PARABLES OF CHRIST
THE TWO DEBTORS
DR. JIM DIXON
LUKE 7:36-50
NOVEMBER 29, 1998
A hundred years ago today, C.S. Lewis was born—November 29, 1898. And he was destined to become perhaps the greatest Christian writer of the 20th century. He wrote “The Screwtape Letters,” and he wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia,” and he wrote “The Space Trilogy”—”Perelandra,” “Out of the Silent Planet,” and “That Hideous Strength.” He wrote the book “Mere Christianity.” He wrote “The Great Divorce,” “The Problem of Pain,” and so many other books. His fiction has been enjoyed by Christians and non-Christians alike, and his non-fiction works have appealed to Christians across the theological spectrum. He has been popular because C.S. Lewis focused on the grace of God. He focused on the gospel of grace and all that the Holy Bible has to say about grace.
As we come to this little Parable of The Two Debtors this morning, we have two subjects, and the first subject is grace. “A certain creditor,” Jesus said, “had two debtors. One owed him five hundred denarius, five hundred days wages, and the other owed him fifty denarius, 50 days wages. As they could not pay, the creditor forgave them both.” That is grace.
About four years ago, before this building was built and we were still over at Colorado Boulevard, we were in the process of moving here to Highlands Ranch. We received a phone call at the church from Craig McCallum, who was the President of Mission Viejo Company and a member of this church. Craig said that I could name a street that the church would be on down here. I chose the name Grace Boulevard. Now, at first, Craig thought (and I therefore thought) that I would be able to name two streets, and I was going to call Fairview Mercy so that this church would sit on Grace and Mercy. As it turned out, I could only name one street, so I chose grace because grace is greater than mercy. Grace is greater than mercy.
Now, the word in the Bible for grace is the word “charis.” The word for mercy is “eleos.” It has often been said that mercy means “to withhold punishment that is deserved.” Mercy means to forgive. It’s said, on the other hand, that grace means “to give good things not deserved” so that mercy means “to forgive” and grace means “to give.” That kind of a distinction might be helpful, but the truth is grace is so great that this word charis, in the mind of the Greeks and in the Bible itself, includes the concept of mercy. Grace is greater than mercy because it incorporates mercy and goes beyond. Grace, charis, simply means “unmerited favor.” Forgiving is unmerited favor and giving is unmerited favor. It is all grace. Mercy is part of grace.
That is why, in this little parable, when Jesus tells us that the creditor forgave both debtors their debts, the word forgive here, the word Jesus chooses, is the word “charizomai,” which is from the Greek word charis, which means grace. To forgive is not only mercy; it is grace because mercy is part of grace. We all need grace, don’t we? I mean we need grace in the sense of mercy. We all need grace because we are fallen. I need grace. I need the mercy of grace, and you need grace too.
I want to tell you a little joke. It is kind of funny. It is perhaps a little inappropriate but I’m going to tell it anyway, and I’m going to trust that you’re going to show me some mercy and grace. This little joke—I just heard it this past week—is about a pastor. This pastor was preaching a sermon on the Bible. He really believed that everything about every subject is in the Bible. He said to his congregation, “There is no subject that the Bible does not deal with. Every subject known to man is dealt with in the Bible.”
Well, after the sermon, a woman came up to him and said, “You know, I don’t think that’s really true. I think there are a few subjects the Bible just does not deal with, and one subject is the subject of PMS. I don’t think the Bible deals with PMS.” Well, the pastor thought for a second and he said, “You know, I’m going to have to think about this. Give me a week to research it and come next Sunday and ask me again.” So, the next Sunday she came back. She came up to the pastor after the service, and she said, “Well, what did you find out?” The pastor took out his King James Bible, went to the Gospel of Luke, the second chapter, and pointed to the verse which said, “Mary rode Joseph’s ass all the way to Bethlehem!”
