Forgiving other people is difficult. They tend to make the same mistakes over and over again, as Peter expressed in our passage today (Matt 18:21-35). I tend to feel his tone was exasperated as he asked Jesus how many times he needed to forgive someone – seven times?! It seems that he felt he was being more than generous in this!

Jesus talked about unlimited forgiveness, telling a story about two men and their debts. One had a large debt and begged for mercy; the slate was wiped clean, and he was given a fresh start. Yet this same man, when faced with someone who owed him a much smaller amount, would not show mercy. It would have cost him much less to settle the debt, but his attitude was one of unforgiveness, something which ultimately led to punishment.

Forgiven people should forgive people. That’s the nature of God’s kingdom. Paul says, ‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’ (Eph 4:32) We forgive ultimately because we have been forgiven. Forgiveness is a process, something that will always be required in this life, but because we have received such great forgiveness through Christ, we have the motivation and power to forgive others also.

This week in our Lent readings, we are looking at the theme of ‘forgiving.’ Forgiveness is at the heart of the Christian faith: Christians are people who are forgiven by God and who forgive others. Forgiveness doesn’t depend on restitution; it is a choice we make, a process that is ongoing in life, for we will always do wrong and need forgiveness and will always be wronged and need to forgive. Our reading today (Genesis 18:17-33) may seem to have little to do with forgiveness, but in fact, in this passage, we see Abraham and God in conversation about the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. God talks of judgment for sin (necessary if life is not to descend into anarchy); Abraham pleads for forgiveness and mercy.

The intimacy of relationship which this conversation shows is striking. Abraham communicates God’s mercy back to Him, reminding Him of His character! Far from being offended by this, God seems to encourage him to go even further, as Abraham asks for mercy for any righteous people in these places. We may well find it hard to believe in God’s desire to forgive and show mercy, but Abraham shows us that he knew God well by this time. When we show mercy and forgiveness to others, we are reflecting God’s character to a world which desperately needs these things.

Garry went on to remind us not only of the promises God made to Noah (every time we see a rainbow, we are reminded of the covenant God made with Noah never to flood the earth again) but the promises He has made to us too. In John 14:25-27, we read that Jesus promised His disciples peace, a peace that is not limited or temporary. We have to let this peace rule in our hearts, though (Col 3:15); we have to put on the armour of God (including the helmet of salvation to guard our thinking) because we have an enemy whom Jesus described as a thief and a liar. The devil’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy (see John 8:44, John 10), and we are in a battle against him, but it’s a battle we can win. God does not lie and therefore we do not have to be dismayed. As Jeremy Camp puts it, ‘what the Lord gives, the world can’t take away.’ (‘Can’t Take Away‘)

Often, we are told that the world is in a terrible state because of man’s actions. It is good to act responsibly in caring for our planet, but we must also understand that God is in control of the world and has a responsibility to keep His promises too. We can have confidence ultimately in the promises of God because the one who makes promises has the power to keep them.

In Genesis 8:22, God made a promise to Noah which still has relevance to us today:

“As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.” (Genesis 8:22)

Garry talked to the children about the seasons, showing us the difference between a tree in winter and in summer:

There are seasons for planting, and seeds don’t look anything like the final flower or plant!

Nowadays, there is much talk about climate change and fear that our planet will not be sustainable, but we can trust God’s promises in everything and therefore can have confidence in this wonderful world He has created.

The Bible is so important to us because it is God’s guidebook to life. In it, we find answers to the questions which trouble us and find also the revelation of who God is, who we are and how to live well, not only for our years on earth but for eternity. In Matt 21:33-46, Jesus tells a parable about a master sending servants to collect fruit and how they beat these servants up, killing some of them; the master went on to send his son, but he too was rejected. Therefore, there will be a day of reckoning for these servants. Jesus went on to ask if the leaders had ever read Ps 118:22-23, referring to the stone the builders rejected becoming the cornerstone. Once again, Jesus looks back to the Old Testament to describe what is currently happening. The chief priests and Pharisees and other religious leaders were rejecting what God was doing and revealing in Jesus. They were not willing to accept that this carpenter from Nazareth could be the Messiah, the One God has promised for so many centuries. And so, Jesus says, ‘the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit’ (Matt 21:43), pointing to how the down-and-outs and Gentiles, the ‘outsiders’ to God’s promises, will actually find their place in God’s family after all, just as God had always intended. Jesus Himself will be cornerstone of this new spiritual building, and He will be ‘a stone that makes them stumble and a rock that makes them fall’ (‘Scandalon’, Michael Card).

This incident (which outraged the religious leaders yet again!) shows us that the Bible is crucial for understanding present times and reminds us that we need to do more than simply read it. We need ears that hear (see Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29; Rev 3:6, 13, 22) and we must also put into practice what Jesus says (see Matt 7:24-27, James 1:22-25). God’s word is a double-edged sword (Heb 4:12), with the power to transform individuals and society as a whole. But it can only do this as we submit to its authority and do what it says.

This morning we looked at the question Jesus asked the religious leaders in Matt 21:16, when confronted about the raucous noise being made by children in the temple. They were outraged about all that Jesus was doing (healing the blind and the lame!) and about the shouting from the children (proclaiming ‘Hosanna to the son of David.’) Instead of being glad that God was working in such powerful ways, they were indignant and asked Jesus ‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ (Matt 21:16) The implication is that if He were really such a good teacher, He would shut them up immediately!

But Jesus does not do this (nor should we!) Instead, he countered their question with one of His own: “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?” (Matt 21:16) These were religious leaders whose lives were spent studying the Scriptures, yet Jesus makes it plain that they had missed the point altogether. He was the Messiah, the Son of David, the One promised in Scriptures to bring salvation and deliverance to the people, yet it was children who recognised this, not the leaders. On another occasion, He said, ‘You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.’ (John 5:39-40)

The Bible contains within its pages all that we need to navigate life. Jesus, in His question, quoted Ps 8, referring the religious leaders back to the word of God (and showing how God Himself views children.) We may feel this book can’t possibly have answers to our modern questions (what does it have to say about abortion, euthanasia, war, disease and modern-day dilemmas?), but in fact, we find in the Bible all the principles we need for every situation we will ever face. It’s vital we read the Bible, but we must also absorb its truths and apply them to our everyday lives so that we do not miss out, as these leaders did, on its life-giving truth.