On this 25th week of wandering in the dessert of the pandemic, we are beginning to see that God faithfully provides a cloud by day and a fire by night that guides us in our journey! What a wonderful God we serve.
Donna has a special selection for us.
If I had a million dollars for every time someone
said to me, “Pastor, I will never forgive them for what they did to me,” I
would be a triillionaire. When someone hurts us, resolution and reconciliation
come with a painful price tag. We may grudgingly offer our olive branch, as a
symbolic offering of peace. We may say we forgive because we fear the wrath of
God, but our heart may not be wholly healed. Our heart may simply be limping
along for the ride.
Let’s get used to the fact that no one can love us
like Jesus! So why should we feel we have lost it all when human love fails. No
one understands like the living God. The one who created us and sustains us
knows us better than we know ourselves. Our every breath depends on the one who
loves us with an everlasting love.
So, when others won’t give us what is due us and
what they owe us, let us remember to look to the hills from where our help
comes. Our help comes from the one who made the heavens and the earth.
We can trust that GOD WILL PROVIDE. And if
God doesn’t give it, we don’t need it, at least we don’t need it yet. As the
psalmist said, “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the
morning.” Or as Job said, “God may not come when you want God, but God is
always right on time.”
We have needs that are urgent. Our needs cause us
inconvenience. They can cost us time and money. Our needs can cause us to
suffer for a season. At times of suffering, it is easy to focus just on our own
suffering.
Our suffering can distract us from higher priorities.
A good soldier of the Lord is alert to the many things that an enemy can
use to distract us. A good soldier keeps an eye on the one they are protecting
and defending. A good parent endures lack of sleep, waking up in the
night for infant feeding and having sleepless nights while caring for teens
finding their way. A good friend is insightful enough to read between
the lines of our life in order to show care and concern. As the bible says, “A
friend loves at all times. A brother – or sister - is born for adversity.” There
is a cost for being good.
To accomplish the greater good, we have to stay
focused, even when we are inconvenienced and suffering. There are definitely moments
when we have to pay attention to our own wounds and suffering. There are other moments
we have to focus on another priority that God has for us.
It’s not always about us. We are the apple of God’s
eye, but we are not always the center of attention. Sometimes we have to wait a
minute for our needs to be met. We humans are not necessarily gold medal
champions of patience, but patience is what it takes to thrive. And the more we
practice patience, the more patient we become.
Our
need to forgive each other is urgent, even though it is hard. Jesus called
Peter a “rock” a solid foundation for the Church. But, Peter was not always so
strong. He grew stronger as he spent time with Jesus. Peter is on record as
asking Jesus, ‘Lord, if another member
of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven
times?’ 22Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you,
seventy-seven times.
Have you ever prayed about forgiving someone? Most of us may be
so consumed with how hurt we are that we don’t give much thought to forgiving
the one who hurt us.
One of the most profound things I heard this week was evangelist
Beth Moore saying, the leading cause of forgiveness is compassion.
If we can wrap our minds around someone who hurt us,
then we may be able to see them through eyes of compassion. We may be able to at
least love them by praying for them in spite of our suffering. Doesn’t God love
them, too?
Years ago, when someone hurt me, I was shocked,
surprised, disappointed, sad and confused. After praying about it, it occurred
to me to pray every day by visualizing her and myself wrapped together in the
loving arms of Jesus. Isn’t it hard to think of our enemies deserving God’s
love? Don’t we feel that we deserve love
and those who hurt us deserve all the revenge and punishment imaginable? We
know that love is not a feeling. Love is what we do, not what we feel. If we
act in loving ways, our feelings will follow. Our feelings will fall in line
with the love we do.
If there is any punishment or revenge to be given,
we know it is not ours to give. “Vengeance is mine…I WILL repay. God takes care
of any payback that is due us. Surely, God does bring mercy and justice – but
only in God’s timing and in God’s way. It is often not what we had in mind.
God’s ways are higher than our ways. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.
