He had both the means and the authority to make this poor man’s problem go away!
Much like we do with God, we could very easily decide that the greater responsibility for forgiveness lies with the one who committed NO sin but can and therefore should pay the price of the punishment for the sin. It is always SO EASY to SPEND someone else’s graciousness..
Social Justice is our version today… we tend to identify with the emotions of PAYING the debt (that was indeed incurred!). The identity of the sin is unimportant as well as the fact that for every action, there is a reaction called… wait for it… CONSEQUENCES!
Did the “slave” NOT know that he was indeed a slave? Did the “slave” NOT know that he was incurring a debt of millions of dollars? And what slave do you know that is given such access to use of the master’s money?
Even if the Social Justice Warriors came out in masses, causing chaos and damage to the truly innocent, this “slave” KNEW he was in trouble but he also KNEW his master’s heart. Unlike our SJW(s),who would never bow in repentance and/or gratitude for mercy, the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, “Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.”
In our world today, we don’t want to THINK about sin much less TALK about it – especially OUR SIN! We want God to not just forgive us, we want Him to make sin GO AWAY! How can we be held accountable for evil when we really didn’t mean to BE EVIL! And… those who did and do mean evil… YOU MADE THEM THAT WAY!
Like telling the king his riches were the cause of the slave’s actions…
We don’t fall to the ground and prostrate ourselves… No No! We stand and throw the biggest hissy fit we can produce. Don’t change us… change the debt – or better yet, change the action… TAKE AWAY EVIL!
In order to do that, God would have to take away anyone who DOES EVIL, or at the very least take away the freedom of an individual to choose the path he/she will take. BUT BUT… it is my inalienable RIGHT do and keep on doing anything and everything I want to do.
Well then… God… change the value of the action. Don’t call it sin – call it a mistake. Don’t call it illegal – call it an act of desperation.
And HERE IS OUR LOG… We exchange the TRUTH for the LIE and believe we’ve solved our dilemma.
But… eye meet log – log meet eye.
Truth CANNOT be changed! No matter how many times we tell ourselves and others the lie, or how eloquently we speak it, or even how many believe and agree with you, TRUTH cannot be changed.
The lie and the resulting actions taken, will be judged and a value of resulting consequences assigned (Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death).
The value of these consequences can be mitigated through forgiveness. But the FACT that a person committed the sin can never be magically removed from reality. Whether we KNOW someone did such and such or NOT, does not change the fact that IT was done.
Like God, if indeed He wants to save and not destroy His creation, there is only one recourse open to the judge… compassion… release of punishment… wiping out the debt…
As we see later in the example, once will never be enough! This action of the judge will have to be accomplished over and over and over again… Seven Times Seventy!
Now that we know the SIN cannot be removed, let’s go back and look at the event through the eyes of suffered unjustly…
And not just through the eyes – but as though the king IS you… the loss to you IS irreplaceable… your mind seeks justice… but your heart begs to give mercy… Seven Times Seventy…
How many times can your heart suffer the pain and loss through injustice? Seven Times Seventy…
How many times can you forgive those who are not as deserving as you?Seven Times Seventy…
Before, like Peter, we puff up the possibility of our righteousness in comparison to the king… seven times is MORE THAN ENOUGH… Let’s see ourselves through the eyes of the guilty slave. Putting aside our bias of OUR SPECIALNESS… Do we DESERVE mercy? Should we EXPECT leniency? Is it REALISTIC to imagine that everyone we have injured will be as COMPASSIONATE?
Yet without it… forgiveness… WHERE will we end up?
The slave in our story immediately forgot what he had been given… he went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii (silver coin which appears to be .1375 ounces and probably was an ordinary day’s wage); and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ (Matthew 18:28)
Our slave did not remember his own FACE PLANT…
Matthew 18:29-30 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ But he was unwilling (unlike his master) and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
His master found out the slave’s sincerity was only useful for himself…
Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. (Matthew 18:32-35)
How often should we forgive? We deserve prison (in fact prison would be more merciful than death) as much and as often as any other man/woman.
Un-forgiveness sentences us to joining with the sinner who sinned against us. Given all the time available in prison for thoughts of hate and bitterness, un-forgiveness hands us over to the torturers also.
How often?
Just Six More Times and Counting…
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible