October 11, 2022
Friends,
Jesus told a parable once about a man who owed a great debt. The debt was far greater than he could ever repay. We’re talking billions of dollars. There’s no way out. There’s no declaring bankruptcy, no negotiating a settlement. This is it. Pay up or suffer the consequences. Maybe prison. Maybe slavery. Maybe he’d just get hanged.
Try, if you can, to put yourself in his shoes.
I think it’s like other kinds of hopeless situations. Imagine your spouse has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The doctor tells her that she should probably take some time to settle her affairs, to say her last goodbyes. You both leave his office, and you’re a wreck. This was not the news you were expecting, and it is completely earth-shattering. It is the end of life as you know it.
In the parable, the debtor shows up to make one pitiful plea – “I promise I’ll repay!” Of course, he cannot. But his master has compassion on him. He is merciful, and just like that, he writes off the whole debt. It’s all forgiven.
Imagine, a week has gone by after your last visit to the doctor. You’re there for your spouse’s checkup. There’s a scan, and some poking and prodding. And then the doctor comes in and he looks perplexed. “I don’t know what to make of this. Your cancer is gone. It’s some kind of miracle.” And just like that, it’s all been undone. The hopelessness, the terror, the finality of it all – it’s been swept away.
We need pictures like that to help us understand the forgiveness of sins. What you owe to God for your sins is beyond imagination. The punishment you deserve for your thoughts, words, and deeds – it is hell itself. Try as hard as you can, you cannot undo the things you’ve done. You can’t make up for them. And you can’t even manage to learn from your mistakes. Your life is just a growing pile of evidence against you, evidence of your selfishness and pride.
And then, in the fulness of time, God sent his Son to be born of Mary, to live a perfect life, to die an innocent death, and to rise from the grave on the third day. And just like that, it’s all been forgotten. God looks at you and he does not see what everyone else sees. He doesn’t see what you see. He sees the perfection and goodness of his own Son. He looks at you and he is proud of you. He looks at you and is thankful for you, delighted in you, and he’ll never leave you or forsake you. You’ve been forgiven. You’re a beloved child of God.
Unfortunately, Jesus’ parable wasn’t quite over yet. It takes a tragic turn. The man who was forgiven such a great debt left his master’s office cheerfully and with a new lease on life. But on the way home he met a fellow servant who owed him a relatively small amount. He grabbed him by the shirt collar and threatened him with jail if he didn’t pay up promptly. News of this man’s behavior got back to the master, and he called him in for a reckoning. “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” The master threw him into jail, and it doesn’t seem like he’d ever find his way out. Jesus said, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
We show how much or how little we appreciate the forgiveness we have received from God by how we treat our brothers and sisters who sin against us. Do you hold their sins against them? Do you tally up all their misdeeds, keeping a record of their wrongs? Do you accept an apology but demand some sort of amends? Have you forgotten how much you have been forgiven by your Father in heaven?
Sometimes the Gospel can seem like pie-in-the-sky, Hallmark sentimentality. Or at least, sometimes that’s how we regard it. But it is really very practical. It works its way into our hearts and then works its way out into our lives. It is what enables you to forgive when no one else could forgive. It is what enables you to endure wrongs, slights, insults, and all the rest without taking vengeance into your own hands. It is what enables you to pray, like Jesus did from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
We say we believe, and that’s excellent. Let’s show what we believe. Let’s let the Gospel have its way with us. Let your homes be filled with forgiveness, with grace and mercy. Let your homes be filled with compassion towards your neighbors, toward your loved ones, toward the lost and straying. Let your prayers be overflowing with petitions to God on behalf of those in need of mercy. When you hear a harsh word about someone, don’t join in, but pray for the accuser and the accused. When you utter a harsh word about someone, repent and thank God that he has covered all your sin. When you realize you have sinned, confess and ask for forgiveness. When someone sins against you, get your forgiveness ready to go right away, so that if they come to you in grief, you’re set to overwhelm them with grace.
Let’s live as though all our debts have been forgiven, as though we’ve been saved from a dread diagnosis, as though we’ve been saved from death, the grave, and hell itself. Let’s live as though our lives belong to God, who is kind to the ungrateful and evil. Let’s rejoice in his wondrous love!
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
COMING EVENTS:
Family Night – Wednesday, October 12 @ 5:30pm
Elders’/Council Meetings – Thursday, October 13 @ 6 & 7pm
Fall Bazaar – Saturday, October 22
Women’s Bible Study – Wednesday, October 26 @ 6pm
Men’s Bible Study – Wednesday, October 26 @ 8pm