Looking Forward to Sunday Morning (Three-Year Lectionary): Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost – Pr. Peter Bender, 9/9/26 (2522)

0:00Why does Luke emphasize prayer more than any other gospel writer? How did the early Christians navigate wealth in an empire without a safety net? And what made Jesus treatment of women so revolutionary? The issues that set her a book of the month for September is dinner with the doctor, Luke's gospel for the hungry. Learn more about this new Bible commentary and daily devotional at issuesetc.org or by calling Concordia Publishing House 1-800-325-3040. Dinner with the Doctor by Dr. Andrew Doves. Or your favorite podcast provider.

1:28The hymn of the day for the 16th Sunday after a pentacost come down O Love Divine. In the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday, Matthew 18, Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant who is the recipient of this divine love, but he does not pass it on. He refuses to forgive his fellow servant. What is Jesus teaching us there? Welcome back to issuesetc.org. I'm Todd Wilkin. Thanks for tuning us in live on this Wednesday afternoon, the 9th of September. Pastor Peter Bender joins us to look forward to Sunday morning according to the three-year electionary in Luther's Catechisms. He's pastor of Peace, Lutheran Church in Sussex, Wisconsin, and director of the Concordia

2:30Catechetical Academy. Peter, welcome back. Good to be with you, Todd. Talk a little bit about the context of the Gospel of Matthew and how that context helps us understand the proper for this Sunday. Sure. I think it's one of the advantages of the three-year electionary that we have been spending this entire summer in the Gospel of Matthew. It's really been pretty much continuous readings through the Gospel. Several weeks ago, proper 16, I'll use that rather than the Sundays after Pentecost because in the three-year that always kind of changes. In proper 16, Jesus had the disciples and says, are you a Philippi? Who do you say that I am? Peter says, you're the Christ, the Son of the living God. It's on that occasion that Jesus says to them, you are Peter, upon this rock, I will build my church, the gates of hell. Shall not prevail against her. And I give you the keys of the kingdom.

3:32Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. So the office of the keys, and that's the title of the major section of the Catechism we'll look at today, the office of the keys and confession really kind of begins in that chapter 16. And then in the Sundays that follow it, the character and the nature of the office of the keys is explicated in Jesus' Catechesis and the events that follow. So immediately after the proper 16, you're the Christ, the Son of the living God, I give you the keys of the kingdom. Then Jesus from that time forward says, I must go to Jerusalem, I must suffer, I must die, I must rise again. That's at the heart of the confession that Peter and the disciples had made. And then he calls them to take up their cross and follow him. And at the heart of that is to take up the cross, to die to self and to learn to live by

4:35nothing else but his forgiving grace. It's what sustains us as individual Christians and it is what is the engine for the office of the minister, the office of the keys. So then last Sunday, proper 18, you have that famous line of Jesus, the Son of Man came to save the lost. He put a little child in the midst and said, you must be converted and become as little children receiving the gift of forgiveness, life and salvation in my name. And he tells the story of the hundred sheep, you lose one, you go after that one lost sheep until you find it. The Son of Man came to save the lost. In that gospel last Sunday, there was the warning not to put a stumbling block in the path of anyone to receiving the gospel. Nothing's more important that they receive the gospel. And that's picked up on again on this Sunday as well. What is going to serve the cause of faith? What is going to serve the cause of the gospel?

5:36So in the gospel for this Sunday, you have Peter beginning by the question, how often shall I forgive? And that question, I think, is generated out of what it was that Jesus had been teaching them and what they had witnessed and how the disciples are getting the sense that this forgiveness from the Lord, this grace of God is really radical stuff. He says, if there's no limit, but certainly there's got to be some kind of limit. You sort of sense that behind Peter's question, how often shall I forgive? So we'll talk about it when we get to the gospel. But this question, how often shall I forgive, applies to both the minister in the office of the ministry and it applies to every Christian in their vocation as members of the royal priesthood, priests forgive and they live in that forgiveness. So let me just remind our listeners and then I'll make a few comments along the way of

6:37the office of the keys and confession. The small cataclysm asks the question, what is the office of the keys? The office of the keys is that special authority which Christ has given to his church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent. So the office of the keys, the losing key is the forgiveness of sins that's spoken to repentant sinners. The binding key is the withholding of forgiveness to the impenetent, but a withholding of forgiveness in the hopes that they will repent and receive the forgiveness of sins. Here is this written. Now, when we were in Matthew's gospel, we saw it in both Matthew 16 and Matthew 18. I give you the keys of the kingdom. But the cataclysm quotes John 20 in the resurrection appearance of Jesus in the upper room.

