PENTECOST • 18

How can I be set free and stay free?

This week’s 4 readings help us reflect on how we receive freedom and how we continue to live in it. 

reading for: 9 September

Matthew 18:15-20

Freedom is found in receiving God’s forgiveness and forgiving others

  • READ

Forgiveness lies at the heart of our faith in God and our love of one another. Forgiveness, which we receive from God our King in the person of Jesus is what our King expects from his subjects in their dealings with each other. Forgiveness is both extravagant (overgenerous) and reciprocal (shared with others). 

Firstly, forgiveness in this parable is both extravagant and precious. A "talent" is a measure of weight, close to about 59kg, it was roughly equal to about 15 years’ worth of salary for the typical worker. The king in our parable is owed 10,000 talents, or about 150,000 years’ worth of income, which is no small debt and quite impossible to repay. 

A denarius (plural = denarii) is a small silver coin that was roughly the daily wage for the typical worker. The slave in our parable is owed 100 denarii. This is no small debt, but neither is it earth-shattering when compared to a “talent”. 

Second, forgiveness is reciprocal - it must be shared with others. When teaching his disciples to pray Jesus said, "Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12). This fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer is echoed in the lesson of this parable about the kingdom, reflecting it back in reverse. We ought to forgive as our King has forgiven us.

Jesus goes on to teach, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15). 

Jesus teaches that God's forgiveness surpasses both our deserving and our understanding of it; we who have first been forgiven must, therefore and thereupon, forgive those who have wronged us so much more lightly.

Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors; as a prayer this puts the emphasis on what we will receive in turn for the forgiveness we have offered. Forgive your brother or sister from your heart; the parable turns the tables, teaching us that we have been first forgiven and encouraging us to forgive in turn. Taken together, this is a composite picture of the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom we practice, both of which are driven by forgiveness. 

  • REFLECT

People often say, “forgive and forget”. In truth, it’s hard to forget. Maybe a better way forward would be: every time I remember the hurt or injustice done, “I forgive others’ wrongdoing because I remember God’s great forgiveness for me”. 

Soak and meditate on God’s mercy and forgiveness on your own life and draw from Him the strength to keep forgiving others. Then release forgiveness for someone who has offended or failed you. “Don’t go to bed wrong”.

reading for: 10 September

Exodus 14:19-31

Freedom is found in constant dependence on God’s Grace

  • READ

    Exodus is the story of God’s people moving from slavery to freedom. God is recreating His people anew. God’s power in Genesis, to create from nothing, from formlessness and void, is the same power by which God saves and transforms. It reveals a path for God’s people and builds walls to protect them from the chaos and death of the sea (14:22).

    Yet the Red Sea crossing remains treacherous. Though there is light in this new creation, there is also darkness (14:20). This passage portrays slavery’s end in vivid, violent detail. Chariots, technologies of conquest and visible signs of royal power and status, become a trap for Pharaoh and his armies.

    When God rearranges sea and land, the Egyptians think to pursue their former slaves (14:23), but as they enter between the walls of water, God’s light that gently leads His people creates panic for Israel’s oppressors (14:24), their chariot wheels turn out, and they cannot retreat (14:25). At dawn, the waters return, and as the Egyptians flee, God hurls them into the water (14:27-28). When the Israelites have crossed to safety, they see the bodies of their former masters cast up dead upon the shore (14:30).

  • REFLECT

    Are you walking in freedom? Are you walking on dry land with God in front or in danger of being drowned by vengeance and unforgiveness? Repent (turn away from wicked desires and look to God your Deliverer) and be “baptised” - Die to old self and live a new life for God.

reading for: 11 September

Romans 14:1-12

Freedom is found in constant dependence on God’s Grace

  • READ

    There is a sour relationship are between two groups of people. On one side are the vegetarians; on the other are people who will eat anything, with each side sneering judgmentally at the other about their behaviour. Similarly, some people celebrate festival days (they “judge one day to be better than another”) while others do not.

    Each group sets itself over and above the other group, claiming that they are ‘in the right’ for its particular practices and opinions. 

    From the first century until now, it seems, people manage to develop self-righteous attitudes toward those with whom they disagree, totally ignoring the command not to “think more highly of yourself than you ought to think” (Romans 12:3).

    Paul is concerned about brothers and sisters sitting in judgment over the behaviours of one another; the verb “to pass judgment” appears several times in the passage (14:3, 4, 5, 10; cf. 2:1-3). Two phrases are noteworthy: “Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another?” (14:4) and “Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister?” (14:10).

    The theme is strengthened even further by the verse that appears immediately after our passage: “Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.” (Romans 14:13).

  • REFLECT

    It is tough to praise God if you are busy passing judgment on other people. Ask the Lord to enlarge your heart. Ask God to make your heart so big and generous that there is plenty of room in it for all kinds of different people in your heart and reflect again on how Christ unites us (Ps Terence’s sermon last Sunday 6th Sept). Challenge: What is one thing you will do this week to make room in your heart for an LG or Kampong member who unique and perhaps difficult to accept or be around?

reading for: 12 September

Psalm 114

Freedom is found in celebrating God’s faithful & powerful acts 

  • READ

    To stay in freedom, we must keep remembering God’s past faithfulness. Because without this commitment, our hectic and demanding lives can easily distort our perception of God and others and lead to careless behaviour. This psalm is an act of powerful remembering that leads to present-day confidence and a strong warning. 

    In four short phrases, Israel recites its whole memory of life with God, from the slavery of Egypt to the well-being of the Promised Land (vs 1 – 2). Memory begins for Israel in the Exodus event, when God rescued these slaves from the Egyptian empire. God brought them to a new home – a place of well-being, inviting them to be astonished and grateful. 

    Now that these oppressed slaves have become free, they can’t help but gloat over and make fun of the Egyptians (symbolised by ‘mountains’ & ‘sea’) - those who were so arrogant and abusive (vs 4 – 6). 

    The psalm ends with a strong warning (vs 7 – 8). The “earth” – all natural-phenomena, all creation, all rulers and empires, all governments and those in power – should tremble, quake and twist discomfort before “the Lord” – the Sovereign One. His power is irresistible and praiseworthy.

  • REFLECT

    A strong church is made up of CNLers who are waking up strong, not going to bed wrong and pausing in our day to pray. How are you doing in these daily rhythms?

    Wake up strong – recall, with gratefulness, your own experiences of God’s grace and mercy. 

    Don’t go to bed wrong – forgive others as you have been forgiven by God.

    Pause in your day to pray – live in freedom. Take short moments in your day to notice & celebrate God’s loving presence and redeeming activity in the world around you.

Season of PentecostCNL