Debt.

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.  24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.  25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold – along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned – to pay the debt.  26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’  27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.  28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.  29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time.  ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded.  30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait.  He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.’  Matthew 18:23-30

 The nerve.  Right?  Is that what you’re thinking?  Yeah, me, too. 

 Yet, we can be that ungrateful, “you owe me” servant.  Someone wrongs us.  Hurts us.  They uncover us or tell something that isn’t true about us.  We expect retribution.  We demand them to take ownership in how they have mistreated or offended us.  We tell them to pay up!  And, we make sure everyone else around us knows they owe us, too. 

 I’ve done it.  You’ve done it.

 We have a huge capacity to be that slimy servant who was forgiven of an even larger debt than the one owed him.

 Haven’t we been forgiven of a huge debt?  I don’t know.  The debt of sin?  Replaced with a gift of salvation?  Eternal life?

 Yeah, that big debt.

 Still, we go out and demand others to pay up their, well, their smaller debts.  And, really.  Aren’t all debts smaller than the one we owed our King?

 I’m just sayin’.

 So, what should our response be to those we think owe us?

 Come back tomorrow, and I’ll tell ya.