LutheranLectionary.org

Series A – Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday, September 13, 2020 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	the holy gospel according to saint
0:29	matthew the 18th chapter
0:32	peter came up and said to Jesus lord how
0:35	often will my brother sin against me and
0:36	i forgive him
0:37	as many as seven times Jesus said to him
0:40	i do not say to you seven
0:42	times but seventy times seven
0:46	therefore the kingdom of heaven may be
0:48	compared to a king who wished to settle
0:50	accounts with his servants
0:51	when he began to settle one was brought
0:53	to him who owed him ten thousand talents
0:56	and since he could not pay his master
0:58	ordered him to be sold with his wife and
1:00	children and all that he had and payment
1:03	to be made
1:04	so the servant fell on his knees
1:05	imploring him have patience with me and
1:07	i will pay you everything
1:09	and out of pity for him the master of
1:10	that servant released him
1:12	forgave him the debt but when that same
1:14	servant went out he found one of his
1:16	fellow servants who owed him a hundred
1:18	daenery
1:19	and seizing him he began to choke him
1:21	saying
1:22	pay what you owe so his fellow servant
1:25	fell down and pleaded with him
1:27	have patience with me and i will pay you
1:29	he refused
1:30	and he went and put him in prison until
1:32	he should pay the debt
1:34	when his fellow servants saw what had
1:36	taken place
1:37	they were greatly distressed and when
1:39	they went and reported to their master
1:41	all that had taken place
1:42	then his master summoned him and said to
1:44	him you wicked servant i forgave you all
1:46	that debt because you pleaded with me
1:49	and should you not have had mercy on
1:50	your fellow servants as i had had mercy
1:53	on you
1:54	and in anger as master delivered him to
1:55	the jailers until you should pay
1:57	all his debt so also my heavenly father
2:00	will do to every one of you
2:02	if you do not forgive your brother from
2:04	your heart
2:05	this is the gospel of the lord in the
2:08	name of Jesus
2:09	amen so forgiveness
2:13	this is a sketchy thing in our way of
2:16	thinking
2:17	you know we got to be careful with that
2:20	forgiveness
2:21	thing i mean what should we do if
2:24	somebody comes to us and asks us to
2:26	forgive them
2:27	and then does the same thing over again
2:31	and then over again at where where do we
2:34	draw the line
2:35	exactly well that’s the question the
2:39	presenting question in our gospel text
2:41	today here’s what it says
2:45	peter came up to Jesus and he said lord
2:47	how often will my brother sin against me
2:51	and i forgive him and you can almost see
2:54	him kind of thinking that he’s really
2:55	going to be generous here
2:57	when he says as many as seven times
3:01	seven times i mean that sounds really
3:03	generous i mean at some point you got to
3:04	cut a person off because i mean
3:06	after all if they were really serious
3:10	about amending their lives i mean
3:13	they’d get their act together and they
3:15	wouldn’t keep doing
3:16	the same thing but the thing is is that
3:21	if you’re honest with yourself and if
3:24	i’m honest with myself
3:28	seven times if Jesus cut you off at
3:32	seven times when you sinned against him
3:37	where would you be right now where would
3:40	i be
3:41	and and so note here Jesus basically
3:44	takes his answer
3:46	and he multiplies it by a huge factor he
3:48	says i don’t say to you seven times but
3:50	70 times seven this
3:53	ginormous number and the reason for it
3:58	that he gives is quite simple
4:02	it’s a matter of perspective i would
4:05	remind you
4:08	that you and i we have something
4:11	terribly in common we were all born
4:15	sinners we all have fallen
4:18	short of the glory of god we all have
4:22	earned
4:22	the wrath of god and when it comes to
4:26	the number of trespasses
4:28	you and i have committed against god and
4:31	against each other
4:33	well if we were to tally that number up
4:37	we’d be in trouble psalmist says oh lord
4:41	if you kept a record
4:42	of wrongs who could stand
