WEBVTT 00:00:00.780 --> 00:00:03.040 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:06.740 of the Holy Spirit, amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ. 00:00:08.099 --> 00:00:12.900 I think from about the earliest times that I 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:16.500 can recall, when I heard this parable of our 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:22.539 Lord, my initial thought and reaction was pretty 00:00:22.539 --> 00:00:27.280 much the same as it was when I read it this week. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:32.759 And that is that... My first impulse on hearing 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:37.219 this parable is, oh, it's a story about generosity 00:00:37.219 --> 00:00:42.659 and liberality. Because the one servant owed, 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:45.579 I looked it up once, I didn't even bother this 00:00:45.579 --> 00:00:50.320 week. It's an incredibly different amount of 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:54.899 money, like $100 million compared to $10. I mean, 00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:58.789 it's something as vast as that. And the $100 00:00:58.789 --> 00:01:02.590 million debt, so to speak, was readily forgiven. 00:01:02.950 --> 00:01:04.769 I thought, well, you know, that's a good lesson 00:01:04.769 --> 00:01:10.890 for us in being generous and not stingy. But 00:01:10.890 --> 00:01:13.409 then it comes to the very end of the parable 00:01:13.409 --> 00:01:16.230 where our Lord tells us what the real meaning 00:01:16.230 --> 00:01:21.510 is. So will your Heavenly Father do to you if 00:01:21.510 --> 00:01:25.230 you do not forgive your brother from your heart. 00:01:25.730 --> 00:01:28.810 So this is what's called... This is the literary 00:01:28.810 --> 00:01:32.870 device that the evangelists so often have. They 00:01:32.870 --> 00:01:36.489 tell a story or a parable, and then it comes 00:01:36.489 --> 00:01:41.430 to a conclusion, the last verse, with Jesus explaining 00:01:41.430 --> 00:01:45.670 it to us, as if, you know, we don't get the message 00:01:45.670 --> 00:01:49.549 from the story itself. So it's one of forgiveness. 00:01:51.790 --> 00:01:56.760 And our Lord so often, as we're all aware, speaks 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:00.359 about the importance of forgiveness. And this, 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:04.239 I think, has to be seen in the background of 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:13.159 that concept of forgiveness was very indistinct 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:18.719 in the Old Testament period. There was that attitude, 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:22.460 well, you know, love your friends, but your enemies, 00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:26.000 those who dislike you, you know, you can... think 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:29.539 ill of them or say bad things, curse them, whatever 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:33.099 it might be. But our Lord over and over and over 00:02:33.099 --> 00:02:37.400 again tells us to love our enemies, to forgive 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:42.680 others. And the particular aspect of our Lord's 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:49.159 request, indeed it's a command that we forgive 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:53.539 others. The phrase that's used in the final verse, 00:02:53.659 --> 00:02:56.939 the pronouncement here, so my heavenly father 00:02:56.939 --> 00:03:00.680 will do to you. Notice he doesn't say if you 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:04.099 don't forgive your brother, but if you don't 00:03:04.099 --> 00:03:07.960 forgive your brother, what's that phrase? From 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:13.379 your heart. From your heart. That's probably 00:03:13.379 --> 00:03:17.180 the hardest thing to do. There are different 00:03:17.180 --> 00:03:22.449 levels of forgiveness. Of course, the one which 00:03:22.449 --> 00:03:26.469 isn't forgiveness is just be right out and say, 00:03:26.550 --> 00:03:29.830 no, I don't forgive you for that, and then just 00:03:29.830 --> 00:03:33.069 walk away. Well, that obviously isn't forgiveness. 