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Howdy. Well, I think this part at least I know what I'm supposed to be doing so

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that hopefully that should be alright. There was a story about a Japanese

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fighter pilot. The name I believe is pronounced Nobile Fujita. In 1942 he

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became the only enemy fighter to have flown an enemy plane over the

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continental US during World War II. Most, all the rest of the war was in other

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places, even being over in Hawaii but not the mainland of the US. And yet in

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dropping bombs during this time he ended up creating fires off the Western coast,

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particularly in places like Brookings, Oregon. And because of what had happened

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many of these areas, these towns, were utterly destroyed by forest fires. But 20

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years later, in 1962, Fujita came to Oregon and brought a 400-year-old

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Samurai sword with him and went to Brookings, Oregon to apologize and to

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ask for their forgiveness and bestowed the Samurai sword upon the city, which

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still proudly displays that sword to this day. You see, in this moment is that as

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much as a person may say that they were justified in their actions, is that at the

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same time making that effort ends up creating a level of forgiveness that the

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people would not have known or been able to have offered otherwise. You see, today's

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gospel lesson, it could very easily turn into you need to forgive because God

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forgives us, done. And I get to tell you all what you're supposed to do and you

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leave out of here and you've got your marching orders. How many of you think

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that forgiveness is that easy to deal with? Okay, nobody's raising their hands.

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Good, thank you. I was really making sure about that part. But the thing is, is that

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forgiveness is something that ends up always having limitations in our minds.

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We are regularly thinking of forgiveness as something that has to be kept in

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certain boundaries. We either think of it as something we're giving or receiving,

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but we have to make sure that we only go so far. Because if we are too forgiving,

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then the world thinks that we are pushovers. Or if we think of ourselves

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as being forgiven for too many things, well, we know we can't earn it. So then

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does that mean that we've lost our self-confidence? Because we have to keep

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thinking about all the ways in which others are forgiving us. So when Jesus

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says that we must forgive or our Father in heaven will not forgive us, he's

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really just trying to use hyperbole. And he's really just trying to make a point,

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not saying that there would not be a withholding of forgiveness by God. Right?

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The thing about this is that we oftentimes glaze over this passage, but it

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runs deeper than just saying, now go forgive people because I've told you

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to. I want to spend a moment and I want to look at the King with his servants.

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Now, I don't know about you, but I've seen quite a few Apple commercials over

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time. Whether or not I like it, whether or not I buy any of it, I'm going to see

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Apple commercials. And one of the things that I always find fascinating is the

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times whenever one person doing something in the Apple commercial now has

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effects that have spread out through the entire world. One person has now helped

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lead another person across the street, and now that person who's helped across

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the street is picking up the litter and somebody else who saw the litter being

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picked up is now going to come and bring food to someone in need who then and so

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on and so forth. And the thing with this is that this is oftentimes the way that

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we want to look at how the world is supposed to work. One good thing leads

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to the next. And you see in our story, the King with his servant is beginning an

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Apple commercial. The truth is, is that he is there and he is fully capable of

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taking what he wants. The passage does not say the King has called in his

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servants so that he can forgive them. No, no, no. He's called them in to settle the

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debts. Look at the context. The King is calling them in either to get his money

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or throw them in prison. This is not someone who starts off as kindly. This

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is not a King who starts off merciful. This is a King who is willing to go ahead

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and sell the servant and his family to get at least something out of them. And

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yet at this moment, what does the servant do? The servant begs for forgiveness.

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Now, we're not always used to seeing forgiveness in our world. We have seen

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whenever a general has marched up to the capital of his country and then was

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told that if he would back down, all would be forgiven and he could leave.

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Only to find out that a few months later, he has died mysteriously in a plane

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crash. We do not live in a world that randomly forgives out of the kindness of

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its heart. And yet, what does the King do? The King ends up seeing the man. He sees

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the person. And in his heart, what does he do? He bestows forgiveness and

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releases the debt. Now, in this story, one person's forgiveness is meant to now

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change things. So think about this. You've now seen the King who has been owed

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this massive amount by the servant who has now forgiven all of it. What should

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naturally flow next? Think about it. When you just read that one piece, what are

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you expecting to see? If someone owed him a small amount, what should he probably

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do? Absolutely. Thank you, Jenny. All right. Hey, I can always count on at least one

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person to answer. With that, is now we see this servant go out. And when you see

