WEBVTT 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:08.419 Son of the Holy Spirit, glory to Jesus Christ. 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:17.699 I'm not going to recount the parable for you. 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:23.120 Through my way of thinking, the way of the church, 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:28.120 you heard Jesus Christ himself tell you this 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:32.909 parable. He told it to you. That's the way the 00:00:32.909 --> 00:00:35.609 scriptures work when we read it in church, when 00:00:35.609 --> 00:00:39.429 we chant it. It's his voice. He's speaking to 00:00:39.429 --> 00:00:42.630 each one of us personally. He's speaking to us, 00:00:42.729 --> 00:00:48.969 in this case, as a community. That's why we say, 00:00:49.130 --> 00:00:51.950 wisdom, stand aright, because it's Christ himself 00:00:51.950 --> 00:00:54.750 speaking to us. And in this case, if he's speaking 00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:57.570 to us in a community, it's important to remember 00:00:57.570 --> 00:01:03.649 some key phrases from this gospel. Fellow servants, 00:01:04.109 --> 00:01:11.849 forgive your brother. Fellow servants of the 00:01:11.849 --> 00:01:17.030 king. Chapter 18 of the Gospel of St. Matthew, 00:01:17.150 --> 00:01:21.750 from where we just read, is about life in the 00:01:21.750 --> 00:01:24.890 church. Jesus is teaching his disciples how to 00:01:24.890 --> 00:01:29.950 behave as fellow worshipers, as fellow disciples. 00:01:31.950 --> 00:01:36.150 So we have a parable. Jesus is speaking, and 00:01:36.150 --> 00:01:42.010 Peter comes up with a question, thinking he's 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:47.730 magnanimous and generous. Lord, the rabbis say 00:01:47.730 --> 00:01:50.349 it four times. I can forgive, then just forget 00:01:50.349 --> 00:01:54.689 about that guy. What about seven? That sounds 00:01:54.689 --> 00:01:56.930 generous. And Jesus is like, that's seven, not 00:01:56.930 --> 00:02:01.609 seven. Seventy times seven. Now that's not, you 00:02:01.609 --> 00:02:06.530 know, my wife gave me 220 times, so I've got 00:02:06.530 --> 00:02:10.030 another 200 plus left before she tells me it's 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:15.129 all over. The seven is the holy number, right? 00:02:15.229 --> 00:02:19.530 The seven days in which God, six days created 00:02:19.530 --> 00:02:22.250 and seventh he rested. The seventh number is 00:02:22.250 --> 00:02:27.710 the perfection number. It tells us, do this to 00:02:27.710 --> 00:02:31.699 be perfect. It's important also to remember that 00:02:31.699 --> 00:02:36.120 Jesus is not talking about those situations. 00:02:36.419 --> 00:02:39.159 He's not talking about how will the Ukrainians 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:41.539 and the Russians ever reconcile after the war. 00:02:42.340 --> 00:02:46.780 How will a Jewish person in the camps forgive 00:02:46.780 --> 00:02:51.740 his Nazi captors and tormentors? It's not like 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:56.139 that. This is your brother, your sister, your 00:02:56.139 --> 00:02:59.590 fellow servant of the master. That's the context 00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:04.770 of this parable. Peter's asking about this fellow 00:03:04.770 --> 00:03:09.629 that irritates him continually. You can't tell 00:03:09.629 --> 00:03:15.729 me there's no one in your life like that. In 00:03:15.729 --> 00:03:20.169 the parable, the value, the incredible sum the 00:03:20.169 --> 00:03:27.189 man owed was 10 ,000 talents. Enormous. enormous, 00:03:27.210 --> 00:03:30.110 because the talent is like 30 pounds of silver 00:03:30.110 --> 00:03:32.909 at the time. This is something bigger than any 00:03:32.909 --> 00:03:38.129 lottery winning. It's a sum he could never hope 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:43.030 to pay back. It's on paper. He can't pay it back. 00:03:43.129 --> 00:03:45.270 This is like your student loan if you have them. 00:03:45.389 --> 00:03:48.129 It's just not possible with the interest that's 00:03:48.129 --> 00:03:52.169 building up. Why did he owe so much? We might 00:03:52.169 --> 00:03:54.789 ask that question, but I think that's the wrong 00:03:54.789 --> 00:04:00.280 question. Did he owe so much because he had some 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:04.800 horrendously dark, evil, wicked sin before his 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:08.000 master so that he built up this amount that could 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:13.300 never be repaid? No. Let's not think of it in 00:04:13.300 --> 00:04:18.639 that way. Let's think of it another way. The 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:26.459 incredible sum. It's infinite to this man. It's 00:04:26.459 --> 00:04:32.379 what? You are worth to God. It's what you're 00:04:32.379 --> 00:04:35.300 worth to God. It's how precious you are to God. