Just before I came to Murray Church as Pastor, I served on the staff of a church on the southeast side of Fort Wayne. One day, a man we didn’t know walked into our office complaining that he didn’t feel well and thought he was having a heart attack. He needed a ride to Lutheran hospital. I offered to call an ambulance, but he was adamant that he was afraid of those and wanted me to take him. I agreed, and when I got outside, I found he had ridden his bike to the church. He wanted me to put it in my trunk so he would have it when he left the hospital. Again, I gave in to his wishes and off we went. When we arrived at the emergency room entrance, he got out of the car and insisted I get his bike out so he could make sure it was safe. I did so. He then jumped on his bike and rode away as fast as he could. It was then I realized, I had been scammed. His only motive was to get the other side of town without having to ride his bike the entire distance.
Unfortunately, this situation has happened multiple times throughout my ministry. People assume a pastor will have a kind and helpful attitude so they make up a story that will spark compassion simply to get what they want. Many times it is a financial handout they are after. Because I have discovered many of these stories to be untrue, I have found myself hardening my “pastor’s heart” a bit and being less willing to help.
When defining what it means to be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven while still living on this earth, Jesus deals with this attitude issue. The story he tells is in Matthew 18:23-35 and is in response to this question from Peter in the previous verses, Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. In verse 23, Jesus says, “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.”
I’ll summarize the story. A servant was called by the king to settle a debt too astronomical to comprehend. In today’s dollars, it would be in the billions. Jesus uses this hyperbole to make a point, the debt was beyond payable. The servant was threatened with prison and begged his king to forgive the debt. Out of compassion, this is what the king did, the dept was forgiven in full.
However, this same servant was owed around $4,000 from a fellow servant. In comparison to the debt of billions he had just been released from, this was a pittance. But the forgiven servant had a hard heart and refused to forgive the debt. When the King heard of his lack of forgiveness, he was thrown in prison for life.
The point is clear. Our sin is a debt we could never repay, no matter how much good we tried to do. Jesus paid the ultimate price of his life to cover that debt and offers us forgiveness of our sin for free. Therefore, it is only logical and fair that we freely forgive people in this life who have offended us.
This is not always easy. People can cause us a lot of pain and frustration. To live in God’s Kingdom means we keep our focus on what Jesus has done FOR us and not on what people have done TO us. This will allow us to forgive people despite the level of pain we feel. This frees us from the potential of becoming embittered toward the offender and it allows the love of Christ to be seen by those to whom we show this level of compassion. We have freedom and God is honored.