Sunday's Message: The Parables of the Gospel of Matthew (The Two Debtors - Matthew 18:23-35)

During the months of October and November, we're discussing the following parables unique to the Gospel of Matthew:

• October 8 - Wolves & Fig Trees (Matthew 7:15-20)
• October 15 - Weeds with the Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30)
• October 22 - The Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:44-48)
• October 29 - The Two Debtors (Matthew 18:23-35)
• November 5 - Laborers in a Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)
• November 12 - Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32)
• November 19 - The Wise and the Foolish (Matthew 25:1-13)
• November 26 - Sheep from Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

On Sunday, we focused on the parable of the two debtors found in Matthew 18:23-35. A recording and a copy of the sermon are below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m. (EDT)

Of course, as everyone here this morning knows, Tuesday is Halloween, that one day a year when threats are not only socially acceptable, they’re both expected and rewarded and when it’s fine for a church to have an inflated witch on its front lawn and when folks are actually encouraged to be someone or even something else. And speaking of that, Sherry, if you’re not a dinosaur this year, it’ll be really deflating. Now, that’s Halloween.

But to be completely honest, for me personally, Halloween was never a big deal up until about twenty years ago. You see, I’ve never been all that excited about wearing a costume. In fact, just a couple of days ago, a kid asked me what I was going to be for Halloween and I told her, an insurance salesman. And when I was a child, outside of an occasional apple or homemade popcorn ball, candy was nearly always Sugar Daddies, Mary Janes and stale toffee wrapped in black or orange paper. And frankly, I was never the kind of guy who could sell the threat inherent in “trick” or “treat.” I just wasn’t convincing. And so, I generally steered away from Halloween, that is up until I became a father and started taking Maggie around our neighborhood as a pumpkin or Snow White, a cheerleader or Tinker Bell, Alice in Wonderland or Hanna Montana. You see, just being with her as we went from house to house caused me to realize that at its core, that’s what Halloween is really all about. It’s about little kids doing something that only they can pull off before most of the innocence and the excitement of “Trick or Treating” morphs into something else. You see, at least for me, Halloween is about the children.

And you know, that sort of leads us into what we’re going to talk about this morning as we continue the series we started at the beginning of the month, the one focused on parables found only in the Gospel of Matthew. Now, to this point we’ve looked at the parables of the wolves and the fig trees and the parable of the weeds with the wheat and last week, we talked about three little parables dealing with the Kingdom of Heaven. And this morning, we’re going to build on last week’s message and look at a parable that talks about three things which I believe we can say about the Kingdom of Heaven and which, when taken together, can actually help us make better decisions. And to do this, we’re going to break what Jesus taught into three parts, each dealing with a specific aspect of God’s rule that we might want to consider as we’re trying to figure out our options and our plans. 

And like I said, I think we can find all three in the parable of the two debtors. For example, first, I think we can make better decisions when we realize that the Kingdom of Heaven is about forgiveness and I’m talking about the forgiveness that comes from the compassion God feels for his children and the undeserved mercy that he shows to us. The Kingdom of Heaven really is about forgiveness. I mean, just listen to what Jesus said:

This story will show you what the kingdom of heaven is like:

One day a king decided to call in his officials and ask them to give an account of what they owed him. As he was doing this, one official was brought in who owed him 50,000,000 silver coins. But he didn't have any money to pay what he owed. The king ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all he owned, in order to pay the debt.

