FORGIVENESS

Topics:• 1) Forgiveness is required• 2) Forgiveness is tough-• especially when it’s real big.• 3) How do you handle?

A Story About ForgivenessMatt 18

• 21At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"

• 22Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.• 23-25"The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his

servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

• 26-27"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

• 28"The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'

• 29-31"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

• 32-35"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy."

A few comments• 1) How many think the King is being fair?• 2) During that time, if you owed debts you could not declare bankruptcy but had to

work it off or have your family sold as slaves• The Code of Hammurabi was harsh; providing for the imprisonment of debtors who are

unable to satisfy their obligations. Code of Hammurabi Translated by L.W. King. with Commentary from Charles F. Horne and Claude Hermann Walter Johns , Law 115, Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed., 1910) (“If any one have a claim for corn or money upon another and imprison him; if the prisoner die in prison a natural death, the case shall go no further.”); Levinthal, Louis Edward, The Early History of Bankruptcy Law, 66 U. Pa. L. Rev. 223, 230 (1918). The Code was not, however, without mercy. The honest debtor also had the option of selling himself and or family members into slavery, for a period of no more than three years, in an effort to satisfy the obligation. Code of Hammurabi, Law 117 (“If any one fail to meet a claim for debt, and sell himself, his wife, his son, and daughter for money or give them away to forced labor: they shall work for three years in the house of the man who bought them, or the proprietor, and in the fourth year they shall be set free.”); see also, Early History, 237. Yet as harsh as this remedy was, the Roman debtor faired much worse. Early History, 231-232.

• Getting forgiveness of bad debts was HUGE.• 3) Yet Christ says at the end:• And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who

doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy."

Think about the Lord’s prayer• Forgive us our debtors as we forgive our debtors. • Notice the point- our sins are forgiven as we forgive others, by implication, if we don’t forgive others, ours won’t be forgiven.

But really forgive?•What about those really bad situations.• Like a Nazi concentration camp?• Forgive a Nazi SS guard?• Really?

Ok, but.•We are unlikely to face such an event.

So what are we to do?• This song I actually like, but it does not have a way to move past the pain. •What are we to do to go past the pain?• How do we respond?

A Story About ForgivenessMatt 18

• 21At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"

• 22Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.• 23-25"The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his

servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

• 26-27"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

• 28"The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'

• 29-31"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

• 32-35"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy."

Three Case Studies• 1) A bit of a problem in the back seat• 2) Revenge an answer?• 3) The case of the missing iphone.

It is hard to forgive!

Impact of forgiveness• In Les Miserable the Bishop does not prosecute a man for stealing sliver, but instead gives him more silver. This act changes the man’s life and he intend goes on to become mayor of a town. Now more happens but I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone.