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The
Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity
The
Collect.
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ORD we
beseech thee to keep thy household the Church in continual godliness; that
through thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given
to serve thee in good works, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
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I
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thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your
fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ: even as it is meet for me to think this of you all,
because I have you in my heart;
inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the
defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For
God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the tender mercies of
Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in
knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent;
that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled
with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and
praise of God. (Philippians 1:3)
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hen came Peter to
him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive
him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I
say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore
is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account
of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to
reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But
forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his
wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The
servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience
with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that
servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But
the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him
an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying,
Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant
fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I
will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but
went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So
when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and
told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after
that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee
all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on
thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to
the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So
likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts
forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. (Matt 18:21-35)
Reading
the last part of the Prayer of Collect today, one might be led to believe that
the first aim of the Church is to serve God in good works; but that assumption
misses the central point. It is God’s Holy Ghost that keeps the Church centered
on God’s will and purpose, and maintains the Church in godliness. Our efforts
at ‘being good enough’ always fail of accomplishment. Only in its
dependence upon the Providence and protection of God can the Church be free
from all adversities. It is when the heart of the Church is centered upon God’s
perfect will that it can be devoutly given to good works. The good works of the
Church are the fruit that issues from sound faith and doctrine. Without faith,
we are totally incapable of good works. We must be God-Like if we are His
children. That quality enables us to forgive sins against us even as we are
forgiven.
Paul
echoes the sentiment of the Prayer Book Prayer of Absolution in assigning
whatever good work that has ensued from his preaching to be solely to the glory
and keeping of God. The officiate at worship in the Anglican Church does not
forgive a single sin or absolve a single soul of sin. He merely pronounces that
it is the will of God to forgive all who earnestly repent. The arrogance of
Rome has led to the ungodly error of believing that the priest can forgive or
absolve sin. The Pharisees challenged Jesus when He forgave the man with palsy
of his sin. They said, “Only God can forgive sins.” The Pharisees were right –
only God can forgive sins. Their tragic mistake was in failing to recognize
Christ as God Himself. When you think of it, how can a sinner forgive sins of
other sinners – and, of course, ministers are sinners, too? It is reprehensible
that a pretentious minister would ever claim that authority which belongs ONLY
to God.
It
is very timely that our Gospel text today will address forgiveness for it is a
component of every worship service, but also of everyday life for the
Christian. So many errors have grown up around the law of forgiveness, and many
are deceived by blind guides who urge forgiveness of every trespass against us
even when the offender does not ask. If a criminal broke into your home and
began murdering every member of your household beginning with your tender young
daughter, would you forgive him with each additional murder, or would you take
action to defend your family by neutralizing the murderer? It is absolute
nonsense to preach, or believe, that we must go about simply forgiving every
cruel act of the wicked. This false teaching has led to a sterile American
church in which no discipline or defense can be possible against the ungodly
among us.
This
fact is so clearly and unmistakably brought out in our Gospel text. Peter,
seeking to appear quite pious and proper, asks the Lord: “Lord, how oft
shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?”
Seven is considered a very divine and complete number, so Peter chooses this
number to gain favor to himself. He believes that he is being over-generous in
his charity to forgive. The answer Christ returns is one which most probably
shocked, not only Peter, but all those other disciples listening. Jesus
responds: “I say not unto thee, Until seven
times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Well, this
number is very great, and made up of two perfect multipliers: 7x10x7 = 490.
Please do not get bogged down with counting how many times you have forgiven
your neighbor until you reach this magic figure – that is not the meaning. A
talent was of an enormous value, and every sin is of enormous magnitude. King
David says that his sins were more than the hairs on his head – and David was
not bald! “. . . . mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that
I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore
my heart faileth me.” (Psalm 40:12) The meaning which Christ conveyed
was that there should be an indefinite and limitless number of times that we
must grant forgiveness to those who seek it. There is a reason for this large
number which I will explain later. If we forgive as many as 490 times,
forgiveness will become an imbedded habit of life (as it should be).
I
saw a very erroneous and misleading quote on Facebook the other day which
showed a large man pointing at his young child and saying: “You must forgive
everyone their sins whether they ask for it or not!” What a lie from Hell. This
idea is not Godly and nowhere found in Scripture. Jesus uses a parable of two
different men to illustrate the real nature of forgiveness – one of a King who
forgives a servant, and of the servant who does not forgive.
Before
getting into this account of the King and the ungrateful servant, let us
consider, seriously, the nature of forgiveness that God has granted to you.
