Rev. David Holwick Q First Baptist Church Ledgewood, New Jersey May 3, 1992 Matthew 18:23-35 "IN DEBT TO THE MAX" I. Forgiveness as a character issue. As New Jersey's presidential primary approaches, one consideration every voter must face is the character of the candidates. Negative campaigning is nothing new in American politics and neither is the character issue. More than 180 years ago a candidate for President had to confront rumors that neither Bush nor Clinton have had to face. Even though he was a forceful and proven leader, it was his inability to forgive that called his character into question. I am speaking, of course, of Andrew Jackson. One scholar has said that when Andrew Jackson hated, it often became a grand passion. He could hate with a Biblical fury. He would resort to petty and vindictive acts to nurture his hatred and keep it bright and strong and ferocious. He needed revenge. He always struck back. On May 30, 1806, Jackson met crackshot Charles Dickinson in a duel at Harrison's Mills, Kentucky. It appears that Dickinson had made some rude comments about Jackson's wife. Others had too - she wasn't actually divorced when Jackson married her. So that morning they paced off for the duel. Upon the signal to "Fire!," Dickinson instantly raised his pistol and, as expected, got off the first shot. Kicking up dust from Jackson's coat as it entered, the bullet stuck him full in the chest. Everyone watching knew that Jackson had been hit. Astonishingly, Jackson did not fall but remained standing, ramrod straight. The 70-caliber ball had chipped off his breastbone, broken two ribs, plowed through chest muscle to come within an inch of his heart. Blood drained down his leg and began to fill his boot. Dumbfounded, Dickinson had to remain on his mark to await his fate. He was now at Jackson's mercy. A man in Jackson's situation customarily raised his pistol, aimed it at his disarmed opponent, then pointed it at the sky and fired. It was the gentlemanly thing to do and earned you much respect. Dickinson stood frozen, his arms folded across his chest, his eyes fixed on the ground. Jackson raised his pistol, took level aim - and pulled the trigger. A harmless "click" followed. The hammer had mercifully failed to strike. Jackson now had a second chance to consider his actions, to remind himself that Dickinson's wife was pregnant. Jackson himself was born after his father's death and knew the hardship of growing up fatherless on the frontier. As Dickinson waited helplessly in place, Jackson carefully recocked his pistol and again took deliberate aim at his opponent. And for the second time he pulled the trigger. This time the weapon did not misfire, and Dickinson fell mortally wounded. Jackson showed no remorse for having shot Dickinson in cold blood. The episode would haunt Jackson the rest of his life. The full ounce of lead was lodged so close to his heart that doctors never dared to try to remove it. Thereafter he experienced sporadic chest pain that increased with old age. During his first presidential campaign in 1828, the opposition compiled a list of his brutality and printed a handbill with 18 coffins on it. Each had the name of an individual killed by Jackson's gun or order. His harshness and inability to forgive almost cost him the presidency, not to mention his life. #1113 A. The inability to forgive can cost us even more - eternal life. B. Are you a forgiving person? A test: 1) Does memory of how someone hurt you still stir up pain? 2) If that person were sitting beside you this morning, would the Communion bread get caught halfway down? II. A story of forgiveness. A. Ten thousand talents owed. 18:24 1) 100 talents of silver hired 100,000 mercenaries. 2 Chr 25:6 2) Queen of Sheba gave Solomon 120 talents of gold. 1 Kg 10:10 3) Solomon earned 666 talents a year at peak. 1 Kg 10:14 4) David gave 3,000 talents of gold and 7,000 of silver for construction of Temple. 1 Chr 29:4,7 5) BIG bucks - national debt. 10,000 talents = $1 billion. B. Not able to pay. 1) Family and possessions sold to defray debt. a) Defrays maybe one talent. 9,999 to go. 2) "Be patient - I'll pay back everything!" C. Master's reaction. 1) Took pity. 2) Forgave debt. 3) Let him go. D. Far-out details. 1) Huge amount of money. 2) Pitiful attempt to defray debt. 3) Ludicrous offer to pay back. 4) Super-generous forgiveness of debt by master. E. Parable must go beyond human situation to Divine one. III. What the parable is really about. A. We are in great debt to God. 1) Debt = sins. (Compare Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:12) 2) We think of our sins as small debts. Actually, they're huge. a) Are debts are to God, and not in comparison with others. b) A single sin separates you from God. 3) There is no possible way we can pay them back. a) Can't roll them over on your VISA. B. God forgives our debt. 1) Not because we have earned it, but because he is gracious. 2) Through faith in Jesus Christ. IV. The parable continues. A. The forgiven debtor finds someone who owes him. 1) Denarius a day's wage, so not a pittance, but not huge. B. Chokes him and demands payment. 1) Buddy offers to pay back (same terms as above). 2) He refuses, and throws him into debtor prison. 3) Other servants inform the king. C. The response of the king. 1) I showed mercy - shouldn't you? 2) Thrown into prison for torture until debt paid. (Never will) D. Why is the king so forgiving, yet so ruthless? 1) A God of such compassion and mercy cannot possibly accept as his those who are devoid of compassion and mercy. 2) Those who can't forgive are incapable of accepting forgiveness. V. How we can forgive others. A. Forgiveness is hard and unnatural. 1) It is easier to receive forgiveness than to give it. a) We prayed it in Lord's Prayer this morning. Sink in? 2) No one wants to be owed, and not get back. General Oglethorpe, to whom the young John Wesley was chaplain in the colony of Georgia in America, once said to Wesley with great pride, "I never forgive." Wesley replied, "Then I hope, sir, you never sin." #303 B. Unforgiveness is even harder and more unnatural. 1) Bitterness can eat at us, even destroy us. 2) It will devour our relationships. C. God can help us forgive. 1) Keep in mind what God has done for you. 2) Take a small first step. (Swallow your pride) Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were great friends. But when Jefferson defeated Adams in the Presidential election, Adams took it personally. "You have turned me out! You have turned me out!" No words for 11 years. Friends visited old, bitter Adams, who said, "I always loved Jefferson and I still love him." Friends told Jefferson, who told a mutual friend to tell Adams of his "affections." Adams responded with a letter, and they began the greatest correspondence in American history. #250 3) Don't expect miracles overnight. In an article in "Guideposts," Corrie ten Boom told of not being able to forget a wrong that had been done to her. She had forgiven the person, but she kept rehashing the incident and so, couldn't sleep. Finally Corrie cried out to God for help. God's help came in the form of a kindly Lutheran pastor. "Up in that church tower," he said, nodding out the window, "is a bell which is rung by pulling on a rope. But you know what? After the sexton lets go of the rope, the bell keeps on swinging. First ding, then dong. Slower and slower until there's a final dong and it stops. I believe the same thing is true of forgiveness. When we forgive, we take our hand off the rope. But if we've been tugging at our grievances for a long time, we mustn't be surprised if the old angry thoughts keep coming for a while. They're just the ding-dongs of the old bell slowing down.' And so it proved to be for Miss ten Boom. #1927 VI. Forgiveness has a healing quality in the long-run. Thomas Fleming in "Reader's Digest": I am convinced that forgiveness is one of the untapped - and least understood - sources of healing power. Essentially, it involves a decision to abandon the impulse to get even. Though the idea may seem passive to some, genuine forgiveness is a positive act that requires enormous spiritual strength. #250