In a shorter, solo episode, we Keith falls back on a topic gleaned from a recent Sunday school quarterly. If you get material from the Gospel Project, it may seem familiar. All we do is take the bible passage, outline, and read a couple opening statements, and talking points. Basically a derivative work to present a basic theme of forgiveness, and how it works in the context it was intended.

To help with the scripture reading, a guest Retrobot is on hand. Be sure to drop us a line to let us know how he did.

Let’s get right to the main topic, and a parable about…

The Unmerciful Servant

Theme: Those who receive forgiveness must, in turn, extend forgiveness.

* Our debt before God was too great to be paid through our good works or effort,

* We have received forgiveness through the grace of Jesus Christ, who paid our debt through His death on the cross.

* God has wiped the slate clean with the blood of His Son.

Introduction

Revenge in our culture shows up in books, movies, and in a fictional world seems to bring a satisfying sense of justice. The good guy wins, and the evil deeds of the bad guy catch up to him. A reason to celebrate… right?

Revenge in the real world, as testified to by a search through news headlines reveal it’s emptiness. For example, a father who got revenge for the death of his son only led to another death, and such grief the father hung himself because he couldn’t cope with his loss.

Another tragic tale of revenge found a doctor, stripped of his title and profession after 4 counts of revenge. Now he’s facing a possible death penalty by the justice system . Revenge has never been intended to fall to the hands of men. Even just retribution is designed to come at the hand of civic authority, not an individual.

1. How much forgiveness is required of a Christian?

(Matthew 18:21-22 CSB)

21 Then Peter approached him and asked,

‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?’

22 ‘I tell you, not as many as seven,’ Jesus replied,

‘but seventy times seven.

How would you define forgiveness? Is it just allowing someone to continue taking advantage of you, resetting the count up to 490 to 1 at each occurance? Forgiveness Is more than a one way street. You are not outside your right, or expectation to say, “I forgive, but please stop.” Even Jesus exercised this when he forgave the woman caught in adultery. “I forgive you, go and sin no more.” To forgive, but not expect a reciprocal response, is to condone the injustice.

Still, forgiveness needs to be extended as often as God does… overtime.

For Peter, the culture of his day, and even in our own, we use the principle of “3 strikes and you’re out”. Peter probably felt he was being generous in doubling that number, and adding to it. Jesus played his little legalistic game, took that generosity, and multiplied it exponentially.

What would such a level of grace and forgiveness within the church communicate to unbelievers? You’d think it ought to open up a batch of warm, fuzziness, and people might flock to our church to be saved. Maybe so. In a more practical way, they might think we’re all a bunch of push overs. Morons who just let the world come in and take what they please, or abuse us as much as they like, and the kind, and forgiving Christians will let them.

I don’t think that’s what God wants. It’s possible to forgive, but not trust someone. We don’t have to set ourselves up to be taken advantage of on repeat cycles. A broken trust is one that is hard to rebuild.

Can you forgive someone without loving them? Emphatically, no. The natural reaction is to lash out. Love paves the way to forgive.