9-13-2017

 Good Morning All,

         Matthew 18:28; “But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’”

    Most of us have heard the admonition “if it sounds too good to be true; it probably is.”  Most of us, if we know, would not buy something that was “too cheap.”  If someone offered to sell you a house for half of what the other houses in the areas sell for, you would ask “what’s wrong with it?”  It would be the same with a car, a boat, just about anything we buy we usually try to follow the maxim “If it is too good to be true, then it must be.”  But what happens if it really is a good deal?  Do we trust it or do we think that somewhere there is a catch?

    I wonder sometimes if this unforgiving servant thought this was too good to be true.  When you look at the amounts owed, they are absurd.  A talent was equal to what an average worker would earn in twenty years.  This man owed 10,000 talents or roughly the sum of money an average worker would earn in 200,000 years.  A denarius was equal to one day’s pay.  So the second man owed about 3 months’ worth of wages.  We often make the same accusation of the unforgiving servant; he should have been so grateful for his forgiveness that he would readily forgive his neighbor the paltry sum he owed but he does not.  Maybe he thought that the king would wake up one day and realize how much he forgave and change his mind.  He owes the king and usually the king can change the rules or the deal whenever he feels like it.  So the unforgiving servant simply thought he had received a deal that was too good to be true so he went out and began to collect money owed to him.  He might have done this in order to get some money together so he would have a little something to bargain with the king.  He could pay a little as a show of good faith and buy some time.  He might have been a bargaining and a practical man and he just couldn’t fathom someone forgiving that much debt.

    We go through life doing the same thing.  We don’t fully trust God’s great promise.  We listen as the devil tells us that when knowledge of our sins get out and the people know who we are and what we have done; God will reject us and withdraw his grace.  This is why we are slow to forgive; deep down we do not feel forgiven.

    Yet this is one case where it is not too good to be true.  God’s love leads him to forgive the sins of the ones whom he loves.  We have complete forgiveness and we need to completely trust his love and mercy.  This is why Jesus willingly came to earth and to die for us; it is because of his love and because of this love we can forgive others who harm us.  God’s love moves mountains for us.  It empowers us to forgive and to free us from the devil’s control.

Father, your love for me is beyond my understanding.  Give me the strength to fully grasp your mercy.  Give me the power to live my life as fully forgiven.  Give me the power to fully forgive.  Send your Spirit that I might be your child and show your love to those around me.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret