Sermon: Trinity 22 - 2019

17 November 2019

Text: Matt 18:21-35

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray for forgiveness: “Forgive us our trespasses,” we pray – but we don’t stop there.  Our Lord adds, “… as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  We are not praying that God would limit His forgiveness of us by making it conditional on our forgiving others, rather, we are asking God in this petition not only for forgiveness, but the grace to forgive others as well, that we should be merciful even as our heavenly Father is merciful.

And to forgive others is a gift of God.  It is growth in the Spirit.  It comes by faith and by being strengthened in the Word of God and in the sacraments.  

The Lord speaks to us His Word about forgiveness in the form of a parable, a story that reveals the kingdom of God to us.  For apart from revelation, we cannot understand any of this.  But thanks be to God that our Lord Jesus Christ preaches and teaches and lifts back the veil to show us what God is truly like: merciful beyond measure.  

And fittingly enough, Jesus teaches us about the kingdom by means of a character in His story: a king.  It is not difficult to see whom the King represents – for He is teaching us about the kingdom of heaven.

This king “wished to settle accounts with his servants.”  And one “was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.”  This is such a large amount of money that it’s fair to say that this story is comical in a way.  For in our fallen world, there is no way a servant would have, let alone owe, such a ridiculous amount.  But remember, this is a parable teaching us about heaven.  For what do we owe God, dear friends, what kind of debt to we have to our Lord who created us, who gave His life for us, who keeps us in the true faith by His grace?  How much is that worth if not more than all the money in the world?

In our story, the servant owes the king ten thousand talents, and knowing that payment is impossible, the king has the right to sell him and his family into slavery in order for “payment to be made.”  But “the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.”  Remember that he said this.

The king has “pity for him.”  And casting justice aside, even surrendering what is rightfully owed him, he forgives the debt.  The king is not just a powerful and mighty man, but one with a soft spot, a king who loves his people and his servants, a king who has mercy.  The debt is forgiven.  The servant is released.  And it is as if he were born again.

And here, Jesus introduces a twist into the story.  Our comedy becomes a tragedy.  For the forgiven servant ceases being a sympathetic character and becomes the villain.  Just having been absolved and given his life back, he runs out and finds a fellow servant who owes him a much smaller amount: a hundred denarii.  “And seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’”  The debtor begins to plead – even as our creditor had just done with the king.  “Have patience with me, and I will pay you,” he says.  Does that line sound familiar?  It is almost the same words that the king’s servant said when he was pleading for mercy.

And yet, those words did not remind him of his own debt, nor of the mercy shown to him.  Instead, “he refused” and he sent the servant away to debtor’s prison.

The conduct of the forgiven servant should shock us.  It should appall us.  It should anger us.  And it should shame us, for that is just how we are, dear friends.  We have been forgiven all of our sins.  We have been set apart by Holy Baptism.  We have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb – all by grace, with no worthiness in ourselves, all because God has pity on us.  He is merciful beyond measure, as if He forgives us a ten thousand talent debt.  And what do we do?  We make ourselves out to be the victim.  We self-righteously hold grudges and collect grievances.  We are the ungrateful servant, and it should grieve us.

And lest we take the Lord’s grace for granted, listen to the rest of the story.  The other servants report this back to the king.  The king is angry.  “You wicked servant!” he says. “I forgave you all the debt because you pleaded with me.  And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?” 

The king sent the servant to jail.  His grant of mercy has been revoked.  And Jesus is very stern here, dear friends: “So also My heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

The wicked servant had forgotten the mercy shown to him, as he was so focused on what was owed him.  He took the grace of his master for granted, and treated this great gift and treasure of the Gospel like a cheap trinket.  Instead of reflecting upon His master’s mercy, his thoughts and desires were focused on himself – and he lost sight of reality, of the big picture, of the joy of being forgiven and given new life.  

Dear friends, this is why we must avoid the temptation toward focusing on self.  Instead, we should look to the needs of others and reflect – each and every day – on the Lord’s goodness and mercy to us in Jesus Christ, in the cross, in His blood shed for the forgiveness of sins.  Let us not allow our minds to wander at the communion rail, but let us look to Jesus, let us meditate upon the cross, and let us receive the Holy Supper with joy and gratitude, knowing that our very life depends upon this small wafer of bread and sip of wine – which are the true body and blood of Christ – given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins – even the debt of ten thousand talents.  

And let us pray fervently for the gift of affixing our eyes and minds and hearts upon Jesus, and upon the cross – so that we may remain humble and grateful, focused on the ten thousand talents forgiven us instead of the hundred denarii owed to us.  For what are such trifles that we complain about in light of the Lord’s mercy to us?

Let us remember this parable each and every time we pray: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.