I believe that God wants us to live lively lives. I believe that it is possible to live daily as vibrant, contributing human beings. I believe it is possible to live in such a state of vitality that all of creation is open to us, where all of being alive is in our awareness. There is an abiding joy that runs deep and strong in our lives. I believe this because God has promised it.
The apostle Paul knew this and admonished the Colossian church. In Colossians 3:9-10 he wrote, "Do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."
There are times in my life when I am quite aware that the liveliness, the wholeness, the connection to God and the world is not quite what it can be. Then I stop and ask, “Why?”
There are certainly a multitude of reasons: living in the world with its pressures, demands, the groaning and hoping for heaven, and more. Most of these we cannot do much about. And hoping and waiting for heaven is just exactly that—hoping and waiting.
But when these things are identified and there still remains silence and unrest in our lives perhaps it's time to ask "Why?" in a deeper way and say with the Psalmist in 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
The "offensive ways" in our lives are numerous and all indicate one root problem—sin—which leads to disconnection from God. There is a story that will lead us into considering one of these ways. I believe we need to think about this primarily because it has to do with something that Jesus taught us to pray.
Here is a good, hard story found in Matthew 18:23-35.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 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.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
The context for this story is this very important, so let's back up a bit and read Matthew 18:21-22. "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."
Just prior to this Jesus had been telling the disciples of his impending death and resurrection. He knew that they would need to forgive those who would kill him. And he knew that the resurrection power would enable them to do that.
Have you ever wondered what the disciples did between crucifixion and resurrection? They must have remembered his words and stories about forgiveness. They must have wrestled with rage and hatred toward those who had arrested and crucified him. They must have been filled with disappointment and shame about leaving him alone to face this horrible death.
Perhaps this story rolled over and over in their minds as they sat slumped in their chairs, trying desperately to understand what would happen next. Perhaps the frightening conclusion to the story stuck with them in Matthew 18:35. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
With God as the Master and you and I as the servants, can I tell you what I have learned from this parable?
· - God wants things settled with us—so much so that Christ willingly gave himself for our sins and forgiveness is offered to everyone.
· - God has consequences for our sins and there is full repayment required unless we make a request for forgiveness.
· -
God hears our requests and responds.
How does he respond?
Did you see in the parable that the Master took pity on him? His mercy and compassion are great! Did you see in the parable that the Master canceled the debt? God gives complete forgiveness. Our sins are completely gone when he forgives. We see them no more! Hallelujah! Did you see that the Master let him go? God gives freedom through repentance. All of this is an act of absolute grace.
We often are not like God. We turn to someone who owes us and say, "Choke or pay!" for a sum far less than our own debt!
We sometimes refuse to settle things and decide to take vengeance ourselves. This is the most unsettling part of this whole story, isn't it?
A writer in the New Bible Dictionary wrote that "a readiness to forgive others is part of the indication that we have truly repented. Moreover, it is to be wholehearted. It springs from Christ's forgiveness of us, and it is to be like Christ's forgiveness . . . 'even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.' Colossians 3:13."[1]
We can learn some other things as well.
· - Our actions affect the community. Others are greatly distressed and talk with God about it.
· - God hears distress and acts on it. He calls it as he sees it: "You wicked servant." He speaks the whole truth: "Shouldn't you have had mercy on him as I had on you?"
· - God gets angry because of our sin and there are consequences with his righteous anger. The consequences include misery, hopelessness, lack of spiritual growth, broken relationships, and more.
· - There is always a way out! Jesus made it very clear in his teaching, and many of the New Testament preachers, teachers and writers confirm this from experience and taught it diligently.
The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1 and 2 addressed this matter in a very passionate way for a situation in that particular church. We know that the Corinthian church had many problems. Rather than running away from the church he helped establish, Paul visited them several time and wrote them very passionate letters. At first glance Paul appears to be dictatorial and overbearing with these folks. But he had God’s agenda, the agenda that burns with anger at sin and offers a way out.
As you read both 1 and 2 Corinthians, a deep well of love and compassion is the source of Paul’s love for these people. They have been so torn and twisted by power struggles, selfishness, division, false teachers and discouragement. In the particular part on forgiveness in 2 Corinthians 1 we see how Paul addresses yet another difficulty in this church—the reality of unforgiveness.
2 Corinthians 1:23-24
1 So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? 3 I wrote as I did, so that when I came I would not be distressed by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. 4 For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
2 Corinthians 2:1-11
5 If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
Just like surgeons know that they have to deliberately create wounds and pain to get to the source of disease and damage, Paul wrestles with the necessity of doing this. You can see it in his language and can almost hear the tears and groans of his previous letter and this present one. He speaks to the reality that these Christians can behave differently! They have the power of God to overcome the temptation to be unforgiving. No one is bound to unforgiveness.
But each one is given the opportunity to hold resentment and bitterness close—to punish with ongoing retribution and revenge. Paul rightly identifies some of the greatest destructive forces in our world and in the Church. He knows what the lack of forgiveness can do—and he is battling in prayer and direct confrontation for the sake of those caught in that trap.
