Matthew 18:21-34

Jesus' disciples were normal people. We fail to realize how much they were like us. Because they are in the Bible and they knew Jesus, we tend to idealize them. We put them up on a pedestal and call them saints. They are not like us. They are Apostles and Saints. The truth is that Jesus' disciples were people just like you and me. They had their pains and their joys, just as all human beings do. And they had faults just like us.

Even Peter, the rock, had his faults. I imagine he probably even got into fights with his brother Andrew at times. Any of you with children know that brothers and sisters often fight. Peter and his brother Andrew were close. They owned a fishing business before they met Jesus and worked together. But like any brothers I imagine they got into fights at times. Peter the older brother probably tried to boss Andrew around. After all he was older and wiser. And they probably got into arguments about how to conduct the business. I imagine Peter the older and more sensible one would say, "All the boat needs is a new rudder and it'll be fine. But Andrew, being younger and more ambitions, argued for a whole new boat. One with a fiberglass hull and an Evenrood outboard and one of those sonar fish finders. I imagine that words were said which could not be taken back. Feelings were hurt. And brothers injured one another. Peter was also close to the other disciples. For instance James and John the sons of Zebedee were partners with Peter and Andrew. But despite their closeness they probably got into fights from time to time. After all they probably weren't called the "Sons of Thunder" for nothing. I imagine that words were said which could not be taken back. Feelings were hurt. And brothers injured one another.

I don't know who it was, but Peter apparently had a falling out with someone who he would call a brother. And Peter may have been having trouble forgiving this person so he went to Jesus and he said. "Jesus, I know you are always talking about forgiving people. You know turning the other cheek, and you said we should pray that God forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Should we forgive them as many as seven times?" You see Peter could bring himself to forgive his brother the first time he did whatever it was that was making him mad or hurt. Peter could even forgive him the second and third time, but he began to wonder how long this would go on. You know it is easy to forgive a little, but there has to be a limit right. After all a person only has two cheeks. Seven seemed a reasonable number so Peter thought "Maybe I should forgive only seven times."

We all know how Peter felt; forgiving someone can be difficult. When someone does something to us that hurts us, we want to hurt them back, not forgive them. Like little children on the beach, if someone knocks over our sand castle the first thing we want to do is knock over theirs. But we are adults. We should forgive them. But it is not easy. It gets even harder if the person really hurts us bad, or continues to hurt us again and again. It really becomes hard if we call that someone "brother" or "sister" or "mother " or "father" or "husband" or "wife." You see the closer someone is to us the easier it is for them to hurt us and the more vulnerable we are to them. So it is difficult to forgive a sister or brother, even a sister or brother in Christ, who hurts us.

But when Peter asked Jesus, "Should I forgive my brother as many as seven times." Jesus said, "Not just seven times but seventy times seven." So Peter's whipped out his calculator and said, "That's 490 times. Should I forgive my brother 490 times? And if I do can I whollup him one if he does it a 491st time?" Of course Jesus didn't mean literally 490 times. The numbers Jesus used were symbolic. Seven symbolizes the fullness of God's work. In his answer Jesus squared seven and multiplied it by ten. He meant that Peter should keep forgiving his brother or sister just as God keeps for giving us. So Jesus decided to tell Peter a parable which illustrated this. And that Parable might have gone something like this.

Therefore the kingdom of heaven can be compared to - a banker going over her books with her bookkeeper. As she went over her books she found that a farmer in that town owed her 1,000,000 and he was delinquent on his payments. So she called up the man and said, "Meet me at the bank at 1:00 and we will talk about your delinquent note." The man showed up at the bank at 1:00 and they sat down in the banker's office. The banker said, "Now Mr. Barns, I see that we have loaned you $1,000,000 and you have fallen behind on your payments. Is there any way that you can pay?" Mr. Barns said, "Not right now, the drought this year almost ruined my crop. And the market price was down this year. I barely got enough out of it to feed my family until next year." "Well Mr. Barnes, I am not in business to lose money. I have stock holders that I have to answer to. I am afraid you are a bad investment I will need to foreclose on you farm and auction it for what I can salvage." "But please Mrs. Banker, I need that farm. That farm has been in the Barnes family for generations. You can't just take it away from me. I will pay you back if you just give me a chance. Please?" At this the Banker had compassion on the farmer and said, "O.K. I'll let you by. We will take our losses as they come."