7:42This is what St. John the Evangelist writes in chapter 20, the Lord Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, receive the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is given through the word of absolution to strengthen faith to comfort consciences. So the Lord Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, receive the Holy Spirit, if you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. Again, that's explicating the public responsibility that ministers have to withhold forgiveness from the impenetent in the prayerful hope that they will repent and then to forgive the sins of every repented sinner. I will make a distinction when we get there in the gospel about the difference between forgiveness of sins that is for forgiveness of sins that the minister speaks in his office and the application of law and gospel with what the Christian, as Christian is simply called to live in, namely the forgiveness of sins all the time.

8:44Now the final question under the office of the keys that the small cataclysm asks is, what do you believe according to these words? And I want us to pay attention to that when we talk about Joseph and how he speaks the Lord's forgiveness to his brothers. So the cataclysm says, I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by his divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better this is just as valid and certain even in heaven as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us himself. So this kind of language from the small cataclysm indicates that what the liturgy says is indeed true in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins so that command of the Lord Jesus was in Matthew 16 and Matthew 18 here in John 20 to forgive

9:49the sins of repentance sinners and to bind the sins of those who are unrepentant in the prayerful hope that they will repent. And then of course we could go on to the questions on confession. We'll leave that as we go along in our discussion. But before going on to the Old Testament reading, I'd like to also point out the fifth petition of the Lord's prayer and its explanation. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. This petition's explanation from the small cataclysm is just pure gold because it emphasizes rightly that we have absolutely no leg to stand on before God. We have no right to claim his blessing in any sense. He has no right to hear our prayers on the basis of our works. It must be entirely by his grace. And it is that knowledge and then the reception of that grace that becomes the engine then

10:53for the Christian life. So we pray in this petition our Father in heaven would not look at our sins or deny our prayer because of them. We're neither worthy of the things for which we pray nor if we deserve them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace. For we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment and then this line. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us. It's the fact that we are recipients of God's grace that we've come to know and believe and trust in with all our hearts which is the engine whereby we live in that forgiveness for others. So living in the forgiveness of sins is the theme for this entire Sunday and it builds on these gospel readings that we've had in the previous weeks. And then this particular Sunday gives us this wonderful account in the Old Testament of Joseph for giving his brothers from Genesis 50. We will get into that Old Testament reading with Pastor Peter Bender as we look forward to Sunday morning according to the three-year electionary and Luther's catechisms next.

12:05Why does Luke emphasize prayer more than any other gospel writer? How did the early Christians navigate wealth in an empire without a safety net? And what made Jesus treatment of women so revolutionary? The issues et cetera book of the month for September is dinner with the doctor Luke's gospel for the hungry. Learn more about this new Bible commentary and daily devotional at issuesetc.org or by calling Concordia Publishing House 1-800-325-3040. Dinner with the doctor by Dr. Andrew Dawes. Psalm 144-1. Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. Those serving in the armed forces want LCMS chaplains. We need courageous pastors to bring the gospel and sacraments to those protecting our nation along with wise counsel and the peace found only in Christ Jesus. If you are between the age of 26 and 43 and have a heart for ministry in the armed forces,

13:05call 314-996-1337 or email LCMSchaps at LCMS.org. Grace, faith, scripture and Christ alone. You're listening to issues et cetera. Concordia University Chicago invites all high school students to attend the annual Careers for Christ weekend in person on our beautiful campus in River Forest. Grace for Christ is October 10th through the 12th. You'll have the opportunity to learn about professional church vocations while having fun with CUC staff, faculty and students. For more information, visit cushicago.edu-c4c. That is cushicago.edu-c4c. For decades, Lutheran High School South in St. Louis dreamed of a performing art center. One generous alum's 6.5 million dollar gift made it possible. With financing help from Lutheran Church Extension Fund, the vision became reality.

