Parable of the Unforgiving Servant: Finding Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Since we have been forgiven, we should forgive! (Matt 18:21-35; Col 3:13; Eph 4:32)

-Forgiveness: is sending away the person's guilt that I want to hold against him/her.  It is releasing the person from the penalty I want to impose and instead letting God deal justly with that person. (Matt 16:12)

-Forgiveness: is not saying what he/she did was right.

-Forgiveness: is not the same as reconciliation.

-Forgiveness: does not mean there are no consequences for his/her actions.

We should forgive people who repent. (Luke 17:3-4)

We should forgive everyone! (Luke 11:4; Mark 11:25-26)

"We are most like beasts when we kill.  We are most like men when we judge.  We are most like God when we forgive."  -William Arthur Ward

Parables

"God rejoices.  Not because the problems of the world have been solved, not because all human pain and suffering has come to an end, nor because thousands of people have been converted and are now prainsing him for his goodness. 

No, God rejoices because one of his children who was lost has been found." 

-Henri Nouwen

Luke 15

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.



The Parable of the Lost Coin

8"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

The Parable of the Lost Son

11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
31" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

Verses from this past week

-Fight the good fight of the faith.  Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.  1 Timothy 6:12
-The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.  John 10:10
-Choose for yourself this day whom you will serve.... Joshua 24:15
-...and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  2 Corinthians 10:5

So, how's it going, guys?  How are you doing spiritually?

Excerpt from The Sacred Romance...

Intimacy
"Our longing for intimacy gives us the greatest scent of the joys that lie ahead.  Being left out is one of life's most painful experiences.  I remember the daily fourth-grade torture of waiting in line while the captains chose their teams for the kickball games.  As each captain took turns choosing a player, descending from best to worst, our rank in fourth-grade society was reinforced.  Though others fared worse than I--"Don't make us take Smitty, we had him last time"--I was never the first to be chosen.  No one ever said, "Wait--we get Eldredge this time!"  I didn't feel wanted; at best, I felt tolerated.  And then there was junior high cafeteria.  After buying lunch, you carried your tray out into the dining room, looking for a place to eat.  There was an unspoken hierarchy that determined where you could sit.  One day, I dared to test that caste system.  With modest courage I walked over to the table filled with the "cool" kids, but before I could sit down, one of them sneered, "Not here, Eldredge, we're saving this for someone else."

"These are some of the ways I learned the lesson that I was on the outside.  Throughout our lives, each one of us lives with a constant nagging that we never quite fit in, we never truly belong.  We've all had enough experiences to teach us that we will never be allowed into the "sacred circle," the place of intimacy.  Even those who are chosen to be part of the "in" crowd are never chosen for who they truly are.  So we hide parts of ourselves to try and fit in, or kill our desire to be an insider, rather than let our longing lead us toward the true intimacy for which we were designed.

"On the other hand, there is the joy of having someone save a place for us.  We walk into a crowded room at church or at a dinner party and someone across the way waves us over, pointing to a chair he's held on to especially for us.  For a moment we feel a sense of relief, a taste of being on the inside.  Now consider Jesus' words in John 14:2--"I am going...to prepare a place for you."  Christ promises that he is saving a place in heaven especially for each of us.  When we walk into the crowded excitement of the wedding feast of the Lamb, with the sound of a thousand conversations, laughter and music, the clinking of glasses, and one more time our heart leaps with the hope that we might be let into the sacred circle, we will not be disappointed.  No one will have to scramble to find another chair, to make room for us at the end of the table, or rustle up a place setting.  There will be a seat with our name on it, held open at Jesus' command for us and no other....

"....But then we shall be perfect; our loved ones will be perfect as well.  All that has ever stood between us will be swept away and our heart will be released to real loving.  The intimacy that begins between God and his people will be enriched and echoed by our communion with each other.  The deepest longing of our heart--our longing to be part of the sacred circle, to be inside--reveals to us the greatest of the treasures heaven has in store.  For we were made in and for the most sacred circle of all.  Lewis says,

The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some chasm that yawns between us and reality, is part of our inconsolable secret.  And surely, from this point of view, the promise of glory, in the sense described, becomes highly relevant to our deep desire.  For glory meant good report with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgment, and welcome into the heart of things.  The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last.  (The Weight of Glory)


The Sacred Romance, Brent Curtis and John Eldredge, pp 181-184.

Relationships and Dating and Marriage-Oh My!

This week we've started a new teaching series called Threads.  It's focusing on relationships: how to choose them, how to make them succeed, what's involved in a healthy relationship between two or more people.  In the future we'll be looking at friend relationships, but this week we started with dating. Rob encouraged us to look at Spiritual, Character, and Lifestyle components of the person we're dating, considering dating, or even considering marrying.  Currently I'm in a Marital Counseling class and I read something in my book for class that ties into what we're talking about on Thursdays.  Even if you're not in a dating/marriage relationship I believe the principle can apply within most other relationships as well (so if you're not dating or married, I'm going to challenge you to read this and think about how you can incorporate this into your own life!):
       "We need to remind ourselves of the ridiculousness of looking for something from other humans that only God can provide.  Our close friends have a son named Nolan.  When he was just four years old, he saw me carrying some rather large boxes and asked me, in all sincerity, "Gary, are you strongest, or is God strongest?"
       His dad laughed a little too hard at that one.  And of course we adults think it's absurd to compare our physical strength with God's.  But how many of us "adults" have then turned around and asked, perhaps unconsciously, "Are you going to fulfill me, or will God fulfill me?"  For some reason, that question doesn't sound as absurd to us as the one about physical strength, but it should!
     I believe that much of the dissatisfaction we experience in marriage comes from expecting too much from it.  I have a rather outdated computer--a 486--so I know there are some things I simply can't do with it; there's just not enough memory or processing power to run certain programs or combine certain tasks.  It's not that I have a bad computer; it's just that I can't reasonably expect more from it than it has the power to give.
     In the same way, some of us ask too much of marriage.  We want to get the largest portion of our life's fulfillment from our relationship with our spouse.  That's asking too much.  Yes, without a doubt there should be moments of happiness, meaning, and a general sense of fulfillment.  But my wife can't be God, and I was created with a spirit that craves God.  Anything less than God, and I'll feel an ache."
(Gary Thomas, "Sacred Marriage," pages 25-26)
       Rob closed out this week's teaching message with the Doggy Bag/Take Away section with a statement about seeking God's kingdom and righteousness.  This week as you're involved in life and people ask yourself about where you're getting fulfillment: from your relationships or from God?