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?”

           Last week, we looked at Jesus’ teaching about what we must do when a brother or sister offends us—or sins against us. We begin by going to that person and having conversation. Just the two of us. We learned that our attitude must be one of humility. And our goal—the desired outcome—is restoration.

           Jesus no sooner finished those words of instruction when Peter spoke up. You know one of the things I like about Peter? He was not afraid to just put it out there. If something was on his mind, if he had a question, he said it or asked it. He has often been criticized. But more often than not he said what the rest of the disciples were thinking. He asked a question. He asked a question many of us have entertained from time to time. Allow me to paraphrase and add to what Peter said. “Okay, Lord. Good advice. A brother or sister sins against us. And we need to work it out. But how many times must I allow my brother to sin against me? Do I need to keep going to him? Or is there a time when I say, ‘enough?’ Is there an ending point to the process?” Then Peter attempted to suggest an answer for Jesus by saying, “Would seven times be enough?”

           Jesus responded by saying, in effect, “No, Peter, seven times does not even come close.”

           After last week’s message, a number of people asked about Mrs. Ramey and Mrs. Cooper and Ollie J. Arnett. You wanted the rest of the story. What was the outcome of their conflict? I wanted to leave that a little open ended. I plan on being here a good long while. And you will hear a few more tales from the south. Their names may come up again. I will say this, though. You will recall I mentioned that church, which had once been thriving, was served by student pastors—as a result of the conflict. Well, in 1981, the year I graduated, they received the appointment of a full time pastor. They went on to experience growth to an extent that the worship area had to be expanded. You know, incredible and amazing things will happen in a community of faith where grace abounds.

           But it is not always easy. Exhibiting grace in the midst of conflict—offering forgiveness—can be a challenge. Let’s not pretend otherwise. It takes work. But it is in the working at it where growth occurs. One of the reasons it is not always so easy is we keep offending.

           Think of some of the relationships in your life. I think of mine. There is my relationship with my wife, my children, my friends. I am not perfect. On occasion, I will, for example, do something that upsets my wife. She confronts me. I apologize. I am forgiven. The forgiveness is nice—because once forgiven, I will never do anything to anger her again. Right? I mean I even say it won’t happen again. Wrong. It does happen again. And the process is repeated. You know what I mean.

           So is there a limit? When Peter asked Jesus how often he had to forgive his brother, he was aware of the general practice of that day. It was taught that a brother or sister might be offered forgiveness for a repeated sin three times. Three times. Now, you see what Peter did? He doubled the number…and then added one for good measure. I’m sure he was feeling

rather magnanimous. I mean, maybe he pounded his chest and said, “Lord, I am willing to forgive my brother seven times. That’s more than double the normal total. Aren’t I special?”

           And Jesus, in his ever tender manner, said, “No. Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” And in saying that, Jesus was not saying that forgiveness stops with the seventy-seventh offense. What Jesus said was forgiveness is not limited. It is not even limited by the number of sins committed.

           Now, Jesus answered Peter’s question quite directly. Enough said. Move on. Well, not quite. For Jesus continued with his answer by telling a parable. And this parable, along with the one we will look at next week, are my favorites.

           There was a man who owed a king ten thousand talents. That would be the equivalent of several million dollars. That is a lot by today’s standards—an even bigger sum to Jesus’ listeners. One wonders how the man accumulated such a big debt. Doesn’t matter. He was unable to pay. In fact, there was no way he could repay that debt. That was Jesus’ point. No way the debt could be repaid. The king ordered the man and his family sold in order to pay the debt. Let’s not lose that little point. Only the lives of the man and his family could begin to satisfy the debt. His debt affected not only him, but also the ones he loved. The man begged for mercy, and he said he would pay back everything. Remember, even though the man said it, there was no way he could repay. It was foolish of him to think he could. The king had mercy and cancelled the debt.

           You would think the man would have been thrilled. But people are funny. For he went and found a fellow servant who owed him just a few dollars. He demanded his money. See, he thought he would begin to satisfy his debt with the king by collecting on the debts owed him. His fellow servant said exactly what the first servant had said to the king. He asked for patience and said he would repay. His debt was a debt that could have been repaid. But the man had him thrown in prison until full payment could be made.

           The king heard about this and called in the man. The king called him wicked, and said he should have extended the same mercy he had received. Then the king had him thrown in jail until he could pay back the entire debt. The man went from forgiven to being in debt the rest of his life. Why? Simply because he refused to forgive another.

           Jesus’ conclusion was, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” Not just lip service forgiveness—but forgiveness that begins in the heart.

           Let’s notice a couple of things from this story.

           First, each creditor was certainly within his rights, I guess, to refuse forgiveness. Each was not out of line in insisting the debt be discharged.

           But, then, second, we need to note what happened to the individual who chose not to forgive. That person—the unmerciful servant—ended up trapped by his own debt. He ended up in prison beyond any hope of relief. His unwillingness to forgive gained him nothing. In the end, it cost him his life.

           Wow! When I refuse to forgive, who ends up getting hurt the most? Not my brother or sister. It is me. I become trapped in my own sin and debt.

           That is so true. Say someone wrongs me. Or in my opinion wrongs me. You know what feels good? And I hope I am not alone in this. But I am angry with that person. And it sometimes feels good to be angry. I don’t want to get over it or offer forgiveness—at least not immediately. I feel I have some right to be angry. Some may tell me I have the right to be angry. And I just want to wallow in it for awhile.  Maybe invite others to wallow in it with me.

           But like a sliver just beneath the surface of the skin, that anger festers. Soon it begins to infect other areas of my life. Sleep is lost. Work becomes less productive. Other relationships are affected. That lack of forgiveness becomes my sin. And I am trapped in it. Forgiving is what sets us free.

           Offering grace is about giving up whatever right we feel we have to be angry. Grace is about what is possible. It is not some requirement that restricts us. The opposite is true. It sets us free. When we choose to forgive, we open up avenues for God’s grace to continue to enter our lives and transform us.

           What do you suppose it would look like if people, not just in individual communities of faith, but all over the world would just begin asking for and offering forgiveness—if people would live in grace?

           Okay, so why did Jesus tell this story? I mean, wasn’t his direct answer to Peter’s question enough? Well, not really. For the story illustrates the answer and drives home the point. See, we are that first servant. The debt we owe God, so to speak, is astronomical. We are sinners. We sin against God—we offend God—all the time. And there is nothing we could ever do to cancel the debt.

           What if God put a limit on the number of times he would forgive us? What if God said, “I will forgive you just seven times—or seventy-seven times?” I would have reached that limit years and years ago. But God’s mercy and grace shown us in Christ Jesus are without limit. Praise God! No boundaries on his grace.

           So there is no limit to the number of times God will forgive us. Do we dare, then, entertain the notion that there is a limit to the number of times I will forgive another? That’s what Jesus was telling Peter.

           Jesus began the story by saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants….” We are members of this community of faith—citizens of God’s kingdom. In God’s kingdom, compassion and mercy and grace are not the exception—as they seem to be in the kingdom of this world. In God’s kingdom, they are the rule. And it is amazing what God will do where compassion and mercy and grace prevail.

           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?”