There are two problems with that joke. The first problem is it could get me in trouble. The second problem with that joke is that it is not biblical. I mean, it is not in Luke’s Gospel. It is not in the second chapter, not even in the King James version. We do not know whether Mary rode Joseph’s donkey to Bethlehem. Maybe she did. Maybe she did not. We do know this. We do know that everybody is moody. Everybody has bad days, regardless of gender. It does not matter whether you are a man or a woman, male or female. We all have moods, and we all need grace. We need unmerited favor.
Two months ago, I told the story of how Barb and I got into a little fight. It was not so little. Years ago, when Drew and Heather were young, and we were out at the Denver Tech Center at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. We got into an argument over Heather getting onto an elevator. As we started to drive away, the fight kind of picked up and I stopped the car and threatened to walk home. I talked about how I started walking home, how Barb drove alongside me, and the kids rolled down the window and begged me, saying, “Daddy, get back in the car.”
Well, after telling that story, some of you came up to me and said, “Well Jim, is that the only time you did that, or have you gotten out of the car a number of times?” Apparently, some of you think that that’s kind of my habit.
Barb and I have been married over 27 years, and I must confess there was one other time I did get out of the car and threaten to walk home. I had come home from playing golf and I had played horribly, as often I do. I was feeling kind of down about it. Barb could see that, and she said to me, “Jim, it’s only a golf game. You should not let your self-worth be tied to a stupid game!” Barb and I then began to kind of argue about that and it picked up.
That night we were going over to a couple’s house for dinner out in Aurora. We got into the car, and we were fighting. We started driving over to their house for dinner. We were most of the way there and the argument kind of picked up and I stopped the car and said, “I’m walking home.” I started walking home and I realized I was really a long way from home and I did not have a penny in my pocket. I had no money at all and thought, “How am I going to get home?” Suddenly I thought, “I can’t do this.” Barb had already started to drive away.
I started calling for her, waving my hands and running down the street after her. This car pulls up right alongside of me and it’s a couple from our church. I mean, only God could orchestrate that. It is a couple from our church, and you could tell they are kind of smirking because they know something is wrong. They say, “What’s the problem?” and I say, “I need to get Barb.” They drove down and caught her for me.
It was so embarrassing. I get back in the car with Barb and we kind of say goodbye to the other couple. It is just awkward, you know. We are still tense. We decide that we really did need to go to these people’s house for dinner because they were expecting us. We headed on over. We get to their house, and we are still very mad at each other. We get out of the car and go up to the door… Have you ever done this? The people open the door and they go “Hi,” and we go “Hi,” you know, like everything is great! Have you ever bluffed it? Just totally bluffed it. That is what we did!
But I can look at these 27 years with Barb, and one of the reasons we have had such a great marriage is because of Barb’s grace towards me. It is because of the mercy of her grace. I do not know how any marriage can work without merciful grace, unmerited favor. I do not know how any real relationship or friendship can work without grace. If you really know each other and you want to be friends, you are going to have to give each other unmerited favor, grace.
What the Bible tells us is that no one gives more grace than Christ. Christ is the King of Grace. We have this little parable that is set in a Pharisee’s house and Jesus, in this little parable, has gone into the Pharisee’s house for dinner. Even the fact that He was eating dinner in a Pharisee’s house was grace. Just the fact that He accepted the invitation was merciful, given the self-righteousness of the Pharisees.
Luke tells us that a woman comes in to see Jesus with an alabaster flask of ointment. Now, many Bible scholars believe that this woman was Mary Magdalene—Mary from Magdala, a little town on the shore of the Sea of Galilee known for its wealth and for its immorality. Mary Magdalene was known for her immorality. The Bible tells us that Mary Magdalene had once had seven demons. According to church tradition, she had been a prostitute. We do not know that. The Bible simply tells us that Mary Magdalene found forgiveness and healing through Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that she was the first at the empty tomb on Easter morning and to her Jesus Christ appeared, resurrected and alive. She was there at Calvary, at Golgotha, when Christ was crucified. She was part of the company of believers who followed Christ.
