Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Forgiven to Forgive

Matthew 18.21-35

Here’s a heart and faith check up for you.

Question #1:  Who do you need to ask to forgive you?  

What did you say or do that still leaves you feeling guilty, embarrassed and ashamed to this day?  What do you have to admit and who do you have to admit it to in order find peace and rest in reconciliation?

Question #2:  Who do you need to extend forgiveness to?  

What has someone else done or said to you that still leaves you feeling hurt and angry? What do you have to admit and who do you have to admit it to in order find peace and rest in reconciliation?

Forgiveness is usually something that is always consciously or subconsciously on our mind.  We live in broken bodies in a broken world where we are hurt by others and where we hurt others.

When things are not right between us and another person, we lose sleep, we run over the specifics of what was said and done as we are standing in the shower, we feel afraid of going to a place that we know the offending party or the party we offended will also be in attendance, and when we are in the same room as the offender or offended, we cringe, we feel awkward, and we are fearful of making eye contact or even of a possible confrontation.

We know deep down that we cannot and will not find rest or peace until the broken relationships end in forgiving and being forgiven.

40 year Heavy Metal veterans, Metallica, have released a trio of songs throughout their career with the title, The Unforgiven.

I find it interesting that about every ten years, the band returned to the theme of feeling unforgiven and desperately seeking the relief that comes from finding forgiveness.  This means that they never really found what they were looking for.

In 1991, The Black Album featured The Unforgiven in it’s first inception.  This track has the singer speaking about the daily burden, from birth to death bed, of never living up to strict parental and societal expectations.  The singer felt unforgiven for not living up to others standards.

In 1997, the Reload album contained The Unforgiven II.  This time, the singer discussed his struggle to trust other people after experiencing relational trauma.  The singer explores the idea that he feels unforgiven for the part he played in the downfall of the relationship while asking the question about the other person, do you feel “unforgiven too?” 

And, to end the trilogy (at least for now), on 2008’s Death Magnetic album, The Unforgiven III speaks the revelation that you can’t forgive others until you forgive yourself.

The theme of forgiving yourself played an important part in my life this week while I was studying and journaling.  In the Alcoholics Anonymous Daily Reflections, I read the statement “God forgave me.  God saved me.  I have forgiven myself and now I enjoy a freedom that I have never before experienced.” (Daily Reflections by A.A. members for A.A. members, September 8, 260)

I quickly realized that I haven’t ever fully enjoyed God’s forgiveness because I constantly and sinfully re-enslave myself by keeping a laundry list of the things I feel guilty for.  The full picture of the insanity that I deal with comes from still being haunted by the guilt of things I did and said when I was a young elementary aged child.

There is a saying that “the heart wants what the heart wants.”  One of the things the heart wants is to be forgiven and set free from guilt.

In this morning’s Biblical text, chosen from the Gospel portion of the Lectionary, we enter into a back-and-forth conversation about forgiveness.  As Peter and Jesus talk, we hear about how to find forgiveness, how to forgive, and why we should forgive.

Let’s hear from Matthew 18:21–35 now.  The text tells us this:

[21] Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” [22] Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

[23] “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. [24] When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. [25] And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. [26] So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ [27] And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. [28] But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ [29] So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ [30] He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. [31] When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. [32] Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. [33] And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ [34] And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. [35] So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (ESV)

I love Peter because Peter is fiery.  One minute, Petr is the first person in the history of the world to publicly proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah sent by God to save humanity by forgiving them from their Sin.  But, the next second, Peter is asking, “When can I stop forgiving a person that has hurt me or keeps hurting me?”

The answer that Peter received from Jesus was probably not what he was looking for (and, it is probably not really what you want to hear either).

The answer Jesus gives Peter is that there is no limit to forgiveness.  You have to keep forgiving until the day you find yourself standing with Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven.  

