WEBVTT 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:07.040 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.160 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:10.240 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:18.079 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.640 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:27.120 Welcome to week three of our metaphor series, MetaCurch. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:28.480 How are you guys doing? 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:29.440 Yeah. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:33.280 So good to be here with you guys. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:35.119 If you are new with us, my name's Clayton. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:47.600 I'm the lead pastor here at MetaCurch, and we are in a series called Metaphor, where we are going through some of the parables of Jesus that he told during his ministry here on earth. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:51.280 Now, if you're new to a church context, this is the perfect place for you. 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:59.119 MetaCurch is a place where you can belong in this movement, even if you don't believe exactly what we believe. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:02.719 A parable, we've defined it to help us know what we're talking about. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:08.000 A parable is a simple story with a significant meaning. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:10.959 A simple story with a significant meaning. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:23.200 What Jesus would do is he would take something common in people's everyday flow of life, and he would use this thing as a metaphor that they could understand to drive home his point. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:31.760 These were simple stories with significant meanings, and he actually defines just how significant the meaning of these parables are. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:38.079 We learned last week that parables teach us the secret of the kingdom of heaven. 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:40.480 Now we talked a lot about that last week. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:53.120 You can always catch up on previous sermons online or on our YouTube channel, but let me hit a couple of points that are important to understand what we mean when we talk about living a kingdom kind of life. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:58.319 The kingdom of heaven, Jesus said, is right here and right now. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:04.719 And so if you grew up in church, and to you, heaven is only something that happens in a spiritual realm after we die. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:08.560 When Jesus gives these parables, he's actually dispelling that. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:11.680 He's saying that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:18.960 One way we say it at Metachurch is we don't believe in Jesus and then wait to die so that we can go to heaven. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:27.120 Because we've believed in Jesus, we start living in a way right here and now that we start seeing evidence of heaven on earth. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:36.319 So heaven, yes, it is something out ahead of us on the other side of this life, but the kingdom of heaven is something we can participate in right now. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:46.240 The other thing you have to understand to really grasp the truth of these parables is that the kingdom of heaven parables are not about how to get to heaven. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:50.719 They're not explicitly about how to get saved or get eternal life. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:56.159 They actually assume that the people listening have already put their faith in Jesus. 00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:03.840 It is about how to live a rich quality of life because you are secure in your eternal life. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:10.479 And so, with those understandings, we can move into another one of these great parables that is so deep and has so much to teach us. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:13.520 The parable today focuses on forgiveness. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:17.439 And forgiveness can be an incredibly heavy topic. 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:21.039 We all have been at points in our life where we desperately need forgiveness. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:22.240 It's like oxygen. 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:32.479 There's nothing else we want more than someone that we love to forgive us, and we've all been hurt, which means we've had to decide whether we will give or withhold forgiveness to others. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:35.520 And forgiveness is a heavy, heavy subject. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:41.360 And so, in the weight room, for most people, the heaviest lift you can do is the dead lift. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:42.800 And today I have news. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:44.080 I have one up myself. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:47.360 I have the cheesiest sermon title I've ever been able to come up with. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.639 Today, my message is called debt lift. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:51.599 You're welcome. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:52.719 Let's pray. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:58.719 God, we love you, and we are walking in with our eyes open to a subject that is very difficult. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:08.319 And if most of the people in here and online are like me, as soon as I start talking about forgiveness, there are people who come to mind. 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:15.280 There are people who we are desperate to be forgiven by, and there are people we are withholding forgiveness from. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:16.720 This is a difficult topic. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:35.360 And so, God, no matter where we're at in our faith journeys, I pray that we could come in and out of humility, we could lay down any pride that we've brought in, any preconceived ideas, that we would truly be open to hearing from you, to learning something new, to applying it to our life, and to beginning to live as a part of the kingdom of heaven right here on earth. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:39.040 We love you, and we thank you for loving us, and we pray it all in Jesus' name. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.319 And if you're ready to do some heavy lifting, say amen. 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:43.120 Amen. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.160 Forgiveness is so hard for so many reasons. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:46.959 And you know this. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:54.639 A lot of times when we talk about a topic, I spend the first five minutes of the sermon building the tension of why this is something worth considering. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:58.399 And with forgiveness, I honestly don't have to do much work. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:04.399 You know how difficult it can be to forgive someone who has wronged you, and this isn't a new problem. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:10.319 Two thousand years ago, Jesus told this parable, and I want you to hear what this parable came out of. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:22.399 In Matthew 18, verse 21, it says, Peter, who is one of Jesus' 12 disciples, approached him and asked, Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:28.000 And then he throws out an idea, maybe as many as seven times. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:34.720 Now Peter is like, I don't know if you're supposed to have favorite disciples, he's my favorite disciple, because he's just always messing things up, right? 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:45.920 And you don't realize it because you don't know the context, but right now, with Peter suggesting seven times to forgive someone, he is showing off really, really hardcore. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:55.600 See, at that time and in that culture, a Jewish culture, the Jewish religious leaders had come to a consensus that you only had to forgive somebody three times. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:06:00.079 And after you forgave someone three times, you no longer had to forgive them. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:01.600 It was now on them. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:05.600 But Peter has been following Jesus around for a couple of years. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:11.120 And Jesus keeps raising the bar on everything else that the other religious leaders are teaching. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:19.279 And so Jesus would say things like this You've heard it said, aka by the other religious leaders, you've heard it said, thou shalt not murder. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:24.160 But I tell you, if you just hate your brother in your heart, you're guilty of murder yourself. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:25.439 Raising the bar. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:32.319 And so Peter is like, I don't know, probably getting really annoyed by James at this point, doesn't want to forgive him anymore. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:40.399 And he's like, I gotta figure this out, but I know Jesus always has these high standards, and so I'm about to blow Jesus' mind. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:47.040 Peter not only doubles the three times that the rabbis say, for good measure, he adds one more time. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:52.399 And Peter approaches Jesus and he's like, Jesus, let's talk about forgiveness, bro. 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:58.639 What if we forgave people seven times? 00:06:58.800 --> 00:06:59.920 Would that be crazy? 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.120 And Peter thinks he just blew Jesus' mind. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:07.839 Like Jesus is gonna be like, oh my gosh, we thought John was the holy one of the disciples. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.160 Peter, why aren't we following you, bro? 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:12.800 You should be in charge of all of this instead. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:14.399 Jesus does the exact opposite. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:23.360 In verse 22, Jesus replied, I tell you, not as many as seven, but you should forgive 70 times seven. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:25.759 So what is Jesus saying? 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.600 Is that the like official heavenly mandate, 70 times seven? 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:35.759 Right now, today, you can go home, you can start a countdown with your spouse from 490 to keep them in line. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:40.639 Hey, bro, you only got 347 left, and Jesus says, I'm off the hook. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:51.439 What Jesus is saying is by taking Peter's number 70, multiplying it by 70, he's using hyperbole, which just means exaggeration. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:59.519 And the point Jesus is trying to make is there's actually no limit to how many times followers of Jesus forgive. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:08.319 And so this is where the rubber meets the road, and we're like, that's great, and it sounds good when Jesus says that, but how is that practical in our everyday life? 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:12.480 How are we actually supposed to just forgive and forgive and forgive? 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:18.639 And part of the problem is that we don't actually understand a biblical concept of what forgiveness is. 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:25.839 We think if someone slaps me in the face, am I supposed to show up every day and let them keep slapping me until the end of time? 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:33.279 If my spouse is unrepentantly cheating on me, am I just supposed to hang in there and suffer this emotional abuse? 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:39.279 If I am in a toxic work environment, do I walk in, forgive my boss every day, and never go look for something better? 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:42.000 And that's simply not what forgiveness is about. 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:44.320 What you have is not a forgiveness issue. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:54.320 You're talking about a boundary issue, and to understand how, as followers of Jesus, we can forgive without ceasing, we have to understand what forgiveness actually is. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:09:00.879 And Jesus helps us understand this by telling us a parable, a simple story with significant meaning. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:07.919 He says this for this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:15.200 And when he began to settle accounts, there was one servant who owed 10,000 talents that was brought before him. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.559 Now you remember how 70 times seven was hyperbole. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:20.480 It was a great exaggeration to make a point. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:23.039 10,000 talents is the same thing. 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.240 By talent, scripture doesn't mean something that you are good at. 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:32.320 A talent is a measure of their currency, and as a matter of fact, it was the highest measure of currency. 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:39.759 10,000 is not just kind of a big number, it was actually the largest number in the Greek financial system at that time. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:47.679 So Jesus takes the largest measure of currency and the largest number in the financial system and pairs them together. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:56.399 In like modern terms, if we were telling this parable, we'd say a servant came before the king who owed a quadrillion dollars. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:04.960 It's this great exaggeration so that everyone hearing the parable understands this is a debt that has no chance of being repaid. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:18.720 Scholars have looked at what 10,000 talents would actually require, and it would take 200,000 lifetimes of salary to pay back 10,000 talents. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:24.320 This sets the stage for the debt that is actually owed. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:27.679 This is a debt that the servant will never repay. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:37.919 In verse 25, since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and every single thing he had be sold to pay the debt. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:41.919 Now, this will not even put a dent into what he actually owes the king. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:57.600 This will not pay for a fraction of a fraction of a fraction's fraction of what he owes to the king and therefore the kingdom, but a debt always must be paid, and when a debt is owed that cannot be repaid, there must be accountability. 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:00.159 And that means that the king is just. 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:19.759 And so the servant does what probably all of us would do in his situation. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:27.600 In verse 26, at this, the servant fell face down before him, and he said, Be patient with me, and I will pay you back everything. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:34.480 And when he said that, we can assume that everybody in the king's court fell out of their chairs laughing. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:38.159 This fool is gonna pay back a quadrillion dollars. 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:39.919 Are you gonna live forever? 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:42.480 How is this gonna actually happen? 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:51.039 Desperate times call for desperate measures, and sometimes desperate measures call for desperate promises, even the ones that would be impossible to keep. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.360 He has to try something. 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:58.639 What he wants is more time, even though time will not solve the problem. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:04.399 And the king, who is perfectly just, is also perfectly merciful. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:13.120 In verse 27, it says, Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave his entire loan. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:16.240 The king is moved with compassion. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:21.360 And we are called as followers of Jesus to be moved with compassion. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:27.120 That's one of the ways we live like Jesus, which means we are living as a part of the kingdom of heaven. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:33.519 And because he's moved with compassion, you'll notice he doesn't actually give the man what he asked for. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:36.720 What he asked for was more time, that's what he wanted. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:43.120 Instead, he gave him what he needed, he completely forgave that debt. 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:48.720 Now, in most of these parables, what we're gonna do is we're gonna go through the whole parable and then we're gonna talk about the meaning at the end. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:13:07.759 This one's a little bit unique because we have to pause right here, and it's gonna take a minute, but if we don't set a baseline understanding of what forgiveness actually means, and if we don't understand the beginning of the parable, we will not be able to pull the truth that Jesus is communicating out of the whole of the parable. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:09.759 What is forgiveness? 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:15.200 Debt is the metaphor that Jesus is using to drive this simple story home. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:21.919 And debt is such a brilliant metaphor for forgiveness for a couple of reasons. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:30.240 Number one, it's that a debt must be repaid, and if it cannot be repaid, it has to be forgiven. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:35.919 And if it is not forgiven or repaid, there will be serious consequences. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:43.120 The other reason it's such a brilliant metaphor for forgiveness is because debt has this weight to it. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:50.960 And you can feel this weight, you can feel it in every fiber of your being, and it's maybe not a physical weight like being in the weight room. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:14:12.879 It is a weight that is actually heavier because it sits on your mind and on your soul, it hits your heart and your emotions, it's it goes over every fiber of your being, and financial debt is one aspect of debt, but Jesus is pointing at a truth that is even more serious: relational debt. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:16.159 There are other kinds of debt that are non-financial. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:24.080 And when you have been wronged by somebody, they now have taken on a relational debt that they owe you. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:32.080 On the same hand, if you have wronged someone else, you now have the weight of a relational debt upon yourself. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:36.639 And relational debt is even more challenging than financial. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:37.679 Here's why. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:42.240 When you are in financial debt, it is possible to pay it back. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:55.120 You can put a plan together, you can live on a budget, you can spend less than you make, you can get a second or a third job, you can make those payments and grow them over time, and you can repay it with a relational debt. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:15:01.840 When you have harmed someone or they have harmed you, it is impossible to fully pay it back. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:06.639 It requires, relational debt requires forgiveness. 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:16.399 You can do some work, you can build some trust, you can show them that the relationship matters to you, but at the end of the day, relational debt requires forgiveness. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:29.279 In a real sense, debt is a weight that once we are in it, we hold and we cannot place back down, and debt in our lives can be significantly heavy. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:36.080 And this is what we are calling your debt lift, and a debt lift. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:41.679 Maybe you've been carrying for so long, you don't realize the weight of it, but I promise you it's heavy. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:48.000 And maybe you're in financial debt and you're like having a hard time breathing, you're sweating all of it. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:51.120 You open your bank app, you can feel the weight of it. 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:54.320 Another check bounces, you can feel the weight of it. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:57.360 And there is another debt that we all possess. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:00.159 The Bible calls it a sin debt. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:05.679 And your sin debt, it is heavy. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:11.200 And to understand the parable, you have to understand something about your sin debt. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:22.159 That unlike what I just did, because I promise I cannot preach holding this the whole time, you cannot put down your own sin debt. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:24.080 And let's talk about what you owe. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.960 In the parable, you are the servant. 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:28.240 I am the servant. 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:34.639 Your sin debt is not something small or manageable, your sin debt is 10,000 talents. 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:37.120 It is a quadrillion-dollar debt. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:43.600 It is something that no amount of works or an infinite number of lifetimes could ever, ever pay back. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:46.000 And so, what do we do? 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:48.960 We have a sin debt that we cannot pay. 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:56.559 And it's very serious because that sin debt, if it is not taken care of, will separate you from your king. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:04.319 And so sometimes we get the idea like, well, I've got a sin debt, so I better act right, you know? 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:06.480 I better start making some payments. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:08.400 I better make some changes in my life. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:10.480 I'm gonna get my act together, right? 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:18.160 When you realize your sin against the most high, holy God, you start trying to put some down payments on it, it's like, look, you know what I'm gonna do? 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:19.200 I'm gonna start giving to charity. 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:20.480 I'm gonna give to charity. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:24.559 Not all of the charities, you know, but I'm gonna give to some, I'm gonna give to eight. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.839 I'm gonna give to the Santa Clauses outside of Walmart in December. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:30.240 All the every time I go to Walmart, right? 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.000 A little bit of payment here and there. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:33.759 It's like I'm not gonna cuss as much anymore. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:34.559 Well, out loud. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:35.599 I'm not gonna cuss out loud. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:37.359 Can't promise what happens on the highway. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:42.240 And the out loud thing doesn't count in cowboys games, because who doesn't cuss in cowboys games, you know? 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:44.240 I'm gonna go to church. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:45.440 I don't mean to brag. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:50.559 I'm trying to work my way to heaven, gonna go to, I mean, I'm gonna, well, I'm gonna go on Easter for sure, right? 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:51.920 Like I might hit another one. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:53.680 If my niece gets baptized, I'll go. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:55.039 I'll go on Easter. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:18:08.079 Who are we when we have a 10,000 talent debt, a 200,000-year debt, and we think that we can pay off that sin debt with a good work here and a good work there. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:08.960 Who are we? 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:10.640 We are the servant. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:15.440 We have a debt we will never be able to repay. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:21.039 And we have ourselves convinced all we need is a little more time. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:23.519 We are the servant. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:27.440 And in what we call the gospel, the good news of Jesus, that's the bad news. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:32.880 The good news is that while you have a debt you can never repay, Jesus is the king. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:39.759 And Jesus is just, he is perfectly just, which means every debt must be accounted for. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.319 Every debt must be paid. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:51.759 And if you never allow Jesus to take your debt from you, then you will have to pay the price and it will cost you your life. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:57.519 A Jesus who is perfectly just is the king who is also perfectly merciful. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:10.400 What you have to understand about forgiveness is we all have a weight and we're all carrying it, and what we think is that forgiveness is magically like David Blaine just making the weight disappear. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:15.920 And the truth is the price of the debt has to be paid. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:27.200 And when you choose to forgive someone else, what you are doing is sacrificially on their behalf transferring the weight of that debt back to yourself. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:30.480 If someone has lied to you and broken your trust. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:37.920 You forgiving them does not make it magically where they never lied to you in the first place. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:44.720 It is you being willing to forgive them and transfer the weight of that and love them correctly anyway. 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:47.440 This isn't about never having boundaries. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:49.440 This isn't about no consequences. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:56.400 This is about a sacrificial act of being willing to transfer the weight of what is owed to you back onto yourself. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.680 The king was out a quadrillion dollars. 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:01.200 And when he forgave him, guess what? 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:03.920 He was still out a quadrillion dollars. 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:09.680 He just took the weight of it and the ownership of it off of the servant and back onto himself. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:32.319 And what you need to understand about the good news of our King Jesus is that your sin debt that you cannot calculate, that you could never get a full perspective on, you who have sinned, me who has sinned against the most high and holy God, you will never sin against anyone in your life, even a fraction as much as you have sinned against God. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:40.559 Every time you sin against someone else, you have sinned against a child of God and therefore God Himself. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:44.960 And you may not know this, but your sin towards God counts extra. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.680 And some people don't like that part of what we believe. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:52.319 Like, if God is so big and bad and powerful, then why can't He handle me sinning every once in a while? 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:57.599 And here's the truth it's because you're sinning against the only thing that is perfect in existence. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:01.519 The consequence of your sin is different depending on who your sin is against. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:02.640 You know this. 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:05.279 You can punch a man and get a ticket. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:08.319 You punch a toddler, you're going to jail. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:09.759 It's different. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.720 You sin against God, and God, who is perfect, cannot be in the presence of your sin. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:17.519 And the consequence is ultimate and it is eternal. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:28.160 And Jesus, when he forgave you, he transferred the weight of your unimaginable sin debt unto himself. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:32.319 So he could pay the price, and I can show you. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:44.240 In John chapter 19, verse 30, it says, When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished with his last dying breath, it is finished. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:46.640 And bowing his head, he died. 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:56.079 And we translated, it is finished, but it's the Greek word tetaleside, and that word literally means the dead. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.680 This is the gospel, this is the good news. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.519 That you have a debt you could never pay back. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:03.119 We could give you unending lifetimes. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:06.160 You could never pay it back because you'll just keep sinning even more. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:10.880 And Jesus took it on for you and gave you a new lease on life. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:17.839 The king gave the servant a get out of jail free card, the ability to exist in the kingdom and live his ultimate life. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:21.519 And it's all because the king paid your debt. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:26.000 And so we took a minute to get here, but you have to understand what forgiveness is. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:31.359 You have to understand who the king is, and you must understand that you are the first servant. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:37.279 And if we lose that perspective, we will lose what we need to know how to forgive others moving forward. 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:40.480 And that is the problem of the servant. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:49.519 You see, he moves forward, and in verse 28, it says, That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:54.720 He grabbed him, he started choking him, and said, Pay what you owe me. 00:22:55.599 --> 00:23:12.559 So no sooner has this guy been forgiven an unending amount of lifetimes of debt, a quadrillion dollar debt, than he goes out and finds someone who owes him not 10,000 talents, but a hundred denarii, which, if you're wondering, equates to a few thousand dollars. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:17.680 He grabs the man, he demands, pay what you owe me. 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:20.319 Irony of all ironies. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:22.880 The second servant has the same response. 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:30.400 At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, be patient with me, and I will pay you back. 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:40.000 It's like a shot for shot remake of the scene in the palace with the king and servant number one, but it has the exact opposite outcome in verse 30. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:42.079 Servant number one was not willing. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:47.519 Instead, he went and he threw him into debtor's prison until he could pay back what was owed. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:52.960 And so we call this guy the wicked servant or the evil servant. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:58.079 And you you read this in succession and you think, how could this happen? 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:10.480 How could someone be forgiven what he was forgiven and turn around and not share mercy to someone who owed him such a tiny fraction of what his own debt had been? 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:14.319 And the truth is, it is a lot easier than you might think. 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:32.240 And before we go labeling the first servant as evil or wicked, we must realize that those of us who have put our faith in Jesus and had our own sin debt erased, every time we withhold forgiveness from somebody else, we are putting ourselves into this parable as servant number one. 00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:34.400 How does this happen? 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:38.160 Why is it so difficult to forgive people? 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:48.319 And part of the answer is in a principle that Jesus was teaching 2,000 years ago, and recently psychologists have found out, which is called the fundamental attribution error. 00:24:48.400 --> 00:25:05.680 And I've preached on this before, and I'll preach on it again because I think it is one of those things that if we can't overcome this innate part of our psyche in our mindset, we will struggle to fully live as a part of the kingdom of heaven and attract other people to the Jesus, to the king that we know. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:08.079 I think I can teach this in a pretty simple way. 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:11.519 This is often taught in a graph that just has four quadrants. 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:14.480 And in these four quadrants, there's two categories. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:18.160 The first is who took the action or who did the thing. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:20.799 And the option is either me or you. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:24.319 Either myself or someone else took the action. 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:30.880 On the side, you see the outcome of that action, whatever action was taken, whether it ends up positive or negative. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:34.319 So I have me and you, and we have positive and negative. 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:35.519 Here's how it breaks down. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:38.319 Here's the fundamental, which means we all share it. 