17 September – Proper 19 – Romans 14:1-12
Christian Forgive! As the Lord Forgives You
In settling His accounts with us. Our Lord acts not with anger. But with compassion. He does not imprison you. As you deserve. Rather He forgives. All your debts. And releases you.1 Therefore, our Lord bids each of us to have “mercy on your fellow servant.”2
As for you? "Forgive your brother from your heart.”
1. By the Lord’s forgiveness of your sins. You are now free to forgive those who sin against you.
A. Because Jesus has been handed over to the jailers in your stead. He has paid your entire debt. With His life. And with His blood. Luther put it this way, “two little words, “grace” and “peace”, contain a summary of all of Christianity. Grace contains the forgiveness of sins, a joyful peace, and a quiet conscience.
But peace is impossible unless sin has first been forgiven, for the Law accuses and terrifies the conscience on account of sin. And the sin that the conscience feels cannot be removed by pilgrimages, vigils, labors, efforts, vows, or any other works; in fact, sin is increased by works. The more we work and sweat to extricate ourselves from sin, the worse off we are. For there is no way to remove sin except by grace…
Because the world does not understand this, it neither can nor will tolerate it. It brags about free will, about our powers, about our works – all these as means by which to earn and attain grace and peace, that is, forgiveness of sins and a joyful conscience.
But conscience cannot be quiet and joyful unless it has peace though this grace, that is, through the forgiveness of sins promised in Christ. 3
B. Whether we live or die. We "are the Lord’s.” v.8 We live unto the Lord. We live to do His will. And to promote His glory. This is the grand purpose of the life of the Christian. Other people live to gratify themselves. The Christian has a higher purpose. To do those things which the Lord requires. And what does the Lord require of us? He requires of us to simply forgive. As the Lord has forgiven you.
C. Paul puts it simply. Since you all will “stand before the judgment seat of God.” You are not to "despise your brother." v 10 But gladly forgive him.
Transition: We pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." And what does this simply mean? We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worth of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us. (Explanation from Luther's Small Catechism)
2. As you have been forgiven...forgive!
A. By the grace of God. You forgive your brother also. “For the Lord is able to make him stand.” V.4 You do not know your neighbor’s motives or intentions. It is not for you to condemn. Rather you forgive. As God in Christ has forgiven you.
B. Though we daily sin against each other. And so often fail miserably on this account. To simply forgive. We ask God for the strength and the mercy to forgive.
Notice how grace is played out. Even in a dysfunctional family as Joseph's. The Lord intends, “to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.” 4
The Lord knew there would be a famine. He placed Joseph in the position to save not only his family but an entire nation. But consider all Joseph had to endure.
He dreamt that his brothers' sheaves were bowing down to his own sheaves as they rose. His brothers hated him even more for this. So much that they could not even speak civilly to him.
One afternoon, Joseph's father sent him to check on his brothers who were tending their flocks. When his brothers saw him, they quickly planned to kill him. Reuben suggested that they should not harm him. But only throw him in the cistern. God worked through Reuben to save Joseph's life. Judah later formulated the plan to sell Joseph to the Midianite merchants, who later sold him to Egypt.
Joseph was sold into slavery at the age of seventeen. The brothers convinced Jacob that Joseph was eaten by some wild beast. Jacob mourned for days. Jacob thought his favorite son had met such a tragic end. And all his sons could do was watch him mourn in silence. What could they say?
Joseph was made a slave to an Egyptian master. But the master saw that God was with Joseph. And make him his attendant. Then Potiphar’s wife, one of Pharaoh's officials begged Joseph to sleep with her. Repeatedly! But God gave Joseph the strength to resist. One day, the wife lied to the pharaoh. She said Joseph had begged her to sleep with him. So the pharaoh sent Joseph to prison. But the prison warden saw that God was with Joseph and put him in charge.
Pharaoh saw that God was with Joseph and allowed Joseph back into his palace. He then made Joseph the king of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh King of Egypt. For seven years, Joseph traveled all throughout Egypt and stored up large quantities of grain.
When the abundance was over, the famine began and lasted for seven years. The people of Egypt were well-fed because they lived off of the grain Joseph stored. Soon, people all throughout the world were coming to pay for Joseph's grain.
When God had sent the famine onto Joseph's brothers again, their father allowed them to take Benjamin back to Egypt. Once they arrived and Joseph saw that Benjamin was there, he invited them for dinner. At the sight of all of his brothers, Joseph became so emotional. He had to leave the room to weep.
When it got to a point where he could no longer take it. Joseph admitted to his brothers that he was, in fact, their brother. And how long had it been since he had last seen his brothers? Close to a quarter century. Close to twenty-two years!
He then warned them that the famine God had sent will last for five more years and invited them to live with him in the best of Egypt. He also gave them new clothes (five times more for Benjamin) and donkeys, and sent them on their way. He also instructed them to bring back his father.
C. Jesus speaks kindly by His Gospel and promises: “I will provide for you and your little ones.”5 Only in hindsight could Joseph see God working through every circumstance of his life. He could finally say to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”
You might not always be able to see the big picture. Do you find forgiveness a hard thing to do? Consider Joseph. Yes God sees everything! He knows of the misery. The pain. The nasty words. Everything! Never give up in forgiving others. If He could do it for Joseph. He can certainly do it for you!
Words – 1,325
Passive Sentences –6%
Readability – 82.7
Reading Level – 4.0
Luther’s Seal © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
1.Matthew 18:23–27 from the Gospel lesson
2.Matthew 18:33, 35 from the Gospel lesson
3.From We Pray, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis,© 2008, 2010
4.Genesis 50:20 from the Old Testament lesson
5.Genesis 50:21 from the Old Testament lesson
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