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:41.839 Even when we are completely broken by sin. Even 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:49.579 when we seem to fall so far away. It's what we 00:04:49.579 --> 00:04:52.100 owe unto thee, O Lord, is to all worship, honor, 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:54.639 and glory. We say this continually in the liturgy. 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:56.899 We say, come let us worship and fall down before 00:04:56.899 --> 00:05:02.300 Christ. Our worship of God is as we say, unto 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:06.519 thee are due all glory. And we should add, unto 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:10.579 thee is due love, fidelity, trust, faithfulness. 00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:17.899 This is our God. You are each worth more than. 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:21.819 any sum. That's why the sum in this parable is 00:05:21.819 --> 00:05:27.399 beyond calculation. That's why, well, we'll get 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:32.439 to that in a moment. You remember the story of 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:35.180 the lost sheep? It just preceded this parable 00:05:35.180 --> 00:05:39.720 in the gospel. And Luke speaks about the lost 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:45.959 coin, the pearl of great price. That's us, which 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:49.029 Christ has come to take. Did Jesus Christ come 00:05:49.029 --> 00:05:52.790 to condemn us? Think of the gospel. What did 00:05:52.790 --> 00:05:56.910 he say? I came not to condemn the world, but 00:05:56.910 --> 00:06:03.589 to save it. Did he come for his father to send 00:06:03.589 --> 00:06:06.870 us to hell? Is that why he came? Did he need 00:06:06.870 --> 00:06:11.250 to come for that? Jesus didn't have to become 00:06:11.250 --> 00:06:13.790 incarnate for that. He didn't have to suffer 00:06:13.790 --> 00:06:16.899 for that. He didn't have to die. He didn't have 00:06:16.899 --> 00:06:21.860 to do that for God to judge the world. For if 00:06:21.860 --> 00:06:27.439 Jesus Christ, our Savior, is the exact image, 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:31.100 the reflection, the perfect expression of his 00:06:31.100 --> 00:06:35.680 Father, then the whole purpose, the whole purpose 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:38.399 of him becoming man, the whole purpose of his 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.439 suffering and dying and rising again, was for 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:49.439 us to escape. Eternal death. Eternal death. To 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:52.899 escape ignorance of God and who we are. To escape 00:06:52.899 --> 00:06:57.339 the poison of sin. It was to experience salvation. 00:06:58.060 --> 00:07:01.620 For us to be healed. For us to be restored. For 00:07:01.620 --> 00:07:05.040 us to be made holy. For us to be reconciled to 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:08.490 God. the Father, through the Son, in the Holy 00:07:08.490 --> 00:07:12.170 Spirit, to live the life of God. Forgiveness 00:07:12.170 --> 00:07:15.009 is that reconciliation. This is why we go to 00:07:15.009 --> 00:07:20.009 confession so frequently. If you haven't a memory 00:07:20.009 --> 00:07:24.269 of the last time you confessed, it's been too 00:07:24.269 --> 00:07:28.829 long. And you need to come before the Lord and 00:07:28.829 --> 00:07:32.160 say, Lord, thank you for this life. Thank you 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:34.379 for the peace of heart. Thank you for giving 00:07:34.379 --> 00:07:38.879 me this community in which forgiveness is paramount. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:45.660 This is the life we have. In the world, you're 00:07:45.660 --> 00:07:51.100 going to experience harshness. There's no such 00:07:51.100 --> 00:07:55.079 thing as forgiveness. Yes, nowadays you can choose. 00:07:55.879 --> 00:07:58.860 Your own family, so to say. Your own tribe. You 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:01.620 can join that if you have some kind of thing 00:08:01.620 --> 00:08:05.220 that you're into. But you're not going to be 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:11.079 united to God by that. We want others to know 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:14.939 the gracious Lord. We want others to know that 00:08:14.939 --> 00:08:17.879 if they come to this place, if they come to your 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:21.620 house, if they meet you, that you are a person 00:08:21.620 --> 00:08:25.769 that understands this parable. that can say, 00:08:25.930 --> 00:08:32.950 goodness, what God has done for me, what he has 00:08:32.950 --> 00:08:36.470 forgiven me for, is beyond calculation. He has 00:08:36.470 --> 00:08:39.190 given me life. He has given me salvation. He 00:08:39.190 --> 00:08:42.250 has given me this congregation and fellowship. 