By using the number seven, a number that is used Biblically to mean perfection and wholeness, Jesus is telling Peter (and you) that there is no limit or end to the forgiveness that you, one forgiven by God, should bestow upon those around you.  The caveat in this text is that Jesus has forgiven you more than you will ever be asked to forgive.

The 16th century church reformer, Martin Luther, wrote this,

“What God wants to have in His kingdom is that no one is so wicked and lets himself become so angry that he cannot forgive his neighbor.  Even if he angers you seventy-seven times (as written before [Matt. 18.22])—that is, as often as he can—you are to abandon your right and freely forgive him everything.

Why? Because Christ has also done this for you.” 

(LW 79.257.6-7)

To illustrate how this works, Jesus does what Jesus often does, He shares a parable with Peter.

Let’s give a quick breakdown of the parable.

A servant goes to the king and tries to cut a deal with him.  The servant is in debt to the king and begs for more time to pay him back.

The king graciously and mercifully forgives the debt of that servant because the king knows that the servant would never be able to pay him back.

By doing this, the king sets the servant free from the burden of working himself to the bone on a task that would be impossible to finish.

The completely forgiven servant leaves the presence of the forgiving king and immediately finds others that owe him money. When those who are in debt to him are unable to pay back the money they owed him, the servant who was forgiven of his debt did not forgive those that were in debt to him and instead put them in prison.

The forgiving king found out about the forgiven servant’s lack of grace and mercy, showing that the servant learned nothing from what was done for him, and took that servant and treated him like he treated others by throwing him in prison until he could pay back every last penny—which we know would never be possible.

First, Peter is the servant in the story.  Peter knows he has received forgiveness from Jesus but turns around and doesn’t want to live a life of continually forgiving others with the grace and mercy that he experienced from Jesus.

Second, you and I are like the servant in this story.

We are the servant because we think that we can make a deal with God to avoid being punished and cast away from Heaven because of our the debt our bad deeds and bad heart created.

We go to God, sometimes in personal prayer while lying in bed, sometimes in the pews of a church, sometimes while sitting in a car, and beg and plead with God, saying things like, “God, if you just give me a little more time, I can make things right.”

However, we are also like the servant in that God looks at us with compassion and says, “You are too far gone.  There is no way you can ever close the gap between your brokenness and my perfection.  So, I have chosen to forgive you and set you free from the burden you are currently experiencing.”

Lastly, we are like the servant because after we scream and shout out that God has loved us more than we could ever imagine being loved by doing for us what we could never have done for ourselves—His providing the forgiveness for our Sin in Jesus Christ—we turn around and hold grudges, refusing forgiveness and reconciliation to those around us.

Here at Bethel, you hear about God’s forgiveness for the guilt of your Sin week after week.

We begin our service with a confession of Sin and then hear about God’s forgiveness provided for us in Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection with the Absolution from 1 John 1.9 which proclaims, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(ESV)

We also sing about forgiveness.

In Elevation’s “O Come to the Altar” we sing:

O come to the altar,

The Father’s arms are open wide

Forgiveness was bought with

The precious blood of Jesus Christ.

In Phil Wickam’s “Living Hope” we sing:

Who could imagine so great a mercy?

What heart could fathom such boundless grace?

The God of ages stepped down from glory

To wear my sin and bear my shame

The cross has spoken, I am forgiven

The King of kings calls me His own

Beautiful Savior, I’m Yours forever

Jesus Christ, my living hope

In Passion’s “At the Cross” we sing:

There’s a place where sin and shame
Are powerless
Where my heart has peace with God
And forgiveness
Where all the love I’ve ever found
Comes like a flood
Comes flowing down

In the 1779 hymn “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood” we sing:

The dying thief rejoiced to see 

that fountain in his day; 

and there may I, though vile as he, 

wash all my sins away.

Even though we are reminded of our forgiveness time and time again, and we speak and sing about our forgiveness time and time again, we continue to struggle throughout the week to live in the freedom of forgiveness by being a forgiving person.

