DAY 30

PULLING UP ANCHOR

JOHN MACDONALD, LEAD PASTOR, THE WOODS CHURCH

We will never be wronged by someone the way we have wronged God, and yet, God has wiped our debt free. —Rob McCorkle

I love the disciple Peter. It’s probably because I feel like I can relate to Him most. Peter had many great qualities, but he was also a little rough around the edges. Oftentimes his mouth would get him in trouble or give away what he was thinking, when it should have just stayed an unspoken thought. In Matthew 18:21, Peter has one of his famous moments while asking a serious question. The scripture says,

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” And there it is. He should have just stopped at his first question.

Instead he had to throw in there “up to seven times.” No doubt this was Peter trying to act smart. Maybe he was trying to give a good impression, get some brownie points with his insightful intellect or show the other disciples up with his overachieving willingness to forgive up to seven times. Yet this is a serious question that Jesus goes on to answer with, you guessed it, a parable. Before he tells the parable, he lets Peter know that he is way off and answers Peter by saying, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

In Matthew 18:22-35, Jesus goes on to tell a parable about a king who wanted to settle all his outstanding accounts. He came across a man who owed the king a lot of money. Ten thousand bags of gold to be exact. That is quite a debt. The man could not repay his debt, so the king ordered that everything the man owned be sold, including his wife and children. The man then fell to his knees and begged the king to be patient with him, and that he would for sure pay the king back all the money he owed. The king took pity on the man and canceled his debt. Wow, that was a lot of debt that just got erased! You would think the servant would be incredibly grateful and humbled by the extraordinary act of mercy and grace the king bestowed upon him. But the text goes on to say that the man went out, found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed the servant and began to choke him, demanding that the servant pay back what he owed him! His fellow servant responded much like he did to the king and fell to his knees, begging for patience and assuring him that he would pay it all back. However, he refused and had his fellow servant thrown into prison. The problem was some of the king's servants were watching this all go down and were outraged with this man whom the king had forgiven such a large debt and went to tell the king. When the king heard what had happened, he called the servant back and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until his full debt of 10,000 bags of gold had been repaid.

The kicker is what Jesus says next in verse 35. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

This isn’t the first time Jesus had talked about forgiving others. In Matthew 6:14-15, He said, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

This is a hard truth to swallow, especially when you have been on the wrong end of being hurt or betrayed. But what you need to know is that Jesus had your best interests in mind. You see, when Peter asked his question, he asked it thinking there were limits to forgiveness. But Jesus abolishes that notion with His answer of seventy-seven times. Jesus was trying to teach His disciples that there would not ever be a moment in our lifetime on earth where Jesus would withhold forgiveness from us. There are no limits to His forgiveness. He also expects us to do the same.

When we harbor bitterness and unforgiveness, it throws an anchor in our lives. That's what boats and ships do when they come into the harbor - they throw anchor because they want to stay put. And that's exactly what bitterness and unforgiveness do when you allow them to harbor in your heart: they throw anchor. When we hold on to bitterness and refuse to forgive the person who wronged us, all we are doing is continually allowing them to hurt us, over and over and over, again and again and again. God never called us to live this way. He called us and paid the price for us, so that we could live in freedom. One of my favorite verses is Galatians 5:1 — “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

We are not judge nor are we jury. That is way beyond our pay grade, and honestly I am so thankful, because that is way too much pressure. But we serve a God who is a just judge and He is righteous. When we choose to forgive, we simply let that person off our hook trusting that God will deal with them, which He will. In the process of letting them off our hook we actually allow Jesus to forgive us, set us free and bring healing to our hearts. No one can heal the heart like Jesus can. But He won’t until we release the offense. We have to let go of it and turn it over to Him.

You may be saying in your mind, “but Pastor John, you don’t know what they did to me.” You're right, I don't know. But I do know how I hurt God with all my sin, my rejection, my rebellion and my ignorance. Yet He still forgave me. What you have to remember is forgiveness is always an issue between you and God, not you and the person who wronged you. Unless God specifically instructs you, you don’t have to reach out to them, write them a letter, or even be friends with them. If they hurt you, chances are they will continue that trend. I would stay away. All you are responsible for is forgiving them before the Lord. One of the most freeing acts of releasing others takes place when you pray for them. And not just any prayer but praying a prayer of blessing over them. When you can do that, you know Jesus just forgave you and set you free.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, I choose right now to forgive (name) for (be specific) . What they did made me feel them for . I release them unto you and I pray that you bless them in all that they do. Bless their relationships, bless them financially, and Lord bring them to a saving knowledge of you. In Jesus name, I AM FREE! Amen!