The Urgency of Reconciliation

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'  And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'  "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'  Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'  Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." - Matthew 25:31‭-‬46 ESV

Rev. Russ Whitfield

Everyone has debt. Maybe not student loans, maybe not credit card debt, maybe not a mortgage... but we all owe a debt of sin to God. Very similar to the federal debt forgiveness program for student loans, God has a debt forgiveness program as well.

Kingdom principle of forgiveness

Right before our current passage, Jesus is describing how relationships handle sin. There must be a confrontation, then forgiveness. Hence why Peter's question. Jesus says 77 times of forgiveness. Why 77? There's a story of lemek from the old testament, a descendent of Cain who spoke of vengeance. He killed for someone striking him. He murdered multiple people in return for a killing. It was the idea is unlimited vengeance. Jesus replaced that idea with unlimited forgiveness. 

Then the story was of the servant of 10,000 talents. A talent is the largest sum we could imagine. 10,000 is the largest number that was namable in the Roman language. This is hyperbole. The amount is basically incalculable, astronomical. This amount was larger than all the money in circulation at the time. The servant pleads for more time. But it was clear that there was no way this servant could repay, even given several lifetimes. The King forgave his debt. The King had to take the loss. 

So it is of us. The cross tells us of our great debt of sin. It also speaks of God's grace, love, and forgiveness of our debts. 

Saint Augustine: "I want you to be forgiven because I've caught you begging for pardon. Before the end of the day, you will be in need of forgiveness."

The servant who was forgiven goes and does the unspeakable. He goes to another servant and chokes him for some denari. This is a small sum. The fellow servant repeats the same thing the servant had spoken to the King. But the servant was thrown in jail for his small debt. 

The King has rewritten the life of his servant with the forgiveness. But the servant condemned his fellow to the fate that the King's forgiveness had spared him. The servant acted as if the King's life changing act of forgiveness had never happened.

Kingdom practice of forgiveness

Jesus taught that unforgiveness was heretical. Christians are more likely to practice unforgiveness rather than forgiving. How was the wicked servant busted? The other servants were watching. So it is with Christians now. The ungracious, impatient, & judgmental behavior of those within the church tells others what the King, God, is like. Does the way you relate to others speak of God's tenderness, graciousness, patience, & mercy.

Application

Stop nursing minor injuries, resentment, grievances, and grudges. It will grow our bitterness to full maturity.

Jesus calls this servant... Wicked. He doesn't use that word often. This is despicable behavior.

We need to practice this at home with our spouses, family, kids, and roommates. We need to practice confession and repentance. This prepares is to forgive others. We need to recognize the flow of the need for pardon... So then we can present it to those around us.

We need to name the tender mercies of God. 

We need to forgive as an event. Then we need to forgive as the sin comes back into our hearts and minds. We need to daily resist the sinful desire for revenge.

Forgiveness is not about self care. It is not man centered. It is God centered. Today's culture sees forgiveness as weakness. It is counter cultural.