At that the farmer ran out and the first thing he did was he found a man who did some odd jobs for him who owed him money. And he stood outside the man's house and said, "John, get out here now." And when John came out he grabbed him and said, "You owe me $100 now pay up or else." "But I don't have any money" John pleaded, "And I need all I have to feed my children and buy them shoes for school. And my wife is sick and I need what little money I get from it to pay her medical bills. Please give me some time and I will pay you." Then Mr. Barnes saw John's old car, and he said, "O.K. give me that old car of yours. I should be able to get something for it. The junk yard may give me $75 for it." But John pleaded with him, "Mr. Barnes you know I do odd jobs to make ends meet. I need that old car to get around without it I will be worse off than ever." But Mr. Barnes took the car anyway.

Well it just so happens that some of the workers at the bank overheard the meeting between the banker and Mr. Barnes. Later they saw him selling that old car and they figured out what was happening. So they went and told Mrs. Banker about it. She was furious. She called Mr. Barnes and told him to meet her immediately at the bank. When he arrived she sat him down and said, "You owed me 1,000,000 and I let it slide. 1,000,000 Mr. Barnes! Then the next thing I hear you are selling some poor man's car for a measly 100. I showed mercy to you, but you did not show mercy to your fellow man. Because of that I will not show mercy to you. We will auction your farm next Wednesday. Now get out of my office.

When Jesus had finished his story he turned to Peter. And he said: God forgives so much of what we do. But if you do not forgive your brothers and sisters the little things they do to us, God will do the same thing to you that the Banker did to the farmer.

It's not easy to forgive. So we ask Jesus, "When can I stop? How much forgiving is enough? When can I stop turning the other cheek and just whollup them one?"

Jesus replies, "Who said you could stop. You want God to forgive all the many things you have done. Why not forgive your sisters and brothers for the little things they have done." Forgiveness isn't a matter of tallying rights and wrongs. Forgiveness is a matter of grace. God graciously saves us from our sin; we should strive to be just as gracious to one another.

Exodus 14:19-31

Things were not going well for the Israelites that day; or so they thought. Oh, they were free from slavery. This God of theirs had convinced the Egyptians to let them go. But God had also angered Pharaoh. And now Pharaoh was bearing down on the Israelites and there was no place to run. Their backs were against the sea and the chariots of Pharaoh's army were about to crush them.

And they cried out to Moses, "Where there not enough graves in Egypt? You had to bring us out here to die? Hey, its great that we are no longer slaves, but we'll soon be dead as well as free. Isn't it better to be a living slave than an free corps? At least a living slave has a future. And the Egyptians weren't all that bad anyway."

But we've all seen the movie "The Ten Commandments." We know what happens next. God tells Charleton Heston, I mean Moses, to raise his hands over the water and God parts the water. The Israelites escape through the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army is drowned.

I've been there. No, not that geographical location on the banks of the Red Sea. But I have found myself on the banks of a few spiritual Red Seas in my life. When I was surrounded by an angry sea on one side and an angry mob on the other. It seemed that death would come either by the sword or by drowning. And even us preachers at times have asked, "Why did you lead me here Lord, were there not enough graves where I was before."

That is a universal experience among humans. We all find ourselves in situations like that from time to time. This is even more true for we Christians who follow Christ. We often find ourselves surrounded by enemies because Christ leads us there, just as God led Israel to the banks of the Red Sea. Christ doesn't lead us to the banks of a Red Sea to destroy us, but to make our salvation evident and to demonstrate God Almighty's power.

The testimony of Israel's deliverance on the banks of the Red Sea has much to teach us. It is a vivid example of God's saving power at work. It shows us what God does when we find have been led to the banks of a Red Sea and are facing the enemies of God.

First of all, when our backs are to the sea, God protects us. When Moses lead the people of Israel out of Egypt the angel of the Lord was with them leading them. That angel appeared as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. It was a visible reminder of the power of God Almighty that was with them and was leading them. The first thing that happened when Pharaoh's army approached was that this pillar moved. It took its position between the Israelites and the Egyptian army.

