september 17 2023
September 17th 2023
Old Testament: Genesis 50:15-21
Psalm: Psalm 103:1-12
Epistle: Romans 14:1-12
Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35
Sermon Text: Matthew 18:23-35
Sermon Title: “Until You Pay Your Debt”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Last Sunday, we heard Jesus’ teaching about how to resolve conflict in the church. Although not stated directly in verses 15-20, forgiving the person who has wronged you is part of that process. Which Peter evidently understood, for he immediately, “came up to Jesus and said to Him; Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times”? (Matthew 18:21)
As he often did, Peter got things partly wrong. He likely assumed he was being quite generous in offering to forgive someone who sinned against him seven times; especially since even the rabbis of the day taught that three times was enough. But, “Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven”. (Matthew 18:22) Of course Jesus isn’t literally saying 490 times, but rather that forgiveness is to have no limit.
To illustrate this, Jesus told them a parable, “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”. (Matthew 18:23-24) Now this was no small debt for one talent was the equivalent of about 20 years of labor. Multiply that by 10,000 and you get 200,000 years pay that he owed. Obviously, there was no way this man would ever be able to (even begin to) pay off this debt.
“Since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment be made. So, the servant fell on his knees, imploring him; Have patience with me and I will repay everything”. (Matthew 18:25-26) Of course, as we just heard, there was no way he was going to pay off this debt, even though in desperation, he promised to do so. How pitiful!
“And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt”. (Matthew 18:27) We should recognize here that all of us have such a debt; the debt of sin; which we can never possibly make up to God, our Master. But through the innocent suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ; our massive debt of sin has been forgiven and we have been restored to a right relationship with God. Through Christ, our sins were placed on Him and He atoned for them, giving us His perfect righteousness as a gift, received through faith.
This is sometimes called the “Great Exchange”; where our sins have been charged to Christ our Savior and His righteousness has been credited to us. “For God made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God”. (2nd Corinthians 5:21) The acronym for GRACE also makes this point; God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense”.
Now, getting back to the parable, one would think that the servant in the parable would have been grateful to the master who had forgiven him and would go and treat others likewise; but that was not the case. “But, when the same servant, went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii (which is several months wages) and he seized him and began to choke him saying; Pay (me) what you owe”. (Matthew 18:28)
Notice that the second beggar spoke almost the exact words as the first one, “his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me and I will repay you”. (Matthew 18:29) But the servant who had been forgiven so much, continued to show no pity and “He went and put him (his fellow servant) in prison until he should pay the debt”. (Matthew 18:30) He turned a deaf ear to the man’s plea for mercy.
Of course, this was not right and “when his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and went and reported to their master all that had taken place”. (Matthew 18:31) Surely the master would not let this behavior stand in his kingdom. “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 not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you”? (Matthew 18:32-33)
Notice the master called him “wicked” not because of the great debt that he had accumulated; for that debt had been forgiven. Rather he is called wicked for refusing to forgive as he had been forgiven; therefore he deserved whatever punishment the master had for him. Then, “in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt”. (Matthew 18:34) Because of his unbelief, shown in his unwillingness to forgive others, he is once again indebted to his master with a debt that he cannot pay. He did not receive mercy, because he refused to show mercy.
Do not think that Jesus is teaching that it is possible for someone to pay their debts of sin to God.; for the jail/prison that Jesus speaks of is eternal punishment in hell. And in hell there is no opportunity for repentance. Thus, Jesus’ stern warning, “So, also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart”. (Matthew 18:35)
God expects us, His people, to act towards one another in the same way, as the Apostle Paul instructs us, “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you”. (Ephesians 4:32) “If one has a complaint against another, forgive each other. As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive”. (Colossians 3:13)
We also have a beautiful example of this forgiveness in the Old Testament reading this morning. Joseph had literally been sold into slavery by his own brothers, suffering for many years in Egypt, even serving time in prison because of a false accusation by Potiphar’s wife. If anyone ever had a right to be angry and seek vengeance, it was Joseph. Now that circumstances had placed Joseph as second in command in all of Egypt, how would he respond to his sinful brothers? The answer; when given an opportunity to destroy them, Joseph chose not to.