4:45	but with you there is forgiveness
4:48	therefore
4:49	you are feared and so Jesus tells
4:52	this parable it’s a parable
4:55	of perspective if you would because over
4:58	and again we
4:59	sinners we’re cranky people we don’t get
5:02	along
5:03	well with others and as a result of it
5:06	we foolishly often exert our rights our
5:10	prerogative
5:11	our perspective our turf that needs to
5:14	be
5:14	protected especially in the area of
5:18	forgiveness
5:20	but in light of the fact that we have
5:24	been forgiven
5:25	much consider then this parable it’s
5:28	foolish
5:28	to think this way Christ says the
5:31	kingdom of heaven may be compared to a
5:34	king
5:34	who wished to settle accounts with his
5:36	servants
5:38	make no statement make no mistake about
5:40	it Jesus
5:41	is that king so when he began to settle
5:44	one was brought to him who owed him ten
5:48	thousand talents
5:52	talent is a measurement of weight
5:56	roughly a hundred pounds ten thousand
5:59	talents of gold
6:03	every time i preach on this text i
6:05	scratch my head and say
6:07	how is it possible that a single human
6:10	being
6:11	can rack up a debt that huge
6:14	there are nations today on planet earth
6:17	whose national debt doesn’t even come
6:19	close to this it’s such a big number
6:23	that it well i i i think in comparison
6:26	the u.s national debt may be below this
6:30	at least when you consider if inflation
6:32	over the past 2000
6:34	years but see that’s the point
6:38	that’s your sin and mine you do
6:41	recognize
6:43	that the scriptures are clear that we
6:45	are to love the lord our god with all of
6:47	our heart
6:48	soul mind strength
6:52	with everything that is within us and
6:54	that every
6:56	second every nano second
7:00	that clicks off in chronos time
7:04	where we do not love god with all
7:07	that is within us that all that we are
7:11	that we are sinning
7:15	think of it this way is that if you were
7:18	to have a meter
7:20	and on the one side is the green side
7:23	and you’re in the clear you’re okay
7:25	you’re not sitting and on the other side
7:28	is the red
7:29	side where you are sinning
7:33	that every moment of our life our
7:35	needles on the red side
7:38	there isn’t a moment of our lives where
7:40	we measure up
7:41	not one that’s how it’s possible for us
7:45	to rack up a debt of this magnitude
7:48	and so Christ is the king you’re the
7:51	fellow who’s racked up the 10
7:53	000 talent debt and the text says since
7:57	he could not pay
8:00	and you can’t pay for your sin i can’t
8:01	pay for pay for it
8:03	what did he do his master ordered him to
8:05	be sold his wife and his children all
8:07	that he had
8:08	and payment to be made debtor’s prison
8:11	has long ago
8:12	been outlawed as a method of dealing
8:15	with somebody who owes a debt because
8:17	after all how do you pay a debt when
8:18	you’re in prison
8:20	the servant fell on his knees
8:24	the posture of prayer and he implored
8:27	his master
8:28	saying have patience with me i’ll pay
8:31	you everything
8:33	no you won’t how do you how does one go
8:37	about paying a debt like this
8:40	you’re going to earn this debt back by
8:42	playing the horses
8:44	i don’t think so in fact this guy is not
8:48	going to be
8:48	able to pay the interest payments he’s
8:52	in a lot of trouble and he knows it
8:56	but listen to this king what do we learn
8:59	about him
9:00	out of pity for him the master of that
9:02	servant released him
9:04	and forgave him the dead brothers and
9:07	sisters
9:07	Christ does that for you as well out of
9:10	pity
9:10	for you out of love for you out of love
9:13	and pity for me
9:14	he has cancelled that debt but he didn’t
9:18	just
9:18	write it off the books he ended up
9:20	paying it himself
9:22	every one of your sins when you think of
9:25	it as a debt
9:27	that debt has been paid by Christ
9:30	in fact i like to point out that in one
9:33	version of the lord’s prayer
9:35	rather than saying forgive us our
9:36	trespasses as we forgive those who
9:39	trespass against us
9:41	there are some translations where it
9:43	reads forgive us our
9:44	debts as we forgive our debtors
9:49	hmm and so note our debt is paid in full
9:53	Christ has had pity on each and every
9:56	one of us
9:58	and he’s forgiven that great debt that
10:01	we owe
10:02	to god
10:05	but here’s where the turn gets weird
10:09	when that same servant then went out he
10:11	found his fellow servants
10:12	who owed him a hundred denarii hundred
10:14	denarii that’s about a month’s wages
10:18	so he seized him and began to choke him
10:20	this is an ugly
10:21	scene this is one where today people
10:26	would be filming it with their camera
10:28	on their cell phones and the guy is
10:30	going pay me
10:32	what you owe me it’s just terrible
10:35	and it’s ugly
10:40	so this fellow servant fell down
10:44	and he pleaded with him have patience
10:47	with me i will pay you
10:49	those are the exact same words that he
10:52	used when he was begging and pleading
10:55	for his life
10:57	have patience i’ll pay you everything
10:59	but in this case
11:01	his fellow servant easily would have
11:02	been able to pay him back months worth
11:04	of wages you can work out terms on that
11:07	that are acceptable for both parties but
11:10	he refused
11:11	he refused he had no pity at all he went
11:14	and put him in prison until he should
11:16	pay the debt
11:17	and when his fellow servants saw what
11:19	had taken place they were greatly
11:21	distressed
11:23	and they went and reported to their
11:24	master all that had taken place
11:28	do you think it’s an accident a
11:30	coincidence
11:31	that Christ teaches us to pray forgive
11:33	us our trespasses
11:35	as we forgive those who trespass against
11:38	us
11:39	and note here it doesn’t say
11:42	forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
11:46	those who
11:46	ask to be forgiven
11:50	no it says as we forgive those who
11:53	trespass against us and we’re going to
11:55	take a look at a cross reference that i
11:56	think is going to help us
11:58	out here so his master summoned him and
12:01	said you wicked servant i forgave you
12:03	all that debt because you pleaded with
12:06	me
12:06	i had mercy i canceled the bazillion
12:08	dollar debt
12:09	and you should you not have had mercy on
12:12	your fellow servant as i has had mercy
12:15	on you
12:16	and you’ll note then the gospel is front
12:19	and center in the mind of every
12:21	Christian
12:23	what is our disposition towards others
12:27	look at the great debt that Christ has
12:28	forgiven you of your sin
12:31	and now consider then consider
12:35	that it is appropriate
12:38	it’s like appropriate beyond all reason
12:42	that having been forgiven such a great
12:45	debt
12:46	that you then would freely forgive
12:48	anyone who trespassed against you
12:51	but this fellow didn’t he was shown
12:54	mercy and rather than show mercy
12:58	he showed mercilessness which is not
13:01	befitting of a Christian
13:03	we love because he first loved us the
13:05	scripture says
13:07	i forgave you all that debt you because
13:09	you pleaded with me should you not have
13:10	had mercy on your fellow servant as i
13:12	had mercy on you
13:13	so in anger his master delivered him to
13:15	the jailers until he should pay
13:17	all his debt so also my heavenly father
13:21	will do to every one of you
13:23	if you do not forgive your brother from
13:26	your heart
13:27	you see there is no place for grudges
13:30	within the kingdom of god
13:32	the forgiven forgive and yes we forgive
13:35	those
13:36	who ask to be forgiven
13:40	and we also do not hold against them
13:43	their sins those who do not even ask to
13:47	be forgiven
13:48	now i know that second one seems like it
13:50	might sound
13:51	wrong but the reality is is that this is
13:55	so exemplified for us in the bible
13:59	with the stoning of the first Christian
14:01	martyr
14:02	stephen in the book of acts chapter
14:05	6 it says this regarding
14:08	stephen stephen full of grace
14:12	and power was doing great wonders and
14:15	signs among the people
14:16	he was not an apostle but the apostles
14:19	had laid his hands on him he was one of
14:21	the first
14:21	deacons of the Christian church and