In the words of the Apostle Paul (from his letter to the Christians in Rome), we hear the struggle and the Only solution.

[18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. [20] Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

[21] So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. [22] For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, [23] but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. [24] Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 

[1] There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. [3] For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 7.18-8.4, ESV)

Jesus died on the cross so that you can have life and hope with God.  Jesus’ death paid off the debt that your Sin created.  That Sin includes your refusal to forgive others as God has first forgiven you as well as your refusal to forgive yourself after being forgiven by God.  

Jesus’ death did what you would never be able do regardless of the amount of time God gave you here on earth.  In Jesus, God wiped away your record of wrongs and declared you free from the burden of attempting the impossible task of working enough good deeds to make things right between you and God and unlock the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus, the innocent and Sinless one, God-in-the-flesh, died on the cross with your Sin, as one who was unforgiven by God, so that you would not die unforgiven by God.

Romans 5:6–11

[6] For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. [7] For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—[8] but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [9] Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. [10] For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. [11] More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (ESV)

[1] Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [2] Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1–2, ESV)

Confess your sin of holding grudges.

Confess your sin of being unforgiving toward others and yourself.

Confess your sin demanding from others what God does not demand from you.

Confess your sin of judging others as guilty when God has called you innocent.

And, know that you are forgiven for yesterday’s Sin, today’s Sin, and tomorrow’s Sin through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross for you.

Jesus has forgiven your sin debt.  Go, and forgive others of their Sin debt as well.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

September 12, 2026.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Fickle to Forgiven

Matthew 16.21-28

In the early 2000s, former pro soccer star Landon Donavan was the standard-bearer of American soccer for more than a decade. Six years ago, in 2020, he was voted “The Best U.S. Soccer of All-Time,” in a poll taken by ESPN.

When Donovan was growing up in California, he was known around the neighborhood for always wearing a T-shirt that read: “Soccer is Life. The rest is just details.” 

In a recent interview Donovan admitted, “[Soccer] was my identity.” But in the last stage of his career that identity started to crack. From 2012-2013 Donovan struggled with depression, watched his celebrity marriage disintegrate, and took a four-month break from soccer.

The pressure to perform and keep pleasing fans and coaches became too much. Donavan said:

[Fans, coaches, and the media] want us to live, breathe, eat, and die the sport. Every game they want you to go out and do everything you can to make the fans feel good, make the coach feel successful, make the owners successful … After the ’06 World Cup … I realized, clearly, that it was a business. And that it was fickle. I was foolish enough to think that these people who were showing me so much love genuinely liked me .… [But after the ’06 World Cup people said], “Now you had a bad World Cup. We don’t think you’re that cool anymore.” That, for me, was a very eye-opening experience. And it made me very sad.

In this interview, Donovan points out something about humanity that is as old as time and space—one of the common traits that we all share is fickleness. 

To be fickle is to continuously change our mind on what we want based on our ever-changing feelings and emotions.

As Donovan’s story illustrates, we will rally behind someone as our hero and champion one minute but call for their crucifixion the next.

In an issue of Christianity Today, prolific Christian author Warren Wiersbe, shared that Oliver Cromwell, who took the British throne away from Charles I and established the Commonwealth, said to a friend, 

“Do not trust those who are cheering, for those persons would shout just as much if you and I were going to be hanged.”

As humans we are fickle.

We will sing the praises of our job and boss on Monday because they pay our bills and put food on our table but on Tuesday we will hand in a resignation letter because we can’t take the burden of being told what to do and how to do it anymore.

When a friend posts a picture on social media with us in it, we hit the like button, but when they post pictures with other friends on an outing that we weren’t invited to, we sulk, we curse, sometimes we contemplate the solitude of the monastic life, or sadly we may even think about suicide. 

We will clap and applaud inauguration day when a new President takes office, but quickly share our dissatisfaction with his policies and leadership at the next, “How’s he doing?,” poll.