00:08:42.610 --> 00:08:45.429 He has given me the knowledge. He has given me 00:08:45.429 --> 00:08:47.549 the scriptures. He has given me his body and 00:08:47.549 --> 00:08:50.929 blood. He has already given me the kingdom of 00:08:50.929 --> 00:08:55.159 God. I don't have to wait. to die to experience 00:08:55.159 --> 00:09:01.480 God's glory. I can do what he says and be like 00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:10.539 he wants me to be. What does forgiveness of a 00:09:10.539 --> 00:09:15.799 huge debt, continual debt, someone, a fellow 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:20.539 servant, feel like? Is it to ignore the sin? 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:26.529 No. But yes, if you can. Is it to forget the 00:09:26.529 --> 00:09:30.870 sin? Not always possible. Is it to feel okay 00:09:30.870 --> 00:09:33.690 about it and resolved in your mind? Not at all. 00:09:34.730 --> 00:09:37.990 When the Lord Jesus Christ was on the cross and 00:09:37.990 --> 00:09:39.830 said, Father, forgive them for they know not 00:09:39.830 --> 00:09:43.830 what they do, that forgiveness, did it come out 00:09:43.830 --> 00:09:49.070 of everything's okay, it's all fine? No, it came 00:09:49.070 --> 00:09:53.139 out of... It came out of pain, suffering, sorrow, 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:58.500 and abandonment. Abandonment and ignorance and 00:09:58.500 --> 00:10:02.480 insults. That could be forgiveness for us too. 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:09.460 It costs us something. Let each of us remember 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:13.740 what God has given us. Life, existence. I've 00:10:13.740 --> 00:10:16.279 encountered so many people outside the church 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:19.299 who feel... that they, well, they feel that God 00:10:19.299 --> 00:10:21.559 is maybe out there somewhere and that God has 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:26.200 cheated them. They've been dealt a bad set of 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:29.340 cards for their life, and maybe that's so, but 00:10:29.340 --> 00:10:36.980 God has done them wrong. But here, here, we don't 00:10:36.980 --> 00:10:39.700 live the life of Cain and Abel, that brokenness, 00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:42.940 or Lamech, who says, I'm going to avenge 70 times. 00:10:45.100 --> 00:10:48.440 Or what happened during the times of Noah when 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:52.860 evil abounded on the earth? Here, we're going 00:10:52.860 --> 00:10:59.440 to say, Lord, what debt I have before thee, forgive 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:05.179 me. In the parable also, the fellow servants 00:11:05.179 --> 00:11:09.899 of this unmerciful debtor, they hear about what 00:11:09.899 --> 00:11:12.120 happened to this other fellow. Who owes this 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:15.210 guy maybe a hundred bucks? And he could have 00:11:15.210 --> 00:11:17.610 paid it off. The unmerciful debtor thinks, oh, 00:11:17.710 --> 00:11:20.610 Lord, have mercy on me, and I will pay thee all, 00:11:20.669 --> 00:11:23.370 which is just clueless and impossible. But the 00:11:23.370 --> 00:11:26.649 fellow debtors here, are they tattletailing? 00:11:28.029 --> 00:11:31.090 Lord, you know what this guy did to this other 00:11:31.090 --> 00:11:33.789 servant? No, they're not tattletailing. In the 00:11:33.789 --> 00:11:37.250 parable, they're interceding. They're praying 00:11:37.250 --> 00:11:40.250 to the Lord. They're asking for mercy for this 00:11:40.250 --> 00:11:44.470 other man who doesn't get it. Let each of us 00:11:44.470 --> 00:11:49.409 count up today and every day. The blessings that 00:11:49.409 --> 00:11:52.710 we have, yes, the cards that we've been dealt 00:11:52.710 --> 00:11:54.970 that we have to live with because the Lord knows 00:11:54.970 --> 00:12:00.990 our sanctification is on that pathway. Let's 00:12:00.990 --> 00:12:03.210 give thanks to God for the things of which we 00:12:03.210 --> 00:12:06.809 know and the things we know not. For all the 00:12:06.809 --> 00:12:09.909 benefits bestowed upon us, whether manifest or 00:12:09.909 --> 00:12:14.309 unseen. And then we thank him. and treat our 00:12:14.309 --> 00:12:19.730 fellow servants with love and forgiveness. To 00:12:19.730 --> 00:12:22.070 our Lord be glory, now and ever, and to ages 00:12:22.070 --> 00:12:23.549 of ages. Amen.