14:25	he was performing great signs and
14:26	wonders in the name of Jesus
14:29	and the text goes on to say that some of
14:31	those who belong to the synagogue of the
14:33	freedmen as it was called and of the
14:34	cyrenians
14:35	and of those of the alexandrians and
14:37	those from silicean asia
14:39	they rose up and they disputed with
14:42	stephen
14:43	they disputed with him verse 10 says
14:47	they could not withstand the wisdom and
14:50	the spirit with which he was speaking
14:52	they couldn’t defeat him in a debate
14:55	they knew
14:56	that what he was saying was right
14:58	according to the scriptures and they
15:00	could not figure out how to beat him in
15:03	an argument and worse
15:05	the guy was performing signs and wonders
15:07	in the name of Jesus himself
15:09	well what often happens when somebody
15:12	does that
15:13	is that those who are enemies of Christ
15:15	make themselves enemies of the one who
15:17	is preaching Christ
15:19	and so here was their solution
15:22	they began secretly they instigated men
15:26	who said we have heard stephen speak
15:29	blasphemous words against moses and god
15:33	[Music]
15:35	they started slandering him and bringing
15:38	false charges
15:39	against him text goes on to say they
15:42	stirred up the people
15:43	and the elders and the scribes and they
15:45	came upon him and
15:47	seized him and brought him before the
15:49	council
15:50	and they set up false witnesses who said
15:53	this man never ceases to speak words
15:56	against this holy place
15:58	and against the torah we have heard him
16:01	say that this
16:02	Jesus of nazareth will destroy this
16:04	place
16:05	and will change the customs that moses
16:07	delivered to us
16:08	and gazing at him all who saw
16:12	sat in the council saw stephen’s face
16:16	and they saw that it was like the face
16:17	of an angel
16:21	what should steven do in this situation
16:25	this whole trial is rigged
16:29	and left unchallenged he is going to be
16:33	stoned to death what’s he going to do
16:36	these guys are slandering him he has
16:38	rights you know
16:42	well let’s consider
16:45	with this first deacon and first martyr
16:48	of the Christian
16:49	church did so the high priest chapter 7
16:53	says
16:54	said are these things true are they
16:57	so and he knows full well they’re not
17:00	because they had instigated people to be
17:02	false witnesses
17:04	so he’s just putting on a pretense and
17:05	he’s the high priest
17:08	the religious leader
17:12	so stephen now made his defense and
17:15	consider what he says in light of our
17:17	old testament texts
17:20	brothers and fathers hear me the god of
17:22	glory appeared to our father abraham
17:25	when he was in mesopotamia before he
17:28	lived in haran
17:29	and god said to him go out from your
17:31	land and from your kindred and go
17:33	into the land that i will show you and
17:35	then he went out from the land of the
17:37	chaldeans and lived in haran
17:39	and after his father died god removed
17:41	him from there
17:43	into this land in which you are now
17:45	living
17:46	yet he gave him no inheritance in it not
17:49	even a foot’s length
17:50	but he promised to give it to him as a
17:53	possession and to his offspring after
17:55	him
17:55	though he had no child god spoke to this
17:59	effect that his offspring would be
18:01	sojourners
18:02	in a land belonging to others who would
18:05	enslave them and afflict them for 400
18:08	years
18:09	but i will judge the nation that they
18:11	serve said god
18:13	after that they shall come out and
18:15	worship me in this place
18:17	and so he gave him the covenant of
18:19	circumcision and so abraham became the
18:21	father of isaac
18:23	and circumcised him on the eighth day
18:26	and isaac became the father of jacob
18:28	and jacob of the twelve patriarchs
18:32	and the patriarchs jealous
18:35	of joseph sold him into egypt
18:42	but god was with him so he was sold as a
18:45	slave but god was with him that’s all
18:47	that mattered god was with him
18:49	and god rescued him out of all of his
18:52	afflictions