14:07The Jubal Center for the Arts opened in 2025 and students immediately won five St. Louis musical awards. Learn how one gift sparked a ripple effect for Lutheran South at intrestime.org-south. Welcome back. I'm Todd Wilkin. This is Issues et cetera. Pastor Peter Bender is our guest. He's walking us through the proper for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost. Old Testament reading from Genesis 50 beginning at verse 15, when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, it may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him. So they sent a message to Joseph saying, your father gave this command before he died. Say to Joseph, please forgive the transgressions of your brothers and their sin because they did evil to you. And now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.

15:09Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, behold, we are your servants. But Joseph said to them, do not fear for am I in the place of God as for you you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. So do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. My favorite narrative in the entire Old Testament, Todd, is this extended narrative of Joseph's interactions with his brothers. You know, it runs from chapter, I think 38, 39, whatever it is, to the end of Genesis chapter 50. And the background of this Old Testament reading is significant. Joseph was the 11th of the 12 sons of Jacob. He was a prophet. He was called by God to be a prophet.

16:11He interpreted dreams. His brothers hated him. They envied him. He was also the first born of Joseph's favorite wife, Rachel. So he had all this against him and they resolved to kill him. And you remember that Jacob gave him the coat of many colors and they kidnapped him. They threw him in a pit. They were persuaded not to kill him. They ended up selling him into slavery. He's taken to Egypt. He becomes prince in Egypt. But before that, in the house of Potapher, he endures false accusations from Potapher's wife. He does not defend himself. Lest he cause that marriage to end in divorce. He's thrown into prison. He interprets dreams within the prison of the Butler and the Baker. But he's forgotten about even though the dreams come true until Pharaoh has his own dreams. And then he's brought out of the prison to interpret Pharaoh's dreams.

17:12Time and time again, things went against Joseph. Time and time again, we see the Lord's hand of grace sustaining him. And he's eventually elevated to being prince of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. And he's in charge of the graineries during the seven years of plenty so that there would be enough grain stored for the years of famine. And it's during the famine that after many years of being separated from him, there father assuming that Joseph had been killed by animals, that the brothers are sent to Egypt, not expecting to find their brother there as prince, but to buy grain. And when it happens, Joseph immediately recognizes them. And I think for some, it might be strange how Joseph treats them. But Joseph treats them the way he does because he is functioning essentially as their pastor. They needed to be brought to repentance. They needed to see what they had done to him. And when he's finally revealed to his brothers, he can't contain himself any longer.

18:14And he has to reveal himself to his brothers. And he says something radical on that occasion. He says, don't blame yourself for what happened. This isn't your fault. God sent me here to save many people alive as it is this day. And I would argue that the salvation he speaks of is not simply salvation from starvation, but to save them from their sins. So Joseph had forgiven his brothers. And he had radically reinterpreted what happened to him in the light of the gospel that he believed in. In this gospel today that you just read, he repeated what he said earlier to them. You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. Okay, this Old Testament reading, upon the death of Jacob, Joseph's brothers are flooded with doubt and with a bad conscience.

19:18And I have a number of questions. You know, what did Jacob actually say to his sons? We know what they said, he said, did he actually say that? How much did he actually know about what had happened to Joseph? The whole circumstance behind it, Genesis doesn't tell us explicitly what he knew. Did he actually instruct his sons to approach Joseph? I'm not certain. Would Jacob not have actually shared his wishes with Joseph before he died if he was fearful that he would not have forgiven his brothers, but he may not even have known the full extent to what they had done to him. So I don't actually know. We can only speculate. But one thing we do know, the scandalized consciences with Injus' brothers is something that we all can relate to. He had forgiven them, they were reconciled, dad dies.

