Lesson's Learned and Hearts Softened

By Cal Cook

I'm providing the Sermonette on WTTF radio this week so I thought I's share what I'm saying on the radio here. If you'd like to listen it is 1600 AM on your radio dial. Below is the manuscript of the message, I use an outline format:

Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the attacks on our country by terrorists’ intent on destroying the American way of life. My hope and prayer as we reflect back on that day is that we will stop and ask ourselves what we have learned…as individuals and as a people. It was not an accident that the terrorist plot was to attack the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and they surmise, the White House…all symbols of American power and pride!
As I reflect on that day and the ensuing days after it, I find a couple of lessons that I hope we have learned. The first is that nothing in life is certain! We have been amazed with the stories of those who for various reasons were not there on that fateful day…yet for many it was an ordinary day. Life had been continuing on in a manner that most thought would last forever…if not forever for at least their lifetimes. Yet after that day things changed…things always change…no matter how ordinary today seems it could all be different tomorrow!
The second lesson that I hope and pray that we’ve learned from 9-11 is that old habits are hard to break! Right after 9-11 we saw people joining together in unprecedented ways. Congress even joined together and prayed on the Capital steps…huh, wonder why that wasn’t unconstitutional? But within weeks most went right back to their old ways! Fighting and bickering has reached an all new high…what happened to joining together for the good of the country?
Finally the third thing I pray that we’ve learned in the 10 years from 9-11 is that the basic principles of life still apply! I’m not sure if it was a trajectory we were already on as a nation or if 9-11 brought out a sense of urgency but people started doing really stupid stuff! From 2001 to 2007 everyone went on a spending spree! People were buying properties they knew they couldn’t afford with a plan of selling them in just a few months for a huge prophet! Credit card debt went through the roof increasing by over 25% with the average household owing more than $8000 in credit card debt!