18:53	and god gave him favor and wisdom before
18:56	pharaoh king of egypt
18:57	who made him ruler over egypt and over
19:00	all his household
19:01	now there came a famine throughout all
19:03	of egypt and canaan
19:05	and great affliction and our fathers
19:06	could find no food
19:08	isn’t it fascinating how stephen in his
19:12	defense
19:13	gives us one of the greatest summaries
19:16	of the old testament in all of scripture
19:19	and he takes us back through and traces
19:21	out
19:22	important themes for us and this is his
19:24	defense
19:25	when jacob heard there was grain in
19:27	egypt he sent out our fathers
19:29	on the first visit and on the second
19:31	visit joseph made himself known to his
19:34	brothers
19:34	and joseph’s family became known to
19:37	pharaoh
19:38	how is that possible his brothers sold
19:40	him into slavery
19:42	sold them into egypt everybody knows
19:45	that when somebody does that
19:47	you make sure that they get what’s
19:49	coming to them
19:52	but joseph forgave them you see in our
19:55	old testament texts
19:58	it’s fascinating when israel when jacob
20:02	finally died
20:03	his brothers who sold him into slavery
20:05	they were were afraid they were
20:07	terrified
20:08	that joseph would hate them and pay them
20:10	back for the evil
20:12	that they had done to him but see
20:15	that’s the thing about we Christians
20:19	we do not repay evil
20:22	for evil
20:25	just like Christ did not repay the evil
20:28	done to him
20:29	on the cross with evil but through that
20:33	evil he worked the greatest good for all
20:36	of us
20:36	so that we can be forgiven and what did
20:39	joseph’s brother do
20:40	brothers do they sent a message to
20:42	joseph saying your father gave this
20:44	command before he died say to joseph
20:46	please
20:47	forgive the transgression of your
20:49	brothers and their sin
20:50	because they did evil to you
20:53	please forgive the transgression of the
20:56	servants of god your father
20:58	but joseph wept when they spoke to him
21:02	and his brothers came they fell down
21:03	before him and said behold we are your
21:05	slaves
21:07	joseph said to them do not fear for am i
21:10	in the place of god
21:12	as for you what you meant for evil
21:15	against me god meant for good
21:19	and to bring it about that many should
21:22	be kept alive
21:23	as they are today and so brothers and
21:25	sisters consider that
21:27	our great sins have been forgiven by
21:30	Christ
21:31	and the evil that we concocted against
21:34	him we are all culpable we are all
21:36	guilty
21:37	of the death of the son of god and the
21:40	evil that we worked against Christ
21:42	Christ has worked for our salvation
21:44	so that many will live rather than
21:47	perish and so you’ll note stephen in his
21:51	defense in the face of slanderous
21:53	accusations
21:56	that if he’s found guilty of would
21:58	result in his death
22:00	he invokes the same history
22:04	this same story and it says
22:08	that on the second visit joseph made
22:10	himself known to his brothers
22:12	and joseph’s family became known to
22:15	pharaoh
22:16	because they were forgiven joseph sent
22:19	and summoned jacob and his father and
22:20	all his kindred 75 persons in all
22:23	and jacob went down into egypt and there
22:25	he died
22:26	and our fathers and they were carried
22:28	back to shechem
22:30	and laid in the tomb that abraham had
22:32	bought for a sum of silver
22:34	from the sons of hamor and shechem
22:38	but this isn’t all that stephen
22:42	says in his defense no he takes us
22:45	through this
22:46	wonderful history of the people of
22:49	israel
22:50	a wonderful and beautiful retelling
22:54	in synopsis form almost like footnotes
22:57	almost like well
22:58	what do they call those things cliff
22:59	nose it’s like the cliff nose version of
23:01	the old
23:02	testament itself but watch where he goes
23:06	here rather than defend
23:09	himself he then
23:12	calls his accusers to repentance
23:19	here’s what it says starting
23:22	at verse 51 of acts chapter
23:27	7
23:31	stephen says you stiff-necked people
23:35	you’re uncircumcised in your heart and