The official got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you every cent I owe!” The king felt sorry for him and let him go free. He even told the official that he did not have to pay back the money. [Matthew 18:23-27, CEV]

Now that’s what Jesus said, and let’s talk a little bit about what it might mean. You see, if God is like the king in the story and we’re like the official, God’s kingship really is about forgiveness isn’t it? I mean, here we have an official who owed a tremendous amount of money. In fact, the debt was so high that there was no way he’d ever be able to pay it. And since they were living in a world where you couldn’t declare bankruptcy and start over, this guy and his whole family, man, they were in big trouble, and he knew it. And that’s why he went to the king, you know, the guy holding the note, and begged like his life depended on it, because his only chance was that the king might feel a little compassion and show a little mercy, something that he certainly didn’t deserve and probably didn’t really expect. And yet, that’s exactly what he received, isn’t it? He was forgiven. I mean, even though the king would have been well within his rights to collect what he could by selling the official and his whole family into slavery, because in their world, that’s exactly what the official deserved, instead the king did something that he was in no way obligated to do. Using the words of Jesus, “The king felt sorry for him and let him go free. He even told the official that he did not have to pay back the money.” [Matthew 18:27, CEV] In other words, this astronomical debt was erased. The king felt compassion for his official and he showed him undeserved mercy. You see, by his action, the king demonstrated that his Kingdom really was about forgiveness. 

And I’ll tell you, when we understand this, I think we’ll make better decisions. You see, as we face whatever dilemma that’s there before us and as we wrestle with what we’re going to do, we can remember what God has already done for us can’t we?  As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans,

Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful. No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person. But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful. [Romans 5:6-8, CEV]

You see, this is what God has done, and when you wrap your head around, man, it’s truly remarkable. I mean, think about it, almost two thousand years before we were born, Jesus Christ died for us and through that death we’ve experienced both compassion and mercy. In other words, before we could have asked for it and before we could have accepted it, Jesus Christ died for you and me. And because of that, we were forgiven, something we sure don’t deserve. You see, when we have decisions to make, I think it’s important to remember that the Kingdom of Heaven really is about forgiveness. And that’s the first thing we can take from this parable.

And second, if we want to improve the decisions that we make, I think it’s also important for us to remember that the Kingdom of Heaven is also about freedom, and I’m talking about the freedom we now have as people who’ve been forgiven. And I believe we see this kind of freedom reflected in the second part of the parable. After talking about the forgiveness shown by the king to the indebted official, Jesus continued his story:

But as this official was leaving, he happened to meet another official, who owed him 100 silver coins. So he grabbed the man by the throat. He started choking him and said, “Pay me what you owe!”

The man got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you back.” But the first official refused to have pity. Instead, he went and had the other official put in jail until he could pay what he owed. [Matthew 18:28-30, CEV]

You know, I hear people in the church talk on and on about free will, you know, how we are free to accept or reject Jesus Christ and how that decision will determine whether we go to heaven or hell. Now that’s what I’ve heard folk talk about for sixty years. But I’ll tell you, what Jesus was talking about right here in this parable may be a better reflection of what the Bible has to say about what free will is actually all about. You see, when that official left the king, he was not only forgiven, man, he was free wasn’t he? He was free from a debt he’d never be able to repay. And he was free from having to worry about what might happen to himself and his family. I mean, even though he’d done nothing to deserve it outside of begging and making a promise he’d never be able to keep, because of the king’s compassion and mercy, he was free from everything he owed. But that’s only half of it; he was also free to show that same compassion and that same mercy to others, and I’m talking about offering forgiveness he had no legal obligation to show and to direct it at folks like him who also didn’t deserve it. You see, that’s the free will he had; he was free to forgive others. And how did he use that freedom? Well, even though the debt owed to him was very small, according to Jesus, “...the first official refused to have pity. Instead, he went and had the other official put in jail until he could pay what he owed.” [Matthew 18:30, CEV] You see, the Kingdom of Heaven really is about freedom.

