Gift
Read Matthew 18:21-35.
I've been in debt, though I've always made an effort to pay off my debts as quickly as possible. So other than my mortgage, I don't know that I've ever been in a debt that felt like ten thousand bags of gold. I have, however, known people who had begun to believe they can never get out of debt, so they quit trying because the whole thing seems overwhelming, and I believe that's where this servant in Jesus' story must have been: Why bother? Paying off my debt is impossible. I'll never be able to do it.
That's when the king, to whom the debt is owed, steps in. Remember, this is a story about forgiveness. A question about repentance and forgiveness has prompted Jesus to tell this story. Peter is trying to figure out how many times he needs to forgive the same offense (and you have to wonder if it was one of the other disciples who kept offending Peter). He's being generous by suggesting seven times. Jesus goes way overboard when he suggests seventy-seven (or seventy times seven, depending on your translation) times.
The point is this: if you're keeping track of the number of times you forgive, you're missing the point.
Imagine the bank coming along and telling you, "Your mortgage has been forgiven. The house is yours, free and clear." First of all, I'd doubt the messenger and would want some official paperwork that certified the loan forgiveness. Second of all, I'd wonder what I had done to deserve such a gift. Of course, that's the point of the gift: when it comes to forgiveness, you don't deserve it. I don't either. There's nothing this servant has done to deserve having a debt of ten thousand bags of gold forgiven. There's nothing whomever has offended Peter has done to deserve being forgiven seventy-seven times. And there's nothing I have done to deserve being forgiven by God, the one whom I have sinned against.
Forgiveness is not a matter of deserving. Forgiveness is not a matter of earning. Forgiveness is not a matter of being worthy.
It's a gift.
Forgiveness is really a matter of gratitude, of simply being thankful for and to the one who forgave our debt in the first place. If we are not grateful, if we think we somehow deserve such extravagant mercy, we might find ourselves treating others the way the wicked, unmerciful servant treated his fellow servant. And then we will find ourselves in trouble with the king. Better by far to develop an attitude of gratitude for the sake of our souls.
Thank you, Jesus, for your gift of forgiveness. Forgive me for the times I fail to see it as a gift, but rather as something I have earned. Without you, I would still be in the prison of my sin, the penitentiary of unforgiveness. With you, I am free. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I've been in debt, though I've always made an effort to pay off my debts as quickly as possible. So other than my mortgage, I don't know that I've ever been in a debt that felt like ten thousand bags of gold. I have, however, known people who had begun to believe they can never get out of debt, so they quit trying because the whole thing seems overwhelming, and I believe that's where this servant in Jesus' story must have been: Why bother? Paying off my debt is impossible. I'll never be able to do it.
That's when the king, to whom the debt is owed, steps in. Remember, this is a story about forgiveness. A question about repentance and forgiveness has prompted Jesus to tell this story. Peter is trying to figure out how many times he needs to forgive the same offense (and you have to wonder if it was one of the other disciples who kept offending Peter). He's being generous by suggesting seven times. Jesus goes way overboard when he suggests seventy-seven (or seventy times seven, depending on your translation) times.
The point is this: if you're keeping track of the number of times you forgive, you're missing the point.
Imagine the bank coming along and telling you, "Your mortgage has been forgiven. The house is yours, free and clear." First of all, I'd doubt the messenger and would want some official paperwork that certified the loan forgiveness. Second of all, I'd wonder what I had done to deserve such a gift. Of course, that's the point of the gift: when it comes to forgiveness, you don't deserve it. I don't either. There's nothing this servant has done to deserve having a debt of ten thousand bags of gold forgiven. There's nothing whomever has offended Peter has done to deserve being forgiven seventy-seven times. And there's nothing I have done to deserve being forgiven by God, the one whom I have sinned against.
Forgiveness is not a matter of deserving. Forgiveness is not a matter of earning. Forgiveness is not a matter of being worthy.
It's a gift.
Forgiveness is really a matter of gratitude, of simply being thankful for and to the one who forgave our debt in the first place. If we are not grateful, if we think we somehow deserve such extravagant mercy, we might find ourselves treating others the way the wicked, unmerciful servant treated his fellow servant. And then we will find ourselves in trouble with the king. Better by far to develop an attitude of gratitude for the sake of our souls.
Thank you, Jesus, for your gift of forgiveness. Forgive me for the times I fail to see it as a gift, but rather as something I have earned. Without you, I would still be in the prison of my sin, the penitentiary of unforgiveness. With you, I am free. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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