Forgiveness(Matthew 18 23-35)

Forgiveness(Matthew 18 23-35) 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. 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. "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." When we look at Jesus life, if you look at his life closely, you will find Jesus taught a great deal about forgiveness. In what way did he do? Forcefully, He said "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." Matthew 5: 23-24. Interesting enough, he said "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.(Matthew 18;15-16) 'If you put those together, you see the wisdom of Jesus here. You see what he is saying. He's working both ends against the middle. Whether you are an offendee or have been an offender, it's your responsibility to seek for forgiveness, I mean you are supposed to work toward reconciliation. That same chapter, Matthew 18, Peter looked at him, How many times should I forgive my brother? Up to 7 times? You know how Jesus responded. He said "You know, Peter, 70 times 7." I think the great teaching Jesus offered about forgiveness was one of those example lessons. When he was hung on the cross, he said "Father, forgive them they don't know what they are doing. For a moment we want to go into another lesson Jesus taught about forgiveness before we get to that text. Consider with me a moment or two, some common misconceptions about forgiveness. I want to bring this up because I found they are the barriers to keep us from trying to reach out to forgive and ask for forgiveness. Let me tell you what these misconceptions are; Here is the first one. I hear it many times. "Time heals all wounds." Have you heard that? "Time heals all wounds." Maybe in some cases it's true, but especially among family members it is not. Right decisions followed by passing of time can bring about healing but it is also true that wrong decisions followed by passing of time will bring infection, pester, disasters, and even death. It is true physically. In case you cut yourself badly, if you made a right decision how to treat that wound, then passing of time will do what? It will assist to promote that healing but if you guessed yourself and made a wrong decision about how to treat that wound, What would the passing of time be gong to do with the wound? You will just see that it gets worse and worse until you lose your life. What is physically true is equally true emotionally and spiritually. Time speeds healing, when the right choices are made. I knew a young lady who was not young anymore. She told me this story. At age of 19, she became upset and she left home. Her pride cost her not to speak to her mother for the next 3 decades, for 30 years. Now in her middle life she goes to get some counciling everyday because she's trying somehow to overcome the grief with the guilt that's been hurting her soul for the time of 30 years. If you told her, "Time heals all wounds", then she would correct you immediately. Time doesn't heal all wounds. Here is the second misconception. That is I must deny hurts. When I am given hurts from others, I'll act like a fence, just like it didn't happen to me, you know. If I put it another words, it doesn't really bother me. There is tendency among people to think, if I don't get hurt, forgiveness is no needed. Sisters and brothers it is not true. In fact denial of hurts is a sign of immature. Whether you maximize your hurts or minimize them, either way you are immature. Maturity looks to the situation honestly to say yes I am hurt. The honesty begins to the road to recover in this issue of forgiveness. One more misconception, it's that to forgive is to forget. Did you hear anybody said they have really forgiven me because they have forgotten all the bitterness by now. No. Let's get real here. We are human and we will not forget. We can simply erase what we have in mind from our mind. Only God can do it. Only God can choose not to remember your sin. You and I don't have ability to forget. Now let me tell you what help to be on the road to forgiveness. 1, We have to remember what God has done for us. 2, Forgiveness is a choice not emotion. So you have decide today. 3,We have to understand the consequence of unforgiving and unforgiven hearts. 4, We need a bridge that connect to God. Pray and read bible. 5, Understand every trespass; Learn from Joseph. (Gen 50:20) When his brothers saw him in Egypt, they were scared to death. They were afraid their brother Joseph might put them into a pit or put them to death, but Joseph said "You meant evil but God meant it for good to preserve many people alive." Don't let a day pass when you feel forgiveness is needed.