When his brother sought forgiveness (with self-serving motives, at best); “Joseph wept … and said to them, Do not fear … you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good … so do not fear … Joseph comforted them and spoke kindly to them”. (Genesis 50:17b-21) Here we also see that God is in control of all things and He can use evil (which He does not cause) for His own purposes; “working all things together for good for those who love Him”. (Romans 8:28)
Of course, Jesus speaks of this elsewhere too; most notably in the prayer that we pray each week; the Lord’s Prayer, the fifth petition; “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. (Matthew 6:12) Here, we are asking God to forgive us in the same way we forgive others; meaning that if we do not forgive others, we are asking God not to forgive us either. As one commentator put it, “When we refuse to forgive others, we endanger our own faith and salvation”. (People’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, page 266)
In this petition, we confess that we sin every day and deserve nothing but God’s wrath and eternal punishment. “We are not worthy of the things for which we pray, and have not deserved them … (Knowing this), “our heavenly Father wants us to forgive and do good to those who sin against us”. (Explanation to the 5th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Luther’s Small Catechism)
In the Small Catechism, the question is then asked, “what does it show when we forgive others? It shows that we truly believe that God has forgiven us”. (Question # 227, Luther’s Small Catechism) The opposite is also true, when we refuse to forgive others, we are showing that we do not truly believe that God has forgiven us. This is illustrated in the parable from the Gospel reading. The first servant refused to forgive the second, because he didn’t truly believe God’s forgiveness for himself. Notice also the urgency, the anger, the violence he had towards his fellow servant/debtor.
This is how Luther explains it in the Large Catechism, “We must always forgive our neighbor who does us harm … if you do not forgive, do not think that God forgives you. But if you forgive, you have the assurance that you are forgiven in heaven. (This is) Not on account of your forgiving, for God … does it out of pure grace … as the Gospel teaches … but He has set up this condition for our strengthening and assurance … along with the promise”. (Luther’s Large Catechism, Lord’s Prayer, 5th Petition, par. 95-96)
The importance of our forgiving others is also stressed in the very last section of the Small Catechism, the 4th part of the Sacrament of the Altar, which asks the question; “Who receive this sacrament worthily”? The last question asked is “Who must not be given the sacrament”? There are four parts to this question, but the one relating to our text today says that “those who are unforgiving, refusing to be reconciled (should not be given the sacrament. Why? By their unforgiveness) they show that they do not really believe that God forgives them either”. (Question # 305, Luther’s Small Catechism)
Hearing these words should cut all of us to the heart, knowing how stingy our forgiveness often is; knowing how little we forgive compared to what has been forgiven us by Christ Jesus. He is dead serious in His words about forgiving others and the eternal consequences if we do not. Do not dare to say that these words of Jesus do not apply to you; for they apply to all of us.
Here is the thing, because of what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross, we are rich beyond measure. Not in the material sense of having lots of money or stuff, but in the sense that our great debt has been paid by the Master Jesus. He has had mercy on us as the Psalmist declared, “if You O Lord kept a record of sin, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, therefore, You may be feared”. (Psalm 130:3-4)
Hear what the Word of God says about how rich you/we are in Christ. First of all, Christ has promised to be with us both now and in eternity saying, “I am with you always, even to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:20b) and “I go and prepare a place for you … that where I am, you may be also”. (John 14:3) He also “richly and daily provides us with all that we need to support this body and life”. (Small Catechism, First Article, explanation) He has promised that “for those who love Him, God will work all things together for good”. (Romans 8:28a) These “blessings of the Lord, make us rich”. (Proverbs 10:22) Do you believe this?
If you are not yet convinced of how rich you are in Christ, listen to the Apostle Paul who speaks of these riches often. “The Lord bestows His riches on all call on Him” (Romans 10:12) and “by His poverty, you have become rich”. (2nd Corinthians 8:9) “In Him, we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace … the riches of His glorious inheritance” (Ephesians 1:7, 18). “God is rich in mercy … showing the immeasurable riches of His grace … in Christ Jesus”. (Ephesians 2:4, 7) “My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory, in Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 4:19) This is just a small sample of what God’s Word declares.
God has poured out these riches upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord, through the Word and Sacraments, forgiving all of our sins. As the Psalmist declared, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven; whose sin is covered. Blessed is the one against whom the Lord counts no iniquity”. (Psalm 32:1-2) “The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting on those who fear Him”. (Psalm 103:17)
Knowing these words and promises of God and realizing how rich we truly are in Christ, we too will “sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us”. (Small Catechism, firth petition, explanation) Amen.