20:20Now they're haunted by their sins, past sins that have been forgiven can come flooding back into our own consciences and Satan is quick to accuse us. And this is one thing I think we can say for certain about them, they are plagued by their sins. Now what I am interested in in this Old Testament reading is Joseph's question. He says, do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? And I think the prevailing opinion Todd is to say, no, Joseph's not in the place of God, I mean, who does he think he is to even entertain such a thing he's not in the place of God? I don't believe that's what he's saying at all. If we say that he is not acting in God's stead, then we're saying that his absolution of his brothers is but a mere human act. And a mere human act can give no lasting comfort and certainty before God. So no Joseph is in the place of God.

21:21The absolution that he previously had spoken and the absolution he repeats in this Old Testament reading is God's absolution. And that's the only thing that can give peace with God and eternal comfort. And that's really how Joseph interprets what his brothers did to him. And it's also how he interprets the circumstances whereby he found himself as Prince of Egypt to provide for countless multitudes, grain during the time of famine and to provide actually the gift of salvation and reconciliation and restoration to God from which his impenetent brothers certainly had fallen. So Joseph's insights and his radical interpretation of events is an example of how the gospel transforms our lives to view events through the lens of the grace of God and through the death and resurrection of Christ.

22:21Whereby we learned the profound insight that's recorded in St. Paul's Letter to the Romans. God works in all things for our good. He certainly did that for Joseph and for his brothers who had sinned grievously against him. But Joseph lets us understand this is not about me. It's about a relationship with God. He treated his brothers the way he did for the sake of faith in the Lord from whom they had fallen and a restoration of faith in the grace of God and in the forgiveness of sins. Again, it is my absolute favorite narrative in the entirety of the Old Testament. Our abyssal reading in Romans 14, lived in the gospel for those weak in the faith is next.

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24:25The 3rd Commandment, as Martin Luther explains, it calls us not to despise Scripture and God's Word, but hold it sacred and gladly here and learn it. Hearing is easy, learning by heart, not so much. The September issue of the Luther Witness is here to help offering practical insights on Bible memorization why we do it and how we can do it better. Read more at witness.lcms.org. The Luther Witness, interpreting the contemporary world from a Lutheran perspective. Bird Singh, cows moo, thunderstorms wake you from a deep sleep, but for many they can't hear it. Their death, living in a world of total silence. The epithel Lutheran Mission Society for Death Ministry is the only recognized service organization in the Lutheran Church, Missouri, sinned, devoted exclusively to the death and heart of hearing. Their mission is to bring the gospel, messes of Jesus' love and saving grace to those who are deaf. Learn more at elmshyphendef.org. Christ centered, cross-focused, you're listening to issues, etc.

25:30It's about 60% of our curriculum that focuses on primary text, that is on the Scriptures themselves and on our Lutheran confessions. That is a steeping in the Word of God and in Christian doctrine. Dr. John Bruss, president and associate professor of systematic theology at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. And here we prepare men, we give them the tools that they need throughout life, faithfully to proclaim the Word of God, both within the parishes of our sinned, within their own communities and out into the world. It's a life of service. Learn about studying for the vocation of pastor at ctsfw.edu or by calling 1-800-481-2155. Performing servants in Jesus Christ who teach the faithful, reach the lost and care for all. Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Congratulations to LCS Chaplain Joe Seivert, who was promoted recently to Lieutenant Commander.

26:44LCS Chaplain provide word and sacrament ministry to our military personnel and their families. For information on their service, visit lcms.org-slasharmed-forces. LCS ministry to the armed forces. LCS.org-slasharmed-forces. We're looking forward to Sunday morning, according to the three-year electionary and Luther's catechisms with Pastor Peter Bender. Our epistle reading is from Romans 14, 1-12. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him. But not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains past judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls,

27:47and he will be upheld for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

28:47For it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. This is the word of the Lord. All right, so what shall we say about this particular epistle? The passage quoted at the end of the epistle, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue confess, appears to be a paraphrase of Isaiah 45, 23, in which it is said that every tongue will confess the Lord. And I often wonder when Paul in a later epistle like Romans says as it is written, if in some sense, he's also referring to some of his earlier writings, like Philippians 2, where he says that because Christ humbled himself to the point of death, therefore God the Father gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess

29:50that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Whether he's referring to that or not, it certainly is true and it squares well with Isaiah 45, in which it says that all nations shall confess the Lord. The epistle concludes with this quote, each of us will give an account of himself to God. What do we make of that? What does it mean? In the context of this epistle, and indeed the entire Sunday, I would argue that we will be called to account as Christians and as ministers for whether or not we have lived from Christ's grace and forgiveness toward one another. Paul is likely dealing with a situation in Rome in which Jewish converts to faith in Christ were still prone to observe the various dietary laws and festivals they had observed in the old

30:51Testament church. It can be difficult to set such observances aside. I mean, are they to trust in these things as works that Garner God's favor and that contribute toward their justification certainly not, but habits that are long ingrained over decades that were considered to be so important. And indeed they were given by God in the Old Testament could be difficult to set such observances aside. On the other hand, the Gentile converts to faith in Christ did not observe such dietary laws or Old Testament festivals. For them, it was a complete non-issue. So Paul urges them not to pass judgment upon one another, but to bear with one another in the freedom of the gospel and out of love for the weak and to allow the Lord's catechises and ongoing instruction to bring about

31:51deeper and fuller understanding of what they should be and how they should live as Christians. And in this case, you know how Christ is the fulfillment of the entirety of the Old Testament law. In volume 35 of the American edition of Luther's works, he makes a very helpful comment. He says in chapter 14 of Romans, Paul teaches that conscience is weak in faith, are to be led gently, spared so that we do not use our Christian freedom for doing harm, but for the assistance of the week. For where that is not done, the result is discord and contempt for the gospel. And the gospel is the all-important thing. Thus it is better to yield a little to the weak in faith until they grow stronger than to have the teaching of the gospel come to nothing. And this work is a peculiar work of love for which there is great need even now when with the eating of meat and other liberties, men are rudely and roughly and needlessly

32:56shaking weak consciences before they know the truth. So far the Luther quote, I think it's a great quote and a profound insight and it's sound advice in the art of applying law and gospel. It's a profound insight when it comes to catechesis. You know, I got to put myself in the shoes of my catecumen. You know, what are they going through? What are they stumbling over? And I cannot use my Christian liberty to trample underfoot their sensibilities even if they may be ill-founded. I have to know where they're coming from and what's going on inside of them and meet them where they are. So what contemporary example might I choose to sort of illustrate this point? Consider the drinking of alcohol. For some, the drinking of alcohol is considered sinful. I mean, especially among American evangelicals, that is often the case.

33:57For the informed Christian, we may drink alcohol responsibly and without sin in the freedom of the gospel. But in certain contexts, it may be better to refrain from partaking, lest we offend the weak or lest we cut off our opportunity to confess the faith and teach the gospel. Very recently, I encountered someone who over the past 10 years had gone from being an American evangelical to becoming a Lutheran. And for a time, they would not have anything to do with their neighbor who is a Missouri-centered pastor because they knew that he drank beer. And so this is an example of how that, I mean, no, no, in ill intent by the pastor, he's just putting his, his beer cans and beer bottles in the recycle bin to be picked up. But they knew that he drank so that he must not be a faithful Christian minister. And so to find yourself in that situation, then to pop open a few beers in front of that person

35:00that you're trying to communicate the gospel to would be self-centered action rather than thinking about the weakness of the individual. So I think that Luther's statement, the gospel is the all-important thing in our interactions with one another is critically important. It is as if he were saying, what is going to serve the cause of faith in Christ for that person? What do I need to get hacked off over and be concerned about and what can I let go? What is going to serve the cause of faith in Christ? And I think that's the all-important kind of rubric or criteria for all of us as pastors, but then also for us as as laity. Another way of putting it is that our faith in Christ calls us to love others and be concerned about others more than we are concerned about ourselves and our own rights or freedoms that we might enjoy under the gospel. So verses seven and eight are the foundation for Paul's counsel. Quoting again, none of us lives

