Rev. Charles Lehmann + Trinity 22 + Matthew 18:21-35
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
I wonder if Peter got the point. He had asked Jesus if he should forgive
someone up to seven times. Seven seemed like a good number. If someone
wronged you in the same way over and over again, to forgive them seven times
seems like it would be more than fair. Enough is enough, right?
But seven times is not even a drop in the bucket for Jesus. He says, “Not
seven times, but seventy times seven.” That comes out to 490, and not even the
most resentful person we can imagine is going to keep a running tally of sins
for that long. And that, people loved by God, is exactly the point Jesus is
making. Stop counting. Love keeps no record of wrongs. For the Christian,
our tally of our neighbor's sins should never rise above zero. The Lord has
forgiven us such a multitude of sins that the sins of our neighbor are nothing
by comparison. When our neighbor sins against us, we should forgive them
freely and completely. You are never so free as when you have not counted your
neighbor's sins against them.
But, Peter wants a limit. He wants to know exactly how little he can
forgive and still be considered merciful enough. Peter's question reveals that
when it really counts, he hates his neighbor. Peter only wants mercy for
himself. He wants justice for everyone else. Peter wants to get out of the
forgiveness business. He wants to be the judge instead. He wants to make the
call on who can be shown mercy and who can't. Ford can pardon Nixon but not
Charles Manson. Jesus can forgive you, but not Hitler or Stalin. Peter wants
to be in the place of God. He wants to decide who is worthy of the Lord's
mercy and who isn't.
In the parable, we hear something very different than the system that Peter
is imagining. We hear that the kingdom of heaven is like a King who wanted to
settle accounts with His servants. When the first servant comes, he owes so
much that he could never repay it, not even in three or four thousand
lifetimes. The first words spoken to this servant by the King are words of
absolute justice. The King demands full payment. If He does not receive it,
He will hand over the servant and his whole family until the debt can be worked
off. But there is no way to pay the debt. It is absolutely impossible. No
one but the King can deal with the sort of debt the parable is talking about,
and the servant knows it.
And so the servant asks the King to be patient with him. And because he
knows the King is merciful, the servant makes an absolutely ridiculous claim.
“Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” These are words of
absolute desperation. The servant knows that he cannot pay the debt. He knows
that whatever the King does will be absolutely just. He knows his failure, and
he knows that his only hope is the King Himself. Only the King can deal with
the debt. Only if the King has mercy does the servant have any chance at all.
The servant is not wrong to expect the King to be merciful. The King does
even more than the servant could have ever hoped for. He does not reduce the
debt to a manageable size. He doesn't work out a payment plan with the
servant. He forgives the debt entirely. Only a King with unimaginable wealth
could afford to do this. And that the King would do this for servant, a mere
slave, is absolutely unthinkable.
From what happens next, we know that the servant didn't understand the
King's forgiveness any more than Peter understood the forgiveness that Jesus
gives. He wanted mercy for himself and justice for everyone else. Though the
servant was only free because the King had mercy on him, he was not willing to
show mercy to those who were indebted to him. They had to pay. He would bleed
them dry until he got every last penny. It was only right. They shouldn't
have gone into debt if they weren't willing to make it right.
But neither Peter's question or Jesus' parable are about bank accounts.
They are about sin and forgiveness. Sin hurts you. It scars your soul. It
damages you deeply and spiritually. It is by sin that Adam and Eve, who were
holy, became wicked and unholy. We sin because we are sinners, and every time
we continue in our sin, we set ourselves against God as His enemy. We maintain
the gulf that stands between God's holiness and our iniquity. If our sins were
numbered by God, there would be no hope of mercy for any of us.
We owe God a debt we cannot pay. It would have taken the man in our
parable two hundred thousand years to pay what he owed. But he did not have
two hundred thousand years. The Psalms tell us, “The years of our life are
seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and
trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” Seventy or eighty years if
we're lucky. Even the greatest wonders of medicine cannot extend that more
than another thirty years.
As our time on earth is, we do manage to fill it with immense pride. Like
Peter, we want to be the arbiters of forgiveness. When we look at the world
it's tempting for us to be like the Pharisee who says, “I thank you God that I
am not like other men.” It is tempting for us to count the sins of others as
greater than our own. This happens when we shake our head at the evening news.
It happens when we hear a sermon and think how someone else really needed to
hear it. It happens whenever we forget the mercy that Christ has shown us when
we consider the sin of another.
But we can also be tempted to fall off the horse on the other side. The
second servant in the parable knew his debt and asked his fellow servant to be
patient with him. He did not pretend that he didn't owe the debt. He didn't
try to get out of it. He asked for patience so that he could pay.
In the parable, forgiveness is given to those who acknowledge their sin and
seek the mercy of the one whom they've wronged. The mercy is not given to
those who deny their own sinfulness. We know that Christ has truly won life
and forgiveness for all people. We heard a few weeks ago in Paul's letter to
the Romans about how there is not a single sinner who has not been forgiven by
Christ's work for them on the cross. But that same text tells us that though
the Lord's mercy is offered to all, it is received in faith.
We ignore the words of this parable in two ways. The first is by seeking
mercy only for ourselves and only justice for our neighbor. The second way is
by refusing to call sin what it is. God has said to us through the prophet
Isaiah, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil!”
If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not us. God
calls upon us to let our sins be strong. We should not make excuses for
ourselves or for our neighbor. We must let the Law of God shine upon our
wicked deeds so that they are shown to be utterly sinful. They must be seen as
fully deserving of the Lord's wrath and eternal condemnation.
If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just. He will forgive us our
sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The forgiveness you have
received from your Lord cannot help but overflow to your neighbor. When your
friend comes to you and confesses their sin to you, you have been given the
opportunity to speak the most wonderful words that they can ever hear. “You
are forgiven, dear friend, for the sake of Jesus. He has taken all your sin
and all my sin to the cross. I know how horribly that I have sinned against
God and I know that he has forgiven me completely. If Jesus loves me enough to
forgive all my innumerable sins, then I certainly know that He loves you enough
to forgive your few sins.”
It His love of forgiving sins that sent Jesus to the cross. Even as He was
suffering in our place, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them.” He who was
suffering the eternal pangs of hell did not because of that suffering change
His mind about you. He still loved you. He still desired you. He still did
all that was necessary for your salvation. He held nothing back. His sacred
veins bled holy blood. His human body suffered the full penalty for all your
sin. All of the wrath of God against you was poured out on Him.
Now, we may kneel before our crucified King and make the same plea made in
the parable. We may ask God for His mercy knowing the lengths to which He was
willing to go to win it for us. If your King was willing to die to win
salvation for us, how can we possibly be afraid?
We cannot. We have the sort of Savior whose love for us and for all
creation drives out our fear. We have the sort of Savior who does not count
our transgressions. We have the sort of Savior who does not number our
iniquities. We have the sort of Savior who has won life and salvation for us
on the cross and is delivering that salvation to you even now. Rejoice, people
loved by God. Your sins are forgiven and you are free!
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and
minds in faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Charles R. Lehmann
Pastor, Saint John's Lutheran Church, Accident, MD
http://www.stjohncove.org
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