Roger Hahn wrote: “Sometimes, punishment is necessary when wrongdoing has occurred. Such punishment may actually be an expression of love. However, punishment alone is never a sufficient demonstration of love. The punishment must be accompanied by forgiveness and comfort and efforts to restore the wrongdoer both to appropriate behavior and to acceptance by the church.”[2]
Then Paul says something rather odd in verse 10: Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake. It appears that he may not even know if there is anything to forgive! When we read a letter where we have no direct knowledge of the situation, it’s hard to understand sometimes. But what we can learn from this one-sided conversation is that Paul promotes forgiveness vehemently and passionately. Roger Hahn wrote: “The last two references to Paul’s forgiveness in verse 10 (what I have forgiven . . . I have forgiven) are in a Greek tense that expresses an action completed in the past with ongoing effects in the present. This is important. Forgiveness is an act that must be completed and done with so that the question of forgiving does not arise again. However, the results of forgiveness continue on into the present and into the future with healing benefits. Of course, the opposite is true when anyone refuses to forgive.”[3] There is so much at risk in this business of unforgiveness—fear, anger, isolation, resentment, broken relationships, battles within and without, and, ultimately, death in darkness!
Paul also rightly identifies the source of unforgiveness. It is Satan who was trying to outwit them, to lead them back into darkness, to bind them to the devastating spiral of spiritual and community suffering and death. Like a raptor swooping down at over 100 miles per hour to break the neck of its prey, Satan is targeting every Christian!
This is polar opposite to the way of God—out master surgeon. Roger Hahn wrote: “Sometimes, punishment is necessary when wrongdoing has occurred. Such punishment may actually be an expression of love. However, punishment alone is never a sufficient demonstration of love. The punishment must be accompanied by forgiveness and comfort and efforts to restore the wrongdoer both to appropriate behavior and to acceptance by the church.”[4]
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:10 that “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Do we want our friends and family to die? Do we want our church to wither and fade? If not, then all of us—the offenders, the unforgivers—need to change our behavior and create vast spaces of grace. It is the same grace that God, through Jesus Christ, has given to us!
Now some may say, "But, you don't know what they did to me! You don't know what I've put up with! You don't know how deep these wounds are and that they are still bleeding!" Know this—Jesus has taught us that we must forgive them. If we do not, we lose that vital relationship with our Heavenly Father and Christian community can be destroyed.
Are you listening to what Jesus taught? If we do not forgive, we do not receive forgiveness. What a horrible outcome that is!
So then, how do we forgive? David Augsburger in The Freedom of Forgiveness wrote: "You can't do it alone. It's too, too hard. You'll need all the strength to love and forgive that you can absorb from God. You'll need all the potency of prayer, all the power of His compassion within you, and all the cooperation to His healing touch that you can muster. You see it takes two to work through this matter of forgiveness. God and you. The secret is God working in, you working out in life. He works within you, you work it out in heart and mind."
Here are some ways to allow God to work in you.
· - Receive forgiveness for your own sins. The Lord’s Prayer is very clear here. Forgive us our debts means that we did it first. John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
· - If you cannot forgive, you must ask God to give you the desire to forgive. Romans 8:31-32 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
· - Forgive 70 x 7. This means to forgive over and over and over again because of what Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:14-15. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
o This means that you forgive when they sin against you and when you remember that sin. If it takes a while to truly and deeply forgive, then keep practicing. After a time, you will know the fullness of freedom in forgiveness. Then the power that bitterness and hatred has over you will begin to fade and ultimately vanish. This also means that you forgive even if the offender never responds or if they deny any sin. Isn’t this what Jesus Christ did for us?
o You may need to forgive individuals as well as groups and institutions.
o There is a great example of this found in a prison catechism which asks, "Will you honor your father and mother by forgiving them?" We need to be merciful as God is merciful. Jesus' mercy was verbalized as he moaned on the cross, "Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)
Forgiving is letting the other person go. No more payback. No more withholding forgiveness in order to punish that person ourselves. We revoke revenge. Revoking revenge really means “Forgive and let go” vs. "Forgive and Forget." The reality is that we may never forget what someone has done to us, but we can refuse to feed the angry dog in the corner. We can no longer tend our bitterness like a flower. And when we do that, we no longer care for the ugliness, we no longer give it prominence in our lives. The vacuum left by revenge and unforgiveness will be filled with the love and joy of God. God then is given his proper place over all the events of our lives and the world is the better for it.
The Apostle Paul wrote about this in Romans 12:17-21. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
One of the most profound efforts in good we can do for another person is to forgive them—as God, in Christ Jesus, has forgiven us.
The parable we studied leaves us with a simultaneously convicting and consoling story—a true story of forgiveness, which was first given to us and now we have the privilege and responsibility to give to others. We are left also with the hardest part of the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught us. But it is the most beautiful part as well. Will we be people of forgiveness? Will you forgive someone today? Can we make a commitment to be forgiving people in the future?
I would like to encourage you to act on at least one of three choices today.
· - To seek forgiveness of our loving and merciful God.
· - To forgive a person who God has had before you as you read this text.
· - Commit to be a forgiving person in the future.
May God help us all to act in the light of Christ's great gift of death to sin and resurrection to new life!
It is important that we now pray the prayer that Jesus taught us.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:9-13
For Yours is the Kingdom,
Yours is the Power
Yours is the Glory forever.
Amen
© M.R.Hyde 2024
This lesson is an expanded excerpt from Exploring the Lord’s Prayer, which can be purchased on Amazon, Lulu, Audible and from many other fine retailers.
Permission to print for individual or small group use.
© M.R.Hyde 2024
https://thewordwwtw.blogspot.com/
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