And you know, as we face decisions, particularly those that involve other people, I think this is something else we need to remember. You see, just because God has set us free from something we’d never be able to free ourselves, and I’m talking about guilt and shame and sin, he doesn’t force us to use our freedom to show compassion and mercy to others. That’s really up to us, because we have free will. And I think that’s what James was getting at when he wrote this in his letter:

My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don't do anything to show you really do have faith? Can this kind of faith save you? If you know someone who doesn't have any clothes or food, you shouldn't just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead! [James 2:14-17, CEV]

You see, there’s no getting around it. God has given us free will. And let me ask you, if we really understand the compassion that God has already felt toward us and if we’ve really experienced the deserved mercy he’s already shown to us and if we really accept the forgiveness he’s already given to us, if this is something we really believe, how do you think it’ll shape our response to others? You see, when we have decisions to make, I think it’s important to remember that the Kingdom of Heaven really is about freedom. And that’s the second thing we can take from this parable.

And third, along remembering God’s forgiveness and our freedom, if we want to improve the decisions that we make, I believe it’s important for us to remember that the Kingdom of Heaven is also about consequences. In other words, the choices we make always, and I mean always involve both benefits and costs. And I’ll tell you, this was something I think the official who’d been forgiven by the king but who wouldn’t use his freedom to forgive a colleague understood by the end of the parable. Just listen to what Jesus said:

When some other officials found out what had happened, they felt sorry for the man who had been put in jail. Then they told the king what had happened. The king called the first official back in and said, “You're an evil man! When you begged for mercy, I said you did not have to pay back a cent. Don't you think you should show pity to someone else, as I did to you?” The king was so angry that he ordered the official to be tortured until he could pay back everything he owed. That is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don't forgive each of my followers with all your heart. [Matthew 18:31-35, CEV]

Now that’s what happened. And let me ask you, do you feel sorry for the unforgiving official who’d been forgiven so very much? I mean, just because the king had compassion for him, didn’t mean he had to have compassion for someone else, right? And just because the king had shown him undeserved mercy, well, that sure didn’t obligate him to show anything like mercy to a guy who was defaulting on his debts, right? Well, clearly that official didn’t think so, because in spite of the forgiveness he’d received, that servant didn’t use his freedom to forgive someone else. Instead he held his colleague accountable, something he had every right to do. And yet, freedom isn’t exactly free, now it is? I mean, what the official chose to do had both benefits and costs. On one hand, he did have the satisfaction of looking like a tough guy and knowing that one more deadbeat would be taught a valuable lesson about the dangers of deficit spending. On the other hand, though, by his actions, he damaged his relationship with his fellow officials and with his king, you know, the one whose pity turned to anger. You see, along with forgiveness and freedom, the Kingdom of Heaven is also about consequences.

And as we face our decisions, if this is something we choose to ignore, well, I think we do it at our own peril. I mean, while remembering God’s forgiveness and our freedom, I think it’s pretty important to think about how our decisions are going to affect our relationships with others. My goodness, how many people who show a lack of compassion and mercy have strong marriages and supportive families and the respect of their community? And would you want to get close to a person who seemed incapable of forgiving others even though they’ve been forgiven a whole lot of stuff themselves? Now does anybody here want to be that kind of person? And I’ll tell you, if we bring God into it, well, remember Jesus Christ himself said this to his disciples:

If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you. But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. [Matthew 6:14-15, CEV]

You see, when we have decisions to make, I think it’s important to remember that the Kingdom of Heaven really is not only about forgiveness and freedom; it’s also about consequences. And that’s the third thing I believe we can take from this parable.

Now Halloween is in a couple of days. And if you’re able, come on by the church Tuesday evening at 6:00 and be assured that wearing costumes and passing out Sugar Daddies and threatening tricks rather than giving treats, man all those things are strictly optional. You see, whether deflated or not, as we’re handing out candy, well, it’ll all be about the children. And you know, as we go about making our decisions and doing the very best we can with what we’ve got, let’s intentionally remember what the Kingdom of Heaven is all about, you know, that it’s about forgiveness and how it’s about freedom and how it’s about consequences. And we can trust that all this is true because of what Jesus said in his story of two debtors. And next week, we’ll get a little more insight into the nature of God’s rule by focusing on another parable from Matthew, this one about laborers in a vineyard.