We feel encouraged when 8 people show up to Bible study, but the following week we will go home depressed when only 2 came out to discuss God’s love for us as revealed in His Word.

When our favorite athlete is scoring goals and leading his team to championships, we wear his jersey out in public 7 days a week.  But, the very second he has a bad game or two in a row, we are burning that jersey and petitioning the team owner to replace him.

We are fickle people.

In our fickleness, pride and arrogance rule the day!

We think we always know the best way to do everything.

In this morning’s Biblical text from the book of Matthew, or, in other words, Matthew’s biography of Jesus, we are going to hear about the fickle human heart of one of Jesus’ disciples when he is confronted with the way God plans to work out the forgiveness of sin and eternal life in Heaven.

Let’s hear from Matthew 16.21-28 together now.

The Biblical text says this:

[21] From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. [22] And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” [23] But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

[24] Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. [25] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. [26] For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? [27] For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. [28] Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (ESV)

In the first verse of this morning’s Biblical text, several very important historical and eschatological things happen.

This moment with Jesus and the disciples marks a change in Jesus’ communication with them.

Up until this point, Jesus has used metaphors and similes to describe who he was and what he was doing amongst them.

For example, Jesus said he was a Shepherd, Jesus said that he was a gate, Jesus said he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus said he was God’s Son, Jesus said he was the Son of Man, Jesus said he was the Word, a Light, the Lamb, a Vine, and the Bread of Life.

However, at this turning point, Jesus begins to very clearly, very confidently, and very transparently, share about who is and what he is doing amongst them

Jesus tells them outrightly that he is God’s Messiah, the Savior of humankind, the One spoken of for thousands of years by the prophets, priests and kings.

And, Jesus brings his position as Savior and King to the forefront by sharing with his disciples 4 key points about his person and work that will unfold before their eyes.

First, he must go to Jerusalem, the Holy City, where His formal presentation to the public as Savior and King would take place.  Here he was referring to what we call Palm Sunday.

Second, he must suffer many things from the elders, chief priests and scribes, the three groups that made up the Jewish “Supreme Court,” also called the Sanhedrin throughout Scripture. Here he was referring to his rejection, mocking, imprisonment, and beating.

Third, he must die. For only though His death could the key to the Kingdom of Heaven be made for you.  There could be no good news of forgiveness of your sin without the just judgment on sin being poured out.  Here, Jesus was choosing this path of death on the cross for you and your eternal good.

Fourth, he must be raised up, back to life from the dead, to verify His office of Savior for you, continue His work as the Great High Priest for you—always mediating your relationship with God for you—and be prepared to reign over all Creation as King of Kings and Lord of lords, remaining true to his Word and Promises.

And, all of that is found in just our first verse for this morning!

So, what we have heard and seen is that Jesus clearly says to his followers, “Hey guys, I know things haven’t been crystal clear up to this point, but here’s exactly what God’s plan is! I am your Savior, the One who will provide forgiveness for your sin and a place in Heaven for you.”  In an act of pure grace, Jesus does not leave any mystery to be solved.  Jesus lays out what will happen and why for the finite human mind.

In response, without hesitation, without truly listening or thinking through everything, Peter says, “No sir! I don’t like”

It is here that we see the fickleness of humanity in action.

In the Biblical text immediately before this, Peter is championed by Jesus as the first of the disciples to recognize and confess that He is the Savior, the Christ.

But, in the very next interaction that Peter has with Jesus, Peter changes his tune and says, “I don’t want you to do Savior things because it sounds like it will be unpleasant for me.”

Peter goes from being Jesus’ rock, in the previous Biblical text, to Jesus’ stumbling block in this week’s sermon text.

Why doesn’t Peter like what Jesus is saying? 

Because Jesus is saying that things are going to get difficult and bumpy on the next part of their journey through life together.

Jesus is going to suffer and be killed right in front of them.

And, because they are friends of Jesus and work beside him on God’s mission in this world, they too will experience moments of hardship and suffering.