The only good news is that credit card debt is down…although some economists say that is just a sign of weak consumer confidence…meaning most plan on it getting worse! The basic principles of life still apply…what goes up must come down…if you spend more than you make you will go broke…I pray we have learned that…before it’s too late!
At BUM church we are spending the next three weeks looking at what the Bible has to say about finances. We are using Dave Ramsey’s series Life, Money and Hope as a reference. All are welcome to come to our 9am Traditional or 1115 Contemporary service as we all learn together….today’s scripture provides us with some insight on those lessons I hope we’ve learned and a little bit about finances as well! As Jesus teaches us about forgiveness: Read Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone[a] who sins against me? Seven times?” 22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven![b]
23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.[c] 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.
26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. 28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.[d] He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters[e] from your heart.”
I. In this parable of forgiveness we see someone who apparently thought that things would continue on the way that had been forever! (Information - background) SLIDE
Matthew 18:24-25a In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay…
A. So here we have a man who owed what bible commentators say was equivalent to 20 years’ worth of wages…and apparently had no plan to ever pay it back! (Description of situation)
1. Jesus doesn’t give us details about what resources the man did have, or how he came to a point of owing such a huge debt…but the point is he owed more than he could repay…when the loan was called to account.
a. We as a nation owe more than we can pay…if our loans were called to account…
b. Most of us as individuals owe more than we could pay if our loans were called to account…
c. Sometimes people who loan money…decide they want it back…now!
d. Things won’t always continue on the way there have been!
2. Jesus doesn’t say the king is evil for demanding repayment…it’s his prerogative to do so…in fact in the parable the King represents God!
a. This servant who owes this huge debt represents us…
b. Notice what we do next…we act from what is near to our hearts… SLIDE
Matthew 18:28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
c. Old habits are hard to break…and although we just saw the man cry out for mercy…mercy does not live in his heart!
d. Selfishness is a dear old friend to all of us…and it is all too easy to fall back into allegiance with him…even after having received mercy!
3. Finally in our Gospel reading today we see that basic principles of life do apply…you reap what you sow!
Matthew 18:31-32a “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant!
a. Do stupid stuff and you will get caught!
b. Notice again the king’s response here…mercy was given…but then revoked!
c. Now I’m not going into the Theological implications of what Jesus is telling us in this parable about mercy…
d. What I’m trying to simply say is that in this life…you may get away with it…you may not…but never plan on it!
e. If you allow the selfishness that resides in your heart to drive you it will lead you to ruin!
II. We can see all three lessons in this parable about forgiveness…but let’s cut to the chase…the parable is about forgiveness. The King is our Heavenly Father and the one forgiven the great debt that can never be repaid is us! (Movement or Moment) SLIDE
A. It’s not a question of how much we owe relative to someone else…only it’s a debt we can’t repay! Does it matter if it’s millions, billions or trillions…if you can’t pay you can’t pay! (What does the movement/moment mean?)
1. Unless you have lived your life with perfection, never once speaking in anger, never once acting out of selfishness…never even a stray thought that you let take hold in your heart…you owe a debt of your life…death is the wages of sin (Romans 6:23).
a. But the King wants to show you mercy…He’s waiting on you to come to Him and ask…
b. He won’t force it on you…you don’t receive it like a check in the mail…you’ve got to go before the King and ask for it…
c. Yet mercy is available to all…regardless of your status in life, regardless of your current situation…regardless if you owe a little or a lot…
2. Mercy once received, should be mercy given! The amazing thing about this person in Jesus’ parable is the incredible debt that he was forgiven…had no affect on him!
a. Surely the debt was incredibly large in the parable for a reason!
b. That kind of mercy is unheard of! Who would forgive such a debt? Certainly no earthly king!
c. The Bible tells us we are slaves to the lender and surely Jesus’ parable bares that out!
d. But this King instead of holding us captive for our debt…sets us free…
3. If your heart is not softened by that kind of mercy…then it is mercy that has not been received!
a. You show me a bitter, angry, unmerciful person and I’ll show you someone who has not been forgiven!
b. You will know them by their fruit; Jesus says over and over again that you can tell what’s in a person’s heart but how they act…
c. A true follower of Jesus Christ is someone with forgiveness in their heart…is someone with mercy, residing there…
d. Is someone who shares the love that they have been given!
III. Throughout the pages of scripture we see that God allows things to happen for a reason…sometimes we are given the reason and sometimes we are not…sometimes scripture seems to imply, stuff just happens! (Visualize)
A. But one thing is clear each time we experience tragedy…God intends for it to produce fruit! (Show example of the movement/moment in action)
1. Whether it’s the O.T. account of Joseph and his time in slavery and prison, or its Jesus talking about the tower that fell and killed people in Siloam (Luke 13:4) or it’s the many other accounts of the Apostles and Saints who faced tragedies in this life…God allows them…intending them to impact our hearts and bring about a change!
a. If your still living with the same selfish, prideful perspective 10 years after 9-11 that you had before 9-11 then you are just like the ungrateful servant in Jesus’ parable!
b. I’m not saying we should live as door mats for terrorists or the rest of the world to walk on…what I am saying is that we should be living with a little more humility…
c. We can be strong and humble…the two are not exclusive of one another…isn’t that the very image we receive from Christ?
d. Someone who is not a pushover, someone who stands for what is right…but also someone with humbleness and mercy living in His heart…
B. Some have speculated that this life is nothing but a lesson…a trial run, a proving ground for eternity…and to an extent I agree! (Show the antithesis of the movement/moment)
1. I pray that life’s lessons are having an affect on you, as I pray the same for me…
a. I pray that we as a people, we as the Church, and we as the Body of Christ will allow life’s challenges to reflect well on us…
b. That unlike what we see all around us tragedy doesn’t harden us…it softens us while it makes us strong!
c. That challenges will bring a resolve to our lives…a certainty to the end and a joy to the now!
d. Let’s live that for all the world to see…so that when people see us…they would not see us…but Christ living in us!