When we have our backs against a wall and we are faced by God's enemies, that is the first thing God does for us. God moves to protect us. God does not lead us into a trap to let us be victimized. So God stands between our enemies and us. God becomes our first line of defense and in that situation our defense is sure.

So Pharaoh's army was prevented from attacking God's people by a pillar of divine fire and smoke. In the same way God will protect us from our enemies. They will be prevented from attacking us by God's hand.

Secondly, when our backs are to the sea God delivers us. Often times it is the least imagined route of escape. One day a boy came home from Vacation Bible School and his mother asked him what he had learned. He said that he had learned that the Egyptian army was fighting the Israelites and the Israelites were out gunned. So they were retreating, but their backs were against the sea. So Moses called in the Corps of Engineers and they built a pontoon bridge across the Red Sea so the Israelites could escape. Shocked his mother said, "It that what they told you at church?" The boy replied, "No, but you'd never believe what they said really happened." Obviously that little boy didn't believe it.

Have you ever heard it said that when God closes a door he opens a window? Well that is what God did for the Israelites. At God's command Moses lifted his hands and God parted the Red Sea. And to their amazement God provided a way out of a seemingly hopeless situation.

God always works best when things seem hopeless. And no matter what Christ leads us into, he will always lead us out of it. It may not be the way out that you of I would have chosen. But it is always better. It is better because it is the way God has chosen.

Thirdly, when our backs are to the sea, God destroys our enemies. The Bible tells us that the Egyptians decided to follow the Israelites into the Red Sea. But their Chariot wheels got bogged down. They soon realized that God was fighting against them. But it was too late. Moses stretched out his hand and the Red Sea closed in on the Egyptians destroying all who would make war on God's people.

And God will do the same for us. But you may say, "Hold on now preacher." Sure God protects us and gives us an escape but our enemies still persists. God hasn't utterly destroyed our enemy. Our enemy is Satan and Satan still lives and is still creating trouble for God's people. Satan just takes different forms. In the early years of the church Satan used the Roman Empire to persecute the Christians. And throughout the centuries Satan has used false doctrines to attack the church. And Satan continues to use jealousy and prejudice to divide God's people.

But the Devil's doom is sure. The Egyptian army was defeated long before Moses stretched out his arms to close the Sea on them. Their fate was decided when they followed the Israelites into the sea. In the same way the devil's fate is already decided. It was decided when God's Son stretched his arms out on a cross. And Jesus will come again soon and all that is contrary to God's plan will be done away with.

The title of this sermon is "What to do When You are Surrounded." If you have noticed I haven't talked about what we should do. All I have done is talk about what God does. And that is as it should be. Because it is God's actions that are important in those situations.

You see Israel couldn't get out of the situation they were in. They didn't have the power to fight the Egyptians. They were just a bunch or undisciplined escapees. They had no organization or weapons to speak of. They would be crushed under the wheels of the Egyptian war machine. But God had the power to deliver them. And all they had to do was to follow God and trust the might of Almighty God.

So the next time you find your back to he sea, look to God. Think not about what you can do, but what God can do. And if God calls you to walk across the bottom of a sea, just believe. Remember that God will protect you, God will deliver you, and God in Christ has already defeated your enemies.

Romans 14:1-12

The story is told of two preachers in a small town. The town had only two churches one on one side of town and one on the other. One was Methodist and the other Presbyterian. The two pastors often argued over predestination and free will. The Presbyterian argued that God predestined everything because God was all-powerful and all knowing. The Methodist minister always argued that God was also all loving and had given each of us a free will to do as we decide.

Despite their difference of opinion they were friends and in a sense of Christian brotherhood decided to swap pulpits one Sunday. So on that Sunday morning the Methodist minister set out on horseback from his church to go preach at the Presbyterian Church. At the same moment the Presbyterian minister set out on horseback from his church to go to the Methodist Church. In the middle of town they met up.

They waved and greeted one another as they passed. But just as they had passed each other the Presbyterian minister decided to get in one last barb. He called the Methodist Minister and said, "I'll have you know that is was predestined from the foundations of the world that I would preach in your church today and you would preach in mine." The Methodist Minister just said, "O yeah" and turned around and when back to the Methodist Church.

