Deut 15:2. And this is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord's remission has been proclaimed. 
    	This morning’s passage and text highlight a fundamental characteristic of our relationship with The Lord God Almighty. There is an inherent and core element of Who God is and how He deals with all of us that is set into place within the fabric of these stipulations. It concerns forgiveness of debt that is concreted into the manner in which His people were to deal with one another. This was not just some formal arbitrary dictate from God to test His people’s ability to obey. 
It was the pronounced manifestation of that which was His very heart in dealing, not only with His Chosen Nation, but with all of humanity. All who would so choose to accept His free gift of forgiveness of sins through belief upon His Only Begotten Son. That was at the very core of what the people needed to practice in their dealings with one another as each seven year period came to fruition. 
We know from the history of Israel, in fact from the history of all mankind, that this forgiveness was not long practiced. The cultural details became enmeshed in all the various ways that man could use to sidestep and get around it. This was even to the point of just plain refusing to obey it because it interfered with personal wealth and goals for self-satisfaction. It was beat to death with all the stipulations and regulations and anything else which would justify the complete removal of the very heart of this command. What it meant to completely forgive the debts of those who owed anything was buried within all the infinitesimal details of obligations and provisos and selfish manipulations.
That was the reason that Jesus, in His model of what it meant to pray aright unto our Heavenly Father, made it very clear and simple for all of those who heard Him pray. This cut to the core of the teachings of those religious leaders and lawyers as they confounded and be muddled the simplest truth of what it meant to forgive the debts of others. We find this prayer recorded for us in Matt 6:9-15. Included is Christ’s explanation of what the heart of God meant with regard to forgiveness to those who did anything against others as well as the essence of the earnest matter of the Lord’s forgiveness.
Matt 6:9-15, "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 'Give us this day our daily bread. 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.]' "For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. "But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. 
    	Notice the attitude that was proclaimed by the Lord Jesus Christ in our dealings with others as evidenced in this prayer and the explanation that followed. We are to freely forgive the debts and the abuses of others against us as we would have our debts and abuses forgiven. We are to deal with all others in accordance with the heart of God Who is willing to forgive us our debts as we forgive others. It is not the matter of earning our forgiveness. It is the matter of how we view others with the heart that only wants the very best for them. 
	Going back to this morning’s reading then, if everyone within the nation of Israel would have treated one another in full accordance with the heart that the Lord set before them, there would have been very limited poverty within the nation of Israel. All people would have been fully blessed through the Lord’s provision by means of each of the people looking out for all those in their community. There would have been no debtors or dispossessed at the end of each seven year period. All would have shared freely in the blessing of the Lord. This would have been the course if all were not so engrossed and set upon their own individual prosperity, but looking out for the wellbeing of one another. 
	Now I realize this idea, as well, has been manipulated and twisted into all kinds of economic concepts and philosophies of mankind with the goal of manmade perfection in this world which will never come into existence. The nature of fallen humanity will always prevent men from accomplishing what the Lord set before all of us as His eternal plan and purpose. This can only be accomplished through the manifested Lordship of Jesus Christ. Only in terms of the complete death to self and the springing forth of His perfection will the eternal ages become the evident and obvious accomplishment of the heart of God in the manifested treatment of our brothers and sisters. However, that did not stop God from setting before His people His own manner of how to lovingly deal with those unfortunates and needy within the community. 
If all of us would treat one another as we would like to be treated in this unfair and defiled realm, the whole fabric of our society would be completely transformed. This will not be through legislation, not through social reforms, not through economic systems nor legal precedents nor litigation nor earth centered philanthropic efforts. It will be forthcoming, person by person, as we fully surrender our hearts and minds and all that we are and have to Jesus. As we live forth those lives that are pleasing to Him, so will we affect our homes, our neighborhoods, and our communities in ways which will transform the lives that Christ touches through our acts of selflessness and forgiveness. 
