Sermon for Trinity 22. The Scripture readings are Micah 6:6-8; Philippians 1:3-11; and Matthew 18:21-35.

Jesus said to Peter, “No, forgiving seven times isn’t enough. Instead, seventy-seven (or it could also be translated ‘seventy multiplied by seven’) times.” Now, Jesus doesn’t mean that you forgive and forgive and forgive, but when you get either to 76 or 489 forgivings (sic) you warn the other person, “Listen, you’ve only got one forgiveness left.” Nope, let the forgiveness flow freely.

God wants to be known for His goodness. God wants to be known by His mercy. God wants to be known for His willingness to freely forgive. And if you refuse to forgive those who have sinned against you, what does that say about your God and King?

The cure for our unforgiveness is to have a right understanding the massive debt that each of us owe to God. When we wrongly think that have only a little debt of sin, we can only have a little Savior.

Sin – all sin – is against God (Ps. 51:4; 1 Cor. 8:12). Every day, you rack up an unimaginable, incalculable debt of sin. And when God calls you in to settle accounts what does He do? Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, God simply wipes it out. Because of Jesus, as far as God is concerned, your debt of sin never existed. Jesus came to erase your debt and fill your account with His righteousness. His mercy is complete.

Forgiving others is not the same as approving what they have done. Forgiveness literally means ‘to send away.’ The only way to be freed from the pain and hurt of sin that others commit against you is to forgive it, release it, and send it away.

The biggest lie the devil will ever tell you is that forgiving someone will just encourage them keep sinning against you, taking advantage of you, and making you a doormat. That satanic lie is a sneaky attack on God’s forgiveness. Is God worried about His forgiveness encouraging you to sin? Nope! Absolutely not. He forgives you fully and freely.