“Seventy Times Seven”
The Appomattox Court House Presbyterian Church Pulpit
Rev. Cameron S. Smith
The Lord's Day, November 12, 2006
Genesis 4:19-24
Matthew 18:21-35
"Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him.'" The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" -Luke 17:3-5
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever. Amen
LOVE & FORGIVENESS
One of the defining marks in the life of a Christian is love. Love for God and love for one another. Matthew says that "on these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets" (Matt 22:40). Mark says there are no greater commandments than these, period (Mark 12:31). Luke says, "do this, and you will live" (Luke 10:28).
It is from this divine love priority that we consider this morning the most basic symptom of love, as it relates to the second half of "the great commandment": Loving your neighbor as yourself. This is that which James calls the "the royal law" (James 2:8): Forgiveness.
HOW HARD IT IS TO FORGIVE
Forgiveness is one of those concepts that we all know is the right thing to do; and yet, it is so difficult to put into practice. I remember well one of my Biology instructors in college admonishing us that "I'm sorry is a mighty hollow excuse" when someone is injured in the lab due to your carelessness. In other words, what he was unmistakeably implying was that forgiveness is really not the appropriate response in some extreme cases of life and limb. That is clearly not a biblical response!
Years ago, when Shannon and I were first dating, she visited me in Orlando while I was in seminary. It was wonderful. A married couple at the seminary graciously provided accomodations for my soon-to-be-wife, and I was able to show her the town, this being her first time in Florida.
Shannon, being a horse lover, had been planting hints before she arrived that she might (Let the reader beware of the key word there!) like to see the Lippizaner stallions, which were rumored to be stabled in the area. It must have completely slipped my mind, and I didn't pursue it; but hey, I got her into Disney World free!
Seven years later, during an argument, I learned for the first time that she had never forgiven me for that sin of omission! Last night, as I was asking for permission to use this particular example, she reminded me that she STILL hadn't forgiven me for that!
That's the way we normally operate when it comes to forgiveness -- saying that all is forgiven, when in fact, there is no forgiveness at all! But perhaps the most striking example of the kind of forgiveness that we find commanded in Scripture was displayed very recently during the first week of October in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: When a decent family man walked into an Amish school house and senselessly murdered several young girls. The response in the community was forgiveness. I was in Raleigh at the time, standing inside the lobby of the Holiday Inn, staring blankly at the television in disbelief.
My initial response -- and to a certain degree, still lingering response -- was incredible anger. And yet, these Amish believers responded in love, tangibly demonstrating it by embracing the killer's widow and children.
DIVINE PICTURES OF FORGIVENESS
I'm sure that much of the world thought it insane and unrealistic to respond this way to an outrageously evil act. But this gives us a starting place to reflect on forgiveness. There are, in my thinking, at least three powerful pictures of God's forgiveness in the Bible:
The first example that comes to my mind is when the prophet Hosea is commanded by God to marry Gomer (Hosea 1:2), a known prostitute; and when she, in due course follows the course of her nature, Hosea is told to pursue her and restore her (Hosea 3:1). Hosea graphically represents God to us, who is Himself the real spouse who has been cheated on, and yet, He continues to love the unfaithful bride (the Church), ever and always upholding the marriage covenant.
Another powerful example is the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11ff). The son's ungratefulness cannot quench the love of his father. The father is always waiting; always longing and ever willing to forgive. The Gospels are replete with the most unlikely of converts, and yet, Jesus stands with open arms to welcome the vilest of sinners. They were dead, but now they are alive; they were lost, and now they are found.
The third picture, and perhaps most definitively, is the reality of Jesus on the cross crying out, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:24). The parable of the tenants drives this message home effectively. (Matt 21:33ff//Mark 12:1ff//Luke 20:9ff).
In the parable, the hired workers in the king's vineyard mercilessly murder the king's messengers when they check up on how the "business" is progressing. As a final act of gracious communication, the king decides to send his very own son to the workers. But, the workers wickedly try to usurp the king's goodness in providing the vineyard by killing even the son. By this despicable act, the workers show ingratitude for the king's ample provision of life and sustenance in the vineyard.
Of course, the son represents Jesus, and the messengers are the prophets, who didn't fare any better. In the face of that kind of open treachery, God's Son ultimately comes to us as well, only to be ushered to the cross as the suffering Savior. In dying this way, his words are not those of vengeance, but, "Father, forgive them."
These are powerful and meaningful demonstrations of forgiveness. As I continue to grow up in the Faith, I find that God asks nothing of us that He hasn't already freely demonstrated perfectly in His own gracious dealings with us.
SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN
In light of these examples of God's forgiveness, we come to our text in Matthew 18. Let me read the first two verses once more:
Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven."
The larger context here is church discipline. Jesus, in verses 15-20, has just taught his disciples what to do when someone sins against them. How should it be handled in the right way? This is what prompts Peter's question about forgiveness. I love Peter! He's a man after my own heart, and I suspect that he speaks for you as well.
As a good Jew, Peter must have known that seven was the divine number for perfection; and his question, on the surface, seems to be a good way for Peter to help his fellow disciples understand the true nature of forgiveness. Seven, the number of divine fullness; the number of holy completeness. This must mean that to forgive someone up to seven times is really holy code for unlimited forgiveness! Good eye, Peter!
