A dying SS officer, his face wrapped in bandages, grips the hand of a young camp prisoner and begs him for forgiveness, simply because the man is a Jew. This true story from Simon Wiesenthal opens a study of Jesus’ words about the hard conversation and the limits of forgiveness (Matthew 18). The sermon shows why it feels easier to turn away in silence than to go and speak face to face, and what forgiving seventy-seven times really costs. Listen if you are carrying a hurt you do not know what to do with.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Matthew 18:15-17 Jesus describes a series of steps: a private conversation, a conversation with witnesses, and bringing the matter to the church. What purpose lies behind each step, given the words "you have won your brother over"?
- What did it mean for the first hearers to treat someone as a pagan or a tax collector, when Jesus himself was called a friend of tax collectors and sinners?
- Why is it often easier to talk about being hurt with friends and family than with the person who hurt us, and what dangers does that bring?
- Peter asks whether he should forgive up to seven times, and Jesus answers seventy times seven. What part of that answer is hardest for you to accept?
- In the parable a servant is forgiven an unpayable debt, then grabs a fellow servant by the throat over a small sum. How does knowing how much God has forgiven you change the way you see those who have hurt you?
- The sermon says forgiveness costs, but unforgiveness costs far more, as in the story of the woman who would not let go of her wounds. Who do you need to talk to or forgive this week, and what first step can you take?