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his response to his fellow servant, what feeling does that put inside of your

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stomach? Yes, that's exactly what you get in response. Yes, I think he was yawning,

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but it was like a really weird cringy like moment. It was good. With it is

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that's exactly how we're supposed to feel with this story is that we're supposed

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to feel sick, mad, upset. We see this man who's been given everything and what does

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he go and do? He immediately goes off to extract what he can from his fellow

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servant. So does this look like the king's kindness has had any real effect on

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the servant? So now how do you think the king is supposed to feel? You see, the

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thing is, is that as much as we might think of those who are in authority as

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just being some distant governing body, is that they're people too. They like to

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think that whatever they did may have had a good influence on the world around

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them. I mean, I still remember when I was a kid and I saw Rocky IV for the first

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time. And the thing is, is that in 1985, it showed us that Rocky, defeating

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Drago at the end, was going to lead to the downfall of the Soviet Union. Now

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granted, I didn't see it in 1985 because I was five. I saw it in 1989 when I was

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nine. And of course, as we know, shortly thereafter the Soviet Union fell. And in

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my mind, I was like, man, thank you, Rocky. It took a while before I

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realized that Rocky was a fictional movie that had absolutely no effect on

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geopolitical affairs in the world. And that and the fact that it wasn't actually

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in my history books as a child. But what I saw with it, though, was this feeling,

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this desire that if we have influence, we want to think that it's going to matter.

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I know I feel that way oftentimes. There are times whenever I will preach

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something up here and then I pause and I see maybe the very next day somebody

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who had been in the congregation doing the exact opposite of what was the point

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of the sermon and I'm standing there thinking to myself, oh, good job. Well

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done. Let's preach another one. But the thing is, is that forgiveness is meant to

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end the spiral of what we see in the world around us. It's meant to change

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things. But the point is that with the King is that he's expecting that what he

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did to the man would matter to him. Because if we don't see it in ourselves,

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then what was the point in the first place? You see, the thing is, is Jesus'

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words of saying, if you don't forget your brother, then your father will not

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forgive you in heaven. That strikes us as difficult because here's the thing. Are

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we saying that God doesn't want to forgive us? No, that doesn't sound right.

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And yet, what is Jesus trying to get at? What is Jesus trying to say at this

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moment? The question then comes is whether or not you truly know you need

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forgiveness when you haven't been willing to forgive someone else who needed

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it too. And I want to pause because that is really what this entire passage is

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turning on. Did the servant really realize what he actually escaped from?

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That's the thing that strikes us is that he's over there begging for this not to

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happen and it doesn't happen. And then he goes back into his world as if nothing

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had happened. Don't we sometimes do that as the church? We say we have been

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forgiven of our sins week after week. When we go back into our lives, do we

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actually get what we've truly been forgiven of? Do we truly see that when

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we are going to our fellow human beings? The thing is that there are many things

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that we find ourselves expected to forgive others for. See, sometimes there

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are things that we are expected to forgive others for when they do something

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on purpose. Whenever somebody you know has said something snide to you at work,

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they have deliberately tried to needle you and tried to push you and you know

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that they know what they're doing and yet somehow you're supposed to forgive

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them for that. But then we pause and we say what about the times when we did

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something knowing exactly what we were doing and in the back of our mind what

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were we saying? I'm justified in this. They deserve it. They need me to treat

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them like this because they need to get how terrible they've been. I need to

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show them how terrible that they've been. I'm not supposed to forgive them

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because then they won't get. Or the times whenever somebody does something on

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accident, like you know using the wrong service bulletin. And as much as we might

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think, oh well of course we forgive somebody for doing something on accident.

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But do we always? The times whenever we know something wasn't intentional but

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in the back of our minds there's still sometimes a little bit of seething. Like

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man I can't believe that person did this again. I can't believe that they failed

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us again. I can't believe yes it's an accident but they should have done better.

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They should know better. But then we don't remember the times when we stumbled.

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When we should have known better. When we should have learned from previous things

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and we were the ones who need to be forgiven. Or the third time to forgive

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someone because of a situation. I was supposed to go see a friend of mine for

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dinner a few weeks back. He's been here in Houston because of cancer treatments.