It has been said that wherever two or more Christians are gathered there will be a difference of opinion. We Christians have our disagreements from time to time. We have differences in theology or practice. One group feels things should be done one way and another group feels they should be done another way. Sometimes it makes for good-natured humor. Sometimes it creates fighting and hurt feelings and divisions in the body of Christ.

Concerning disagreements among Christians John Wesley is reported to have said, "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." I have also heard that he was quoting St. Augustine when he said that. Disagreement within the body of Christ is necessary. Where would we be if Martin Luther had not stood up against the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church of his day? And where would we be if John Wesley had not stood up against the apathy of the Anglican Church of his day.

Tension between Christians is inevitable as we grow and try to remain faithful. But it need not tear us apart. We can say that there are some truths that we need to stick to, and then there are some we can let slide. But in all we must live love.

Back in the good old days when Paul was still around there were no Christian denominations. There was one church. But there were still disagreements. The diversity of backgrounds in the early church would understandably lead to misunderstandings and disagreements. Some of the early Christians were raised Jewish. They were taught never to associate with Gentiles for fear of being made unclean. They were raised to keep the Sabbath holy and set apart and not to eat certain thing.

On the other hand some of the early Christians had grown up worshipping the Greek and Roman gods. I am sure that many in the church in Rome were in this group. They had grown up treating all days the same and eating whatever they wanted. One of the problems they had was the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols. In the ancient Gentile world, if you went to the corner butcher shop, chances are that the meat there had been sacrificed to an idol. The Gentiles believe that the god of that idol entered the sacrifice and all who ate it. Any devout Jew would know that this is ridiculous because there are no other god's in reality.

So there were a number of disagreements among the early Christians about eating meat and which meat could be eaten and what days were more holy than others. Should the Gentile Christians keep the Sabbath or other Jewish holidays and should the Jewish Christians look down on the Gentiles if they didn't? Should the Gentiles stop eating bacon for breakfast or should the Jews just lighten up? Should Christians stop eating all meat sacrificed to idols or should they wise up and realize that Zeus and Apollo and all those others don't exist?

This is the situation that Paul is addressing in the 14th chapter of Romans. And his answer is quite simple - love. He says if someone who is weaker in the faith and has quirks about eating meat comes, then welcome them. Don't make it your mission to convert him to your way of seeing the issue. He is obviously trying to serve God by abstaining from meat. And don't let those who abstain look down on those who are not dedicated to making that sacrifice.

The same is true concerning keeping certain days as holy. This would probably refer to the way one keeps the Sabbath. As long as people are convinced they are trying to serve the Lord, then that is fine.

What matters is that we are living for Christ. So Paul urges the Romans not to argue and quarrel about those things. What is important is that they love one another and try to serve the Lord.

Last Sunday we heard Jesus telling is disciples what to do to discipline someone for wrong living. Today Paul the Apostle tells us not to quarrel. There is a balancing act going on here. There are certain things that are essential: "Love God and love your neighbor." "Jesus is the Son of God who died for the sins of the world."

But other things are not essential. Does your church have candles and stained glass windows? Do you people speak in tongues in your church or shout "Amen"? Do you sprinkle or immerse?

It is obvious that some of these things are not things that we should fall out of fellowship about. We should approach it just as Wesley did. "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."

But that is such a predictably Methodist thing to say. I know growing up in the Methodist Church I heard that over and over again. "It doesn't matter what church you go to just that you know the Lord." But does that mean that we just ignore things that are wrong in other churches or our own? Do we just stand by while other church refuse to recognize that woman are an important part of the church? Do we just stand by while churches bash certain groups of people? Or when they are advocating lifestyles that are hurtful and sinful?

How do we deal with other Christians whose attitudes are so different from ours? Is it right to ignore them even though we believe they are hurting themselves and other? Of course not! We have a duty to tell them what we believe is right. But we must do so in love.

Paul knew what he was talking about. For essential things he stood his ground and proclaimed the Gospel even though it got him beaten and stoned and eventually killed. But he always did it in love. There are a lot of important issues that we Christians need to be talking about sexuality, abortion, poverty, racism, sexism, etc. Let's not waste our time getting all worked up about little things that are not important. Let us love one another and not judge one another.