METHODIST CHURCH NIGERIA
DIOCESE OF OSOGBO
TWENTY-FOURTH (24TH) SUNDAY
IN ORDINARY TIME/FOURTEENTH (14TH) SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY, 13TH
SEPTEMBER, 2020.
GOD’S WORD TO GOD’S
PEOPLE.
THEME:Forgiveness (Idariji)
TEXT: Matthew 18:32&33
"Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, "You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?"
“Nigba
ti Oluwa re pee tan, o wi fun pe, Aa! iwo iranse buburu yii, Mo fi gbogbo gbese
ni ji o, nitori ti iwo be mi. Iwo ki isi saanu iranse egbe re gege bi mo ti
saanu fun o?”
Forgiveness
is often defined as an individual, voluntary internal process of letting go of
feelings and thoughts of resentment, bitterness, anger, and the need for
vengeance and retribution toward someone who we believe has offended us,
including ourselves (Rom.12:17-21) Forgiveness, however, is conditioned on remorse
repentance and the willingness to make reparation, or atonement; and the effect
of forgiveness is the restoration of both parties to the former state of
relationship. Forgiveness, to me as a Christian, is therefore an essential character
or quality of Christ's followers for unity and harmony in the Church of God. Of
course, relationship cannot be mended and strengthened if our humility and
honesty, as Christians, failed to result in forgiveness.
Peter,
knowing fully well that human beings are bound to offend or wrong one another,
came to Jesus Christ with the issue of sin and forgiveness as contained in the
opening verse of our gospel text for today, Matthew 18:21-35. He recognized the
risks and dangers involved in human relationship and thus asked Jesus how he
should handle them in future when they eventually occurred. The question of
Peter in Matthew 18:21 shows some elements of pride in him. In his question, he
was sure that his brother would sin against him, but not he against his
brother. Secondly, he was asking for limit when the Bible makes it clear that
where there is love there can be no limits (Eph. 3:17-19). Considering the
teaching of the Jewish Rabbis', that three times of wrong doing was sufficient
to retaliate, Peter thus thought he was showing great level of faith and love
when he offered to forgive at least seven times. Jesus' reply, “until seventy
times seven” (490 times) seemed to be a shocker to Peter. How on earth can one
continue to count offense against his brother or sister until 490 times?
Indirectly, Jesus Christ was saying love keeps no record of wrongs (1Cor.
13:5). Brothers and sisters, Fathers and mothers, we must however know that
love is not blind (Phil. 1:9-10). It only helps us to look away from the wrongs
done against us.
Jesus
Christ who wants the best for his Church explains further what he meant by
forgiveness with the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23-35.
This parable shows that if a brother or sister is guilty of a repeated offense,
no doubt he/she would find power and strength to overcome such offence through
the encouragement of his/her loving and forgiving brethren. Obviously, if we
condemn a brother or sister, we may end up bringing out the worst in him/her.
But if we forgive them their sin, definitely, we may be helping to bring the
best out of them. The parable of the unforgiving servant is therefore meant to
illustrate the power of forgiveness among Christians only and not between lost
sinners and God (Matt. 18-15&21). It buttresses the fact of an aspect of
the Lord's prayer which says, "And forgive us our debts. As we forgive our
debtors" (Matt. 6:12). Are you a Christian with forgiving spirit or one
who revenges and fight back? Learn to forgive so that you may also be forgiven.
The
unforgiving servant is the main character in the parable before us today and
worthy of study. In his experience of being forgiven and himself unable to
forgive, we can gain some lessons for our Christian race. Let us examine his
experience following these three stages:
1. The servant as a debtor (Matt. 18:23-27). This servant's
embezzlement of funds was discovered when his master came for the auditing of
his books of account. His dishonesty activities were made open and it was
discovered that he had misappropriated one thousand talents which was probably
equivalent to over 10million Dollars. He however pleaded for mercy, and
promised to pay back if only he could be given enough time, but deep down in
his heart he knew that would not be able to pay the debt. The servant was proud
and lacked sincere repentance. He was not even ashamed of the fact that he
stole the money, rather, he was ashamed because he was caught. Let us note that
his master had the legal right to throw him into prison, but he was a man of
compassion. He accepted the loss and forgave the servant just as we are being
forgiven daily by God who is full of mercy and compassion. Brethren, we are all
debtor, how ready are we to regularly service our debt to God and to our fellow
human beings? We owe nothing but love, to love God and our fellow human beings
(Rom. 13:8).
2. The servant as a creditor (Matt. 18:28-30). After he had
been forgiven, he left the presence of his master only to meet his fellow
servant who owed him 100 pence which was about the daily earning of an average
worker. The debt which his fellow servant owed him was insignificant compared
with what he owed (10million Dollars) his master. Instead of sharing the
happiness of his own release with his colleagues, he went straight to maltreat
his fellow servant who was unable to pay him his little debt. He could not do
to others what he wanted others to do to him. He might have gotten the legal
right to also throw his debtor into prison, but he did not have the moral right
to do so. Someone who had just been forgiven, should he not also forgive his
fellow servant? How do we treat others today, especially when it comes to
things which we are also guilty of? Forgive others as we want God to forgive
us. We are all creditors; one or more persons may owe us. How do we treat them?
(Matt. 6:14&15; Lk. 17:3&4)
3. The unforgiving servant as a prisoner (Matt. 18:31-34).
His master originally delivered him from going into the prison, but he put
himself back into it, because of lack of the spirit of forgiveness. The
unforgiving servant exercised justice and threw into prison his colleague who
owed him and was unable to pay. This act of forgiveness of this servant
provoked his master who had earlier forgiven him to revert back to justice. His
master did to him what he had done to his colleague. The prison of unforgiving
heart has been described as the worst prison in the world. If we refused to
forgive others, we are only imprisoning ourselves and causing our own torment.
Many of us have received forgiveness, but we have not really experienced
forgiveness down deep in our hearts. Thus, we are unable to share forgiveness
with those who have offended us. Brethren in the house of faith, let us all
learn and accept to share forgiveness with others, even as God is sharing with
us every day. Forgiveness is able to bring freedom, joy and rest/peace of mind
to us and thereby foster unity among us. “And be kind to one another, tender
hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave us” (Eph. 4:32)
Let us pray
Rt.
Rev. A.K.O. Ogunrinde, JP, FICT.
Bishop, Diocese of Osogbo.
OS-CAN Chairman.
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