According to church tradition, she was the one who came into that Pharisee’s house with that ointment, that costly perfume. We do not know that that’s true. It may not have been Mary Magdalene. It really does not matter. We are told that the woman who came into that Pharisee’s house was a sinner. The Greek construct indicates a prostitute. This woman was a prostitute. She came with great sin, and what she found was grace. She found grace, unmerited favor. She found forgiveness. She found salvation. She found peace. All of it is grace. All of it is unmerited favor.
I tell you, if you have come to Christ, if you’ve embraced Him as your Savior and your Lord, you’ve experienced this grace. You have experienced the mercy of grace, you’ve found forgiveness, you’ve found salvation, and you’ve found peace in at least some measure because you’ve come in repentance.
Of course, the Bible reminds us of this: There is no cheap grace. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book “The Cost of Discipleship,” warns us of cheap grace. The preaching of forgiveness without the requirement of repentance, that’s cheap grace. But nobody in their right mind could deny that this woman had repented. Nobody in their right mind could deny that this woman was repentant. When we come in repentance, Christ is there with grace, amazing grace.
There is a second subject in this little parable and it’s the subject of gratitude. There is grace and gratitude. Now, it has been said that there is no Hebrew word—no Semitic word—for gratitude. That might be true. There is, however, a Greek word for gratitude and it is the word “eucharistia” from which we get the English word Eucharist. It is one of the titles given to the Communion because the Lord’s Supper is a time of thanksgiving. The Eucharist, the Greek word eucharistia, means gratitude, thanksgiving.
The word eucharistia is built on the Greek word “charis,” which is the Greek word for grace. In fact, in the Bible, most of the time the word for thanks is not even eucharistia but it is just charis, this word which means grace. Charis can mean grace and it can mean thanks because the two concepts are joined—grace and gratitude. It is all joined. There is a relationship between grace and gratitude. The word charis, the word for grace, is related to a family of words. The word “chara” means “joy” because when you receive grace, you should have joy. The word “charine” means “to rejoice” because when you have experienced grace, you should rejoice. The word “charisma” means “gift” because grace IS a gift. And “eucharistia” means “gratitude” because grace should produce gratitude.
Now, I am sure we all celebrated Thanksgiving this past Thursday. You probably had, at least most of you, turkey and mashed potatoes, perhaps pumpkin pie. Maybe some of you thought back on the history of the Thanksgiving celebration. I mean, when was Thanksgiving first celebrated in this nation? When was Thanksgiving first celebrated on the North American continent?
Some historians believe that Thanksgiving was first celebrated on December 4, 1619, by the James River, at the Berkeley Plantation. Other historians believe that the first true Thanksgiving celebration took place in the summer of 1621 near Plymouth Rock, less than a year after the Mayflower anchored. Some historians, believe it or not, believe that the first Thanksgiving celebration actually took place 80 years before that in 1541 and that first Thanksgiving celebration took place in the state of Texas. A lot of Texas historians believe that. They believe it took place in Palo Duro Canyon in Texas where Padre Juan de Padilla instituted a Thanksgiving celebration for Coronado’s troops in 1541.
It really does not matter. It does not matter because none of these thanksgiving events became annual events. None of these thanksgiving celebrations established patterns. Of course, none of them launched national thanksgiving celebrations because our nation did not even exist yet. The truth is that an annual, national Thanksgiving celebration was not established until the 19th century, and it was established primarily because of the work of Sarah Josepha Hale.
She was very young when she wrote her first book in 1824. The year was 1837 and she was a widow with five children when she became the Editor of the Godey’s Lady’s Book, which was the most popular woman’s magazine in America. The year was 1846 when she launched her campaign to establish an Annual National Thanksgiving Celebration. She had a hard time. By 1859, she had convinced many governors to establish annual thanksgiving celebrations in their states but still no national annual thanksgiving celebrations.
She wrote President Buchanan in 1859. She knew and Buchanan knew that this nation was approaching civil war. There was a conflict between the northern and southern states. She wrote to President Buchanan saying, “You know, if you would establish an annual National Thanksgiving Celebration, God will have grace on this nation. Disunion will be prevented, and all the pain and all the suffering will abate. If you just establish an annual National Thanksgiving Celebration, we will begin to experience God’s grace.
