now JESUS tells a story in matthew
18 (niv). it’s called the parable of the
unforgiving servant. in this story HE
illustrates why we must learn to forgive, learn to let go.
verse 23, therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. as he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.”
the king calls up and says, everybody who owes me any money, bring them all in and we’re going to settle the accounts right now. and they bring in this one guy who owes ten thousand talents to the king. that is about twelve million dollars. there’s no way he’s ever going to get out of it.
in those days bankruptcy was a whole lot simpler than it is today. you would take the man, throw him in prison and take his wife and children and sell them into slavery. i’m glad that isn’t true today.
next verse, since he was not able to pay the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
notice the servant’s response: the servant fell on his knees before him. “be patient with me,” he begged, “and i will pay everything back.” he says, “just give me a few more days.”
now there’s no way he’s going to pay this back. if he paid back $1000 a day for thirty years that still wouldn’t equal twelve million bucks.
the king’s response: so the servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. he said, “we’ll just write it off. you are forgiven.”
listen, i don’t know what grudge you’re carrying. i don’t know who has hurt you in the past, what memory haunts you today.
some of you are thinking, “i could never forgive that or that person. they hurt me. they hurt me bad. i don’t want to let it go. i don’t want to forget it. i want to hold on to that hurt and i want to hold on to my anger and resentment against them. but you’ve got to let it go.
just a thought from the front porch…
verse 23, therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. as he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.”
the king calls up and says, everybody who owes me any money, bring them all in and we’re going to settle the accounts right now. and they bring in this one guy who owes ten thousand talents to the king. that is about twelve million dollars. there’s no way he’s ever going to get out of it.
in those days bankruptcy was a whole lot simpler than it is today. you would take the man, throw him in prison and take his wife and children and sell them into slavery. i’m glad that isn’t true today.
next verse, since he was not able to pay the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
notice the servant’s response: the servant fell on his knees before him. “be patient with me,” he begged, “and i will pay everything back.” he says, “just give me a few more days.”
now there’s no way he’s going to pay this back. if he paid back $1000 a day for thirty years that still wouldn’t equal twelve million bucks.
the king’s response: so the servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. he said, “we’ll just write it off. you are forgiven.”
listen, i don’t know what grudge you’re carrying. i don’t know who has hurt you in the past, what memory haunts you today.
some of you are thinking, “i could never forgive that or that person. they hurt me. they hurt me bad. i don’t want to let it go. i don’t want to forget it. i want to hold on to that hurt and i want to hold on to my anger and resentment against them. but you’ve got to let it go.
just a thought from the front porch…
3 comments:
Forgiveness is such a process - where deep damage has been done, to forgive 'cheaply' just drives the hurt underground. Please be careful of 'demanding' forgiveness too soon for real healing to take place. I am on my way toward a deeply profound forgiveness - and trust that until my process is complete, Jesus covers my shortcomings. Yes, God calls us to forgive. Yes, it is crucial. But it is not automatic, easy, or quickly done where the wound is grievous. To expect such is to further wound the one on this difficult journey...
so true. when peter asks how much we should forgive, JESUS told him 70 times 70 because HE knows that it takes a long time for some to get past the pain of the hurt which shows that we have truely forgiven.
Hmmm...never thought of that passage in that light before. I think you're on to something there! God is so very good. He understands us so much better than we are willing to give Him credit for!
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