00:03:34.129 --> 00:03:37.349 And another level is you could clench your teeth 00:03:37.349 --> 00:03:42.090 and say, yeah, I forgive you. And, you know, 00:03:42.110 --> 00:03:47.229 the words mean it, but the mind and the thoughts 00:03:47.229 --> 00:03:54.030 don't mean it. And sometimes that's depending. 00:03:54.090 --> 00:03:57.689 We all probably have done that. We say, well, 00:03:57.770 --> 00:03:59.650 I'm going to say it even though I really don't 00:03:59.650 --> 00:04:02.430 mean it from my heart. Then the next level would 00:04:02.430 --> 00:04:07.509 be, I wish my mind would forgive as readily as 00:04:07.509 --> 00:04:12.069 my words do. That's when it becomes more difficult. 00:04:12.949 --> 00:04:17.449 It's not just with the words, but with our intentions, 00:04:17.670 --> 00:04:21.490 our thoughts. to forgive others that i think 00:04:21.490 --> 00:04:25.170 is the most difficult thing and i would say there's 00:04:25.170 --> 00:04:31.170 even a further level beyond that and that's not 00:04:31.170 --> 00:04:36.410 to hold grudges and more specifically not to 00:04:36.410 --> 00:04:41.850 have preconceived notions so so often if someone 00:04:41.850 --> 00:04:48.149 harms us and i think we're more we can more readily 00:04:48.149 --> 00:04:52.829 forgive people who harm us than people who harm 00:04:52.829 --> 00:04:56.610 our spouse or our children or our parents. I 00:04:56.610 --> 00:05:00.029 think that's harder for us to do. But regardless 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:04.290 of who did what to whom, the notion of forgiveness 00:05:04.290 --> 00:05:11.050 is there, clear cut. And not to do this grudgingly, 00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:15.410 but to mean it as much as we can. And then also 00:05:15.410 --> 00:05:20.410 not... I'd say not to hold preconceived notions 00:05:20.410 --> 00:05:25.649 because if somebody can harm you and you say, 00:05:25.709 --> 00:05:29.730 okay, I forgive them, but I still remember. I 00:05:29.730 --> 00:05:32.629 can't get that out of my mind. I still remember. 00:05:32.910 --> 00:05:35.670 We have to work on that and get rid of that. 00:05:36.509 --> 00:05:41.589 I'll give you an example. Rather recently in 00:05:41.589 --> 00:05:45.939 my own life, I heard about a longtime friend 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:52.459 who was having a celebration. And I thought, 00:05:52.540 --> 00:05:57.120 eh, you know, he's not interested in me anymore. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:03.220 So I'm not going to, you know, say anything. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:06.000 I thought, eh, that's not the right attitude. 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:12.319 So I sent off a congratulatory email. to this 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:17.939 person. And I meant my words, but they weren't 00:06:17.939 --> 00:06:21.060 wholeheartedly. You know what I mean? There's 00:06:21.060 --> 00:06:25.620 a difference. And then our Lord taught me a lesson 00:06:25.620 --> 00:06:30.600 because I received an email in return which was 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:35.639 very gracious and very cordial. And I thought, 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:38.939 boy, even at this stage in my life, I've got 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:42.199 a way to go. to follow our Lord's commandments 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:49.420 as unreservedly as possible. And not to hold 00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:53.959 grudges or not even to have a peek in our hearts 00:06:53.959 --> 00:07:00.220 about someone. And then even trying not to think 00:07:00.220 --> 00:07:04.300 good things about other people as well. Instead 00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:07.939 of have that image, you know, that person is 00:07:07.939 --> 00:07:13.689 a loser. a knucklehead. I'll be nice to him, 00:07:13.730 --> 00:07:18.170 but I don't like him. We have to try and erase 00:07:18.170 --> 00:07:21.670 these kinds of thoughts from our mind. It's not 00:07:21.670 --> 00:07:26.689 easy. Hey, I've been trying for 78 years, and 00:07:26.689 --> 00:07:29.490 I still have a way to go. But that's what our 00:07:29.490 --> 00:07:32.790 Lord wants when he asks us. Don't just forgive, 00:07:33.129 --> 00:07:38.670 but forgive from your hearts. Amen.