We do not know what President Buchanan thought of her letters, but he did not respond. Of course, the Civil War began in 1861 and that was also the year that President Abraham Lincoln took office. Sarah Josepha Hale began to write President Abraham Lincoln, crying out for an annual National Thanksgiving Celebration, and arguing that God would give this nation grace if we would do that. It was on October 3, 1863, that President Abraham Lincoln established an annual National Thanksgiving Celebration on the fourth Thursday of every November.
The argument of Sarah Josepha Hale was that gratitude will bring grace. Gratitude will bring God’s grace. Now, there is truth in that argument. I believe gratitude to God does bring the grace of God. But in this little parable it’s kind of flipped around. What Jesus is saying in this parable is that God’s grace should bring gratitude. Jesus flips it. God’s grace should bring gratitude. That is why Jesus poses the question to Simon, the Pharisee. “Having forgiven two debtors, one of them 500 denarius, the other 50, which one of these will love him more?” Simon says, “The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.” The loving gratitude is a response to the measure of grace.
As you sit here this morning, how do you assess the measure of God’s grace in your life? Have you been forgiven much or forgiven little? What do you think? How deep is your gratitude? How great is your gratitude? How appreciative are you?
In Luke’s Gospel, the 17th chapter, verses 11 through 15, the Bible speaks of a time Jesus was journeying through Samaria. He came upon ten lepers. Dave Meserve mentioned this in our Thanksgiving Service Wednesday night. Jesus came upon ten lepers. They probably had a combination of tubercular and anesthetic leprosy. Their nervous systems were degenerating. Their muscles were atrophying. Their bodies were ulcerating and quite literally rotting. Their destiny was coma and then death. They had been banished from the fellowship of mankind and they had lives in dens and caves of the earth. They were not allowed to come within a hundred feet of a normal human being, but they stood at a distance when they saw Jesus. They shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us!” They knew they needed grace. They knew it. Jesus shouted back to them, “Go to the priests and show yourselves for the rites of cleansing and purification.” This meant that they were healed.
In order to re-enter society and return to your town, you had to be cleared by the priests. If they saw that you no longer had leprosy, they could return to their normal lives. This is what Jesus was telling them to do. As they began to walk towards the temple priest, they looked at their bodies. They saw that they were whole, and they had been healed by the power of the Son of God. It was all grace. In Luke chapter 17, we are told that only one of those lepers returned to give thanks to Jesus. Jesus said, “Did I not heal ten? Where are the nine?”
All of us have received grace in great measure, for we were all lepers, all in bondage to sin, and He has touched us, and He has healed us. Gratitude is a choice. It’s a choice we must make every day. Every day when we get up, we can focus on the grace of Christ, or we can focus on other things. We can focus on His forgiving and His giving. We can focus on what He has forgiven us, and we can focus on what He has given us. Or we can think about other things.
You know, Benjamin Franklin (and with this we will close) gave many speeches, many lectures. After the drafting of the United States Constitution, he spoke many times on that document. He was very proud of that document. He praised it to many audiences. On one occasion after he spoke, a person came up to him and said, “This document is not so great. It guarantees happiness, and where is that happiness? Look around you. So many people are miserable!” Benjamin Franklin said, “Well, you’re wrong. The Constitution of the United States does not guarantee happiness. It simply guarantees the pursuit of happiness, the right to pursue happiness.” If you’re going to find happiness, you’re going to have to find it on your own.
Well, I know and believe this: True happiness is found only in Christ. It is found by people who come into the grace of Christ and then begin to bask in that grace. It is found by people who come to Christ and accept His grace and His forgiveness. They come in repentance. They begin to experience not only His forgiveness but His gifts, His gifts of a community of believers and a kingdom to live for—even to die for. It is His gift of eternal life, His gift of salvation. It is only those who focus on His grace that really find happiness.
So, the call of Christ to us this morning as we leave this place is that we might begin today to be people of gratitude, focusing on the grace, the amazing grace, of Jesus Christ. Let us close with a word of prayer.