Christ the King: Forgiver
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Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
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being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[a] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of the Son of God
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross..
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The Christian Life
Jonah Lomu, a man mountain of 6’5” and 18 stone was a New Zealand Rugby player who died at the age of forty on 17/11/15. He was virtually impossible to tackle (no one could match his power). Lomu was a rugby king - a hero of the past. We are here today to worship and glorify an ever present king.
Today’s service is ‘Christ The King’ and the reason I’ve linked it to Jonah Lomu is because, the phrase C T K (outside the Church) means nothing today. Yet it is everything!
When Jesus asked his disciples in Matthew 16:16 ‘who do you say I am?
Peter declared “you are the Christ, son of the living God.”
In Matthew 18:21-35. Jesus tells a parable about a generous king who pardons debts.
This parable is Jesus’ response to Peter’s question – how many times do I have to forgive (7 times – for brownie points he adds 2 times the Rabbinic teaching and adds 1)?
But, truth be told, if Peter is counting, then he is not really forgiving at all.
The parable that Jesus told teaches us that forgiveness is to be part of who we are in Christ – ‘forgiven people are forgiving people.’
In this parable, Jesus is showing that for true healing to take place, if you have been hurt, offended, suffered injustice or psychological damage then forgiveness is vital, essential. It is not just for super-spiritual Christians. It is VIP for your healing and spiritual growth.
Jesus shares a drama of three Acts. The theme is more than forgiveness, it is Jesus’ favourite subject – the Kingdom. There are always two kingdom responses are open to us. Darkness and light, the kingdom of law and grace.
Act 1. The man with a huge debt is freed
Act 2. The freeman confronts another
who owes a small debtAct 3. The witnesses inform the king
Act 1 The man with a huge debt is freed
So lets look first at THE GOOD NEWS v13 ‘he called 10 servants and gave them ten minas.’ ……The first issue to clear up is ‘what is a mina a picture of? Are minas=wealth =gospel =life? Let me suggest that 10 minas is meant to give the idea of some precious opportunity entrusted to these workers. (I am putting my head on the block in saying) I believe a mina is a picture of the opportunities life will give us to be the light of Jesus, opportunities to turn a neutral situation into a kingdom opportunity. (To Glorify God). Such as? Precious opportunities entrusted to us through this church centre, precious opportunities where you live, or in the way you respond to a friend or family. As Christians in here, how are we going to use this place and our time? Are we going to be faithful in prayer for its use. Or are we going to wrap it in a cloth and miss that opportunity (v20). … I could go on…but I’m sure you’re making connections with your own opportunities things which are unique to you, things so precious about you that Jesus would paint a picture of a 1/4 years income - what are your golden opportunities. Opportunities not judged by success or failure but in terms of taking a risk or keeping it as it is (playing it safe). That’s the Good News what about the ‘bad news.’
Act 2. The freeman confronts another
who owes a small debt
The Bad guy is the focal point of this whole parable and I expect we’re all secretly dreading that we might end up being the Bad one in the analogy. We’re the types who would rather settle for £10,000 rather than push on for £100,000 or even more. Well the good news is this: God made you like that, God knows your personality traits, if you are cautious that may be just your make up – that doesn’t make you bad news in this story.
When God looks at you he sees the potential you have to bring his love into people’s hearts and homes God looks at you & sees golden opportunities for you in prayer, in ministry, in witness, in worship. Of all the things we may think God wants us to do for him let me say this our chief purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him (Westminster Confession).
The opportunities God gives us will be to glorify him (Colossians 1v18) ‘that in all things Jesus must have the pre-eminence.’ This parable is not so much about what they did with the minas, it’s more about the relationship they had with the master.
The Bad News is one of them was fearful of the master (Luke 19:21) ‘I knew you were a hard man’ This was not someone who knows the master well, someone with a ‘him up there’ idea of God, the great ogre in the sky. The Bad guy wrapped his mina in a cloth - his God opportunities - no risks taken - safety first. .. do nothing. The BAD news in this story is some one tried to do nothing when God’s opportunity was to do something. In Almancil we have the opportunity with this centre and our homes to be stretched or we could try and keep it safe, do very little, maintain the congregation we have don’t rock the boat too much don’t preach for people to be ‘converted’ hold back on telling our friends and neighbours about Jesus Christ. Do we do nothing or do we risk it, there are opportunities at all different levels?Maybe a simple invitation to church, the community lunch, Advent and Christmas services, some of the other things that are going on up to Christmas. It might be sharing your story with someone. These are opportunities. I believe this is a parable for us right now.
Conductor Sir Michael Costa was holding a rehearsal. As the chorus rang out by scores of instruments, the piccolo player (smallest)stopped playing. Maybe she thought her contribution would not be missed amid such a cacophony.
Suddenly, the conductor stopped and said, "Where is the piccolo?" The sound of that one small instrument was necessary to the whole piece, and Sir Michael Costa missed it when it dropped out. To the Conductor, there are no insignificant instruments in an orchestra. Sometimes the seemingly least important one can make a great contribution, even if it doesn't seem to make much of a difference to the audience at large, the Lord the conductor knows.
In the Christian family, the instrumentalists and the instruments are diverse -different sizes, different shapes, different notes, different roles to play. But like the piccolo player in Michael Costa’s orchestra, we sometimes decide that our contribution is not significant, it won’t make a difference so we stop. Stop doing God’s work stop taking God-given opportunities. We stop. But the Conductor immediately notices. From our perspective, our contribution may be small, but from His, it is crucial. Maybe I'm talking to some piccolo players today. Have you dropped out of the orchestra, for whatever reasons: pain, exhaustion, insecurity, criticism, laziness. Convinced that your contribution doesn't mean much in the bigger scheme of things. The bad news in the story is someone buried his talent. The good news is God gives opportunities/talents for growth. What’s it to be Good news or bad news?
Act 3. The witnesses inform the king
You have heard of the film, The good the bad & the ugly. The last verse in our gospel reading today is a bit ugly. The ‘UGLY’ is the part of the parable I’d rather not have to talk about. This parable is known as a ‘judgement parable’ and the last verses 27 passes judgement (LUKE 19:24 take the minas from the Badman and v27 ‘those enemies who did not want me to be king – bring them here and kill them in front of me.’
The problem with the Bad guy was he showed no sign of sadness or repentance. He tried to justify his action ‘master I knew you were a hard man’ I expect if he’d said he was sorry, he had messed up, he’s not fit to be his servant, the parable would have had a different ending. But that’s not the way it went, it was UGLIER than that. Where there is no repentance there is no hope of salvation, where there is no remorse the BAD will never do anything to change his ways. The enemies of the kingdom of God will not receive eternal life.
To finish where we started, I asked you a £10,000 question at the start, but it was the wrong question. The question is not how much, but what are you doing with the opportunities God is giving you.
Will you step outside your comfort zone into the world of risky Christian service, would you risk praying with someone or giving some money to someone who has a need, would you risk telling your testimony to someone who doesn’t know the gospel, would you risk an act of kindness to a neighbour or a friend. That’s the challenge of this parable for us do we bubble wrap what God has given us or do we take a risk and do something with our opportunities?