36:07to himself and none of us dies to himself. I mean, in that verse, he's saying we live and die in relationship to one another and in relationship to our God. Verse eight, for if we live, we live to the Lord and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. This is why I say that in any circumstance of life, in our interactions with believers and unbelievers alike, whether we are pastors or Christians in our vocation, what is going to serve the cause of faith in Christ so that the gospel is not compromised. I think that's all important. If I do or say something, even if I may have the right to do so in the freedom of the gospel, if it causes another person to stumble that goes back to last week's gospel reading, won't you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble? If it causes another person

37:08to stumble or turn away from the gospel, then I should not engage my Christian liberty out of love and concern for the spiritual welfare of the weaker person. If I do something that cuts them off from hearing the gospel or causes them to turn away, woe to me for causing one of these little ones who believe in him or are coming to faith in him to turn away from the gospel. So I'm amazed. These continuous readings from the book of Romans as the epistle throughout the three-year election or this summer have in almost every case dovetailed nicely with the themes echoed in the Old Testament and in the gospel for the day. Pastor Peter Bender is our guest. We will get into that gospel. The Matthew 18, the parable of the unmerciful servant right after the break.

38:10Here's an easy way for you to support the worldwide outreach of Lutheran public radio incorporated and create a will for free. Free will offers a secure online estate planning tool that can help you create a will for free in about 20 minutes. Through free will you can help us educate future generations of Lutherans through programming like issues etc. The word of the Lord indoors forever are 24 seven sacred music and talk stations and the publishing of books. Learn more at freewill.com slashissuesetc.org. Does this sound like your church budget process at the end of the year? You get last year's budget and go through with a committee lined by line maybe what we should spend next year? Maybe you have a prayer? But where's the word of God in this process? When do the people hear what the small catacombs says about giving and why we do it? Contact us at LCMS Stewardship so that we can help you fix this process, put the word of God first and put your kind of congregation on a good fitting. LCMS.org slash Stewardship. Keeping the message straight,

39:16getting the message out, you're listening to issues etc. For 160 years St John Lutheran Church Child Care and Pre-School has been a congregation committed to bringing Christ's salvation to the people of Fredonia, Wisconsin. We gather to receive the Lord's gifts and his divine service to us each Sunday at 8 and 10 thirty. If you're in the northern suburbs of Milwaukee and looking for a traditionally liturgical church, please join us this Sunday. For more information regarding education or enrollment, visit us online at stjohnfordonia.org. Lutherans for Life provides unique gospel centered life issue focused educational resources, audio video training, post abortion counseling and more from a Lutheran perspective. Learn about LFL resources and forming a life team or life chapter or becoming a life advocate by calling 888-364-Life or by calling 888-364-543 or visiting LutheransforLife.org. Welcome back to issues, Sandra and Todd. Welcome. We're looking for you to Sunday morning,

40:30according to three-year electionary and Luther's Catechisns with Pastor Peter Bender. Peter take us into a gospel reading Matthew 18 21 through 35, the parable of the unmerciful servant. And it begins with a question from Peter in verse 21. Then Peter came up and said to him, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times, Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children, and all that he had and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees imploring him have

41:34patience with me and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denariye. And seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, pay what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me, and I will pay you. He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me, and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you, and an anger his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt.

42:40So also, my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. And this is the gospel of the Lord. All right. In Matthew 18, the portion of it we had last Sunday, we had that famous passage, and I talked quite a bit about it, if your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault. And I argued that this sin is not a personal infraction against me, but if your brother is in danger of apostasy, that is a sin that affects me as a pastor or as a brother in Christ, it affects the entire body of Christ. And you see that reflected then at the end of chapter 18 that closes out this discourse in the fact that the fellow servants saw what had taken place, and they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. How do they do that in prayer? We go to our Lord in prayer. We are grieved at the

43:43apostasy of Christians who have fallen from the faith. And at the heart of that in this parable is the steadfast refusal to let go of the sins of others. So as we said in our introduction, Matthew 18, 21 through 35 is a continuation of an entire section of Matthew's gospel that explicates the centrality of the forgiveness of sins in the life of the Christian, in the life of the church, and in the office of the Holy ministry or the office of the keys. The parable is occasioned by Peter's question, how often shall I forgive my brother? And Peter's, this is after the transfiguration. So Jesus is going to be setting his face to Jerusalem, it's toward the end of the three-year ministry with them to culminate in his death and resurrection. Peter and his fellow disciples have seen a lot. And Peter's question kind of is anchored in all