When you fully confirmed, or accepted, Christ as your Lord and Savior, you
prayed for forgiveness of all of your sins. God did, at that very moment,
forgive you of all of your sins – but not a moment before your repentance of
them. There must have been a very large multitude of sins for which you were
forgiven – certainly a number exceeding 490 Since that time, unless
you are a very exceptional saint (an I doubt you are), there have been untold
scores of sin for which you have repented and been forgiven: perhaps scores,
perhaps hundreds, perhaps thousands? More like thousands, I would say. But God
has forgiven you each sin of which you have repented. Now let us look at the
example Jesus gives in the Parable:
- The King and His Debtor:
23 “Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king,
which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which
owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he
had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children,
and all that he had, and payment to be made.”
Who
do you suppose the King represents in the above passage? It is, of course, God.
Who do you suppose was the servant? It was Jerry, Bob, Betty, Paulette,
Richard, Donald, and all who call upon the Name of the Lord. We are all a part
of every Word that the bible speaks – either good or bad. There will come a
time when the books are closed and accounting made, friend, of our lives. God
will review our account and decide if our debts have been either paid, or
delinquent. May I remind you that your sins are ENORMOUS! But God’s grace is
sufficient to cover all through the redemption made available through the
sacrifice of His only Begotten Son. Now, I will tell you that ten thousand
talents will not begin to number your sins, or mine. But ten thousand talents represent
a grievous debt of billions of dollars in our contemporary society. It is a
figure that no man can pay. Is there any way that we can make amends for our
sins to repay God for the blood of His Son shed on the cross for them? Is it
not a grievous number of sins? This servant to which the Lord makes reference
had racked up an enormous debt which he could not possibly pay. The
proper punishment for not paying one’s debts was imprisonment and his family
sold into slavery until the debt was paid. Can you pay such a debt from the
prison of Hell? Can we keep the law so perfectly that the King will not find a
debt on our account sheet?
The
servant was frantic with grief and hopelessness. There being no possible means
of repaying the debt (of sin), what did the servant do, and what COULD he do?
He had no recourse except that of begging mercy through repentance. 26 “The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” Have mercy on me, Lord. Forgive my
great shortcomings (my sins) and I shall change. Have you come to the point of
knowing your only recourse was to throw yourself down before the Throne of
God’s Grace and beg forgiveness – not from a priest, but from God? How does the
Lord respond to such tears of repentance? 27 “Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed
him, and forgave him the debt.” This act of the King (God) is not exceptional, but made
available all whose burdens of sin have become unbearable. He did not simply
grant a probationary release, but a permanent forgiveness of ALL debt. What
a relief it must have been to have been relieved of such a burden of debt – for
the servant, and for you and me, when we came to Christ! Please note that
forgiveness was not granted until it was pleaded for. How should we respond
afterwards?
- The Forgiven Debtor and the Unforgiven:
How soon does the dog return to its
own vomit and the washed pig to wallowing in the mud! “But it is happened
unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own
vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. (2 Peter 2:22) The nature of a dog and a pig
remains the same regardless the provision made for them. A reprobate sinner may
fain the repentance necessary before God, But his old nature shall return
unless he has truly been made a new creature in Christ.
Did
this forgiven servant amend his thinking after being forgiven? 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants,
which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the
throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.” He was greedy when he begged for
mercy of the King, and his darkened heart is yet filled with greed – a hundred
pence was a pittance compared to even a single talent; but it must be said that
the forgiven servant at this point has no obligation to forgive the debt. That
obligation will be made in the next verse: 29 “And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him,
saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” Suddenly, the circumstances have
changed. The same appeal made by the forgiven servant to the King is now being
made to him. How he responds will determine his standing with the King (God).
Will he freely forgive as he was forgiven? 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should
pay the debt.” First of all, just as we, or a priest, cannot forgive or absolve
sin, so can we neither condemn any to the same Hell from which we have been so
graciously saved. What abject ingratitude. Once forgiveness is asked for, out
of a sincere heart, we have no choice but to forgive. And, just as God does, we
should remember the debt no longer that we have forgiven. Make no mistake; the
eyes of God are everywhere. His Holy Angels also report directly to Him of
every transgression of man.
31 “So
when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and
told unto their lord all that was done.” The fellow servants were
more righteous than the forgiven servant because they were sad to see the
injustice of an unforgiving heart. No such injustice remains secret to the mind
of God. 32 Then his lord, after that he had
called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt,
because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also
have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he
should pay all that was due unto him.” God has forgiven us an
immensity of sins, yet we often fail to forgive those around us of a single
offense thought they come begging for forgiveness. God places no higher
standard of forgiveness upon His children than He, Himself, exercises. To be
forgiven of God, we must pray for forgiveness. To be forgiven by men, we must
repent and ask for forgiveness. Then are we required to forgive without number
of times. God compares the process of our responsibility to forgive
to be identical to His. Remember the Lord’s Prayer which too many utter in
vain? “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
(Matt 6:12) Have we repeated that verse with true conviction? What does this
mean? Jesus explains it perfectly in the Parable today and in the sequential
statement on the Lord’s Prayer: “For if ye forgive
men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if
ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.” (Matt 6:14-15)
