“Tell your brother that you are sorry!”
“But, Dad!”
“Tell him you are sorry!”
“Daddy, you don’t understand … “
“Tell him you are sorry!”
“I’ll say it – but I won’t mean it!”
Sound familiar? Which one are you in this little scenario? The one who doesn’t want to say, “Sorry”? The father who is looking to make peace between the "combatants" so that he can forgive them both? Maybe you are the third one in the story, the one who was wronged. Did you want to be forgiven if it meant you had to forgive also? Maybe, like me, you’ve been all three at different times.
What are we to do when a Christian does something – well – unchristian?
“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Literally “Forgive our sins in the same way we forgive those who sin against us.”
I’ll admit that I’ve choked on those words a couple of times in my life. I’ve started to say them – and then realized that there was someone I had not yet forgiven.
Why couldn’t we pray, “Forgive our sins even though we can’t/won’t/haven’t forgiven them”?
Forgiveness is unnatural. We are all at the center of our own universe. Anything, that doesn’t go the way we want it, is a bad thing. Anybody who disagrees with us is a moron. People who try to stop us are bad people.
In Matthew 18:21 & 22 Peter asks Jesus just how many times he has to forgive his brother or sister who sins against him. And then offers up an answer for himself that seemed extremely generous. “Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
In our gospel reading for today, Jesus lays out a plan of what to do if a Christian acts in an unchristian way toward you.
Once you have tried every step, the last thing is to treat them as an unbeliever and a tax collector.
Now two things are important to understand here: One, this is not talking about the sin of non-believers; and two, being treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector is the LAST option in the list.
Let’s look at what Luke recorded in chapter 7: “Jesus said to his disciples:
“There will always be something that causes people to sin. But anyone who causes them to sin is in for trouble. A person who causes even one of my little followers to sin would be better off thrown into the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their neck. So be careful what you do.”
“There will always be something that causes people to sin. But anyone who causes them to sin is in for trouble. A person who causes even one of my little followers to sin would be better off thrown into the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their neck. So be careful what you do.”
Okay, so here is what I understand this to mean to us.
1. Sin Happens!
2. Make sure you don’t!
3. Don’t lead others into sin!
4. If you do sin, Get right with God – Quick!
5. Do your best to lead sinners back to God.
In Luke chapter 17:3-4 it says, “Correct any followers of mine who sin, and forgive the ones who say they are sorry Even if one of them mistreats you seven times in one day and says, “I am sorry,” you should still forgive that person.”
Forgive, Forgive, Forgive! That is what the good news is all about. Right?
Jesus came to forgive us and expects us to forgive each other. Man! That is so hard sometimes!
At least we have a plan to follow. Jesus gives instructions what to do if one of his followers sins against another, “Go and point out what was wrong.”
Don’t wait. Don’t let it fester and grow. Go now!
But do it in private, just between the two of you. Don’t go to a third party and start gossiping about the problem. I know, that it is easier to complain than it is to forgive. However, that is NOT the Christian way to handle it.
If that person who wronged you listens, you have won back a follower.
Woo Hoo! Yea!
But we know that system doesn’t always work. Right?
So here is what to do if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. No! They’re not your “muscle”.
The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses. Plus where two or more believers are gathered, God is there also.
But what If the follower still refuses to listen to them? Report the matter to the church.
Do you notice the progression here? We start off one-to-one, then bring in a few more, now we bring in the whole body of believers.
Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector.
That sounds bad – doesn’t it?
So … that’s it? We give up on them?
No! There DOES come a time when we have to do MORE than forgive, not LESS. We need to treat our brother or sister like an unbeliever or a tax collector.
How did Jesus treat unbelievers and tax collectors?
He actively sought them out. He went into their homes. He ate with them. He healed them. He prayed with and for them. He befriended them. He sought to bring them into the Kingdom of God
Can we do any less?
Chances are that sometime in the last few minutes, while we talked about forgiveness, we have thought of someone whom we have not forgiven. Or maybe we’ve thought of someone who hasn’t forgiven us.
We need to pray for that relationship because our relationship with each other can interfere with having a strong relationship with God. Then we need to actively seek to mend it.
Forgive as you have been forgiven.
Amen!
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