44:45that they have experienced. How often shall I forgive my brother? It is as if he were saying, Lord, with you, the forgiveness of sins, the grace of God is super abundant, but surely, surely there must be a limit to your forgiveness and the forgiveness we are called to minister. And the short answer is there is no limit. Now, how shall I forgive? Up to seven times, the ESV says, not seven times, but 70 times? I like the King James better, 70 times seven. You know, 490 times, which doesn't mean we are to calculate with a clicker 490 times of infractions against us. It is rather this way of saying there is no limit to the forgiveness of sins that God has for us in Christ and which we are to extend to one another, either as ministers in the office of the ministry or as Christians in our vocation. To be sure, ministers have a responsibility

45:47under the office of the keys to bind as well as loose sins. But a Christian, a member of the royal priesthood, has no right to live in bitterness and resentment toward anyone. Not that the pastor does either. None of us have a right to do that, but every Christian is called to forgive. Every Christian is called to let go of the demand to punish a person who has sinned against us. Without qualification, vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay. So when we are called to faith in the gospel of Christ, we cannot by our own reason or strength come to that faith. We daily sin much and deserve nothing but punishment. Therefore, how can we possibly hold the sins of others against them? The parable specifically contrasts to brothers in the faith or to Christians. All of us have been forgiven an insurmountable

46:48debt as illustrated by the first servant. Since that is so, it is a denial of our faith in Christ to withhold mercy and forgiveness from those who have sinned against us. The debt that we owe to God for our sin is compared in the parable to a servant who owes 10,000 talents. What is that? Well, a denarius is a day's wage. 6,000 denariye, which should be the day's wages for 6,000 days, is roughly equivalent to a talent. A talent can also be the measurement of about 75 pounds of silver or gold. So a talent is a lot. 10,000 talents? Oh, my goodness. You can see that 10,000 times, like if a talent is worth about 20 years of salary,

47:54you can see that 10,000 times 20 years worth of salary is a lot of money. It's an insurmountable debt. Now, I'm not the greatest at math, but you don't have to be a mathematician to understand that we have a real debt before God that's involved here. And that's the point of the parable. This is the key. It is a debt that none of us could ever repay. Such is the debt of sin that we owe to God, which only Christ can pay. So we think of passages like Ephesians 289, 4 by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, less than anyone should boast. The debt we owe one another is insignificant by comparison to the debt we owe to God. But more than that, it is the mercy of God in Christ that is the source of the forgiveness we receive from God and that from which we live in for one another.

48:55You think of all the penitential Psalms, Psalm 6, Psalm 32, Psalm 51, have mercy upon me, O Lord, have mercy upon me, blot out my transgressions according to your loving kindness, blot out my transgressions. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions. I like how in Psalm 51, David says against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. And I think that we lose sight of that, that all of our sins against one another are really sins against God. And that's the greater issue. It's certainly what Nathan does when he's ministering to David. He drills down on when David had no compassion and when he took Euryah the Hittite's wife and when he arranged for the murder of Euryah by putting up up in the front lines, Nathan is careful to point out that it was the Lord who had made him king, the Lord who had given him victory over his

49:58enemies, who had established him and he would have given him much more. Why have you sinned against me in this way? And David reflects that then in Psalm 51 against you, you only have I sinned. It doesn't mean that we have been sinned against one another, but but the real issue is that we've sinned against God. And if we don't keep that in mind, when others have sinned against us, what they need more than anything else is to be brought back to faith in Christ. And that's what if your brother sins against you from last week's gospel is all about. And that's what the office of the keys and confession is all about. I didn't read the section from the small catechism on confession that's associated with the office of the keys, but I'll do that now. It asks the question, what is confession? Confession has two parts, first that we confess our sins. And that's something that we do in confession before God in the Lord's prayer, without qualification, without self-justification, unvarnished confession of our sins, forgive us our trespasses.

