Sermon
4-17-16 The unmerciful servant- Mt 18:21-35
The
Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21Then
Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my
brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22Jesus
answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[f] 23"Therefore,
the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his
servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him
ten thousand talents[g] was brought to him. 25Since
he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his
children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26"The
servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I
will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity
on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28"But
when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a
hundred denarii.[h] He grabbed him and
began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. 29"His
fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I
will pay you back.' 30"But he refused. Instead, he
went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When
the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went
and told their master everything that had happened. 32"Then
the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled
all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't
you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In
anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should
pay back all he owed.
35"This
is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your
brother from your heart."
Peter wants to be unforgiving
I
forgave 7 times!!! When can I exact revenge?
Let me do enough to be religious and then I want to go back to being human
Let me do enough to be religious and then I want to go back to being human
As if it were optional, for many
Christians,
Forgiveness is pushed over in the corner, like maybe one of these days I will
get around to it
Jesus
makes it clear that it is a central part of being a part of the kingdom.
Here
is that kingdom thing again…….. what does it mean?
An
integral part of being a Christ follower.
Don’t
think that this is easy- it is a constant battle
Peter begins in one direction….Jesus
turns it around.
Jesus does that- paradigm change
We are not just asked to change a few ideas, jesus goes for
paradigm change
Peter
wants to know how much he should offer grace to another,
Jesus
shows him how much grace he has received.
When
we realize how much we have received, our outlook changes….
Its hard to upset with DH when I consider how much grace I have
been given
4 characters
1.
king-
2.
unmerciful
servant-
3.
servant
2
4.
the
books for accounting
who
do the characters in the story correspond to?
God
is the king, Peter is servant 1,
He
is holding the books
The
second servant is the person that we need to forgive
what
role do we play in the story??
The actions of the
king
Wants
to settle accounts- he is a good businessman- bring me the books.
Calls
in servant
Servant
asks for mercy= Be patient, I will repay
The
king does not say, “ok, I will give you more time”…..the Debt is
cancelled- this is a giant grace!!
$20?
$500 sometimes its better to release the person than to hold on to it.
The actions of the
servant
Asks for mercy and receives it
Finds a fellow servant, throws him into
debtors prison
I
love what the other servants do
Always carry yourself in a way that you are open to being questioned
We will never learn if we don’t listen to those who disagree
The
other servants know what is right…..they are distressed at the injustice
People
know what is right….
the size of the debt
1
denarius is a day’s labor. 100 denarii = 1/3 year’s salary or $11,000
60
million days of work 164000 years of working.
2
billion, 800 million dollars [at minimum wage]
not
large vs small
but
unrepayalbe sum vs a small sum
Can the debt be paid
As
a side bar, What kind of a servant racks up this kind of debt?
Servant
thinks….Boy this is a stupid king………look how much he has loaned to me…
He
thinks I am going to pay him……….
He
is ungrateful and he doesn’t get it.
He
does not understand why the debt is forgiven
I
will pay back the debt
Can
he pay it back? 164,000 years
Does
the king release the debt because of what the servant says?
No
Is
it because it is good business?
The
king has become a bad businessman
The
king is no longer in the good business business.
It
does not make sense it does not add up in the book.
The
king lets the accounting system go
If
I stay with the system, the debt will never be cancelled
So
for some profound reason, he tosses the book- makes no worldly sense
There is something going on inside of
the king that makes him want to forgive.
People
are more important than the debts
How
sad that the servant, even after being forgiven, is unforgiving
He
sees a fellow servant and busts him
The
servant holds onto the book. He refuses to set aside the book.
As
long as we hold onto the book, the other person will never be free.
Torture-Great ending…..parable about grace that ends in torture….
What
is the torture……..surely Jesus did not mean that people should be beaten…
The
servant could not put down his book. He carried it in to see the king, he
carried it in the streets, he carried it to prison.
If
you want to stick with the book, then you will pay by the book.
He
clings to his books, his idea of right and wrong.
And
he totally misses grace
He
spends the rest of his life in prison, a prison of his own accounting
This
is possible for people….to know God’s grace, but still hold the books
Go
home and lose an argument!!
living by the book is not an attractive
way of living
life
rooted in the books – shapes everything
we
keep track and we keep score
If
u hold others to the books, then u yourself are also tortured by the judgment.
it
is a torture of the heart and soul
it
looks like good business, but it is a form of torture
it
is judgment, it is hatred, it is separation it is hell on earth
do
you want to live in an account ledger relationship with God?
NO
Hell NO
What the king does in the story is to decide that we will not live by the books
The
man asks for grace, the king gives the grace
This
is good news - God has tossed out the books. In Jesus
If
the gospel gets a hold of you, then you have to toss the books.
Because
you have seen what torture they can be, and now you are free.
God’s
love and grace are amazing!
What happens to the
debt- the books r gone, but what about the debt?
Forgiveness
costs someone
When
we exact revenge, we make them pay.
When
we hold out forgiveness,
We
take the pain, we absorb the hatred meant for them, we absorb the energy
we take the pain and we die to the book keeping system so
that someone else can go free
This is amazing, this is holy. This
is spirituality at its finest
What
happens to the debt.
Who pays it. Where
does the $ go? Who eats it?
The
master writes it off as a bad debt
Jesus
tells a story about a king who pays the price, bears the cost and sets aside
the book keeping so that a servant can have new life.
This is what we are to do – set aside
the books
I
think of 1 cor 13:5– love keeps no record of wrongs.
If
I see myself as wounded, I look for the perpetuator
If
I see myself as whole, I have to let go of the offense
If
I concentrate on what others have done, I am wounded
If
I concentrate on what God has done, I am so overwhelmed by grace that I cant
help but change
Today
jesus asks us to Set aside your system of accounting
Offer forgiveness to any persons that the Holy Spirit would bring to your mind
Lets move forward into the rest of this day and into our future with a clean heart.
let us pray
Offer forgiveness to any persons that the Holy Spirit would bring to your mind
Lets move forward into the rest of this day and into our future with a clean heart.
let us pray