Just like us, Peter in his humanity, doesn’t like suffering, or even the idea of suffering.

However, what Peter isn’t hearing in his selfishness, self-centeredness and self-righteousness, is that from Jesus’ suffering will come his personal salvation.

From Jesus’ death on the cross will come resurrection life with God in his Kingdom.

Peter’s feelings and emotions that caused him to waiver in his trust in God and God’s plan for him caused him to miss the point of the cross—the point that God’s love for him and for you is so great that He willingly suffers for our salvation.  

Some years ago, a 14-foot bronze crucifix was stolen from Calvary Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas. It had stood at the entrance to that cemetery for more than 50 years. The cross was put there in 1930 by a Catholic bishop and had been valued at the time at $10,000. The thieves apparently cut it off at its base and hauled it off in a pick-up. Police speculate that they cut it into small pieces and sold it for scrap.

The thieves figured that the 900-pound cross probably brought about $450. They obviously didn’t realize the value of that cross.

That is often our problem—misunderstanding the value of the cross. 

As Matthew begins to relate the story of Jesus’ crucifixion to us, the theme that runs through all the details is rejection. Not only did Peter not see the value of Jesus, he also didn’t understand the value of Jesus’ death on the cross.

It is easy to sit in front of a text like this and judge Peter.

But, the truth is that we are just like Peter.

We confess Jesus as our Savior in one moment and deny the way He works in our life in the next because the way God is working isn’t comfortable or easy and therefore not the way we want it done.

A friend of mine spoke this week on his podcast and made the very astute observation that God never shows up late, but he also never shows up early.  God always shows up on time.

And, for us, let’s be honest, we always want God to show up early—when we demand he shows up—like some cosmic genie in a bottle.

Where in your relationship with God are you being fickle right now.  I know there is a situation where your trust in God is rocky at best because you aren’t getting what you want when you want it.  I know that there is a place where God isn’t showing up early for you and you are throwing a temper tantrum like a demanding spoiled child?

There is always a place, for all of us, in our sinful humanity that fickleness is usurping our trust in God.

What we need to hear is what Peter needed to hear and what would be written later on by the apostle Paul to recalibrate our minds…

From Romans 5:3–6:

[3] Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

[6] For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (ESV)

And, from 2 Corinthians 4:6–11:

[6] For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

[7] But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. [8] We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; [9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; [10] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. [11] For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (ESV)

What happened when Jesus suffered and died on the cross?

When Jesus died on the cross, your sins were forgiven—including your pride, arrogance, and self-righteousness that leads to your fickle attitude and behavior causing wavering trust in God and His desire to do good for you.

When Jesus died on the cross, your broken relationship with God was fixed.

When Jesus died on the cross, you were declared righteous and perfect in every way before God’s throne.

When Jesus died on the cross, the gates of Heaven were thrown wide open for you to enter.

When Jesus died on the cross, you are changed from the inside out to love others as you were first loved by God—even if it means suffering along the way.

All of this happened at the perfect time in the perfect way.

Out of suffering comes salvation.

Out of Jesus’ suffering comes your salvation.

And, sometimes, out of your suffering for others, comes their salvation as they are led back to Christ for ultimate hope and peace.

At the very end of the interview with Landon Donovan that we began this conversation with, he added: 

“At the time, it was by far the hardest thing that ever happened to me in my life. But the beauty is it was the best thing that ever happened to me, and it allowed me to wake up and see the world differently for the first time.”

Listen to these verses from the Bible:

Philippians 2:3–11 encourages you to:

[3] Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (ESV)

Martin Luther spoke of our fickle hearts in relation to our faith and forgiveness when he said,

“When you don’t feel like singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving, that is the time that you need to sing hymns of praise and thanksgiving the most.” (My paraphrase)

I implore you to pick up your cross this week and follow Jesus, always seeking to find those lost in sin in order to bring them home to God through faith in Jesus the Son, our Savior.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

June 28, 2026.