Perhaps this is a correct understanding of Peter's motives in the question, but based on some of Peter's previous actions when the spotlight was hot and bright upon him, I kind of doubt it. I think Jesus, in his answer was providing a gentle rebuke to Peter's calcified, literal and I shudder to say, legalistic interpretation of forgiveness: "I do not say to seven times, but seventy times seven[!]"
Now I confess, when I was eighteen years old, I was of the same mind as Peter. Okay, so it's not seven times, but 490 times. You mess up on me, and you're down to 489 strikes left! But, let me say it once more - this wooden interpretation completely misses the point. To say that you must forgive someone seven times would be a sufficient, biblical way to say that you ought to always forgive, because seven represents a generous fullness. But Jesus, to drive the point home in the fog says NOT seven, but seventy times seven! That had the literary effect of underscoring the point, to an even greater degree, of complete, unending, persistent and thorough forgiveness!
OT CONNECTIONS
My hunch here is that Jesus, by the words that he chose to use, was thinking further back to our OT lesson this morning (Gen 4:19-24) to Lamech, the seventh generation seed of Cain. Lamech, by the world's standards, was a very successful man. He had it all. He had two wives, maybe more. His children were paragons of success:
His son Jabal was an innovator of sorts of what we know now as agribusiness.
His brother Jubal was probably the first accomplished musician, giving rise to many after his own unique talent.
Another son, Tubal-cain, who was the first to work with iron and bronze, giving the world the first weapons of war.
Lamech must have been proud of his boys! But, I think that Moses didn't include that biographical information to be complimentary of Lamech's family. I think God's commentary on this development was largely negative. Even though the callings of Lamech's son's are not evil, in and of themselves, I think the point was that this family was so focused in on themselves and their "careers," that serving and worshipping God took last place in their lives.
I think this negative reading is born out with Lamech's concluding, infamous boast that's recorded here in this section for posterity: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold." (Gen 4:23-24). In other words, Lamech says, I will seek revenge for offenses against me seventy times seven. My thirst for revenge will never be quenched! This Cain-ite family represents well the world's priorities and lifestyle!
Jesus turns this worldly wisdom on its head! The answer isn't grudges; the answer isn't revenge; the answer isn't to be justified in your own sense of being violated. Listen to me folks, the divine standard is to forgive.
LAMECH OR JESUS?
I have been astonished over the years to observe how brothers and sisters in Christ are so much more like Lamech than Jesus in this regard. And, I want you to know that I number myself in that company.
I have told you before of a man and his wife who were in a membership class and asked the pastor if the serial murderer, Ted Bundy, could really have genuinely received forgiveness for his many heinous murders. When the pastor said that God could forgive Bundy, the couple walked out of the class in anger, and never returned.
I experienced something familiar in Orlando when I took a particular stand within the church; two couples who were good friends of mine, thought I was being unloving. When I tried to reconcile and admit that I may have come off a little too harsh, both couples said, we forgive you, Cameron. One couple forgave me twice! However, none have spoken to me since, and the relations are painfully frosty. When I go back to church there on occasion, they all consciously head for the other side of the sanctuary and ignore me; but we all still worship our forgiving God there together!
Let me direct your attention back to our NT lesson for a moment: The parable that closes the section is truly haunting. It is the story of a servant who was in serious debt to his king. It says that this servant owed the king ten thousand talents. If you check your footnotes in your Bible, it says that a talent was worth either 15 or 20 years of wages for a laborer. Whichever amount is correct, that's an insurmountable amount of money! Impossible to pay back in a lifetime. The servant begged for forgiveness; and the king was merciful and forgave the debt.
But then, the servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. When his co-worker couldn't pay, he ignored the pleas for patience and threw him into prison until the full amount of the debt was paid. According to the study footnotes, a denarius was worth only one day's wages; a mere pittance compared to the debt that the king had just forgiven.
When the king found out about the wickedness of the servant's actions, his words are chilling: "You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?" And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. [And Jesus adds this final warning:] So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. (Matt 18:32-35)
SERIOUS BUSINESS TO FORGIVE
Every week, I close the pastoral prayer by inviting you to join me in the Lord's Prayer. We say together, Father "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." In Matthew 6 where the prayer comes from, Jesus adds this commentary to this well worn prayer, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
From the parable of the servant in our lesson this morning, it should be evident that the ten thousand talents represent the debt of sin that you could never, ever repay. God has done the unimaginable in forgiving such a tremendous debt. The one hundred denarii is the offense that erects the barrier between you and your brother or sister.
I take joy in the knowledge that our God doesn't solely say "Do what I say!" He says, "Do what I do!" I encourage you to wrestle with this exhortation. It's not easy, I promise you that! But, this is who we are to be in Christ. Consider now the wrongs against you that occupy your mind. For some of us, they're merely simmering on the back burner. For some of us, they're boiling, waiting to explode! Remember the words of Jesus my friends.
Seventy times seven. Seventy times seven. Seventy times seven.
Amen
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