Sermon - Trinity XXII 2022 - Matthew 18:21-35

Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Claude Vignon, 1629

The Abundance of God’s Grace

1. God’s forgiveness is boundless

2. Our forgiveness must also be boundless

As we approach the end of the church year we begin to think about the end times and the last day when Christ shall return to judge the earth. Whenever you are nearing the end of any long and difficult project you need two things: encouragement and sobriety. You need encouragement so that you don’t give up and quit. You need sobriety so that you don’t get sloppy and ruin everything. Since the end of this life is so near Christ does those two things for us: He encourages us and He warns us to keep us sober. Jesus assures us of His grace, and He warns us of dangers that may lead us astray from His grace. Indeed, today is about the abundance of God’s grace, and so we’re encouraged to hear that God’s forgiveness is boundless, and we’re warned that our forgiveness must also be boundless.

This is a crucial reminder for us Christians in these dark and latter days. Peter came up to Jesus and asked: “‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’” One of the basic assumptions here is that Christians are going to sin against one another. These aren’t easy days to live and be faithful; emotions run high, the situations are tense, and the stakes are through the roof. We make misjudgements and speak in anger, we lash out at one another, and we aren’t patient with each other. Things are so stressful we tend to start attacking our own, blaming each other for the problems and making things even worse. As an obvious example: we are at this point largely missing three generations here in church, those 55 and under, and that is greatly upsetting to everybody! In our frustration the past few decades it’s been our tendency to blame each other, act without thinking, and tear each other down.

We need to remember how Peter phrases the question: how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Those people who are sinning against you aren’t your enemies, they’re not the bad guys; they’re your brothers and sisters, they’re your comrades who are fighting on the same side as you. Remember that you’ve all together been baptized into Christ. You receive the same body and blood of Jesus in the holy supper. You all trust in Christ and share the same faith. Since all are sinners and dependent on God’s grace, you’re all on equal footing.

Satan knows that a house divided cannot stand, so he tries to turn you against one another. Don’t give in to his deceptions! Be compassionate and merciful with one another; forgive, reconcile. Do it quickly! The day of reckoning is drawing near and the judge is at the door. You need each other because of how hard these days are. They’re not getting any easier, so don’t let grudges get in the way. Forgive each other quickly and joyfully! Afterall, the forgiveness of sins and God’s grace is at the heart of Christianity and what it means for us to be Christians! 

When Jesus tells us to forgive seventy seven times, or seventy times seven, this isn’t only a comment on how we must always forgive each other, but it’s also a comment on how often and greatly God forgives us. In order to make this abundantly clear Jesus compared our forgiveness to that of a great debt being forgiven. “One was brought to [the king] who owed him ten thousand talents.” Each talent was worth approximately 20 years’ wages for a laborer. An entire nation couldn’t pay off a debt of this magnitude, let alone a single man. “So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.”

Such is the debt of sins we have been forgiven! Our sins stink to high heaven  and the debt against us is unfathomably tremendous. What could we ever hope to give to God in order to settle the account? “Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” None of these would be enough! Only out of God’s great pity did Jesus Christ make payment for our sins upon the cross. By no merits of our own but solely by the grace of God are our many trespasses forgiven us. 

Look at how quickly God forgives us! The servant fell on his knees and begged him, and immediately the master released him and forgave him! God forgives us all of that tremendous debt because we simply pleaded with Him and trusted in His mercy. We did nothing, and He paid it all with His own blood without even hesitating. All of the mistakes that we’ve made, all of the really stupid things we’ve said, all of anger and resentment we’ve held onto, all of the good we’ve failed to do, all of the times we’ve done the easy thing instead of the right thing: God forgives all of it. And He’s quick and willing to do it! 

It necessarily follows that just as we have been forgiven so we in turn forgive others. Like we pray numerous times daily: forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. This is the point of the story of the unmerciful servant: we Christians must forgive others their sins against us, since we have been forgiven for so much more already. Jesus compares others’ sins against us to a hundred denarii debt. A denarius is a day’s wage for a laborer. So a hundred denarii is a sizeable debt, but it’s about as much as a used car. Compared to a 10,000 talent debt, it’s hardly a drop in the bucket! That’s the point, other’s sins against us are comparatively inconsequential. Sure their sins maybe seem like a big deal at first glance, but when compared to our own sins they’re practically nothing! Our forgiveness from God is far greater than the forgiveness we’ll ever have to show to each other. Christians forgive each other because of the surpassing forgiveness they’ve already received from God.

Holding onto grudges is a fruit of the devil, and not something Christians can harbor within their hearts. “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?’” In anger the king delivered the servant to the jailers, until he paid off his debt, and since the debt’s impossible to pay off, he shall remain in prison forever. “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Holding onto grudges and refusing to forgive others is to stand in the place of God, assume the position of judge, and reject God’s forgiveness for others. If you don’t believe that another’s sins should be forgiven, then why should your sins be forgiven, since your debt is greater? To refuse forgiveness to another is to refuse God’s forgiveness to you. If you refuse to let go of grudges, then you’re not a Christian, and God will neither forgive you. Repent before it’s too late!

So if you’re struggling to forgive another and holding onto grudges, start by confessing your own sins and receiving God’s forgiveness. Learn to believe that you’re the chief of sinners, you’re the most evil person in history, and God has forgiven you completely and entirely and undeservedly! So long as you think you’re a pretty good person and not too bad, you’ll struggle to forgive others. “He who is forgiven little, loves little.” But he who has been forgiven for many sins, loves much. We have been forgiven much, therefore let us learn to forgive others. 

Like I said at the beginning of the sermon, this matters because we need each other in these latter days. We can’t afford to hate each other and attack one another, we must forgive. God has forgiven us all such horrendous sins by His grace. Let us never lose sight of that. “I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” The end, the day of the Lord,  is coming, and God promises to preserve us in His grace. So let us not reject it when we’re at the very end.

God richly forgives us, and we richly forgive others. As this world comes to a close we forgiven sinners gather in sanctuaries to receive His grace. None of us are perfect, all of us are repentant sinners. The church on earth is filled with repentant drunks, liars, thieves, gossips, sodomites, transgenders, divorcees, adulterers, abusers, fornicators, and addicts. Yet all of us are sorry for our past sins, repent of them, and plead God’s boundless mercy. His forgiveness covers all. As Christians we could gladly stand beside folks like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein, since God’s grace and forgiveness reigns supreme in our lives, and we see one another not as terrible people but as brothers and sisters.