Accordingly, we need to forgive those who have wronged us, who have cursed us, who have done anything against us. We must set our hearts and attitudes on pleasing Our Lord by forgiving any against whom we have the slightest feelings of anger or frustration or animosity or jealousy. There must not be the least aspect of this realm which would hinder our ongoing in Jesus Christ together. 
If we hold anything against another, we are the ones who truly suffer because we will be the ones delayed and stalled and mired in the ugliness of self-pity. This selfish attitude will not allow us to grow any further into our relationship with Christ and with our brothers and sisters. Quoting Jesus Christ directly, then "But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
This brings us to the next aspect of this matter of forgiveness as detailed in Matt 18:21-35. It also includes the fact that we need to forgive as we have been forgiven by our Heavenly Father. We risk our depth of spiritual relationship with the Lord and with each other if we fail to freely forgive others as we have been so freely forgiven. It also details the attitude of our forgiving others no matter how many times we have previously forgiven them. 
The Disciple Peter approached the Lord with the idea that there had to be a limit to our forgiveness. The thought portrayed was that we forgive until we reach the level at which our forgiveness is seemingly abused by our brother or sister. At that crucial apex it must be OK to stop forgiving. But Jesus put an immediate end to that concept as recorded in this passage which we can read together.
Matt 18:21-35, Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. "And when he had begun to settle them, there was brought to him one who owed him ten thousand talents. "But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. "The slave therefore falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.' "And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.' "So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.' "He was unwilling however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. "So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. "Then summoning him, his lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me. 'Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?' "And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. "So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." 
    	Our next consideration of the Heart of God that is expressed in this matter of forgiving one another comes into full view in terms of whom we need to forgive. It is easier, in some senses, to forgive those who are close to us, those with whom we share a common bond and some relationship. However, the Lord Jesus did not limit our forgiveness to our friends and family. He extended the need for us to forgive others to include especially those for whom we have no kind feelings at all, those who would be considered our enemies and our rivals. We are to forgive anyone who does anything unto us or against us, no matter how vile and unscrupulous they may be. Please open to Luke 6:27-38 so we can marvel together at the whole reason we are to forgive even our enemies as the Lord has forgiven us when we were at enmity with Him.
	Luke 6:27-38, "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. "Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. "Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. "And just as you want people to treat you, treat them in the same way. "And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. "And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. "And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, in order to receive back the same amount. "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "And do not judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. "Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." 
    	Our final passage of this morning is the example of what the heart of God is toward those who are so lost in sin and trespass as expressed in the next Chapter of Luke, Luke 7:36-50. Please turn to it. Here we have the woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears because she was in dire distress to find some manner of the expression of her love for Him and her need of His forgiveness. There are the contrasting attitudes expressed from the Pharisee and the Lord Jesus Christ concerning how to treat those in such utter desperation.
	Luke 7:36-50, Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him. And He entered the Pharisee's house, and reclined at the table. And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner." And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." "A certain moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. "When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him more?" Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." And He said to her, "Your sins have been forgiven." And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." 
	This morning has been a time of reflection for us, based in the heart of God which was expressed so succinctly to His people all those centuries ago. It is easy for us to just quickly skim over these passages with the concept that they were for that people then and have no place for us today. However, to do so is to miss the very heart of God that was expressed for the sake of His people’s blessing and our blessing as well. We need to take to heart this entire matter of what it means to forgive and whom we are to forgive and how we are to forgive and to forgive and to forgive again. 
So often, we think that we are doing all that is necessary to honor the Lord in the minute details, and we forget, or choose to bypass the most obvious and necessary elements of who we now are in Jesus Christ. To forgive is a core aspect of our new life in Christ Jesus. If we desire to be fully functioning members of the Body of Christ, we must continually seek out all those areas of our hearts in which there might be any unforgiveness. We must sincerely beseech the Lord to work and to work and to work again that we can forgive any and all, brother, sister, parent, child, friend, neighbor, or enemy. Please sear in all our hearts the words of Jesus, Himself, "But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. So be it!
And this is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord's remission has been proclaimed. Amen.
	This morning’s benediction is Matt 21:15+16. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant, and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast prepared praise for Thyself'?" Amen.