Perhaps you have seen your enemy get what you think they
deserve. We can’t always figure out what God is doing, but this I know, if
you’re happy about something unpleasant that happens to someone who hurt you,
then you’re not getting the message that God is sending. We should be no
happier about God’s judgment or someone’s reaping the trouble that they have
sown than we should be happy when we find ourselves in trouble.
The purpose of God’s judgment and punishment is to
correct, to make things right again, to grow more fruit of the Spirit which is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, (or generosity) faithfulness
and self-control. Seeing someone get the trouble we think they deserve is not a
time to celebrate. The time to celebrate is when any of us learn our lessons
well enough to do the right thing.
The Lord is faithful and will do justice and show us
and mercy. Months later, after praying that the one who hurt me and I were
wrapped up together in the loving arms of Jesus, the pain and the hurt melted
away. I never saw her again, and when she does come to mind from time to time,
I still think of her in the loving arms of Jesus.
By the time we forgive someone 70 times as verse 22
says, we get God’s point. That point is that forgiveness NEVER ends. The time
for forgiveness never ends because the time for love NEVER ends, so says I
Corinthians.
So, when someone owes us as the slave owed the king in verse 24, we need to think twice before trying to get payback on our own. Verse 23 says, ‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents* was brought to him; 25and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made.
26So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have
patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” 27And out of pity for him,
the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.
The slave found mercy when he owed 10,000 talents of silver. One
thousand is said to be the highest number used in the Roman world. One talent was about 75 pounds of silver.
Therefore, 10,000 talents equaled 750,000 pounds or 375 tons of silver. That
would be over 100 billion today. The slave owed more than could be imagined. But,
when someone owed the slave just about 19,000 dollars, he went berserk.
Verse 28 – 35 reads
28But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii;* and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” 29Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.”
30But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. 31When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?”
34And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should
pay his entire debt. 35So my heavenly Father
will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister* from
your heart.’
If you are human, you may have had the thought of
choking someone who owes you, who has hurt you. You may have wept helplessly or
trembled with rage. It is human to feel like pulling that lever as you picture
them in the electric chair or hitting the target until they get dunked into the
water. It takes the supernatural
work of the Holy Spirit in us to help us forgive.
I heard of a young man mentioned in a sermon (by C.
Philip Green, Feed the Dogs, 10/16/2009) who walked five miles to
church because he could not afford a bus. When he arrived, if he had not taken
his medicine, he acted very inappropriately – lewd gestures and all. He decided
he wanted to join the church, but the elders allowed him to be on probation
until he understood better what it was to be a Christian and until he could act
appropriately. He wanted to play his guitar in the choir and was allowed to do
so as long as it was not plugged in. He had no family and no job, but he had a
church that forgave him again and again and again. No doubt, they themselves knew
they had been forgiven again and again and again?
When we are ready to be more like Jesus, we call
upon him to fill us with the Holy Spirit that we might learn to forgive, that
we would see each other in the loving arms of Jesus, and stay there until our
pain and hurt dissolve, until the tears are wiped away and we can sing with
conviction as Baptist songwriter Kurt Kaiser wrote: I wish for you my friend, this
happiness that I've found; you can depend on God. It matters not where you're
bound. I'll shout it from the mountain top - PRAISE GOD! I want the world to
know. The Lord of love has come to me. I want to pass it on. Let us pray:
Breathe on us, breath of God. Fill
us with life anew, that we may love what Thou dost love, and do what Thou
wouldst do. We pray your blessings upon those who suffer from illness or
despair, from catastrophe, tragedy, floods, and fires. We pray for our first
responders and caretakers near and far, for all the preachers, teachers,
leaders, and missionaries from every nation and station. We pray as you taught
the disciples… Our father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us
this day, our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
We hope
this message has strengthened you in your journey and blessed you with a hunger
and thirst for more of Jesus who will never leave you or forsake you. I invite
you to give your live to Jesus today.
Next
week we will continue looking at Matthew chapter 20 on the topic “Reconciliation
– What’s Fair.”
If you would like to make your contribution to the great
ministry and mission of Bethel, the website is
Or you can send it to 952 Bethel Church Road, Spring City, Pa.
19475.
God bless you!
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