23:37	in your ears
23:39	you always resist the holy spirit as
23:42	your fathers did
23:43	so do you which of the prophets did your
23:46	fathers not persecute
23:48	and they killed those who announced
23:50	beforehand
23:51	the coming of the righteous one whom you
23:54	have now betrayed and you have murdered
23:57	you who received the torah as delivered
24:00	by angels
24:01	but you did not keep it and so you’ll
24:04	note
24:05	rather than try to defend himself at
24:07	this point stephen can see that the gig
24:09	is up
24:09	and what does he do he makes one last
24:12	appeal
24:12	to convict them of their sins so that
24:16	they would recognize their need
24:18	for the forgiveness that is in Christ
24:20	who is the righteous one
24:21	and he reminds them of their guilt as it
24:24	relates to Jesus’s death
24:27	well the story then goes on to say when
24:30	they heard these things
24:31	they were in raged and they
24:35	ground their teeth at him it’s a weird
24:38	thing to say ground your teeth
24:40	what does that look like all right so
24:43	you ground your teeth at him but
24:46	stephen full of the holy spirit then
24:48	gazed into heaven
24:50	and he saw the glory of god and listen
24:52	to what the text says
24:54	and Jesus standing at the right hand of
24:58	god
25:00	this isn’t a throwaway detail this is a
25:02	huge detail
25:03	it’s huge you see because what do we
25:06	confess in the creed
25:07	that Christ ascended into heaven and he
25:10	sits
25:11	at the right hand of the father
25:14	he sits but Jesus here
25:18	is standing
25:22	his first martyr the first
25:25	man who was called to lay down
25:28	his life did not assert his rights
25:34	could see through what was going on and
25:36	didn’t say wow this is all a bunch of
25:38	flim flam
25:40	and a scam he reminded them of the great
25:44	salvation history and the mighty acts of
25:46	god
25:47	culminating in the righteous one Jesus
25:49	Christ whom they crucified and murdered
25:52	but who rose from the dead ascended into
25:55	heaven
25:56	but the creed says sits at the right
25:58	hand of the father
26:00	but here’s what it says he saw Jesus
26:02	standing
26:03	Jesus stood
26:08	he couldn’t be sitting for this one he
26:10	had to stand
26:14	behold i see heavens opened and the son
26:16	of man standing at the right hand of god
26:19	so they cried out with a loud voice and
26:21	they stopped their ears
26:23	and they rushed together at him and then
26:25	they cast him out of the city and they
26:27	stoned him
26:29	and the witnesses laid down their
26:30	garments at the feet of a young man
26:32	named
26:32	saul saul of tarsus this is the one who
26:34	will go on to become
26:36	the apostle paul but as they were
26:39	stoning stephen
26:41	he called out lord Jesus receive my
26:45	spirit and falling to his knees
26:50	he cried out with a loud voice and
26:53	listen to what he prayed
26:54	lord do not hold this sin against them
27:00	and when he had said this he fell asleep
27:06	weren’t asking for his forgiveness they
27:08	hadn’t even repented
27:10	but by him saying lord don’t hold the
27:13	sin against them it’s clear
27:15	not even stephen held this sin against
27:18	them
27:22	it’s sobering when you think about it
27:24	it’s dangerous when you think about it
27:26	if i forgive that person they’re likely
27:28	to
27:30	yeah i know but see it’s a matter of
27:34	perspective
27:36	you have been forgiven ten thousand
27:38	talents of sin
27:40	and anybody who sins against you it’s a
27:42	paltry mere pennies
27:46	so heed the words of Christ have mercy
27:49	on your fellow servants
27:51	even if they’re murdering you even if
27:53	they’re impenitent even if they’re
27:54	slandering you
27:55	even if they are persecuting you
27:58	vengeance is mine saith the lord
28:00	so we forgive everybody
28:03	because we are forgiven so richly this
28:06	is most certainly true
28:08	so lord help us teach us
28:12	through your holy spirit grant to us
28:15	that we may forgive
28:17	as we are forgiven in the name of Jesus
28:21	amen

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