September 06, 2026
• Rev. Dr. Rob Fuquay
St. Luke’s UMC
September 6, 2026
Communion
Run It Back
“Forgiving”
Matthew 18:21-35
We’re going to do a lot of math today. So no maps, but we’ve got math. And we start with a story about Abe Lincoln when he was a lawyer in Illinois. A man came to him one day wanting to hire Lincoln because someone owed him money and refused to pay. The debt was $2.50. Lincoln agreed and told him that his fee is $10, payment up front, but if he could get the debt paid and keep the matter out of court, thus avoiding further fee, would the man be okay with that? The man gladly agreed.
So Lincoln took half of it, $5, and went to the person who owed the money. He said, “I’ll give you $5 if you go pay your debt.” The person happily agreed and went to Lincoln’s client and paid the $2.50. So the man who owed the money made 2.50. Lincoln ended up making 5.00, and the first man who got his 2.50 back, paying $10 to do so. And what befuddled Lincoln was that his client was now happy.
Getting a debt paid, often comes with a debt.
That is what Jesus warned his disciples one day when he talked about the importance of resolving differences. He said, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 18:18) In other words, do whatever you can to resolve differences because there is a permanence about our choices.
Things get interesting when Peter tries to show off. He says, “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” (Mt 18:21) Rabbinical teaching required a person to forgive up to three times. Peter had more than doubled that requirement. But instead of commending him Jesus answered his question saying, “Unless you forgive your brother seventy times seven…” Alright, our next math problem. How many times is that? 490 times. Now if Peter, and others listening, thought that was sort of ridiculous, Jesus tells a story that takes ridiculous to a whole new level.
He says “The kingdom of heaven is like…” Now that’s Jesus’ code for, “What I am about to say is what life looks like on God’s terms.” A king settled accounts with his servants. One servant brought to the king owed 10,000 talents, and right away we realize how ridiculous Jesus’ story is. Why? Because a talent was the largest measure of monetary value. It was worth 6,000 denarii. And how much was a denarius? Jesus actually tells us two chapters later when he tells another story about workers in a vineyard. They are hired for a denarius a day. A denarius was a day’s pay for an unskilled worker. So think of this as a minimum wage earner.
So let’s put that in modern, Indiana economics. Current minimum wage in Indiana is $7.25 an hour, or about $60 a day before tax. Can you imagine trying to live on that? Studies show that cost of living requires that someone earns at least $30/hr. But for purposes of our story let’s stick with minimum wage.
So a denarius is worth around $60, and a talent is worth 6,000 times that, so how much is a talent worth? $360,000. And how many talents died the servant owe the king in Jesus’ story? 10,000 talents. How much would that be today? $3.6B!!
You see how ridiculous Jesus’ story is getting? This king is either very dumb or detached to allow a servant to rack up that kind of debt. In fact, how could someone even amass that kind of debt?
A recent study of gamblers showed that of people who admit to their worst, one day losses, on average that amounts to roughly $15,000. People who have their all-time worst day at the casinos say that’s about 15 grand. Let’s say that everyday, 24-7, you have your worst day, do you know how long it would take to accumulate $3.6B? It would take not stop, all-time worst losses everyday for 657 years!!
See how ridiculous this story is! And thinking of gambling, the king in Jesus’ story acts like someone right out of the movie Casino. Since the man can’t pay the debt, the king has him, his wife, and his children sold to repay the debt. Seriously? This must be one talented family if they could be sold for $3.6b! This family must be like Taylor Swift, Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey all combined!
Why would Jesus tell such a ridiculous story? Because of what he says next. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ (v.26) Again, talk about ridiculous! This man can’t pay that back. Now the story is laughable. This man has no way of paying back such a ridiculous debt. No way!
But notice what the king does.
“The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.” (v.27 NIVuk) If you have something to write with, you might want to note those three words in that verse: took pity, canceled, let go (with title of Three Ingredients of Forgiveness). Those are the three ingredients of forgiveness.
Remember, Jesus already gave his story away. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” This king is a symbol of the character of God. This king is willing to have compassion, cancel debts, and let go of wrongs of people for whom it is a ridiculous idea that they could ever repay what they owe, but they’re humble and willing to depend on the patience of this God.
Has God done anything ridiculous for you? Have you ever had a debt you could never repay? Have you ever done anything for which it is a ridiculous idea that you could make it right?
Jesus says there is a God who is just that ridiculous, when a person is humble enough to depend on God’s patience, that God will have pity, cancel the debt, and let it go.
But don’t think that God is a pushover. Because what is more ridiculous than that kind of forgiveness? Someone who has received forgiveness but isn’t forgiving.