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:39.839 Attribution error. 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:44.240 In the top left box, this is when I do something positive. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:49.599 When I do something positive, I assume that's just part of my personality. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:52.799 When I do something positive, this is what I think about it. 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:55.119 I'm kind of just a good guy, you know? 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:56.880 Like I'm a pretty good person. 00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:01.759 Now, when you do something positive, that's your top right box. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:03.920 It's just circumstances. 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:07.920 I don't ascribe the positive things you do to who you are. 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:13.119 I think that when you do something positive, things just kind of worked out that way. 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:14.480 The inverse is true. 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:20.319 If you look in the bottom left, when I do something negative, I assume it's just the circumstances. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:22.799 Look, I'm not a bad guy, I just had a bad day. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:24.559 Or things just didn't go in the right direction. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:26.400 Or it was everyone else's fault. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:32.960 But when you do something negative in the bottom right, when you do something negative, that's just who you are. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:35.440 You're just not that great of a person. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:37.440 This is the fundamental attribution there. 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:40.400 Let's give some examples to help you really understand how it functions. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:44.000 Let's talk about something positive, like giving money to charity. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:49.119 If I do something positive, like give money to charity, it's because I'm a good guy. 00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:51.680 You might even call me a philanthroper, you know? 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:53.440 I'll give you the shirt off my back. 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:54.319 Let me tell you something. 00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:56.960 I work out to Sarah McLaughlin songs, all right? 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:07.279 In the arms of, I'll save all the dogs and all the children and all the you, when you give to charity, let's be honest, bro, you just want that tax break, right? 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:08.720 You're not a good person. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:11.599 It's just the circumstances worked out in your favor. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:19.279 When you put that money in the offering plate, it's probably just because people are watching you and you don't want to be judged. 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:22.799 When I do something negative, it's just the circumstances. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:27.119 Like when I'm going 85 miles an hour on 1604, weaving in and out of traffic. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:30.640 When I cut you off on the highway, I'm not a bad person. 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:32.880 I'm just trying to get home to my wife and kids. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:34.319 I'm trying to be a good dad. 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:39.359 I'm trying to love my family like the Lord, help cook dinner that night so my wife can take the evening off. 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:40.960 Like I'm a good person. 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:44.720 I'm just going quick, really, because I'm so good. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:49.359 When you're going 85 on 1604 and you cut me off, guess what? 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:51.200 You're an idiot, all right? 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:54.640 That's how the fundamental attribution error works. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:57.119 You can say it simply like this. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:06.400 In the fundamental attribution error, you have a tendency to believe the best about yourself and assume the worst about everyone else. 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:11.359 To believe the best about me and assume the worst about you. 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:21.839 And because we all live with this, it's a fundamental part of how we protect ourselves psychologically, this hampers our ability to forgive. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:29.519 Because when seen through the fundamental attribution error, we get a distorted view of the relational debt that is owed. 00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:44.480 And so, when I have wronged you, like seriously wronged you, lied right to your face repeatedly, or used abusive language towards you, or gossiped about you, and destroyed your reputation, or did something that will affect you deeply. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:50.400 And the reality is how badly I've harmed you, I owe a massive weight. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:56.799 For you to forgive me will require you being willing to transfer a heavy burden. 00:28:57.759 --> 00:28:59.759 But I don't really see it that way. 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:08.480 The attribution error causes me to see my wrong, not in the reality of what it is, but through the lens of it just being circumstances. 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:13.279 I can't understand why you won't forgive me, because I don't see what I actually owe you. 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:15.359 To me, it's more like this. 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:18.319 This is no problem. 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:21.359 You can knock out a thousand reps of this. 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:33.599 You can't understand why somebody won't just forgive you because in your mind it's like, look, I know it seemed like I lied, but it wasn't really a lie, you know? 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:35.759 I was just stretching the truth a little. 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:38.480 It wasn't really fraud. 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:42.960 I wasn't actually gossiping, you know, everybody just kind of talks at the water cooler. 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:45.200 It wasn't really cheating, you know. 00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:46.960 I was just, I was just catching up. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:49.039 I haven't seen them in a while. 00:29:50.079 --> 00:30:03.440 It's just the circumstances, and so even though the reality is you have stacked up a relational debt against somebody, you expect forgiveness immediately because in your mind you see it like this, and the opposite is true. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:06.880 Somebody can offend you at what should be this level. 00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:10.319 You walk in and they just kind of give you a sideways glance. 00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:12.079 It's just this, really. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:14.880 You should be able to forgive it, no questions asked. 00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:19.680 But you don't see that sideways glance for what it is, you see it through the fundamental attribution error. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:23.759 And so behind that glance are all of your assumptions about their intentions. 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:35.680 Behind that little glance, you tell yourself a story that turns this into this, where you're unwilling to forgive anyone because you assume that at their core they are just not that good of a person. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:40.799 And so, how do we overcome the fundamental attribution error? 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:45.519 It's a new idea in psychology, but Jesus was teaching it 2,000 years ago. 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:47.920 This is the problem of the first servant. 00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:52.240 He was just forgiven this, and he sees it as this. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:31:00.960 You'll notice when the king said, I forgive all quadrillion dollars you owe me, the first servant didn't say, King, you should really think twice about that. 00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:02.880 You're gonna bankrupt the kingdom, bro. 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:06.559 I mean, I want to be forgiven some, but let's not go crazy. 00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:08.079 I don't deserve all that. 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:09.119 Of course not. 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:11.839 In his mind, he was really just being forgiven a little bit. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:13.039 The kingdom can handle it. 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:15.119 This this bull has all the money in the world anyway. 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:16.559 And really, I'm a good guy. 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:18.559 I mean, I kind of deserve to be forgiven. 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:19.839 I know I kind of messed things up. 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:21.839 I took most of the money, I put it into Dogecoin, you know. 00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:23.279 I thought I was gonna be a crypto millionaire. 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:26.799 It's like, he has all the reasons why he should be forgiven. 00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:33.039 And then the second servant who actually owes him this a few thousand dollars, he could pay it back. 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:35.119 I did the math. 00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:36.640 You know what he actually owes him? 00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:45.200 He owes him.000001% of what the first servant owed the king. 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:46.799 He owes him this. 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:50.240 But the first servant sees it as this. 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:55.839 And so this whole thing started because Peter wanted to know a principle. 00:31:56.079 --> 00:31:57.680 How many times do we forgive? 00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:00.319 Tell me the number, tell me the principle. 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:07.519 And Jesus told a parable to show that we don't need a principle as much as we need perspective. 00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:32.720 And the way that you escape the fundamental attribution error is by getting out of your narrow perception of the world, of who has wronged you and who you have wronged, and broadening your perspective to the spiritual reality of your life, that you have already been forgiven an incalculable amount, a quadrillion-dollar debt, and it was forgiven at the cost of the life of Jesus Christ Himself. 00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:39.440 That our King stepped out of heaven, off a throne, on a cross to pay the price of your sin and my sin. 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:44.400 Fundamental attribution error will wreck your life. 00:32:45.599 --> 00:33:00.000 And the kingdom of heaven, us, the movement of Jesus on the earth, is meant to be a light shining in the darkness of our world, a beacon of hope calling people in who are living without hope. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:11.599 And so often, that light that we are supposed to shine forth into the world has been covered over by our unwillingness to forgive the world around us. 00:33:12.319 --> 00:33:16.079 In verse 31, the other servants saw what had taken place and they were deeply distressed. 00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:18.960 And they went and reported to their master everything that had happened. 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:25.359 And then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt. 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:29.200 I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:34.799 Shouldn't you also have mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you? 00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:42.240 I forgave you all that debt, shouldn't you also have mercy? 00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:47.440 It took us a minute to get here, but this is the kingdom lesson in this parable. 00:33:47.599 --> 00:34:03.039 If we are going to live the life we were created to live, a life of purpose and power and significance and meaning, the life that your soul is longing for, you have to forgive as you have been forgiven. 00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:08.960 And the question isn't how many times do I have to forgive someone else? 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:12.400 The question is, what have you been forgiven? 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:19.679 And out of that reality, how can you then show the love of Jesus by forgiving those around you? 00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:23.679 We forgive because we have been forgiven. 00:34:23.840 --> 00:34:28.639 And I know that there are people who have hurt you in some incredible ways. 00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:35.920 But no one will ever sin against you at the level that you have sinned against God. 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:48.159 He forgave you by sacrificing his life for yours, and forgiveness is your act of sacrifice to the world that is around you. 00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:55.119 In verse 34, it says, Because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. 00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:02.159 And so also my heavenly father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart. 00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:05.679 And we can't make a parable say something it doesn't. 00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:10.159