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I actually don't know how much longer he has left. But I got COVID. I wasn't trying

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to get COVID. I've done everything I can not to get COVID. But I still had it and

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I messaged him and I said I can't meet this day. I don't know if I don't know

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how bad it is. And then we're like we'll reschedule. Okay and then that day comes

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and I'm still not I haven't gotten my second negative test. I haven't even got

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the first one yet. And I'm like I want to see you buddy. I really do. And he's like

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dude my white blood cell count. I'm like I know I know. And by time I got over it

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he was on his way back to Alaska where he lives. There's a good chance I'll see

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him again. There's also a good chance I may not on this side of the resurrection.

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But the truth is that part of it wasn't even a question of whether he was

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willing to forgive me but even whether I'm willing to forgive myself. Because

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there have been times whenever others have canceled on me for things and I know

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they have a very good reason for why they canceled. And yet there's still this

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little piece of me that's like you were supposed to bring the shrink. I'm

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pausing and being able to say yeah but how many times have I been forgiven. And

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the truth is that sometimes we know we're supposed to forgive. But we don't

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always want to. And that was something that I've always kind of like tried to

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get in my head. It's like well I don't feel like I want to forgive. Okay but I

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know I'm supposed to forgive. Yes okay but there's the seething. Okay yes what

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am I supposed to then do about that. Now I'm suffering through this. So now I

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can't seem to get over these feelings. Does that mean that now God can't forgive

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me. Let's be honest there are things that happen that are pretty terrible. And it

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is hard to not have emotions because of those. There's a story of Corey Ten Boom

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who's who had been brought in. To a Nazi prison camp at a time after they had

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been doing their best. She and her family to hide those who were Jewish from the

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government. And that while they were in prison others in her family died. And she

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survived long enough to be released from there to be able to leave. But right

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before the release. Maybe even just days or weeks beforehand her sister passed as

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well. And years later and she was going from town to town country to country

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speaking of the forgiveness of God. In a post World War II Europe where people

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needed hope. And at the end of one of her speeches comes up a man and she

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immediately knows who he is. Because he was one of the guards. And immediately he

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comes up and he thrusts his hand in front of her and says I don't know if you

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know me but I was one of the guards at this prison and she's standing there

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thinking how do you think I don't know who you are. And he puts his hand in

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front of her and says I know that God is forgiven but I'm asking for you to

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forgive me. What do you think is going through her heart and her mind. You

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haven't been in the exact same situation but you've been in situations. Those

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moments when you know exactly what they did and you know that they do not

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deserve your hand. And all she can do is say God I can't do this but I can put my

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hand out. That's the thing is that we're human beings we have not gone through

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the resurrection yet we have not been perfected. I do not expect that now after

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my magical rocky four words up here that now you have now figured out

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everything and your heart will never struggle again. I know mine still does.

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But the question is are you willing to try. Because the thing that Jesus is

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getting at is that for those who are not forgiving is that they are holding to

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something because they think that it matters more than what God would do if

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we let go. Because here's the thing. Do we actually want the world to change. Do

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we actually want the world to be filled with hope and love and forgiveness. Do

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we want those things. Because the thing is that if we're holding on to the

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heart and the pain is that person going to see any reason to change. Because the

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only thing that actually changes is forgiveness. The actual thing that only

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changes the world is sacrifice. The only thing that actually makes a difference

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is following after God as we know from the one who did it perfectly. And even as

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Christ is saying you are forgiven of all the things that have been in your life.

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I'm asking you can you forgive a person for one thing. One thing. And then Peter

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says how many times do I have to do it. And no he wasn't making up a number. Seven

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really did come from different places. Amos 2 verse 6, Job 33 of

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various places where the idea of completion where it says forgiving three

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times even four. But the thing is is that even there is we still try to limit

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ourselves. My challenge to you today is why. So this morning I'm not up here

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trying to get you to say okay now you need to keep remembering how terrible of

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a person you are. So that you can not like yeah I see you there Yusuf I I know

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how terrible you are yeah horrible horrible guy smiling and volunteering all

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the time how dare you. But rather is to say all those things have already been

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let go. Do you want the joy of the Lord to go further than just you. Because if we

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truly want that then we have to ask God why am I holding on to this. How can I

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let it go and God if I haven't yet. Can you at least help me to do some things. So

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that maybe they don't see the darkness I'm still struggling with. And maybe over

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time I can learn how to truly forgive. Because I can tell you. The times whenever

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we hold on to it. While we create his pain. But when we can actually let go. Then

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maybe the cross goes beyond. Just us. And our own head. Amen.