And so Jesus continues his story. The forgiven servant, who has just been released from a $3.6B debt, goes out and sees someone who owes him 100 denarii. Again, using our modern evaluation, that was about $6,000. Now that’s not laughable. That’s within reason. Someone could easily owe a person 6 grand, and even have the chance to repay it. That’s reasonable. This person pleaded with the servant to be patient, just as the servant had pleaded with the king. “But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt.” (v. 30)
And it becomes ridiculous again. Put someone in prison until they can pay a debt? That makes sense, doesn’t it? The whole story is ridiculous. No one who has been shown such grace would ever behave so intolerantly…right?
When the king found out what the servant did, he summoned him, and look at what he called him, “You wicked servant.” (v.32) Note the word wicked. We often use that to mean something evil. Our word for wicked comes from an old English wicca, which connotes sorcery or wizadry. That is where we get the name Wiccan religion. But an even older derivative is wick. Just like in candles. The process of wicking is where you take strands of material, twist them, and soak them in oil and let them try so they harden. This is the same idea behind wicker as in furniture. You soak reeds and twist and shape them into difference forms until they harden that way. It makes for beautiful furniture. But behind this idea of wicked is the idea of something that can bend or flex that hardens in some twisted form.
And so Jesus made a ridiculous analogy, to point out something that isn’t so ridiculous, that people can get bent out of shape and fixated on things that we can’t let go. Let go, that’s the key. People who have received so much grace can have a hard time letting go of things themselves.
Is it so ridiculous to think that can happen?
I told a humiliating story about basketball from my college days last week. Let me tell another college story that’s actually more humiliating. When I was in school I drove a 1971 Ford Torino. It looked really cool, but it required a lot of attention. One time the brake drum broke, and I couldn’t drive it. And I also couldn’t afford to have it towed someplace, much less pay a professional mechanic to fix it.
But I also couldn’t afford not to have it. You see, I worked in two small churches every weekend about 40 minutes away from campus. In fact, this was kind of a self-righteous phase for me, because I would head out after class on Friday and come back Sunday nights to a dorm that was often trashed after the weekend parties. And I would listen to guys tell me of all the “fun” they had. “Oh Fuquay, you really missed it! You should have been here.” And I would think, “One day I might be saying the same to you guys from heaven.”
Well, there was one guy on our floor I kind of steered clear of. He was what we called back then a “stoner.” So I was lamenting to my roommate about my car, and he said, “Why don’t you talk to so-and so (the Stoner), before college he worked in a garage.” So, you know, desperate times and all. I knock on his door. I describe my plight. He said, “No problem, maaaaan. I’ve got my tools in my car. We’ll go find an old brake drum from a junk yard and I’ll put it on for you.”
I said, “How much would I need to pay you?” He said, “Pay me? Come on, we’re dorm brothers. We don’t charge each other.” So I said, “Ok, bro…”
So one cold November day, he sat outside for 2 hours repairing my car. His fingers had to be frozen. But he never complained. When he finished, my brakes were as good as new! I couldn’t thank him enough. I couldn’t afford what he did for me.
Well, fast forward to the start of the next semester. I came back on a Sunday night and could tell that they had a big party that weekend. I got to my room and noticed my favorite hat, a silly Cincinnati Reds batting helmet, but not a real one, a cheap plastic one, that used to hang on my bed post. It was cracked down the middle. And I sort of lost it.
I started ranting about how the guys on the floor just party and don’t care about other people’s property, and my voice was getting louder. My roommate said, “Rob, just let it go. Let it go.” And I wasn’t going to let it go. I kept fuming, and just then Stoner appeared in the door. He said, “Hey man, I broke your helmet. It was an accident, okay. Sorry. How much was it?” I said, “I paid $10 for it.” He reached in his wallet and handed me a ten dollar bill, and as he turned to leave, he looked back and said, “You know, I get about three times that per hour as a mechanic.”
I don’t know how many times I’ve told that story in sermons. It's been 45 years ago, and I still feel about that big telling it. It’s ridiculous, I know, that someone could be shown so much grace and get bent out of shape over something so small they can’t let go of.
Jesus’ story ends in a disturbing way. The Master says, “I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.” And Jesus concludes, ‘This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (vv32-35)
Now the story isn’t so funny. It’s haunting, and it’s a disturbing image of God. But if you take it at face value, Jesus made a simple point. Unforgiveness is a prison. When we don’t have compassion or a willingness to forgive and let things go, when we go through life obsessing on getting even and making sure we get payback from anyone who wronged us or hurt us, it hardens us. We become the prisoners.
And the reality is, we have the key to get out. God has given us that key. God has given us grace and kindness and forgiveness to use. We have that. But we can’t expect God to do for us what we are unwilling to do ourselves. What softens a hard heart is compassion, forgiveness and ability to let go.
So as we come to communion this morning, we will serve you as usual, offering the bread and cup of Christ, symbolizing God’s ridiculous grace and forgiveness. But then we will say, “This is for you,” and I invite you to say back, “And for others,” recognizing that God’s grace doesn’t stop with us. It is meant to flow through us…