51:04It's what we do in our confessions before our family members, a husband to his wife, a wife to her husband, parents to their children, children to their parents, confession has two parts, first that we confess our sins. And of course, it's the heart of private confession. And second, that we receive absolution, what is absolution? That is forgiveness from the pastor as from God himself. Now, this envisions specifically private confession that we're receiving absolution or forgiveness from the pastor as from God himself, not doubting that firmly believing that by it, our sins are forgiven before God in heaven. Now, I had quoted it last week's podcast concerning Matthew 18, and if your brother sins go and show him his fault, that Luther says in his church postals, during Holy Week, when he discusses at length confession, that the Lord wishes his forgiveness to be in the mouth of every Christian. So to be sure, the pastor in the office of the

52:07ministry has the unique public responsibility to administer Christ's forgiveness to penitent sinners. But it is also something that every Christian, according to his or her station and calling in life, has the responsibility to speak a husband to his wife, parents to children, children to parents, brothers and sisters in Christ to one another. And when we do, we who believe in Christ and who Christ's forgiveness for Jesus' sake, that medicine is the same medicine that our pastor speaks in the absolution, albeit the office and the public responsibility is different. In this section, what sins should we confess in this small catacas? And before God, we should plead guilty of all sins, even those who are not aware of as we do in the Lord's prayer. But before the pastor, we should confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts. There's the troubled conscience. It's what we saw in Joseph's brothers. And the troubled conscience happens over the very

53:09ordinary things of life. Like an adult daughter who feels as if she has never been able to please her parents and she's living under that sense of guilt and inadequacy. The absolution is for her. Which are these? And this is what the catacasem does. It applies it to the very practical things of life. Consider you place in life according to the ten commandments. Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife or worker? Have you been disobedient on faithful or lazy? Have you been hot tempered, rude or quarrelsome? Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds? Have you stalled and been negligent wasted? Anything or done any harm? And all of those questions are simply to drive us to despair of ourselves and to lay hold of Christ into hunger and thirst for his absolution. And that's why that fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. The phrase, so we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us

54:14is anchored in the ongoing daily reception and dependence upon the Lord's forgiveness that we certainly don't deserve but which he so freely desires to give. And Peter saw that. It's why he asked the question, how often shall I forgive? He recognized the super abundant grace of God in Jesus' ministry. It's why the multitudes thronged him. Why he had prostitutes and tax collectors and sinners of every sort coming to him. They received from him a hope of salvation that they received nowhere else. This man receives sinners and eats with them. And that's exactly right. How often shall I forgive up to 70 times? No, 70 times seven. There is no limit to the grace of God in Christ. You can never wear it out. What would you say about the collect for this Sunday? I would say this when our God is called as he is in this collect, the author of all godliness.

55:21We should understand that godliness emanates from his forgiveness that we receive and live in. When it says especially in times of persecution, let us dwell on this insight from the collect that it is our faith in the forgiveness of sins that is the reason for persecution. It certainly was for Joseph who is persecuted by his brothers. What are we asking in faith to obtain, which is the petition in this collate? We are asking for the grace of God to live in us. We are asking for the grace of God to live in his forgiveness toward all. So the collate reads, oh God, our refuge and strength, the author of all godliness, hear the devout prayers of your church, especially in times of persecution, and grant that what we ask in faith we may obtain. Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

56:24who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Pastor Peter Bender is pastor of Peace, Lutheran Church, and Sussex, he's director of the Concordia Catechetical Academy. Peter, thanks. Thank you so much, Todd. Third day on issues, etc. We'll discuss the legacy of second wave feminist leader Gloria Steinem. Our guest will be Dr. Jennifer O'Bachmors. It's media coverage of religion with Terry Mattingley, and we'll visit with Dr. Andrew Doss, author of our book of the month. Dinner with Dr. Luke's Gospel for the Hungry. I'm Todd Wilkin. Thanks for listening. Listen weekday afternoons to Pastor Todd Wilkin and guests on issues, etc. Issues, etc. is a listener supported program. Your financial support is vital for the continuation and expansion of this worldwide outreach. Our mailing address, issues, etc. PO Box 83 Collinsville, Illinois, 62234 Box 83 Collinsville, Illinois, 62234. You can also donate at our website,

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