An invitation to worship...
WE WORSHIP TO SAY, "THANK YOU."
The gospel reading for this Sunday is Matthew 18:21-35, which is the account of Peter asking Jesus how many times he must forgive. Jesus responded by telling the parable of the man who had been forgiven 10,000 talents but who wouldn't forgive a debt of 100 denarii. Because we are not familiar with 1st century Jewish currency, we can miss the power of the parable.
10,000 was the largest number possible in the Hebrew language, which would be equivalent to our saying something like "a gazillion." And a talent was worth about 20 years of wages. Jesus was basically saying that the man had been forgiven an incalculable debt, but if we take the parable literally, we would say that the man had been forgiven 200,000 years’ worth of wages!
In comparison, a denarius was worth about one day’s wages, so 100 denarii would be equivalent to 100 days wages (obviously). The comparison Jesus was making therefore, was 200,000 years of wages to 100 days of wages. In other words, according to Jesus, the man was forgiven an amount 700,000 times more than he was willing to forgive.
Evidently, there is no comparison between what we have been forgiven with what we might have to forgive. That's how much in debt we are, to our Lord for our salvation.
Which is why the title to these weekly words is, "We worship to say, 'thank you.'" In light of how much Jesus says we have been forgiven, we clearly could never pay back what we owe Him. Our salvation is all gift! Therefore, worship can't be anything other than gratitude for what the Lord has done for us. We worship to say, "Thank you," because that's all we can do.
This Sunday begins our Fall Revival. Our speaker this year is Rev. Elise Ivie, who is the pastor of Ashland, Oregon Church of the Nazarene. She is a compelling speaker, (who will be preaching from this parable) and I am confident the Lord will be faithful to speak to all of us through His servant this week.
I am looking forward to being with our Lord and with you, as we gather to say, "Thank you." I believe it will be a very good day.
Pastor Mark
10,000 was the largest number possible in the Hebrew language, which would be equivalent to our saying something like "a gazillion." And a talent was worth about 20 years of wages. Jesus was basically saying that the man had been forgiven an incalculable debt, but if we take the parable literally, we would say that the man had been forgiven 200,000 years’ worth of wages!
In comparison, a denarius was worth about one day’s wages, so 100 denarii would be equivalent to 100 days wages (obviously). The comparison Jesus was making therefore, was 200,000 years of wages to 100 days of wages. In other words, according to Jesus, the man was forgiven an amount 700,000 times more than he was willing to forgive.
Evidently, there is no comparison between what we have been forgiven with what we might have to forgive. That's how much in debt we are, to our Lord for our salvation.
Which is why the title to these weekly words is, "We worship to say, 'thank you.'" In light of how much Jesus says we have been forgiven, we clearly could never pay back what we owe Him. Our salvation is all gift! Therefore, worship can't be anything other than gratitude for what the Lord has done for us. We worship to say, "Thank you," because that's all we can do.
This Sunday begins our Fall Revival. Our speaker this year is Rev. Elise Ivie, who is the pastor of Ashland, Oregon Church of the Nazarene. She is a compelling speaker, (who will be preaching from this parable) and I am confident the Lord will be faithful to speak to all of us through His servant this week.
I am looking forward to being with our Lord and with you, as we gather to say, "Thank you." I believe it will be a very good day.
Pastor Mark